11 Hybrid Publishing Companies (Verified Submission Links)

A hybrid publisher takes your money and does the work a traditional publisher would do. That arrangement can be excellent value or an expensive way to print a book, and the difference is almost always visible before you sign.

Every entry below says who actually owns the company, what you are paying for, and who distributes the finished book, because that last one is where the real differences hide. Four of them are on this page because they keep getting listed as hybrid publishers and are not, which will save you a wasted pitch. If you want the wider field first, the 3,000 publishing companies directory is the hub for this series, and the traditional publishers guide covers the houses that pay you instead.

Terms, prices and submission routes change without notice, so confirm on the company’s own page before you sign anything or send money. Last verified: July 31, 2026.

Hybrid publishers: you pay, they publish and distribute

1. Greenleaf Book Group

The most established name in this model. Founded in 1997 by Clint Greenleaf and based in Austin, Texas, Greenleaf is a distributor first and a publisher second, and its own About page puts master distribution to bookstores, airports and specialty retailers at the core of the business, which is the part most hybrids cannot offer. It describes the model plainly: you pay for the publishing services, and you keep creative control, your intellectual property and most of the royalties. It accepts submissions through a form on its site or by email, and its acquisitions team says a decision can take up to four weeks. Imprints include Greenleaf Book Group Press, River Grove Books, Fast Company Press, Inc. Original and Wonderwell. Submission guidelines.

2. She Writes Press

A hybrid press for women authors, now based in Phoenix, Arizona, and an imprint of The Stable Book Group. Two things separate it from most of this category. It has been distributed to the trade by Simon & Schuster since August 2024, which is why its titles reach bookstores and qualify for review outlets that self-published books are shut out of. And it vets what it takes: authors invest in a publishing package and keep up to 70% of net royalties, but the catalogue is selected on literary merit, not on who can pay. It accepts submissions only through the route set out on its submit page. Its annual STEP contest awards two full publishing packages plus a 500-copy print run to women writers of colour. Submission guidelines.

3. Mascot Books (Amplify Publishing Group)

Founded in 2003 by Naren Aryal after he self-published a children’s book about the Virginia Tech mascot, and now the flagship of a group: the company rebranded to Amplify Publishing Group in August 2022, and Mascot Books is one of its imprints alongside Amplify Publishing, RealClear Publishing and Mascot Kids. It is based in Herndon, Virginia, and publishes fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks and children’s titles. Its About page makes a point of rejecting fixed packages, because the acquisitions team evaluates each project and issues an individual proposal, which is a reasonable thing to hold them to when you get your quote. It accepts submissions through a form or by email with a synopsis. Submission guidelines.

4. Scribe Media

Read the history before you sign, because the company behind the brand is not the one that built it. Scribe Media LLC went bankrupt in June 2023: the team was laid off and its lending bank foreclosed. The brand, the process and part of the staff were bought by a new company backed by Enduring Ventures, with former Scribe author Eric Jorgenson appointed chief executive, and it has been publishing again since August 2023. Scribe has put all of that on its own blog. Today it writes, publishes and markets books for entrepreneurs, executives and experts, including ghostwriting, through two imprints: Lioncrest Publishing for authors who buy editorial work, and Houndstooth Press, the larger of the two. It accepts submissions through a free consultation, not a slush pile. Submission guidelines.

5. Hybrid Global Publishing

A New York company founded in 2011 by publisher Karen Strauss. It aims squarely at authors, speakers and entrepreneurs publishing to build authority, and it manages production, distribution and sales for them. The headline claim on its About page is speed: manuscript to on-sale date in eight to ten weeks, which is roughly a tenth of a traditional publisher’s schedule and the main reason a business author would choose this route. It accepts submissions directly, without an agent. Ask what the eight-to-ten-week timeline assumes about the state of your manuscript when you hand it over. Submission guidelines.

