THE MAJOR PLAYERS
What's the difference between the BIG HOUSES and the smaller publishers. Besides an actual building, the Big Five create aka publish hardcover books for brick and mortar stores as well as mass market paperback, trade paperback as opposed to Createspace POD (print on demand). Some smaller houses claim to get their books into bookstores but it's the exception rather than the rule.
The Big Five aren't selling an author's rights to third parties and slapping cheap looking covers on past workhorses. (Buyer or rather beware.)
YET this is always pertinent and something writers forget to check out: how TOP authors do in a house in comparison to the general stable of authors. It can be an eye opener to discover and fully understand what rankings mean and translate to insofar as sales. If you don't understand, that is the first thing a writer needs to do. If you understand the monetary difference between a book ranked at 11 or 111 or 1111 or 11,111 or 111,111 or 1,111,111 then carry on. If not, go and do your homework for your own good.
Drum roll:
Avon Books— A subsidiary of Harper Collins and you bet, everyone has heard of them. They have
submission guidelines. Un-agented submissions accepted via Impulse.
Hachette Book Group USA — Several imprints and huge names. They publish the
Grand Central Publishing romances, including the
Forever and Forever Love lines. Manuscript submissions are easy to do. Answer questions and upload. Smack the 'easy' button.
Random House, Inc— They publish most of their romances under the
Ballantine/Ivy, Bantam/Dell, Delacorte, and
Doubleday names (a full list of their imprints is on
atRandom.com). Nix unsolicited manuscripts. But that could change, so check.
Simon and Schuster — They publish both contemporary under the
Pocket imprint and historical under the
Sonnet imprint. They have a page especially for
romance. They do have
submission guidelines in general, but again no unsolicited manuscripts. Although if you're keen into query letters, give Pocket a go.
SMALLER BUT STILL HOLD A MARKET SHARE. WELL-KNOWN.
Harlequin— Publisher of category and full-length romance fiction, as well as other types of genre books. HUGE AMOUNT OF IMPRINTS, which means find out which line your story matches. Click here for
submission guidelines carefully, as they are very specific for each different line.
St. Martin’s Press — Another big publisher, with some weird quirks as far as the web goes. They have a site, but very little info and their
submissions guidelines are fairly basic. Their romance line,
Tor, still has its own website.
A FEW LESSER KNOWN BUT SOME DO HAVE NEW YORK BESTSELLERS AND/OR USA TODAY AUTHORS
These non-traditional presses often produce work in both Print-on-Demand trade format (POD) and electronic press format. Check publishers for specific submission guidelines, royalty rates, and other pertinent information.
Amber Quill Press — An publisher who puts out romance, including erotic romance in electronic and trade paperback format. S
ubmission guidelines.
Changeling Press — This electronic and trade publisher mostly wants paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy, or fetish romance. They accept both straight and gay storylines. Guidelines are
here.
Cobblestone Press, LLC — Sensual and erotic romance publisher. They take everything from 10,000-word novellas to 100,000-word novels.
Echelon Press — An electronic small press that says it will publish their most successful titles in POD and even mass market. They take “all genres” of romance, as well as several other kinds of books. Highly specific regarding submission guidelines, so read with care:
submissions page.
LooseID – An erotic romance publisher that is currently accepting submissions from many romance genres (contemporary, historical, scifi/fantasy, etc.). Their
submission guidelines are fully detailed.
Lyrical Press — Imprint of Kensington. A mixed format publisher that is taking a wide variety of types of stories. IT currently states that they are looking for erotic romance over 60,000 words. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any of the books breaking out to become huge successes, but they do have
submission guidelines.
Resplendence Publishing — One interesting thing about this romance publisher is their policy on historical romance. They take up through the 40s and while they will take Regency-set romance, they are interested in time periods not necessarily taken by traditional publishers. Check out
submission guidelines.
Riptide Publishing — A publisher of LGBTQ fiction, romance, and erotica. Some of their authors do very well as bestselling writers.
Samhain Publishing, LTD — Epublisher/Trade Paperback publisher. They take all genres of romance, as well as other fiction such as horror, fantasy, etc.
Submission guidelines are available. SOME HUGE NAMES have come out of Samhain.