This article features 17 top book publishing companies that give advances.
1. Two Dollar Radio
Established in 2005, Two Dollar Radio is an independent, family-run press based in Columbus, Ohio. They have garnered national acclaim for publishing bold and subversive books that defy conventional storytelling. Authors they have worked with include Hanif Abdurraqib, Barbara Browning, Janet Livingstone, Mark de Silva, Paul Kingsnorth, and more. They publish around 5-6 books each year, and they offer advances.
They are currently open for submissions via Submittable. Submissions must include the full manuscript, so no proposals or excerpts. You will also be asked to provide a short statement on why you feel they are the right publisher for your manuscript. You can find more information about their submission guidelines here. For general inquiries, you can reach Two Dollar Radio through their online contact form.
2. Chicago Review Press
Founded in 1973, Chicago Review Press is an independent publishing house that publishes high-quality non-fiction books written by experts in their respective fields. They currently have more than 900 titles in print, and approximately 60 new titles are added to their list each year. Their areas of interest include popular science, popular culture, parenting, film, music, travel, history, women’s issues, biographies, and more. They do not publish books on religion, nutrition and fitness, self-help, business, or poetry.
If you are interested in getting your work published by Chicago Review Press, you can send a proposal to the appropriate acquisitions editor. Get more information about submitting a proposal here. For general inquiries, you can get in touch with Chicago Review Press through their online contact form.
3. Sourcebooks
Headquartered in Illinois, Sourcebooks is an independent publishing company that specializes in fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Founded by Dominique Raccah in 1987, Sourcebooks is one of the largest woman-owned trade book publishers in the entire North America. Their areas of interest include parenting and child care, self-help, history, science, women’s issues, humor, current affairs, gift books, and more. They also publish children’s books and young adult fiction.
They are currently accepting submissions, but certain categories are only open to agented submissions. For more information, you can check out their submission guidelines here. You can also get in touch with them through the contact form on their website should you have any additional questions.
4. Phaidon Press
Phaidon Press is one of the world’s leading publishers of books on the visual arts. Headquartered in New York, they also have offices in New York, London, Berlin, Tokyo, Paris, Barcelona, and Milan. They currently have more than 1,500 titles in print, and they continue to work with talented artists, writers, creators, chefs, and thinkers to produce high-quality books, particularly in the areas of art, architecture, design, performing arts, photography, contemporary culture, film, fashion, cookery, and more. They also publish books for children aged 0-8.
Interested in submitting your work to Phaidon Press? Send them a short description of your project via email, along with your curriculum vitae. Check out their submission guidelines here for more information.
5. DAW Books
Founded in 1971 by Donald A. Wollheim, DAW Books was the first publishing company to specialize in fantasy and science fiction. Since then, they have published more than 2000 titles, including the works of Tad Williams, Seanan McGuire, Patrick Rothfuss, Ben Aaronovitch, Mercedes Lackey, and Kristen Britain, among others. Although they are now an imprint of Penguin Books and headquartered in Penguin’s offices in New York City, they remain editorially independent.
They welcome submissions directly from authors, and they encourage submissions featuring and/or written by people of color, LGTBTQIA+ people, disabled people, neurodiverse people, and people from other underrepresented communities. All submissions must be sent via their Submittable page. For other inquiries, contact DAW Books via email.
6. Verso Books
Based in New York, Verso Books is an independent publishing house that was founded in the late 1970s. On average, they publish around 100 books each year, mostly non-fiction, particularly in the areas of economics, politics, history, cinema studies, history, philosophy, sociology, and more. They welcome submissions in the form of book proposals, and they pay advances and royalties.
If you are interested, you can submit a proposal containing an overview of your manuscript’s themes, an annotated table of contents, information on competing books, and a brief author bio. For more information, you can check out their submission guidelines here. For any additional questions, you can contact Verso Books via email.
7. New Horizon Press
New Horizon Press is a non-fiction publisher based in New Jersey. They specialize in true crime, self-help and recovery, true stories about uncommon heroes, and current events. They also publish books on child guidance, psychology, and creative non-fiction. At the moment, they are most interested in the following: stories about people breaking barriers, true crime stories, survivor stories, targeted self-help topics, stories that deal with hard-hitting issues, and self-help books for children.
If you would like to submit your work to New Horizon Press, you can check out their submission guidelines here. Please note that pitches and queries may be submitted via email, but manuscripts must be sent by post. For general inquiries, you can get in touch with New Horizon Press here.
8. Graywolf Press
Based in Minnesota, Graywolf Press is a literary publisher that has been operating since 1974. In the beginning, they specialized in publishing limited-edition poetry chapbooks, but they now publish fiction and non-fiction books as well. Many of the books they have published have gone on to win major literary awards, including the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the Man Booker Prize, and the National Book Award. They do not publish genre fiction.
Graywolf Press only accepts agented submissions, but they do periodically have contests and open reading periods. Check out their submission guidelines for more information. For general inquiries and other concerns, you can contact them via email.