6. Luminare Press

Based in Eugene, Oregon, and working with writers anywhere. It is worth being precise about what this one is: Luminare describes itself as self-publishing services, not a press that acquires books, so the book stays yours in every sense and the company supplies formatting, cover design, editorial, distribution and ISBNs. Packages are published on the site and the free consultation is the way in, which makes it easy to price against a competitor before committing. It accepts submissions from any author who wants to buy that help. A small mark in its favour: its blog runs a steady line in warning authors about publishing scams and the newer wave of AI-written fake solicitations. Submission guidelines.

7. Genesis Publishing House

A small operation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, run by two publishing professionals, offering publishing, editing and audiobook services plus a traditional manuscript evaluation. Be clear about the fit before you approach it: the company leads with God, Family and Freedom and invites authors specifically looking for a Christian publisher, so writers outside that worldview are not the audience. Its pitch to the ones who are is a plain one: no expensive add-ons, and no continual calls asking for more money. It accepts submissions through a free consultation. Submission guidelines.

8. MindStir Media

Founded in 2009 by author J. J. Hebert, with a Boston, Massachusetts address, and heavily marketed — celebrity endorsements, Inc. 5000 placements and press-release awards are the house style. Underneath the marketing it is a straightforward author-services company: packages covering design, editing, printing, ebook conversion, distribution and marketing, with ghostwriting available, and it accepts submissions through a free consultation. Worth knowing before you gather quotes: MindStir also operates Manhattan Book Group, which appears as a separate entry below and on most other lists of hybrid publishers. Those two are the same company. Submission guidelines.

9. Manhattan Book Group

A New York City hybrid publisher, and an imprint operated by MindStir Media. Its own newsroom describes J. J. Hebert as president of MindStir Media, “which operates the imprints Manhattan Book Group”, so treat the two entries as one decision. On its own terms it is a full-service program built around a Manhattan address and a Hemingway family endorsement, and its contact page is candid that the author program is offered only to authors who qualify, with unsolicited mail and drop-ins prohibited. It accepts submissions through a qualification form, not a manuscript inbox. Submission guidelines.

10. Balboa Press

The self-publishing division of Hay House, the self-help and mind-body-spirit publisher founded by Louise Hay, and it is run in partnership with Author Solutions. Both companies say so on their own sites. Hay House’s manuscript guidelines add the part that decides whether this is worth it to you: Balboa titles are kept separate from the books Hay House itself sells, though Hay House reviews sales and occasionally picks up a successful title and republishes it. That long-shot upgrade is the whole proposition. Authors buy a package, and it accepts submissions in self-help, spirituality and related genres. Submission guidelines.

11. Archway Publishing

Archway carries the Simon & Schuster name, and that name is the reason most authors find it, so here is the fine print in Archway’s own words. Its FAQ asks “Am I being published by Simon & Schuster?” and answers: no. The company is operated by Author Solutions, which lists Archway among its imprints alongside AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford and Xlibris. What you are buying is a self-publishing package with editorial, design and marketing support, and you keep your rights. It accepts submissions from any author who buys one. Judge it against the other packages on this page on price and deliverables, not on the logo. Submission guidelines.

Often listed as hybrid — but they are not

These four keep turning up on hybrid publisher round-ups. They are real publishers and several are excellent, but none of them works on the pay-to-publish model, so knowing what each one is saves you from pitching the wrong thing.

12. Nova Science Publishers

An academic publisher in Hauppauge, New York, working across medicine, the social sciences, engineering, economics and the sciences. It accepts proposals directly through a form and promises a decision within 30 days; chapter abstracts go through a separate form. Publication runs four to seven months, and the company says its titles are submitted to indexing databases such as Scopus. Formats run from ebook-only to hardcover, and there is an open-access option that carries a fee, which is the one place its model asks the author for money. Submission guidelines.

13. Black Rose Writing

An independent Texas press founded in 2006, and not a hybrid: it does not charge authors, which makes it the most competitive option on this page. It accepts unsolicited manuscripts through an online submission form only, one title at a time, and its guidelines put the query response at about three weeks. The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses lists it as taking unsolicited work. It is a recognised International Thriller Writers publisher, an at-large member of the Authors Guild, and sits on the Ingram Publisher Advisory Board. If your book is fiction or general nonfiction, query here before you price a package anywhere else. Submission guidelines.

