10 Best Book Publishing Companies in Iowa (Submissions)

Iowa is called the “Writing Capital of the World” for a good reason. The state had a profound impact on American literature and has a thriving writing community to this day.

Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa is one of the top creative writing programs you can take, and the Iowa City Book Festival attracts literature lovers from all around the world. The Hawkeye State is also home to a university press, independent literary publishers, a lyric-prose journal, and the agencies and newspapers where Iowa writers find paid work. Below, you’ll find ten of them, with what each one does and where to submit or make contact. To offer a broader view, you may also want to explore my detailed list of 2,000+ publishing firms.

Submission policies change without notice, so confirm on the publisher’s own page before you send anything, and never pay a reading fee. Last verified: October 3, 2026.

Here are the best book publishing companies in Iowa:

1. University of Iowa Press

The University of Iowa Press is a renowned academic publisher based in Iowa City. Established in 1969, it publishes scholarship, literature, and creative work in fields such as history, literary studies, poetry, and nonfiction, with a strong interest in diverse voices and perspectives. It takes proposals in its acquisitions areas, but not unrevised dissertations, conference proceedings, Festschriften, or plays, and it asks for a full manuscript only by invitation. Submission guidelines.

Working on a book of your own? You can publish it yourself with PublishDrive (affiliate link).

2. Ice Cube Press

Ice Cube Press is an independent book publisher in North Liberty, Iowa, founded by Steve Semken. It uses the literary arts to explore the Midwestern heartland, publishing nonfiction, memoir, nature writing, and some fiction, and it has been called the best indie press in Iowa. Ice Cube Press is not accepting submissions right now because its schedule is full into 2027. Its guidelines still describe a two-paragraph email query for anyone who wants to ask, with slow replies. Submission guidelines.

3. The Write Place

The Write Place is a content and design agency in Iowa that works with businesses and authors. For authors it offers paid book cover design, children’s book illustration, and other publishing services, starting with a personal consultation. It is a service provider for self-publishing writers, not a publisher that acquires books. Contact the Write Place.

4. Landauer Publishing

Landauer Publishing is a well-known quilting and sewing book publisher that began in Iowa and is now an imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing. Its catalog covers traditional, art, and modern quilting, and each book includes patterns and step-by-step instructions for making quilts by hand or machine. If you are a quilter with a book idea, approach it through Fox Chapel. Landauer Quilting Books.

5. Astri Publishing

Astri My Astri Publishing is the small Iowa press of author and publisher Deb Nelson Gourley. It specializes in bilingual English-Norwegian books on Norwegian heritage and language, including translated histories with detailed maps and name indexes and simplified-text editions with audio CDs. It publishes its own projects and has no submission page. Contact Astri My Astri.

6. Des Moines Register

This is a daily newspaper in Des Moines, Iowa, US. It was first published in 1849 and has since become the largest newspaper in Iowa, Des Moines Register covers a large range of topics, which include local, national, and international news, politics, business, sports, entertainment, and opinion pieces. It is known for its investigative journalism, having won several Pulitzer Prizes for its reporting. Contact the Register.

7. Arrow Publications Inc.

Arrow Publications Inc. is the Cedar Rapids publisher behind the books and teachings of Christian author Francis Frangipane. Its old bookstore address now leads to the Frangipane ministry shop, which sells his books and audio and video teachings. It publishes one author’s work, so treat it as a reference point for Christian ministry publishing, not a place to submit.

8. Grey Dog Media

Grey Dog Media is a Des Moines content company that produces branded content across digital, print, and video for its clients, with cross-functional creative teams handling everything from strategy to production. It is a lead for freelance writers and creatives, not a book publisher. Contact Grey Dog Media.

9. Eastern Iowa Review

Eastern Iowa Review is a literary journal from Port Yonder Press that publishes lyric prose, smart and lyrical nonfiction, and prose poetry. It reads blind through Submittable during its reading periods, asks for work in final form, and usually responds within about six weeks. It also publishes books, paying ten free copies and a discount on more in place of royalties. Submission guidelines.

10. Iowa Writers’ Workshop

The Iowa Writers’ Workshop is a renowned graduate creative writing program at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Founded in 1936, it offers an MFA and has shaped generations of American writers, with long-time faculty such as Marilynne Robinson and visiting writers such as Carmen Maria Machado and Garth Greenwell. It is not a publisher, but it runs the Iowa Short Fiction Award and the John Simmons Short Fiction Award, whose winning collections the University of Iowa Press publishes. Applications close each December 15 and require a hard-copy manuscript. Contact the Workshop.

Conclusion

If you have a book, the University of Iowa Press is the clearest route, and the Iowa Short Fiction Award is a route for story collections. For shorter lyric work, try Eastern Iowa Review. Ice Cube Press is worth watching for when it reopens, and the Write Place can help you publish on your own. Next up, you may want to explore a guide on the best book publishing companies in Phoenix.