The 17 Best Christian Publishers – Bookfox

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These are 17 publishers who are actively seeking Christian manuscripts of all stripes and genres.

Most of these publishers are traditional publishers, but I have a few on this page that are hybrid publishers (half desktop publishing and half traditional publishing).

You are reading: Christian children’s books publishers

There are pros and cons to both publishing paths, so I advise you to do your homework on each publisher listed here, and also decide beforehand what type of publisher you’re looking for.

1. zondervan

Zondervan is the gold standard of Christian publishing. They’re the best known and have been around for a long time (80 years!). If you’re looking for the highest quality, I would start here. They are a branch of Harper Collins, which gives you the power of one of the biggest publishing houses behind you.

if you want me to mention a bit, they have published rick warren, rob bell and hal lindsey.

publish a variety of genres, including Christian children’s books, Christian fiction, and Christian non-fiction, including memoirs.

You should especially take a look at his new brand now, blink young adult. blink is looking to “clean you up”, but that doesn’t mean they’re looking for innocence or avoiding difficult topics.

recent swatches:

• “Move” by Greg L Hawkins and Cally Parkinson, a nonfiction book which surveys 1,000 churches to determine whether church goers are actually growing closer to Christ.
• “The Mountain Midwife” by Laurie Alice Eakes, a novel about a woman who wants to abandon her family roots of midwifery to go to medical school.

2. baker’s books

So Baker has 6 imprints, and each one publishes slightly different things.

1. revell: This is conventional fiction, aimed at the widest possible audience. although there are religious themes, the stories and characters are still accessible to a secular audience.
2. bethany house: they publish aba fiction, which means it has stronger religious connotations, with a strong moral code. it is more conservative and more religious than partying.
3. chosen: this is what baker calls a “spirit-empowered” imprint, meaning they release material that is charismatic or pentecostal.
4. baking books: this is non-fiction. focuses on thoughtful treatments of the Christian life. they also post big name bloggers and resources for pastors. is baker’s largest imprint.
5. baker academic: it’s in the title. academic work only. they are only looking for current professors or others in the academy. and the work is only intended for other scholars, so if you are a scholar looking for a wider audience, please see below.
6. baker bravos – this also publishes work academics, but is directed at those both inside and outside of academia. so, in general, it has a bit more accessible topics, while still being academic.

baker only accepts shipments directly from agents, but they do accept slush shipments through this portal:

www.christianmanuscriptsubmissions.com

Your editors visit that portal when looking for certain types of manuscripts, and if your manuscript is chosen, well, good luck.

3. intervarsity press

Intervarsity Press doesn’t focus on mass market Christian living. They are more focused on what they call thoughtful Christian books, books about church, culture, and mission.

They like anything to do with spiritual formation, as you’ll see in the examples below, and social issues and social justice.

these are some of the titles published by intervarsity:

• the liturgy of the ordinary (I can confirm that it is a fantastic book)
• silence and beauty (I went to church with mako in new york, and he is a genius at painting and brilliant at pointing out themes in shusako endo’s work).
• slow church (love slow motion)
• ancient saints and sinners

4. westminster john knox press (wjk)

WJK leans toward the progressive, especially when it comes to social issues, so if you’re conservative, this probably isn’t the best publisher for you.

they pursue social issues through a Christian worldview, spirituality, devotions, and also have an academic branch.

They have a wonderful imprint called “flying books” that focuses on children’s books.

Not all children’s books are expressly religious, but they all have positive messages and problems that children face.

an important note to senders: they like creative retelling of Bible stories.

wjk sample titles:

• the testimony of religion in an age of fear
• holy solitude
• resist and persist: faith and the fight for equality
• borrowed by all

5. kregel publications

Kregel is looking for general nonfiction about Christian living. Sample titles:

• A Woman After God’s Own Heart
• Church History Invitation
• Mending Broken Branches: When God Reclaims Your Dysfunctional Family Tree

Their Gilead imprint focuses on contemporary Christian fiction, and they seek out traditional CBA fiction as well as literary fiction.

Also, they just launched a very interesting new label that I hope will be a fantastic success: it’s called enclave press and it’s focused on Christian sci-fi and fantasy.

