How to Find Publishers

The following post was first published in 2011 and is regularly updated to include new resources.

If you have a book idea or a manuscript, one of your first questions is probably:

How do I find a publisher?

Or, if you’re more advanced in your knowledge of book publishing, you may ask:

How do I find a literary agent?

The good news: there’s no shortage of resources for researching publishers and agents. The bad news: you can easily spend hours going down the rabbit hole of available information.

For years (since 1920), the most comprehensive resource in the United States was the annual Writer’s Market. It used to be accessible and searchable online via paid subscription, but no more. The most recent print edition came out in fall 2021 and it’s no longer released annually. Currently, the best online database for researching publishers is Duotrope.

Some of the resources I mention below offer useful features such as submission trackers, community message boards, and stats generated by users—which can be just as useful as the listings themselves.

Here’s a summary of the most well-known and popular places to find publishers and agents. If I’m missing an important resource, contact me.

Where to Find Publishers

Be aware that most New York book publishers do not accept unagented submissions, so sometimes “searching for a publisher” really means finding an agent (see next list).

• Duotrope ($). You’ll find thousands of listings in this online database, with an emphasis on literary journals, magazines, and online publications, many of which don’t pay. (E.g., they have more than 2,000 listings for markets that accept flash fiction, but fewer markets for full-length novels.) But they do include a sizable number of agents, publishers, contests, and anthologies.
• Chill Subs. A database for finding markets for more literary work (poetry, short stories, essays). They also have a newsletter called Sub Club that rounds up opportunities.
• Lit Mag News. A Substack newsletter and community that discusses issues relevant to literary journals and magazines—a good place to extend your research and get context for some of the outlets you might submit to.
• QueryTracker. Free to start, with premium ($) levels—but more agent listings than publisher listings.
• Authors Publish magazine: they send out an opportunities newsletter.
• The Association of University Presses publishes a subject grid of university presses and the subjects they publish. This is a valuable resource for finding an academic publisher. (Thanks to John Warren for the tip.)
• Manuscript Wish List. Editors and agents often post on social media what kind of books they’re actively seeking. This site aggregates those mentions. However, this site is not endorsed by the agent who started Manuscript Wish List; the official site is here.
• Submission Grindr. Free, focused on science fiction & fantasy.
• Jeff Herman’s guide. This is a well-established print-only competitor to Writer’s Market, assembled by a literary agent and updated every so often.
• Poets & Writers. Free database of small presses that are best for literary novelists, poets, short story writers, and so on. Use with caution; many of the listings are out of date.
• New Pages. This is a curated list of markets popular with creative writing programs and instructors; it’s a good place to go if you’re publishing short stories, poems, and essays.

Where to Find Agents

Many of the same resources that offer publisher listings also list agents. But there are a couple of resources that are unique and irreplaceable when conducting an agent search.

• PublishersMarketplace. Pricey ($25/month), but if you search the deals database at this website, you can study what books agents have sold going back to 2001, by category and keyword.
• AALA (Association of American Literary Agents). This is the official membership organization for literary agents. Not all agents are members of the AALA, but it’s not a bad place to check if you want some reassurance on the professionalism of your agent.
• Duotrope ($). See above.
• Manuscript Wish List. See above.
• Jeff Herman’s guide. See above.
• QueryTracker. See above.

Other helpful listings

• Literistic: excellent resource for contests
• The Christian Writers Market Guide
• For UK writers: Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook

For more information

• Start Here: How to Get Published
• How to Find a Literary Agent

Want someone to research agents and publishers for you?

• Check out Copy Write Consultants.

Jane Friedman

Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.

Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.