If you are a writer without an established audience, you might bypass traditional “Big Five” publishers and work with indie publishers that accept unsolicited manuscripts.
Independent presses publish some of the most daring fiction, poetry, and nonfiction in the US and Canada, and many of them still read work from writers without an agent. The catch is timing: most open only in set windows or through contests, and a few have stopped reading unsolicited work altogether. For each press below you’ll find what it publishes and exactly how it takes submissions right now. After this guide, browse my database of over 2,000+ publishing companies.
Submission policies change without notice, so check the publisher’s own page before you send anything, and never pay a reading fee. Last verified: October 2, 2026.
31 Indie Publishers and How They Take Submissions:
1. Bellevue Literary Press
Bellevue Literary Press is a nonprofit New York-based publisher known for literary fiction and nonfiction at the intersection of the arts and sciences. Bellevue is closed to unsolicited submissions outside its open reading periods, so watch its site for the next one. Its guidelines rule out memoir, self-improvement, popular reference, handbooks, cookbooks, plays, and poetry. Submission guidelines.
Did you know that many indie publishers operate on shoestring budgets, relying on a blend of passion and grassroots marketing? Despite these constraints, they’ve been responsible for launching some of the most influential literary movements, proving that true innovation often thrives at the edges of the mainstream.
2. Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press publishes about thirty books a year, mostly poetry, memoir, essays, novels, and short stories. Graywolf reads only during announced calls and prizes, and its submission manager currently shows no open calls, so sign up for its news and check its Submittable page. Submission page.
3. Kensington Publishing Corp.
Kensington is an independent publisher of over 600 books a year in fiction and nonfiction across imprints such as Kensington, Zebra, Pinnacle, Lyrical Press, Dafina, and Citadel. Unusually for a house its size, Kensington accepts unagented queries. Each imprint has its own guidelines, so match your book to the right one first. Submission guidelines.
4. Europa Editions
Europa Editions publishes international and translated fiction, from Italy and well beyond. Europa does not accept unsolicited submissions, so pursue it through an agent. It also warns that scammers impersonate its editors, and real mail comes from info@europaeditions.com. Contact page.
5. Haymarket Books
Haymarket Books is an independent publisher of radical, left-wing nonfiction, from politics and history to memoir. Haymarket accepts proposals for nonfiction through Submittable. It does not publish fiction, poetry, children’s books, dissertations, or AI-written proposals, and it does not take unagented submissions by email or post. Submission guidelines.
6. Melville House
Melville House, founded in Brooklyn in 2001, publishes literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Melville House does not accept unsolicited submissions, so in practice you will need an agent. Its homepage warns that unexpected emails claiming to be from the press are not genuine. Submission policy.
7. BOA Editions
BOA Editions is a nonprofit poetry and fiction publisher in Rochester, New York. BOA accepts manuscripts through named prizes and reading periods listed on one page. Its American Poets Continuum Series reads from April 1 to May 31, 2027, with no submission fee, for poets who have already published a full-length collection with a traditional publisher; its A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize is another route. Submission guidelines.
8. Akashic Books
Akashic Books publishes urban literary fiction. Akashic is not accepting submissions right now, its flash fiction web series have ended, and it gives no reopening date. It also warns about people impersonating its staff. Submission notice.
9. Dalkey Archive Press
Dalkey Archive Press, now an imprint of Deep Vellum in Dallas, publishes mostly experimental literary fiction, and only rarely poetry or nonfiction. Dalkey still accepts manuscripts by email with a query letter, and simultaneous submissions are fine. It receives around 12,000 unsolicited manuscripts a year, so expect to wait up to a year for a reply. Submission guidelines.
10. Coffee House Press
Coffee House Press describes itself as a nonprofit at the vanguard of experimental literature. Coffee House is closed to submissions while its open reading periods are paused, because of its small staff and technical problems in recent periods; new information will appear on its submissions page. It also warns about fraudulent emails impersonating its staff. Submission page.
11. Tin House
Tin House publishes literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. It has historically run short, fee-free submission windows for unagented writers through Submittable. Tin House is closed to submissions right now, so watch its website and Submittable page for the next window. Submission page.
12. Feminist Press
Feminist Press is a nonprofit publisher of intersectional work: international literature, hybrid memoir, boundary-pushing literary fiction, and activist nonfiction, about ten to fifteen books a year. It reads agented manuscripts on a rolling basis, but it is closed to unagented submissions until its next open call, likely in December 2026 or January 2027. When it opens, send a synopsis, a bio, a brief marketing plan, and at least three chapters through Submittable, and expect six to nine months for a reply. Submission guidelines.
13. Arsenal Pulp Press
Arsenal Pulp Press, in Vancouver, has more than 400 titles in print, from literary fiction and poetry to graphic novels, cookbooks, and regional history. Arsenal Pulp accepts manuscripts in specific areas only: books by BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ authors (including young adult and children’s), literary fiction and nonfiction, political and cultural studies, regional British Columbia nonfiction, and graphic works with sample art. Send a cover letter, synopsis, credentials, and the full manuscript. Submission guidelines.
14. George Braziller, Inc.
George Braziller has a long tradition of publishing fine books on art and art history, from medieval manuscripts such as The Très Riches Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry to postmodernism. Its site posts no current submission policy, so contact the press before sending a proposal. Art list.
15. Catapult
Catapult publishes literary fiction and nonfiction in a group with Counterpoint and Soft Skull. Its old magazine is now an archive, and catapult.co leads to the books site, whose about page points book submissions to its Submittable page. Check there for any open call before you send work. About Catapult.
