Non-fiction lists or search engines

Brukaviador · Jul 1, 2016

I've been having a very difficult time finding non-fiction publishing houses.

The Association of Canadian Publishers is searchable by genre, but has a small list.
http://publishers.ca/index.php/membership/search-members

The American list is enormous, but I can't narrow the field down to non-fiction.
http://publishers.org/about/member-list

I haven't been able to find any real comprehensive lists of non-fiction publishing houses by searching Google, either; mostly just stray individual publishers that may or may not have listings here or on P&E, or massive lists of publishers who handle everything under the sun.

Any advice?

In case anyone's interested, the specific book I'm trying to publish is a combination textbook\memoir about homeless experiences.

Old Hack · Jul 1, 2016

It sounds like the sort of book you'd be better off getting an agent for, so you won't need to find publishers for yourself.

If you don't want to take that step for some reason, have you tried finding similar books in bookshops and seeing who publishes them?

mlovmo · Jul 3, 2016

Yes, find the kind of books that are similar(?) to yours that are already published. Take note of the publishers.

I have noticed that if a publisher exclusively produces Nonfiction texts, it is because they are specific to a certain kind of text. I'm thinking of the numismatic publishers that I find at coin shows. Little publishers from little, nondescript towns you've never heard of. Oh, and they don't have a web presence AT ALL, not even a reference in a google search. But your book should easily be publishable by a much better, more "plugged-in" publisher.

Brukaviador · Jul 8, 2016

Old Hack said:
It sounds like the sort of book you'd be better off getting an agent for, so you won't need to find publishers for yourself.

You are absolutely correct. I've gone back to agent hunting. There are literally hundreds of choices for literary agents who could help get this published, and few publishing houses I'd want to deal with that are open to unagented submissions. Thanks.

GailK · Aug 19, 2016

That sounds like "creative" non fiction. There are many sources for that. That might be a good story for the Greywolf Press annual contest. The winner gets published. No entrance fee. Unfortunately, the contest will not be open again until January, but I think if you google creative nonfiction, you will find better results.

Non-fiction lists or search engines

Brukaviador

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

mlovmo

Brukaviador

GailK