Lots of my readers want to know more about how to get published, so last week, I shared a list of fantasy and science fiction publishers who accept unagented submissions. This week, I’m doing the same thing with romance!
This isn’t a comprehensive list. Romance is a huge genre, and there are lots of opportunities out there for writers who don’t have agents.
I’ve left off some publishers because I just haven’t heard anything about them yet. I’ve also left off a few that specialize in certain types of erotic romance, because I have a lot of underage readers on this blog (although most of the publishers here do publish racy stuff as well.)
If there’s a publisher you believe should be added to the list, let me know via a private message at bryndonovan@bryndonovan.com.
The name of each publisher is a live link to their submission guidelines. Follow those exactly for the best results!
Bold Strokes Books
They publish LGBTQ fiction, including romance.
Bouroughs Publishing Group
They’re looking for both romance and women’s fiction, novellas and full-length novels.
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Carina Press
This is Harlequin’s mostly-digital publishing arm, and I published my haunted house romance Sole Possession with them. They’re open to a wide range of lengths and subgenres.
Dreamspinner Press
They specialize in gay male romance, and it looks like they’re currently looking for both contemporary and paranormal.
Entangled Publishing
I believe this Macmillan imprint does a lot of young adult and new adult as well as regular-adult romance.
Forever Yours
This is a romance ebook division of Grand Central Publishing.
Hallmark Publishing
The Hallmark channels recently launched this books division. Full disclosure: I’m the director. They’re looking for full-length romance novels that are lighthearted, fun, and wholesome without being religious. Note that if the book does get made into a movie, that’s a nice extra payday for the author.
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Harlequin
They accept unagented submissions for series romance, which are the smaller/skinnier Harlequins.
Imajinn Books
I associate them with paranormal romance, probably because of the name, but they do historical and contemporary as well.
Lyrical
This is the ebook division of Kensington. They note that if you don’t hear back in a query in three months’ time, that’s effectively a rejection.
Soul Mate Publishing
A fairly new player in digital-first romance. They mention that they’re open to chick lit, which I don’t see as much of these days.
Sourcebooks
They’re looking for novels of 85,000 to 100,000 words, which is pretty long in the romance genre.
The Wild Rose Press
They’re a digital-first imprint that’s been around for a while. They’ve publish several subgenres, including a lot of Western Romance, which is more unusual.
Whether you’re writing romance or something else, I wish you lots of luck on your projects! And if you don’t want to miss future writing posts, make sure to follow the blog: there’s a place to sign up below. Thanks for stopping by!
THank you so much for this list. I may give some of them a go if I ever get this novel ready.
You’re welcome Erin! And you’ll get that novel ready 🙂 It’s coming along!!
Thanks, Bryn!! I’ve never really written any Romance, but I had heard a few months back that Hallmark was looking for novels and I got excited about it because I feel like my current WIP has a “Hallmark Channel” kind of feel to it. LOL Also, I know you’ve mentioned you work at Hallmark previously, but I forget every time until you mention it again. It’s kinda like the Silence (Doctor Who). :p
Hey there! Yes, send your story our way when it’s ready! The Doctor Who reference made me laugh 🙂
So Brynn, what are your thoughts on the digital-first publishing? It seems the main pull of going traditional instead of independent is the print access, right? Am I missing something? I’m glad you mentioned that SourceBooks accepts longer, which is standard for historical but I still don’t often see that length listed. I have two friends published through SourceBooks and at least one of them was in the slush pile.
Hi there! Great question. 🙂 With digital-first, the benefits of traditional publishing are that someone else takes on the expense and responsibility for providing the editors, doing the formatting, proofreading, cover design, ISBN, copyright, etc., as well as all of the expense and most of the responsibility for marketing (although the author may be asked to do a little to help with promo.)
PS – I appreciate the input about publishers! But I deleted your publishing links to give me a chance to check them out first — I asked for suggestions to be shared through private message for that reason. Hope you understand! I may be updating the list in the post!
Oops, Bryn – I’m sorry about that (and for spelling your name wrong). Yikes!
Oh no, please don’t worry about either one! And it’s always nice to hear from you 🙂
Good Morning, Bryn…It seems to me that every time I have a question is floating around in my head, you show up with a post to answer it or give me some sort of direction. I’m beginning to think you have ESP. 2018 IS GOING TO BE MY YEAR. Rest assured, there is no doubt in my mind that I will continue to need your guidance. You Are Absolutely The Best. I am grateful….
Hi, Jan! Ohh, thank you so much for the kind words…I’m so glad my blog is helpful! It sounds like you are doing some great things. And I’m grateful to have you for a reader!
Thank you, Bryn, for these helpful posts. I’m sure they’re of benefit to many writers. Best wishes.
What a great list—thank you so much for this post! I will for sure get my manuscript out to Hallmark if I can get it finished and polished. My goal is spring:)
Awesome, Erica! Looking forward to it! If it helps, the main reason I pass on manuscripts is that they are too sad for us…people grieving over a recent loss, a child who’s sick, etc. And we also avoid premarital sex as part of the backstory (a hero who’s been a playboy in the past, an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, divorce due to infidelity, etc.) Might not be an issue, but I just thought I’d mention those things in case they help! Happy writing!
I so enjoyed your blog. I just completed book one of the Arabian Lycan’s series. And I have already started book two. I have already completed five other novels. I write paranormal romance but I also have some young adult. Your help is so appreciated.
