Publishing houses

Finding book publishers means sorting the houses that take unsolicited work from the ones that only read through agents, and the small presses that answer a query from the conglomerates that do not. Writers come here with a finished manuscript and a shortlist to build. Readers come to see who stands behind the novels and nonfiction they already buy.

The tags split the category along two axes at once. One is subject: literary fiction, nonfiction, crime, thriller, romance, horror, SF & fantasy, occult & supernatural, action & adventure, coming of age, historical, espionage, self-help, children's, comics and manga. The other is place: California, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Washington, West Virginia, Ontario, British Columbia, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. A writer chasing publishers accepting submissions can start from either end. Start from the subject if the manuscript has one clear shelf, then narrow by region to find houses that read in that genre. Start from the region if you want an editor within reach of a meeting.

The listings themselves divide by what they put out. Abrams, Charlesbridge and Insight Editions build illustrated and children's lists. BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics and Image Comics publish comics and manga. Graywolf Press and Grove Atlantic carry literary fiction and nonfiction, while Kensington works across commercial genres. Georgetown University Press, NYU Press and Guilford Press publish scholarship, and Berret-Koehler, New Harbinger and HarperCollins Publishers cover business, psychology and trade nonfiction. Pick the branch that matches the manuscript in hand, not the one with the largest name.