5 Digital Imprints of Major Publishers Accepting Submissions - No agent required

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Updated 8/7/23

Did you know that you can get published by a major publisher without an agent? Under normal circumstances, the doors of major publishers are closed to unagented writers. But with the advent of the digital revolution, major publishers are seeing the possibility of making sales without much outlay. Publishers still have to edit ebooks and hire graphic designers for covers, but they don't have to spend anything on printing costs, at least not initially.

The advantage of digital first imprints with major publishers is that they can lead to print runs, provided the ebook sells well. You also get the advantage of having been published by a major publisher, which gives you significant bragging rights. In addition, if your first ebook does reasonably well, you can continue with the publisher.

All of these are traditional publishers.

For a list of over 150 publishers that don’t require an agent click HERE. 

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Forever Yours is a digital-only imprint of Grand Central Publishing, which is part of Hachette Book Group. Forever Yours publishes new works as well as backlist titles from its nine-year-old Forever imprint. The imprint publishes two to four e-book titles a month. What they are looking for: Forever Yours is currently accepting all styles of romance, particularly contemporary, diverse reads, romantic suspense, cowboys, historicals, and paranormal. They are not looking for any YA, fantasy, mystery, general fiction, or nonfiction. How to submit: They are accepting novella length works (25,000-50,000 words), as well as longer works from 50,000-100,000 words. Read guidelines here.

Tor Teen is an imprint of Tor/Forge, which is an imprint of Macmillan. Tor is one of the top sci-fi/fantasy publishers in the world, but they also publish general fiction for young adults. Since Tor Teen launched in 2003, they have published fiction by Cory Doctorow, Brandon Sanderson, Kendare Blake, David Lubar, Veronica Rossi, Susan Dennard, and Kristen Simmons, among others. Submissions: Tor's guidelines are quite detailed. Make sure you follow them to the letter, otherwise your submission will not be read. See their submission guidelines here. Note: TOR TEEN occasionally has open reading periods. Click here for details.

Carina Press is one of Harlequin’s digital-first adult fiction single-title imprints, publishing first in digital, with releases in audio and print as well. Carina Press publishes a wide range of adult fiction genres and features books from talented authors in all genres, including romance, science fiction, fantasy, mystery and more. What they are looking for: All subgenres of romance with all levels of sensuality, from the very sweet to the incredibly erotic, featuring couples (or multiples) from all walks of  life and sexual orientation, including same-sex romances. They publish novels and novellas. How to submit: Please submit queries for only completed, fully polished manuscripts, unless previously arranged otherwise with an editor. If a response has not been received after 12 weeks, please follow-up via your submittable account by adding a note to your submission log. Read full guidelines HERE.

HarperCollins: Heartdrum. Heartdrum is a Native-focused imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, author-curated by Cynthia Leitich Smith and edited by Rosemary Brosnan. "Our focus is on Indigenous stories that reflect Native people whose Nations are located within the borders of what’s now called the United States and Canada. In this, we are mindful and inclusive of intersectional identities and various modern settings.We are open to considering picture book, chapter book, middle grade novel, and young adult novel manuscripts as well as middle grade and young adult nonfiction manuscripts, and both poetry and graphic novel formats. Writing that reflects young protagonists and/or youth-related topics are welcome. Our emphasis will be on contemporary, near histories and/or futuristic works, including realistic fiction and genre fiction." Read full guidelines HERE.

One More Chapter: HarperCollins (UK) publishes commercial fiction globally across ebook, print and audio formats.

They accept the following fiction genres:

• Crime & Thriller
• Historical
• Romance (spicy, romantic suspense, romantic comedy, erotica)
• Contemporary
• YA/Crossover/Adult Fantasy
• Romantasy
• Horror