Aussie publishers who accept direct submissions

Traditional publishing is generally a long and arduous journey, but here in Australia there are many publishers who accept “unsolicited” manuscripts without them having to come through a literary agent. There are pros and cons to this, but here is a list of a few key publishing houses you can submit directly to!! →

Anyone who has considered pursuing the traditional publishing route will appreciate that it is generally a long and arduous journey. One which, in most cases, requires a writer to secure a literary agent before their manuscript even stands a chance of landing on a publisher’s desk. But during my research of the traditional publishing process, I discovered that things are actually quite different here in my own country. In Australia, it seems that many publishers—including the well-known and well-loved giants—allow prospective authors to submit their “unsolicited” manuscripts direct to the publishing house.

This is fortunate, because there are so few literary agents in Australia, and those who are around are so rarely open to submissions. While having an agent at your back in undoubtedly an advantage in the cut-throat industry of traditional publishing, especially when a publishing house always open to everyone is likely to have an enormous “slush pile”, it’s nice to know that there are options here in Australia. Today, I’d like to share with you a few key publishers accepting direct submissions, who I looked at for my own writing project. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I thought you might find it interesting!

Allen & Unwin is an independent publisher of literary and commercial fiction, a range of non-fiction, and books for children and young adults. They accept unsolicited manuscripts through their submissions system The Friday Pitch (which, despite its name, runs all week), and though it’s open internationally, generally only authors and stories with a tie to Australia or New Zealand will be considered.

Hachette Australia is one of Australia’s largest publishers, and the Australian specialist in the global publishing house Hachette Livre. They accept unsolicited manuscripts across certain fiction, non-fiction, and children’s genres, but only from residents of Australia or New Zealand.

Pan Macmillan Australia is another large Australian publisher, connected with one of the biggest and best-known publishing houses in the world: Macmillan. They accept unsolicited manuscripts from a wide variety of genres across fiction, non-fiction, and children’s, and while it’s a little unclear who is eligible to submit, they are “committed to investing in Australian authors and stories“.

Penguin Random House Australia is the Aussie subset of Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade book publisher. They accept unsolicited manuscripts across a variety of adult and children’s genres, but only during the windows specified on their website. Submissions must be from within Australia, New Zealand or Oceania unless through an agent or if the author has citizenship or residency.

Pantera Press is a smaller “social purpose” publisher dedicated to investing in the next generation of writers and publishing books that matter. They actively encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts from across fiction and non-fiction genres, but not children’s books (for 12 years and under). At this time, they are only open to Australian and New Zealand authors.

Text Publishing is an independent Australian publisher of a broad range of fiction and non-fiction, international and local books for adults and young adults. They accept unsolicited manuscripts throughout most of the year, but only from citizens or residents of Australia and/or New Zealand.

Hardie Grant Publishing is one of Australia’s leading independent book publishers with separate adult, children’s and travel divisions. The children’s division accepts unsolicited manuscripts across fiction and non-fiction genres when submissions are open on their website. It’s a little unclear as to who is eligible to submit, but they pride themselves on “working with Australia and NZ’s best and brightest“.

Have you ever submitted a manuscript direct to a publisher? What are the industry’s rules like in your country? Would you consider direct submission if it was available?