The Nonfiction Files 13: A Guide to Nonfiction Imprints
The ins and outs of nonfiction by imprint.
Here is my quick and dirty guide to nonfiction imprints in publishing. What’s an imprint? They are the divisions within a larger publishing house1. For example, Penguin Random House is the umbrella publishing house, but within PRH, you’ll find imprints like Riverhead, Penguin Press, Vintage, Doubleday, and many more. These imprints are editorially and creatively independent, which is how they can all have their own personalities and still fall under the larger corporate umbrella2. If you’re not sure how to identify an imprint, look at the spine of your book; that little logo or word is the imprint (or publishing house) for your book.
Today’s installment of The Nonfiction Files is all about breaking down and understanding the imprints, as I see them, when it comes to their nonfiction lists3.
Did I do any research on who these imprints say they are? No. Am I giving you my unverified opinion on these imprints? Obviously, yes.
Why does knowing about the nuances of an imprint matter? It is another way to help you think about your tastes in nonfiction. I track the details of everything I read, including imprints. This has led me to notice the patterns behind which places are publishing the nonfiction I love (and loathe) most. If you can identify an imprint you like, it’ll make sifting through the endless lists of books a little easier. Likewise, if you find some imprints don’t work for you, you’ll know what books to pass over. I think of it as similar to looking for keywords in jacket copy, knowing your taste by imprint can unlock a more enjoyable reading life.
Now, unfortunately, none of this is static. Imprints are made up of people, not least of whom are editors. Editors come and go at a given imprint, and their tastes come and go with them4. That can shift the vibes within the imprint a lot, especially if it is a smaller one, or they don’t put out a lot of nonfiction. This is why I also track editors5.
The list below features my personal thoughts on a bunch of imprints based on my reading (and tracking) over the last 10 years6. These classifications are only for the nonfiction books being published at a given imprint. I am not taking an imprint’s fiction list into account here7. I’ve also included a title8 to go along with each imprint, which in some way highlights what the imprint does.
37 Ink/Atria is giving a lot of memoirs and pop culture writing. They dabble in politics and pop-science-type books. Usually, those books come from authors with some cultural capital. 37 Ink primarily centers Black authors and their stories and is housed within Atria.
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
Abrams is giving you pop culture and lifestyle nonfiction. They have fabulous cookbooks and lean into the art and humor spaces as well.
The Rap Year Book by Shea Serrano
Amistad features memoirs and Black history. They can be hit or miss on quality, but often garner bigger titles that are worth exploring if not expertly executed.
Toni at Random: The Iconic Writer’s Legendary Editorship by Dana A. Williams
Astra House. When it comes to pushing boundaries in traditional nonfiction, I think of Astra House. They are political and bold and often publish a lot of debut authors of color.
Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom by Derecka Purnell
Avid Reader Press is one of my go-to nonfiction imprints. They are giving high-quality nonfiction across the board. So many of my faves and guests of the show come from Avid Reader Press9. They are for sure giving “dad books,” but the highly readable kind.
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham
Ballantine does a ton of memoir in essays, and they mostly they keep their books light on the lighter side.
Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America; Essays by R. Eric Thomas
Beacon Press runs the gamut of nonfiction. They feature a lot of books aimed at helping folks to understand the world better. Their authors are often journalists and academics who bring their knowledge to broader audiences.
White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue... and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation by Lauren Michele Jackson
Bloomsbury is a huge imprint (and not part of The Big Five), so their nonfiction covers just about everything. They do memoirs, they do sociology, they do it all. Some of it comes out better than others. So while I have loved many Bloomsbury books, I have also found many to be lacking.
The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America by Carol Anderson
Bold Type Books is political and civic-minded. These books are pushing conversations toward a more just society.
We Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood by Dani McClain
Catapult is an indie press that does mostly small, intimate memoirs.
The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders by Sarah Aziza
Crown is one of my all-time faves. They have an editor there who pretty much edits the exact books I want to read, from books about unclaimed dead bodies in LA to the housing crisis in Atlanta. So if you like to read what I like to read, Crown is a big old yes!
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
Dey Street is your place to go for celebrity memoirs. They do so many great ones over there. They don’t exclusively work with celebrities, but almost all the books they put out are light and fun.
You Got Anything Stronger? by Gabrielle Union
The Dial Press does heartfelt memoir pretty dang well. They do other stuff, but memoir is where they excell.
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
Doubleday is the home of Patrick Radden Keefe, need I say more? They are giving you capital N nonfiction—deep dives and investigative journalism reign supreme.
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
Ecco features high-quality, intimate prose. From Imani Perry to Damon Young, when you open an Ecco book, you know the writing will be solid.
A Living Remedy by Nicole Chung
Farrar, Stauss & Giroux (FSG) is another imprint doing a lot of nonfiction, and doing it well. Their books range from small stories to major works of history and biography. They’re great across the board at FSG, so I always feel like I am in good hand.
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian
Flatiron. Again, we’re looking at an imprint that does a ton of memoir and memoir-in-essays. Most of them are tapping into cultural criticism for a broad general audience. Think accessible.
Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
Gallery Books is an imprint I find to be a little more on the shallow side. Some celebrity memoirs and some zeitgeisty books that fall into the “could’ve been an essay” category.
Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci
Grand Central Publishing is another large one with a range of tastes. They don’t have an identity I can pin down easily, except to say, they make nonfiction books that feel like nonfiction10.