9. Fulcrum Publishing
Headquartered in Colorado, Fulcrum Publishing is an independent publisher that specializes in non-fiction. They publish books on a range of topics, including environment and nature, gardening, current affairs and politics, health and wellness, travel, and the outdoors. At the moment, they are looking for books on US history and culture, Native American history, cultural studies, conservation, and non-fiction graphic novels. They pay royalties and advances.
Interested in submitting your work to Fulcrum? You can send them a proposal including a brief synopsis, a few sample chapters, an author’s biography, and information about your target audience. For detailed information, check out the submission guidelines listed on their website. Should you have any additional questions, you can reach the Fulcrum team via email.
10. Peter Owen Publishers
Founded in 1951, Peter Owen Publishers is an independent publisher based in London. They publish both fiction and non-fiction, but they are most known for fiction in translation. Over the decades, they have published the works of some of the world’s most talented writers, including Octavio Paz, Hermann Hesse, Gertrude Stein, Anais Nin, Karoline Leach, and Isaac Bashevis Singer, among others. Their non-fiction areas of interest include literature, history, travel, drama, and art.
They are currently open for submissions, but for fiction, agented submissions are preferred. For unsolicited non-fiction submissions, email them a cover letter, along with a synopsis and sample chapters. For more information, take a look at their submission guidelines here.
11. Severn House Publishers
Established in 1974, Severn House is an independent publisher headquartered in Surrey. They specialize in high-quality fiction, including romance, mystery, suspense, adventure, fantasy, horror, and historical fiction. They also publish short story collections. Authors they have published include Graham Masterson, Barbara Hambly, Dorothy Cannell, Mike Ripley, Charles Belfoure, Diane Fanning, and Marcia Talley, among others.
At the moment, Severn House Publishers does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. All submissions must be made through a literary agent. If you have any questions or concerns, you can get in touch with the Severn House team here.
12. Lantana Publishing
Based in Oxford, Lantana Publishing is an award-winning children’s book publisher specializing in inclusive books that celebrate social equality, diversity, and environmental sustainability. Alice Curry, Founder and CEO, started Lantana with the goal of addressing the lack of cultural diversity in children’s books. At the moment, Lantana is looking for picture book texts for 2-4 year olds, early reader fiction for 5-8 year olds, and middle grade fiction for 9-12 year olds. They pay royalties and advances.
If you are interested in submitting, you can check out Lantana Publishing’s submission guidelines here. For general questions and other concerns, you can get in touch with them via email.
13. Guernica Editions
Guernica Editions is a Canadian publishing company that was established in 1978. Guernica’s founders named the press after the Spanish city that was bombed in 1930s in the hope that their books would change the world for the better. Guernica Editions primarily publishes Canadian literature, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. They also make it a point to provide opportunities to ethnic minority writers who are often overlooked by mainstream publishers.
Guernica accepts manuscript submissions during their annual reading period which runs from January to April. All queries and manuscripts must be sent as attachments via email. They are very particular about manuscript formatting, so make sure you check out their submission guidelines here before submitting.
14. Fernwood Publishing
Established in 1991, Fernwood Publishing is an independent Canadian publisher with offices in Nova Scotia and Manitoba. They were originally founded as an academic publisher, but they now publish non-fiction books for general readers as well. They are most known for publishing books that deal with issues that are socially, politically, and economically significant.
Fernwood Publishing currently accepts submissions. They are most interested in non-fiction books in the following areas: activism and social change, women and feminism, social work, indigenous resistance and decolonization, economics, international development, politics, and more. Should you be interested, you can submit a proposal via email. For more information on what to include in your proposal, take a look at their submission guidelines here.
15. New Society Publishers
Based in British Columbia, New Society Publishers is a progressive publishing company that specializes in books on sustainability. Their areas of interest include the environment, climate change, sustainable building and design, food and gardening, modern homesteading, ecology and conservation, energy, progressive leadership, new economies, and social responsibility, among others.
New Society Publishers currently welcomes submissions in the form of book proposals. For information on what to include in your proposal, have a look at the submission guidelines posted on their website. Once you are ready, you can submit your proposal via email or post. For any additional questions, you can contact them here.
16. Text Publishing
Founded in 1994, Text Publishing is a Melbourne-based publisher that specializes in commercial and literary fiction and non-fiction. They have been awarded the ABIA Small Publisher of the Year award three times, and they won the Leading Edge Books Small Publisher of the Year in both 2018 and 2019. They welcome submissions from unagented authors, and they pay royalties and advances.
Text Publishing welcomes fiction and non-fiction submissions, including young adult and upper primary. They are not interested in poetry, plays, or picture books at the moment. If you are interested in submitting your work to Text Publishing, you can check out their submission guidelines here. If you have any additional questions, you can reach Text Publishing through the contact form on their website.
17. Hachette Australia
Hachette Australia is the Australian division of the international publishing company Hachette Livre. They publish fiction and non-fiction books for adults and children, and they are always eager to discover great stories from talented authors residing in Australia or New Zealand. They are currently open for submissions, but at the moment, they are not interested in fantasy, horror, science fiction, cookbooks, screenplays, poetry, or academic works.
For more information on submitting a proposal to Hachette Australia, you can check out the submissions page on their website. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact the Hachette Australia team here.
Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of Writing Tips Oasis.