6. radiant books

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With a tagline like “Helping Kids Thrive,” you can probably guess that this is a Christian publisher of children’s books (They used to be called “Sparkhouse Family” and have recently changed their name).

• courage and grace: heroic women of the bible
• don’t forget to flush! a devotional for tweens
• the world that jesus knew: a curious kids’ guide to life in the first century

As you can see, they tend towards non-fiction titles with strong lessons and information for kids.

7. herald press

Herald Press is a Mennonite publisher and they are looking for books that are from an Anabaptist perspective.

focus on spirituality, reconciliation, justice and community.

note well: they are not looking for any academic title.

sample titles:

• fledge: throw your children without losing your mind
• mystics and misfits: meeting god through st. Francis and other unlikely saints

8. eerdman post

This is a fairly large Christian publisher based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

They are looking for children’s books, culture and religion, pastoral care and advice, and contemporary spirituality.

They do not publish memoirs or fiction.

sample titles:

• god, improvisation and the art of living (with a preview of my friend susan e. isaacs)
• el santo no: worship as a subversive act
• believe me : the evangelical path to donald trump

9. the upper room

If you are looking to publish your devotional, I would humbly recommend this publisher.

are looking for authentic, sensory-based devotionals that explore what it means to be a faithful Christian.

They also publish books on spiritual formation:

• lent/advent books
• small group study guides

10. wipf and shares

They have an extremely robust poetry-publishing imprint called Poiema. If you have Christian poetry, I would strongly recommend buying a few of their books and seeing if your book of Christian poems would be a good fit.

the cascade imprint publishes a variety of non-fiction.

Their biased imprint publishes fiction, but right now they only have a handful of titles. however, they told me that they are eager to expand their fiction offerings, so check back on what they’ve published before and submit when they need it.

luckily, they only have one submission portal, and publishers will decide which publisher your book might be suitable for.

11. grumpy editors

Moody has a great reputation in the Christian community, mainly because of their reputation for the Moody Study Bible and Moody Bible Institute (even I took a correspondence course in Biblical Hebrew from them eons ago). But does their publishing branch match up to their reputation in other ventures?

They have a good pedigree, having been founded in 1894, and they have good brand recognition among people who want to buy their books. They also have a good stable of authors like John MacArthur, A.W. tozer and gary chapman.

Overall, I’d rate this an excellent editor. It is not my first choice among those on this page, but it is among the best. One advantage is that they accept a wide variety of nonfiction and fiction. for their fiction categories they accept the following: children’s, fantasy, sci-fi, ya (young adult) and mystery.

The worst thing about moody is that they are not very friendly to senders. you just can’t send them your manuscript, because they don’t accept slush piles. instead, here are the three ways to get a manuscript to them:

• through a literary agent
• through an author they publish (a personal connection)
• meeting them at a writers’ conference

sample titles:

• How should Christians vote? by tony evans. most Christians begin with the question “who” they should vote for, rather than “how” they should vote; in other words, what principles should be used to determine who to vote for?
• the davis bunn twist. Five people hear a voice from God commanding them to fight America’s cultural leadership. what happens next is unpredictable.

12. dove christian publishers

dove christian publishers is a hybrid publisher, meaning some of their books are traditionally published and don’t charge the author, and others are self-published, meaning they charge you to publish with them.

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They publish fiction and non-fiction, and they don’t give advances.

They say they are looking for authors with some kind of social media platform, and also for books that are doing well in the Christian market. They say some books can take up to 12 months to get published, but most require 4-6 months to get published (12 months would be a normal timeframe, while 4-6 months is extremely fast in the industry).

They provide 25% royalties on e-books, which is the industry standard (although some independent publishers go as high as 50%), and 10-15% royalties on physical books.

Sample Titles:

• more than a great partner: how to find and keep the right partner. a great self-help book that helps single people find the right partner and married people stay married.
• the regency. In this high-octane thriller, a Washington D.C. man is killed by an assailant. shepherd and then chases a young woman.