16. Red Hen Press
Red Hen Press is an independent nonprofit publishing about twenty-five books a year of poetry, fiction, memoir, and creative nonfiction. Red Hen accepts unsolicited submissions, and its guidelines spell out what it wants. Expect a reply in three to six months, and note its warning about scammers using non-redhen.org addresses. Submission guidelines.
17. Soft Skull Press
Soft Skull Press publishes fiction and nonfiction alongside Counterpoint and Catapult, with distribution through Penguin Random House. Soft Skull is closed to submissions at the moment, according to its FAQ. FAQ.
18. Page Street Publishing
Page Street Publishing publishes young adult fiction. Page Street accepts queries for YA novels by email: a one-page query with a synopsis, word count, and bio, plus the first three chapters in the body of the email. It looks for edited manuscripts of 60,000 to 90,000 words with a protagonist aged 15 to 18, and it does not publish board books, early readers, chapter books, or middle grade. Submission guidelines.
19. Hub City Press
Hub City Press publishes literary fiction and poetry with southern roots. Through its South Carolina Novel series, Hub City accepts manuscripts on a rolling basis from writers who have lived in the state for at least a year, via Submittable. It also runs the New Southern Voices Poetry Prize for southern poets with at most one previous book. If you haven’t heard back within six months, assume your manuscript was not selected. Submission guidelines.
20. Autumn House Press
Autumn House Press is a nonprofit literary publisher. It takes manuscripts through prizes: for nonfiction, the Autumn House Nonfiction Prize reads personal essay collections and memoirs of 150 to 300 pages from March 1 to April 30, with a $2,500 award and publication. Entry carries a contest fee, which can be waived for financial hardship. Submission guidelines.
21. Four Way Books
Four Way Books is a New York nonprofit literary press. It reads in dated windows, all online and with a processing fee: the Levis Prize in Poetry from January 1 to March 31, 2027, open to any poet regardless of publication history, and the Ellen Bryant Voigt Series in Poetry each June. Submission guidelines.
22. Unnamed Press
Unnamed Press, in Los Angeles, publishes fiction and nonfiction from around the world. Unnamed accepts unagented queries by email with your manuscript attached. It warns that it cannot confirm receipt, so be patient. Submission FAQ.
23. Press 53
Press 53 publishes two to three short fiction collections and eight to ten poetry collections a year by US-based authors, and no novels or nonfiction. It finds authors through its contests and among widely published writers, not through open submissions. Its Award for Short Fiction is open to submissions from September 1 to December 31, and its Award for Poetry from April 1 to July 31; each winner receives a $1,000 advance and publication. Submission guidelines.
24. Unbridled Books
Frederick Ramey and Greg Michalson founded Unbridled Books in 2003 to publish moving, beautiful, and surprising literary fiction, and it still releases new novels. Unbridled is not accepting unsolicited submissions at present. Unbridled Books.
25. Ugly Duckling Presse
Ugly Duckling Presse is a nonprofit publisher of poetry, translation, experimental nonfiction, performance texts, and books by artists. It announces specific calls, such as its Señal chapbook series for Latin American poetry, whose 2027 call ran through September 2026. Check its submissions page for the next open call. Submissions page.
26. Forest Avenue Press
Forest Avenue Press, founded in Portland in 2012, publishes about two literary novels a year and pays royalties. Forest Avenue is closed to submissions after a record 2025 open period, and it will announce the next period on its site and social media. When it opens, it reads novels of about 60,000 to 80,000 words from US residents through Submittable. Submission guidelines.
27. C & R Press
C&R Press publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, and hybrid work. It runs annual full-length book prizes in poetry and fiction, two seasonal chapbook prizes, and seasonal open submission periods for full-length books, with dates on its Submittable page. Its 2026 prizes closed on September 21, and its open periods run back to back by season, so check Submittable for the current one. Replies take six to twelve months. Submission guidelines.
28. Tiny Fox Press
Tiny Fox Press publishes full-length genre novels, with a focus on fantasy and science fiction (especially with series potential), light and cozy fantasy, and YA. It reads queries only in announced windows, so check its submissions page for the current status before you query. It does not consider previously published or self-published books, story collections, poetry, or nonfiction. Submission guidelines.
29. Featherproof Books
Featherproof Books is an indie publisher of adventurous fiction, with new releases in 2026 from authors such as Tim Kinsella. Its Submittable page shows no open calls, and its last open window ran in August and September 2022, so watch for an announcement. Featherproof Books.
30. Big Lucks Books
Big Lucks Books publishes poetry and hybrid full-length books and chapbooks, distributed by Small Press Distribution and stocked by independent bookstores such as Powell’s. The most recent full-length title on its books page dates from 2020, and its site posts no current submission policy. Big Lucks books.
31. New Directions Publishing
New Directions has published modernist and international literature since 1936. New Directions no longer accepts unsolicited manuscripts, because its small staff cannot assess the volume it receives, but it tries to answer brief queries sent to its editorial address. It also runs the Novel Prize with Fitzcarraldo Editions and Giramondo, where writers in the Americas submit to New Directions. Submission policy.
Names you may be looking for
Mango Publishing
Mango Publishing is an independent publisher of personal growth, wellness, and lifestyle books. Its old web address now shows a placeholder page, so look for its current site before you submit.
Alternating Current Press
Alternating Current Press is a small literary press. Its website did not respond in October 2026.
Conclusion
Indie presses are the best route for writers who want a traditional deal without an agent, but timing is everything. Right now Kensington, Haymarket, Dalkey Archive, Arsenal Pulp, Red Hen, Page Street, Hub City (for South Carolina writers), and Unnamed Press are reading, and Press 53’s short fiction award is open until December 31. Others, like Feminist Press, BOA, Four Way Books, and Autumn House, open on fixed dates, so put them on your calendar. If you want more ways in, explore these digital publishing companies.
Rafal Reyzer
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