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Is it possible to contact USA publishers directly? If so, can I find publishers by genre, like I can find literary agents by genre?

Or do publishers have no interest in genre? If so, what's the best way to search for USA publishers online?

If I can find USA publishers online, do they have submission guidelines? If not, do I send them a query letter? If so, do I send the letter to a certain person or to the publishing company? Do I send them a proposal / sample chapter as well?

It may be better to contact a literary agent, but I want to maximize my chance to publish a book.

I've asked a question before about literary agents in the USA, see here How to find the right literary agent in the USA?.

user38951
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  • Check out the Writer's Market. While it's international to some degree, it's very focused on the US. They also have some specific to genre or types of work (like one for poetry and short stories, one for children's literature, etc). You can find it as an e-book and, if you have access to Hoopla (through a library), it's free. – Cyn Apr 29 '19 at 18:06
  • Check out https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/5119/how-would-i-find-a-publisher-who-is-accepting-unsolicited-manuscripts-from-autho – Cyn Apr 29 '19 at 18:08

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Yes, you can contact publishers directly. They DO care about genre, but most publishers publish in a wide range of genres. Your best bet to find what genres they cover is to purchase an up-to-date copy of "Writer's Market." Yes, they will typically list submission guidelines online. Query first, unless the submission guidelines say otherwise. Address it to a specific person if at all possible.

In my experience, agents are most interested in mainstream, highly marketable books --and while that describes most publishers as well, there are some smaller, niche or quirky publishers (and/or imprints) that may be interested in books that wouldn't be popular enough to snag an agent.

Chris Sunami
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  • What do I do if a publisher asks for a $10 administration fee? – user38951 Apr 29 '19 at 20:13
  • That's not a request that legitimate publishers make. – Chris Sunami Apr 29 '19 at 20:16
  • Is it worth it to buy 'Writer's Market'? According to this article https://www.firstwriter.com/articles/?What-went-wrong-with-the-Writer-s-Market-and-the-Writers----Artists--Yearbook&GUID=212 from 2013, it has ten pages for contact details. – user38951 Apr 29 '19 at 20:22
  • Writer's Market is how I sold my book. I wouldn't recommend it for finding agents (AgentQuery is better), but if there's a better resource for contacting publishers, I don't know it. That article you linked is an advertorial... – Chris Sunami Apr 29 '19 at 20:33
  • You contacted agents before you had a deal with a publisher? – user38951 Apr 29 '19 at 20:35
  • @user38951 No. https://writing.stackexchange.com/questions/41855/is-it-true-that-writers-dont-really-need-agents-and-they-can-just-query-publish/41932#41932 – Chris Sunami Apr 29 '19 at 21:03
  • @user38951 No don't buy one that is 6 years old. I mean the articles about how to publish are still sound, but the listings will be completely wrong in many places. Get the 2019 or 2018 one. They have them as e-books. In the US, all libraries have them in the reference section. Maybe they will in other countries too, especially English-speaking countries. Worth a try. – Cyn Apr 29 '19 at 21:38
  • @Chris Sunami Wow, after reading many articles about the howabouts of literary agents, query letters, proposals, tips, do's and don'ts and everything else when contacting a literary agent, the book and the stackexchange page you referred to seem like actually valuable information. Thanks

    P.S. I just read your last comment. I've already bought the 2019 edition. I just referred to the article, because of what the guy said, the date was irrelevant to me

     – user38951 Apr 29 '19 at 21:41
  • @Chris Sunami When contacting an agent after the publisher accepted the manuscript, does the agent want to see a query letter, proposal or manuscript or is it enough to say that the publisher accepted the manuscript? – user38951 Apr 29 '19 at 21:52
  • Ask the publisher to recommend an agent, then query that agent including the information that you have a deal in hand and that you were referred by your publisher. – Chris Sunami Apr 30 '19 at 03:50
  • This publisher http://www.mondialbooks.com/publish-your-book-free.html is mentioned in Writer's Market 2019 and they ask for $10 administration fee. I asked you before about the fee and you said that legitimate publishers don't make that request. So why is this publisher referred to in Writer's Market 2019 and are they legitimate? – user38951 May 01 '19 at 17:29
  • @user38951 I trust Writers' Market, so if they are listed, I'd say that means they aren't a vanity press. But that's very unusual. I don't think I've ever heard of a reading fee for a legitimate publisher. Maybe it's true that they're a shoestring budget niche press, and can't otherwise afford to vet their submissions. Still, it seems like a bad sign that their sales aren't covering their expenses. – Chris Sunami May 01 '19 at 21:16
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You may also be interested in looking at Publishers Global. They have listings of publishers and you can search or filter on what kinds of subjects they publish. Keep in mind that some publishers, especially larger ones, may have multiple imprints to keep different genres separate (e.g., one imprint for sci-fi and another for mystery). I used this to get a list of possible publishers in my area, but then have to go to their websites and look for info. With the big publishers, you are going to need an agent, but for mid-smaller it seems like many are willing to take submissions directly from the author. Read their submission guidelines, they will tell you if they want a query or a sample chapter or whatever.

Terri Simon
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