6 Best Book Publishing Companies in San Diego (Submissions)

San Diego has a small but varied publishing scene, from a university press to comics, children’s books, and clinical textbooks.

Publishing from a San Diego address does not mean a company wants your manuscript, so each entry below says what the company publishes and whether it takes submissions. Six companies made the list, and two familiar names are covered near the end. If you want to look beyond this city, browse my wider collection of publishing platforms.

Related content:

• Publishers in California
• Publishers in Southern California
• Publishers in Los Angeles
• Publishers in San Jose
• Publishers in San Francisco

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 top book publishing companies in San Diego:

1. San Diego State University Press

San Diego State University Press is the oldest university press in the California State University system, run by an editorial board of SDSU scholars and scholars from other universities. Its imprints and series include Hyperbole Books, Amatl Comix, SurText (U.S.-Mexico border and Southwest history) and Code[x] (avant-garde scholarship, semiotics, queer theory, gender studies, and translation theory). It also publishes the journals Poetry International and pacificREVIEW. SurText and Code[x] say they are accepting manuscript submissions from new authors, and editorial queries go to the press director. The Binational Press imprint is on hiatus. Submission guidelines.

2. Thunder Bay Press

Thunder Bay Press is an imprint of the Printers Row Publishing Group, based in San Diego, and it is known for illustrated books in categories such as cooking, crafts, coloring, and lifestyle, many of them licensed. Its contact page says it is closed to unsolicited manuscripts for now, so treat it as a publisher to follow rather than one to pitch. Fans of art and photography books and cookbooks will find plenty in its catalog. Contact page.

3. IDW Publishing

IDW Publishing was founded in San Diego in 1999 and now operates from Studio City, in Los Angeles. It is a major comic book publisher best known for adaptations of licensed properties such as Transformers, Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Ghostbusters, alongside original science fiction, fantasy, and horror graphic novels. IDW does not publish submission guidelines on its site, so reach out through its contact page before you send anything. Contact page.

4. ReadersMagnet

ReadersMagnet is a self-publishing and book marketing company, not a traditional publisher. Authors pay for its packages, which cover publishing, copy editing, graphic design, and marketing, so you hire it instead of submitting a manuscript for acceptance. Its contact page lists a San Diego area-code office line. If you are comparing paid services, read the publishing guide and ask for a full price list first, and see how it compares with hiring an editor yourself.

5. Silver Dolphin Books

Silver Dolphin Books is a children’s imprint of the Printers Row Publishing Group, which is based in San Diego. It is known for board books and interactive books with flaps, pop-ups, puzzles, and stickers, aimed at readers from toddlers to older children. If you write picture books or board books, note that the site does not publish a submission policy, so use the contact page to ask how to reach an editor. Contact page.

6. Plural Publishing, Inc.

Plural Publishing is based in San Diego and publishes textbooks and professional resources for speech-language pathology, audiology, and related fields. Its readers are students, researchers, educators, and clinicians. The company says it welcomes original textbook proposals in communication disorders, and its proposals are peer-reviewed. Submission guidelines.

Names you may be looking for

Digital Book Labs

Digital Book Labs is a book-promotion agency based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and it sells paid marketing services instead of publishing manuscripts, so it is not a San Diego publisher.

Fondo de Cultura Económica

Fondo de Cultura Económica is a Mexican publisher whose San Diego branch was a distribution warehouse that closed in 2025, so confirm how to reach its editors before you send work.

Conclusion

San Diego publishers are a mixed group. SDSU Press and Plural Publishing take proposals in their academic niches, Thunder Bay Press is closed to unsolicited manuscripts, IDW and Silver Dolphin do not publish submission guidelines, and ReadersMagnet charges authors for its services. Match your book to the right kind of company before you write a pitch, and keep writing for the readers who will find it. Next up, you may want to explore a guide on top of book publishers in Vermont.