14. Open Book Publishers

The opposite of pay-to-publish. OBP is a scholar-led non-profit social enterprise in Cambridge, UK, founded in 2008 and now the largest independent open-access monograph publisher in the country. Every book is free to read online, and there are no mandatory open-access fees for authors, because the programme is funded by grants, a library membership scheme of more than 270 institutions, and print sales. It accepts proposals by email to its managing director on a book proposal form, which then go to the editorial board and at least two expert reviewers. Email only: it asks authors not to post printed manuscripts. Submission guidelines.

15. Nimbus Publishing

Nimbus Publishing is a conventional trade publisher that takes no money from authors, whatever the “Nimbus Hybrid Publishers” name it is sometimes listed under might suggest. Founded in 1978 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, it publishes around 55 titles a year on Atlantic-Canadian subjects across fiction, nonfiction, history, children’s books and photography, with Vagrant Press as its literary imprint. Its submissions moved to an online-only process through Submittable and now run in occasional windows. Right now Nimbus does not accept submissions, and its own page says so. Watch its social channels for the next opening, because recent windows have been a fortnight long. A Canadian publisher worth the wait if your subject fits. Submission guidelines.

Names you may see on other hybrid lists

Five more companies turn up on round-ups of hybrid publishers. Here is what each one actually is, so you do not spend a week pitching the wrong kind of business.

Inkstone Books is not a publisher. It is a UK online bookshop selling signed and special-edition fantasy and science fiction; its own terms point buyers to the individual publisher of each book, and there is no manuscript route anywhere on it. A separately owned site with a near-identical name exists, which is probably how the confusion started, but the two businesses are unconnected.

Sunflower Publishing is not a book publisher. It describes itself as a Kansas-based publisher of city and regional magazines and guides: Lawrence Magazine, Topeka Magazine, KANSAS! magazine, Best of Lawrence and several visitor guides. There is no book programme to submit to.

Prodigy Publishing House could not be confirmed to exist. Two rounds of searching found no publisher at the domain it is usually listed under and no company of that name in Atlanta, Georgia. The nearest real match is a Philadelphia imprint with a different name. Treat any solicitation using this name with suspicion.

LifeTree Media is often listed in Los Angeles. It is a Vancouver, British Columbia press, publishing non-fiction and offering publishing services to authors. Its catalogue runs to six titles, and nothing recent enough surfaced to confirm it is still trading.

Pen to Print Publishing is a real Delhi self-publishing company, and its registered LLP was posting new academic titles in 2026. It publishes no page setting out its submission terms, so ask for those in writing before you commit to anything.

How to judge a hybrid deal

The Independent Book Publishers Association publishes criteria for hybrid publishers, and they are the right yardstick even though almost nobody meets all of them: publish under your own imprint and ISBNs, vet submissions rather than accept everyone, publish to industry standards, be transparent about costs, pay above-standard royalties, and demonstrate a distribution route. Any company that objects to being measured against a public industry standard has told you something.

Four questions get you most of the way. Who distributes the finished book, and to which retailers? What exactly is in the quote, itemised, and what costs extra later? What royalty rate on net, and net of what? And who owns the ISBN and the files if you walk away? A company that answers all four in writing before payment is a different proposition from one that answers them on a call.

Two habits are worth keeping. Get every quote in writing and compare at least three, because prices in this category vary by an order of magnitude for similar deliverables. And before you pay anything, check whether a traditional publisher would read you for free. Black Rose Writing above is one, and there are others that take unagented work, and a rejection costs you a fortnight and nothing else.

Conclusion

Hybrid publishing is a service purchase, not a book deal, and the good ones are honest about that. The strongest options here are the ones with a distribution answer: Greenleaf into the trade, She Writes Press through Simon & Schuster, Mascot Books through its own group. Distribution is the one thing an author cannot arrange alone. The rest of it, the editing, the cover, the formatting, you can buy from freelancers if that turns out to be cheaper.

Before you commit, read the free routes: the traditional publishers guide covers who reads unagented work, and the full 3,000 publishing companies directory is the place to look for a press that already publishes books like yours.