All about unsolicited submissions
on small presses and where to send work without an agent
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Dear Kate,
Is there a list of publishers of fiction that eagerly accept queries from writers directly and without an agent?
- Tom S.
Dear Tom S,
This is a great question I’m sure a lot of people have, and while there isn’t one list with all the publishers you’re looking for, there are definitely publishers accepting queries from unagented writers! With a little bit of elbow grease, you can find the ones that are potentially the best fit for you and your manuscript.
Here’s how to start your search:
The publishing term you’re looking for is “unsolicited manuscripts.” When publishers say they accept unsolicited manuscripts, that means they’ll read work that doesn’t come to them through an agent.
You can search for “publishers + unsolicited manuscripts” and generate lists of options, such as here and here and here and here.1 You can further narrow your search by including the genre you’re writing in.
Different presses will have a different focus, so you want to make sure your submission matches what they’re looking for — no need to set yourself up for an automatic rejection. Check out the publisher’s website, read some of their books, and get a feel for whether your manuscript would be a good fit for their catalogue.
Each publisher’s website will have information about how to submit. As with querying agents, you’ll want to make sure you follow their instructions carefully. You’ll need some kind of pitch letter, with a query and likely a synopsis. They may request partial pages to begin with, and then get in touch with you if they want to read more.
As with everything in publishing, submissions can be VERY SLOW, so see what guidelines they give for how long to wait before you nudge them. Some places may ask for an exclusive, which means that you don’t send your manuscript anywhere else while they’re reading. I think this is okay if they can promise you a reasonable turnaround time and you’re especially excited to work with them, but it’s unfair for a publisher to hold your manuscript hostage for months (or even years!) at a time with no answer. Ideally you’ll aim for simultaneous submissions, meaning you continue to send your manuscript elsewhere while you’re waiting.
If you want to submit to publishers without an agent, you’re primarily looking at small presses.
The largest publishers, known colloquially as the “Big 5” (Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster)2 mostly don't take unagented submissions.3 So if you want to publish without an agent, that means you aren't interested in pursuing a contract with one of these players.
If you do want to be with one of these publishers, either with this manuscript or sometime in the future, I would strongly encourage you to pursue an agent first, even if that means writing another book, and another book, and so on, until your craft intersects with what the market is looking for and an agent wants to sign.
This isn’t because agents are better, or agented books are better, or books published with major publishers are better, or books published by any publisher are better. It’s just that you only get to debut once. You only get to have one first novel, where you’re all potential with no sales record attached. There are definitely stories of people who start with smaller presses and work their way up. I love seeing this happen, and I wish it happened more! Publishing would be better and books themselves would be better if we as authors had a chance to build a real career this way, by steadily building our craft and our backlist and our audience. But I don’t run the world (yet), and the unfortunate reality is that if you have a book published, then when you’re trying to sell the next book, agents and editors are going to want to see those sales numbers. If they’re modest, which let’s be honest they often are, it can be hard to convince them that your next book will be a sound investment that will lead to greater sales. This is of course a stupid chicken and egg situation, because if your sales are small because your small publisher’s reach is small, then a larger publisher with a larger reach will likely net you a larger audience. But publishers are risk-averse, and it can be hard to make that leap from a smaller to a larger press once you’ve already started on one track. (It’s less tricky to move from a larger press to a smaller press.)
Not everyone wants to be at a large press! There are SO MANY reasons to go elsewhere. Smaller presses are often able to devote more time and attention to your work. You may be a central title that the press is rallying behind, rather than one of hundreds fighting for marketing dollars. Smaller presses are often the ones putting out more interesting and innovative work (yeah, I said it…). They have loyal fans and followers who know they like what that press is doing. This can be a great way to find your people and your niche.
Smaller presses aren’t even necessarily small! Many of them are major players and their authors are out there winning awards, hitting lists, connecting with readers, etc. just as much if not more so than authors at a Big 5 press. It’s a HUGE umbrella term that can mean anything from established, reputable imprints to something that some dude cooked up in his basement that’s going to fold in 3 months and take your hard work with it — so be sure to do your due diligence before you commit. If a publisher asks you for money upfront, or asks you to pay ANYTHING at all, be aware that this is what’s called a vanity press, and no other language they use (“hybrid” or a “collaborative” model or whatever) can disguise that fact. If this is what you want to do, okay! All I care about is that everyone understands what they’re getting into and isn’t surprised or disappointed down the line.
Please make sure to do your research and ideally have an industry professional look over your contract before you sign anything. Look for standard publishing contracts so you have an idea of what should be in it—and what shouldn’t. A publisher should NOT charge you for production costs or take those costs out of your royalties. There should be clauses about rights, and a clear understanding of how to terminate the contract and get your rights back if need be. You want to be able to request an audit of your publisher if necessary, and make sure that any non-compete clause isn’t overly restrictive regarding what you write next. A contract is designed for when things go wrong, so think through the worst-case scenarios and how you’d want your work to be protected.
One more important thing to note:
Once you submit your manuscript somewhere, you can’t resubmit it to that same imprint. The policy might be more flexible at smaller presses, but whereas you can usually requery agents if you’ve revised substantially, it’s tougher to get a second look from a publisher.
Moreover, if you submit to a publisher and they say no, and then you get an agent, your agent can’t submit your manuscript to the publisher that already passed on your work. Maybe your new agent has a contact at that publisher that would have helped you get past the slush pile, but now they can’t use it. You might not care about getting the agent, in which case this doesn’t apply to you. But many people submit simultaneously to small presses and to agents to see who bites first, so it’s something to be aware of.
If you’re saying whoa, this is a lot of work to research and pitch and query and even bypassing an agent is still a big undertaking — yes. It is. There’s writing the book, and then there’s… everything else.
If anyone reading would like me to research and put together a list of agents, comps, and/or publishers accepting unsolicited submissions for your specific project, I’d love to help. I’ve been getting questions from some of you about your specific queries, synopses, what comps would be right for your book, and so on, and I’ve been steering those requests toward my editorial biz, Broad Editorial. I’m ALWAYS open to general questions here, but also putting in a plug that there are opportunities to work together one-on-one if that is better suited to your needs. This includes editing your submissions materials, opening pages, or your whole manuscript. My goal is to help you be in the best possible position to get the yes you’re looking for.
As always, keep sending me your questions for Ask an Author using the Questions Form. I love hearing from you about what you’re working on and what would help you in your journey!!
Good luck!
Kate
I haven’t vetted these publishers!! I’m presenting these lists for informational purposes, not as an endorsement. Be sure to do your own research!
This used to be the “Big 6” before Penguin and Random House merged … and people started referring to them as the “Big 4” because PRH was in the process of buying S&S … but the government won a lawsuit preventing the merger … so now who even knows what’s happening. (Not me!) For the purposes of this post I’m including S&S and using the umbrella term Big 5 for those large publishers that require agented submissions.
There are a few exceptions, for example Avon is a division of HarperCollins and it does take agented submissions, but I think it’s the only one. There are also sometimes open windows at certain imprints. Berkley, for instance, has occasional open calls for manuscripts, and other publishers might have similar opportunities. Again, note that if you submit to Berkley during their open window and they pass on your manuscript, your agent — if you get one later — can’t submit that same manuscript to Berkley anymore.