Part I: A Big List of Cookbook Publishers
Want to get published? Here's everyone all in one place.
I’ve never found a good list of cookbook and food and drink publishers in one handy place, so I created my own. It was a challenge but worth it. I want to end the year with a bang for you paid subscribers, because you’re important to me.
And actually, I wanted to figure this out for myself anyway.
Why do you need this?
Even if you’re a published author, you might not know who owns which publishing company or how the company that published your book fits in among other publishers.
Or maybe your agent is submitting your book proposal right now. You’ll want to research the publishers they pitch, and see how they rank.
If you want to publish by submitting a cookbook proposal directly to a publisher (because you don’t have an agent), I’ve listed who wants to hear directly from you, with a link to how to submit. I’ll say more about this in a Part II newsletter.
And if you’re a literary agent, you might already have a list like this or you might need one!
About this list
There are all sizes of publishers here, from giants to independents. Some only want to hear from your literary agent, not you. These are the Big 5 and their sub publishers, called imprints. Their websites state, “Does not consider unsolicited manuscripts.” An unsolicited manuscript (or proposal) is one sent by a writer. If you submit, you’re likely to not hear back.
(There are exceptions. I sent you an interview I did with a Big 5 editor recently, who said you could query her directly, and gave her email. That’s great insider information, because it’s not the norm.)
I’ve included publishers outside the U.S. Sometimes you like a publisher’s books, and think they might be a match for yours. You might not know where they’re based, however. Or you might hope they buy the rights to publish your book. Or you live outside the US!
This newsletter is getting too long, so I’ll send Part II shortly. I’ll give guidance on how to submit your book idea to publishers directly on their websites, and what happens if a publisher wants it (Yay!). Now, let’s get to it:
(Notes and disclaimers: This list is probably incomplete and will be out of date the moment it publishes. I have not included university presses and religious publishers, because a girl can only do so much. I did not include publishers of just a few cookbooks. Sometimes the only info available about the publisher is a link to its books. Sometimes the big publisher lists all the imprints’ books on its own website, and there is no website for each imprint. Lastly, this is a long post. If you can’t see it all in your email, click at the top to view it in your browser. Or click “view entire message.”)
A. The Big 5 Publishers
These are the biggest cookbook publishers and their imprints. All state that they only want to hear from literary agents. As a result, you will not find submission guidelines online. The links I’ve embedded take you to their lists of published food-related books.
Hachette Book Group. Imprints: Artisan Books; Hachette Go!; Little, Brown; Running Press; Workman Publishing. Voracious is an imprint of Little, Brown.