Respected/Notable Small Publishers

newauth

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I'm looking for a shortlist of respected/notable small publishers that publish book-length fiction, any genre. I know there's a big index of publishers here, but there are quite a lot to parse. By respected/notable, I mean those that are long-established, well-awarded, or high-revenued.

Point me in the right direction, please?

Thank you.

---

I've decided to make my own list. It's expected to serve as a semi-objective starting point, not as a de facto list. Note also that it is a best effort and may not be 100% correct.

Legend
E - Long-Established
A - Well-Awarded
R - High-Revenued

USA
W. W. Norton & CompanyEAR
Graywolf PressEAR
Heyday BooksEAR
Prometheus BooksEAR
Kensington BooksEAR
Baen BooksEAR
Workman Publishing CompanyEAR
Beacon PressEAR
Baker Publishing GroupEAR
Dalkey Archive PressEAR
City Lights PublishersEAR
Highlights for ChildrenEAR
Start Publishing (owned by Start Media)EAR
University of Nebraska PressEAR
Shambhala PublicationsEAR
SourcebooksEAR
Sterling Publishing (owned by Barnes & Noble)EAR
Scholastic CorporationEAR
Chronicle BooksEAR
LifeWay Christian ResourcesEAR
Tyndale House PublishersER
Chicago Review PressER
Llewellyn WorldwideER
Tachyon PublicationsAR
Lee & Low BooksAR
Pants on Fire PressAR
Skyhorse PublishingAR
Apex Book CompanyAR
Counterpoint PressAR
Leapfrog PressAR
Square One PublishersAR
Other PressAR
Seven Stories PressAR
Quirk BooksR
Genesis PressR
Mango PublishingR
Page Street PublishingR
Coffee House PressEA
The Permanent PressEA
Northwestern University PressEA
Aunt Lute BooksEA
Northern Illinois University PressEA
Milkweed EditionsE
Soho PressE
Four Way BooksA
Sarabande BooksA
Prime BooksA
Bellevue Literary PressA
Subterranean PressA
Cemetery Dance PublicationsA
McSweeney's PublishingA
Akashic BooksA
Bella BooksA
North Star EditionsA
Poisoned Pen PressA
Honorable Mentions
Black Lawrence Press (former Dzanc Books imprint)
BlazeVOX Books
Catapult
Centipede Press
Dorothy
Diversion Publishing Corp
Dzanc Books
Ig Publishing
New York Tyrant Books
Press 53
Red Hen Press
Severed Press
Shadow Mountain Publishing
Tin House
Two Dollar Radio
Unbridled books
Ugly Duckling Presse​

UK/Ireland/Scotland
Faber & Faber Ltd.EAR
Bloomsbury PublishingEAR
Walker BooksEAR
Titan BooksE
Salt PublishingA
Tartarus PressA
PS PublishingA
Newcon PressA
Angry RobotA
Flame Tree PublishingR
Honorable Mentions
Rebellion Publishing
Swan River Press

Canada

Arsenal Pulp PressEAR
Coach House BooksEA
Goose Lane EditionsEA
Cormorant BooksEA
Chizine PublicationsA
Gaspereau PressA
BiblioasisA
Douglas & McIntyreA
Honorable Mentions
Hades Publications
Promontory Press​

Australia/New Zealand
Allen & UnwinEAR
Scribe PublicationsEAR
Text PublishingAR
Honorable Mentions
Ilura Press


Notes
* Only the parent publishing company is listed
* Revenue estimate is from public sources and may not be reliable
 
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Gillhoughly

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Have you exhausted subbing to all the large publishers?

The rule in this industry is start at the top with the biggest dog on Publisher's Row and work your way down. They have the resources to invest in new writers. Smaller houses do not. They have to be ultra picky, put out fewer books, and have less marketing funds. If your book is good enough for them, then it is definitely good enough to snag an agent who can send it to the bigger houses.

I mention this because my first novel was accepted by a long established small publisher -- who went belly up in bankruptcy two weeks later. I was so mad I did a daft thing and next sent it off to the biggest name I could find for that genre.

Surprise, it sold. Multi-book contract sold.
 

Thedrellum

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Gilloughly is advising newauth to try and get an agent: "If your book is good enough for them, then it is definitely good enough to snag an agent who can send it to the bigger houses."

Also, there ARE some big-name publishers which accept submissions from unagented authors, though usually they have really long wait times. Tor, for example, if you happen to write SFF.
 

AHunter3

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Gilloughly is advising newauth to try and get an agent: "If your book is good enough for them, then it is definitely good enough to snag an agent who can send it to the bigger houses."

That's advice that I'd consider sensible. One starts with trying to get an agent — getting an agent means having a chance at getting published by one of the big publishers. If that doesn't work, one may wish to query small publishers, the ones that will accept queries directly from authors.
 

newauth

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There have been some discussions related to your question around here... for example, another poster asked for a list of the best small publishers. The tl;dr consensus of that thread was it's not easy to make the list you're asking for. If you have more luck generating such a list, I'll be pleased to hear.

This is the answer I was looking for. I couldn't find it on first search, so thanks, Anna.

As to your request, I have been generating such a list on my own. I will post it in the first post of this thread once I am done.
 
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newauth

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To everyone who replied, my situation is similar to the thread Anna pointed out: I am not interested in one of the Big 5 due to their onerous contract terms. I would rather go with a small publisher (1st choice) or self-publish (2nd choice) over the Big 5, agented or unagented. To do this, I need to know the small publishing landscape better than I do now, so I am here.

I think it's important that other authors realize that small publishers are a choice. Until recently, I'd been under the impression that I had to go with one of the Big 5 to be taken seriously. This is not true, I know now. Self-publishing is a legitimate choice (as proven by many well-known authors going hybrid); small publishers are also a legitimate choice. And, as Kristine Kathryn Rusch points out, small publishers are doing things right:

It was fun to discover something positive on the traditional publishing landscape. The Big Five is a nightmare for writers, and will remain so. But a handful of small traditional publishers will gain traction, power, and income as the shifts in publishing continue. Some of those traditional publishers will work as a partner with their writers.

Source: "Business Musings: The Small Traditional Publishers (2017 in Review)" - https://kriswrites.com/2018/01/10/b...mall-traditional-publishers-2017-in-review-2/

Anyway, thanks all.

*

Note to self, unsorted:
Disney Books, Oxford University Press, Wiley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Abrams Books, Dover, Candlewick, B&H Publishing
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw...fast-growing-independent-publishers-2019.html
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw...fast-growing-independent-publishers-2020.html
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw...fast-growing-independent-publishers-2021.html
 
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