Hey friends,
I wanted to put a couple of solid options on your radar today—especially for those of you who are querying agents, waiting on responses, or simply exploring every legitimate path available.
Bookouture and their science fiction & fantasy imprint Second Sky both accept unsolicited submissions. You do not need an agent to send them your work.
Bookouture is a digital-first publisher and a division of Hachette UK. They focus on commercial fiction with strong storytelling, rootable characters, and clear reader appeal. Think crime and thriller, psychological suspense, domestic suspense, women’s fiction, contemporary romance, romantic comedy, historical fiction, and more. They’re looking for full-length manuscripts that feel ready for the commercial market.
Second Sky is their dedicated science fiction and fantasy imprint. Same company, same open-door policy, just focused on SFF (including military SF, cozy romantic fantasy, urban fantasy, dark romantasy, epic fantasy, and similar).
Both imprints want the complete manuscript. They ask for a short pitch/blurb and a brief author bio. They aim to respond within about a month. No children’s books, poetry, short stories, or screenplays.
What makes them worth knowing about is the combination of accessibility and legitimacy. They’re part of a Big Five publisher, they have a strong track record of selling commercial books (tens of millions of copies across the list), and they actively acquire from unagented writers. Many of their authors publish without agents and stay with them for multiple books.
If your work fits their lists, these are real doors that are currently open.
Here are the direct links:
Bookouture: https://bookouture.com
Second Sky: https://secondskybooks.com
Please read their guidelines carefully before you hit send. Make sure the manuscript is polished, the pitch is tight, and the book actually belongs on their list. A strong fit matters more than almost anything else.
I know how discouraging the traditional path can feel when agents are slow or silent. Options like these don’t replace the value of a good agent, but they do remind us that there is more than one route into professional publishing. Sometimes the door that opens isn’t the one we were staring at the hardest.
Keep writing. Keep submitting when the work is ready. And take good care of yourselves in the process.
I’m rooting for you.
Brandy