13. bethany house

About half of their titles are paperbacks, and the rest are published only as ebooks, which is important if your book absolutely needs to be in print. some christian book publishers get a bad rap for only publishing bonnet fiction, and that’s not bethany house at all; most of his fiction does not mention overt religious themes in the descriptions, although Christian undertones are present in the book. but the beverly lewis atonement has the traditional amish garb on the cover :

sample titles:

• letters to my daughter: the art of being a wife by barbara rainey. after 4 decades of marriage, rainey decides to share her wise wisdom on marriage with her newlywed daughters.
• the legacy of michael phillips (fiction, book #1 of a Serie). after the death of the clan patriarch, the family fights over the inheritance in the shetland islands.

14. cross link posting

Cross-link posting makes it very easy to submit a manuscript to them. there is a button in the top left corner of their website that allows you to submit directly to them, which is much better than waiting for an agent to accept your manuscript. They’re also very open about what kind of contract you’d get, and they post a sample author contract on their website.

They sell their books at a pretty low price point — Confessions of a Ninja Mom on Amazon was selling for $4.84, which means your royalties would be lower by a third than if you were selling at $15.00 for a paperback. Awaken Your Might, a Christ-centered devotional aimed to improve your leadership skills, is priced at $3.99 (!!). These are good price points if you are a reader, but not such good price points for an author trying to earn money. But obviously their business model is more about selling tons of copies at a lower price point, so if that’s what you want as an author, go for it.

This manifesto lets you know a little more about their publishing philosophy, including a commitment to absolute transparency and that authors must make a decision on their book within 7 days (an industry record!). Be sure to read the comments at the bottom of this post to see other authors’ experiences with this editor.

Overall, I think this is a better choice for nonfiction than it is for fiction. I didn’t find very many fiction titles that they’ve published, and had a hard time figuring out the pitch for the novels they do have.

sample titles:

• the rise of the prophet (fiction). a young adult novel that retells a familiar biblical story.
• the gift of rest (non-fiction) examines rest from a biblical perspective, from genesis to revelation.

15. Thomas Nelson

Thomas Nelson is a really solid publisher, one of the best. It’s kind of a sibling with Zondervan, because both are subsidiaries of HarperCollins (don’t worried, you won’t be quizzed on this).

what is the difference between zondervan and thomas nelson? not so much. both are largely Protestant and evangelical in the broad sense of that term. The biggest difference is that Zondervan is an upstart (1931) and Thomas Nelson has been around for centuries (1798). Furthermore, Thomas Nelson has annual income that far exceeds that of Zondervan. what does age and gross income have to do with you, the author? not really, to be honest.

thomas nelson publishes great authors, people like john eldridge of “wild heart” fame and sarah young of “jesus calling” fame, as well as shauna niequist, max lucado and the storybook bible of jesus for kids, which just recently sold 2 million copies.

I wouldn’t call them theologically discerning, but more ecumenical in their approach. Which is fine, because this is a business and not a church. It’s difficult to get a manuscript accepted here, but if you get in it’s a great sign about the quality of your submission.

sample titles:

• the ebenezer stone, by susan van volkenburgh. a novel that retells the biblical story of the battle for the ark of the covenant.
• steve farrar, manna (non-fiction): when you are in the desert, how will god provide for you?

16. words of faith

Faithwords describes itself as catering to the “Christian inspirational market.” Which can pretty much be summed up by a single one of their most popular authors: Joel Osteen. As far as fiction, their most popular author is Paul Young who wrote “The Shack,” as well as Ted Dekker.

so they are reaching a much broader market for christian books than more conservative evangelical publishers like thomas nelson and zondervan. it’s more like self-help combined with a slight Christian veneer.

sample titles:

• grace revolution by joseph prince. how to “live above defeat” and conquer your problems.
• overload by joyce meyer. how to live a stress free life.
• dr. atheist by james dobson, about the housing crisis and three people trying to get out of financial despair.

17. paraclete press

Paraclete is a Christian publisher looking for fiction, a wide variety of nonfiction, and poetry. But they don’t take children’s books, sermons, or commentaries.

Their shipping page is a little hard to find on the website, but here are their shipping guidelines for what you’re looking for.

here are two sample titles:

• “be still and listen”, which is a nonfiction title that probably fits under devotional/spiritual life
• “revelation”, which is a novel by suzanne m. Wolfe, and here’s the description: “Rachel Piers, a bright young conservatrice at a Manhattan art gallery, is given the dream assignment of restoring a mysterious medieval painting in a church in Rome.”

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