Tirgearr Publishing — http://www.tirgearrpublishing.com — also takes unagented and unsolicited submissions. They’re open for subs most of the year and take all commercial genre fiction. They’re a digital first publisher with very generous royalties.
Thanks Bryn for your generous help here! I am getting closer to being ready for submissions, and as always, you are right there providing support, great info, and encouragement. Big Hugs to you for all you do for writers everywhere.
Thank you Bryn, for all the information. I’m delighted to find your blog and have sent in my romantic suspense novel Doomsday Girl to Hallmark. Now I’m crossing my fingers 🙂 Best wishes Ellie
Hello Bryn,
I recently started writing, and as far as sending in a submission I have no idea where to begin. I think my genre would be erotic romance. Do you have a recommendation of a publisher who excepts stories with erotic sex scenes? Or a writers group where I can post stories to get advice on my writing?
Hello Bryn,
I am new here. My name Raj Guendaraju and I am writing from Bangkok, Thailand. I have written a paranormal romance series (3 books) which is set mostly in northern Thailand. The three books are called Midnight Cocoon (Book 1), Dark silk (Book 2) and Black Moth (Book 3). Currently, I am looking for an agent or a publisher. I am wondering if you could give me some directions in any one who would be interested in a book that is set in Thailand. Thank you in advance for any assistance you could give me.
PS: I used to live in Long Beach, California for ten years and went to school at Cal State Long Beach. I wonder if it is around your ballpark? Also, I have hired a professional to do my covers and this has been completed – if that would help.
Hi Raj! It’s nice to hear from you. Congratulations on completing your trilogy! I don’t know for sure which publishers are open to Thailand settings, though I am sure some of them are. Almost all publishers are going to want to design the covers themselves, so you may not wind up with the covers you designed…unless you self-publish, which is also an option! Good luck with the books!
Hi Bryn,
You have so much great information on here (I only recently discovered this site). I am almost finished completing my degree in screenwriting (and non-fiction) but am attempting to write a novel, specifically for Hallmark. I have been watching Hallmark movies since around 2008-ish and am obsessed lol. I mostly write non-fiction and WOW – I am finding writing a novel waaaay harder than I thought. I have a greater appreciation and admiration for novelists, for sure! The deadline is approaching fast but I’m not giving up yet haha. Do you know if Hallmark Publishing will be taking more unsolicited manuscripts in the future? Also, how important is the editing process wen it comes to submitting to Hallmark (or publishers in general)? Would it be wise for me to invest in an editor before I submit?
Thanks!
Hi, Ange! So nice to hear from you! I know this isn’t everyone’s experience, but I personally found it really hard to learn how to write a novel. Hallmark Publishing will be open to unsolicited manuscripts in February 2019 and very likely in one other month late in 2019, though nothing is for sure there yet!
*** I already see a mistake I made in my post that an editor would have caught!! (wen) Hahah
I’m going to go ahead and answer my question myself and say – “Yes Ange, an editor would probably be best!” lol
Oh, it happens to all of us! Including me in the blog posts!!
Bryn,
Thank you so much for this list! I wrote a book about 6 years ago, but only realized a couple weeks ago that there are publishers that will accept manuscripts without an agent. It’s been a long and frustrating 6 years trying to find an agent. Thanks again for the list.
Hi, Sarah! So glad the list is helpful. Congratulations on your book and good luck on submitting!
Hi, Bryn– Just seeing your blog for the first time. I’m wondering if you have any knowledge about romance magazines? I wrote many stories for various ones back in the ’80s (True Romance, Bronze Thrills, True Story, etc.), but there don’t seem to be any around these days. I also wrote for the defunct Helium website back around 2009, but I’ve never tried anything longer than stories or articles. If you have any info, I would love to hear from you.
I’m currently in the planning stage for my first novel, which is a supernatural, dramatic romance. I was inspired by one of the writing prompts from your horror writing prompts post and I’m very excited to really dive into writing my book. I’m so glad I found this article because I have no idea how to find an agent, and I want to eventually publish this book. It’s the first time that I’ve ever really decided to buckle down and finish a big project. I’m also very glad that there is a publisher who publishes LGBTQ fiction because I have several ideas that involve characters who are part of the LGBTQ community. Being part of that community myself, I’m very happy to find a publisher who is accepting to all kinds of love. Anyways, I’m getting kind of sidetracked here, so I just wanted to say that your blog is my new favorite place on the internet and you’re a huge inspiration to me with my writing. I also plan to buy your books as soon as I can. Have a great day or night!
Thank you for these ideas, Bryn! I appear to have shot myself in the foot, figuratively speaking, because I’ve self-published nine novels on Amazon through their desktop publishing platform so they are now considered “formerly published” and most of these publishers don’t accept formerly published works. I always figured, well, once I retire maybe I’ll have time to look for an agent (or to jump through all the hoops required to submit directly to a publisher), but in the mean time I had all these book ideas, so I went ahead and wrote them. It was pretty disappointing to find that because I self-published (something I readily admit has not been a lucrative endeavor so far), publishing companies aren’t interested. I had blithely assumed that if and when I ever found an agent or publisher that was interested in any of them I would simply remove them from the Amazon platform, but that appears to have been a naive assumption. Lesson learned—I’ll have to write some more books but not self-publish this time until I’ve had a good try at submitting them to a publisher first.
Hi, Su! Yes, that’s correct—most publishers aren’t interested in publishing work that’s already been published (although there may be some exceptions.) I think publishing is such a big learning curve for all authors. Good luck on the future books!