List of NYTimes-bestselling publishers which accept unagented MSS

[dondomat]

Perhaps not the correct place to post this - a list I just compiled of publishers who accept unagented submissions, and who appear to be capable of having a book reach the official industry bestseller lists. ('appear to be capable' in the sense that we don't know for sure whether the success is because of them or in spite of them, but I prefer to assume that they helped)

This list only covers 2012 up to March and the autumn of 2011. Theoretically this list can grow and grow.

There are also a considerable number of self-publishing people there, most of them ladies about 3-4 of them here in one week. Someone should make a list of them to inspire the self-pub section.

Ellora’s Cave http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html


Harlequin http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html


Samhain http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html


Baen http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html


Writer’s Coffee Shop http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html


Kensington http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html


Algonquin http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html


Sourcebooks http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html

Farrar, Straus and Giroux. http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html

Tom Doherty http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html

[dondomat]

Apr 13th 2012 update:
Entangled Publishing: http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2012-04-15/combined-print-and-e-book-fiction/list.html

[aoliver]

Thanks so much for this list!

[Jamiekswriter]

I liked that the Ellora's Cave one was book 6 in the series. While obvious, it brings the point home to me that there is definitely a readership relationship going on. i.e. the more books you have out there, the more people you can attract.

[CaoPaux]

(Just a note that I edited the title for clarity.) </OCD>

[dondomat]

Haha, thanks very much, CaoPaux,
also, glad you found it useful, Aoliver and Jamie

[Mustafa]

There's a lot more than that. Perhaps you're talking about a specific genre?

[dondomat]

Originally Posted by Mustafa

There's a lot more than that. Perhaps you're talking about a specific genre?

Specific time frame - "now" - too lazy to sift through the NYT lists of years past, just keeping my eye on what happens today. If you can add names and links from before the end of 2011, would be much appreciated.

I think that every different publisher only needs to be mentioned once, to establish the achievement, further mentions would just clutter up the list.

Anyone wants to know how many times exactly the publisher's books have hit the bestseller lists - time for some personal research - that's what authors do.

[Barbara R.]

Coming to this late, but I wanted to say thanks for the list. I've bookmarked it to pass on to my classes. It's a good reminder that it's not just a choice between the big 6 and self-publishing; there are alternatives. One of my students is now publishing with Entangled and she couldn't be happier.

[Silver-Midnight]

Thanks for the list.

[dondomat]

September 2012 starts off with a bang - three titles by small publisher Entangled are on the NYT bestseller list.
http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-...tion/list.html

Also, one self-pubber.

Also, another publisher who accepts unagented submissions, who has titles on the list - Soho Press.

[Silver-Midnight]

Thanks for the update.

[juliatheswede]

Great post!

[retlaw]

I wonder ... is it possible to put together a list like this by genre?

[gingerwoman]

Thanks for the thread.

[andiwrite]

This thread is so useful. I will be using this when I begin submissions soon. *bookmarked*

[gingerwoman]

Originally Posted by Jamiekswriter

I liked that the Ellora's Cave one was book 6 in the series. While obvious, it brings the point home to me that there is definitely a readership relationship going on. i.e. the more books you have out there, the more people you can attract.

I'm puzzled by why this is often the case. Books by the digital first publishers that have hit the NYT Best Sellers list tend to be the third or later in a series. Why would this be? Have these extra people that pushed this novel onto the best seller list not read the first two or give books in the series?

[writeontime]

Thanks for this thread - it's really useful.

[Jess Haines]

Originally Posted by gingerwoman

I'm puzzled by why this is often the case. Books by the digital first publishers that have hit the NYT Best Sellers list tend to be the third or later in a series. Why would this be. Have these extra people that pushed this novel onto the best seller list not read the first two or give books in the series?

NYT gets their figures weekly. It's not calculated by the numbers of that book sold over time, it's what's hot that week.

If you're building a readership over time, then not everyone will discover you the same week you release a book, particularly if you are a debut.

As your books/name becomes known, people start talking, word of mouth is generated, etc, which leads to more sales. As more people come to like your work, they preorder or add you to autobuy lists or buy into the hype generated from the word of mouth around release time, which means more (read: enough to catapult you to the NYT list) sales on release week when the next book comes out.

[gingerwoman]

Yes I understand it now NYT Best sellers aren't books that have sold more over all but books that have sold a large amount in a very short period. So that is why it's so often the third book in a series that hits NYT not book one in the series, because people who loved books one and two race out to buy book three as soon as it is released meaning a lot of sales in one week.