Sink by Joseph Earl Thomas
Graywolf is an indie press that is doing great work. Their books are smart, small, and intense. They care deeply about the writing and craft.
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
Grove. These are “serious” nonfiction books. There is a gravitas to Grove Books. While they do memoirs, they also do a lot of history and current interest titles. Sometimes a little on the boring side, the books are far from shallow or surface.
Solitary by Albert Woodfox
Harper. This is a major imprint doing all sorts of nonfiction books. Some of my all-time faves (Columbine) have come from here, and so have some books that really missed the mark11.
The Movement Made Us: A Father, a Son, and the Legacy of a Freedom Ride by David Dennis Jr. & David Dennis Sr.
HarperOne is Harper Collins’ celebrity memoir imprint, at least that’s what it is as far as I can tell. They might do a few other things, but that is their bread and butter.
Truly by Lionel Richie
Haymarket is far and away the most political imprint on this list. This is the home of Mariame Kaba and Angela Davis. They also are the home to some extraordinary poets.
How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Henry Holt is an imprint concerned with the current moment in culture. They have celeb memoirs, discussions of disability, and even a few poetry collections, but every single book I’ve read from Holt is locked in on the now.
Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith
Hogarth. This isn’t an imprint I associate with nonfiction, but the nonfiction they do publish has high-quality writing that is doing interesting things and asking provocative questions.
On Morrison by Namwali Serpell
Knopf is another favorite imprint for me12. The unifying factor between all Knopf nonfiction is skilled writing. The topics and styles range, but the quality is always there. There is a reason Knopf books feature heavily on the podcast and my year-end fave lists.
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
Little Brown & Co. is an imprint that publishes a lot of investigative journalism/current interest books I think I will like, but often fall flat. They have also published some of my all-time faves of the last few years. Which leads me to believe this is an editor-specific pattern. Their more memoir-type books tend to be hits for me. So, I do go back to them over and over, but I always have my guard up.
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
Liveright is publishing serious works of nonfiction. Major biographies, hidden histories, and lots of research.
The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X by Les Payne and Tamara Payne
Mariner Books is a tricky one for me. I’ve read a bunch of their books, but I couldn’t tell you what unites them. Mariner publishes good books that run the gamut from queer coming-of-age graphic memoirs to deep World War II history.
Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties by David de Jong
MCD x FSG13 is an imprint I think of as doing nonfiction in a fresh way. They’re interested in the craft of nonfiction, pushing boundaries of style and embracing literary nonfiction.
Another Word for Love by Carvell Wallace
The New Press is a progressive indie press. They publish books that look at reevaluating systems. While that appears to be their mission, the style can vary from academic, data-driven to casual and approachable books.
Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom
One World. I have read a lot of nonfiction from this imprint, which feels chiefly concerned with telling stories from and about the global majority that are accessible and geared to a broad reading audience. That can be through memoir, history, essays, poetry, and even graphic memoirs. They don’t seem to have a limit on what they might take on. One World is wide-ranging and on the pulse of what makes and shapes culture.
When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era by Donovan X. Ramsey
Pantheon is another favorite for me. I can count on them to deliver well-written, complex nonfiction that is extremely readable. Both Chanda Prescod-Weinstein and Heather Ann Thompson publish here.
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball by Keith O’Brien
Penguin Press is an imprint I look to for really strong memoirs, smart investigative journalism, and some exceptional micro-histories. They try to do it all, and mostly succeed.
The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland
Random House is, as I’m sure you can guess, a major, major, major imprint under the Penguin Random House umbrella. And like all big imprints, they do it all. Their investigative journalism, true crime, and reported nonfiction is where they shine, though you’ll find a lot of big-name celebrity memoirs here, and even major cookbooks. The truth is, I never know what I’m going to get from Random House. Which is apt, given the name.
Spare by Prince Harry
Riverhead is an interesting one for me, because their fiction is the thing most people know them for, and that list tends to be super literary. However, their nonfiction can be a little prescriptive in the pop-psychology lane. That isn’t always the case—they do put out some nonfiction gems—but this more direct explanatory nonfiction is prominent on their list.
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
Scribner publishes some stellar literary nonfiction. It is no coincidence that Scribner is the home of one of the best editors in the game, Kathy Belden. I’m sure over half of the books I’ve read from Scribner are Kathy’s books. Let me put it this way: Scribner is the home of Kiese Laymon, Jesmyn Ward, Arundhati Roy, and Mitchell S. Jackson. You see the vision.
The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine by Ricardo Nuila
Simon & Schuster, like Random House, is a big boy imprint that does it all. These are solid books, but there isn’t a clear, consistent through line between them, nor is there a clear level of quality.
Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson by Jeff Guinn
St. Martin’s Press is not a press I think of a lot for nonfiction, but they do publish some knockout books that center Black folks. That isn’t the totality of their nonfiction list, so that leads me to believe one editor is doing the heavy lifting over there.
Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal by Bettina L. Love
Tin House is an indie known for their fiction, but they do put out memoirs that are generally smaller and more literary in scope and style.
The Other Side by Lacy M. Johnson
Viking never used to be reliable for nonfiction, but a few years back, they something shifted (likely an new editor), and since then, there have been at least a handful of nonfiction books that push beyond the sorta-known-online-person’s memoir. They now do serious (award-winning) journalism and reporting books, too.
His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa
W. W. Norton & Co. is another imprint I think of as being serious. They work with a lot of academics and experts who explore history and current issues. Not all the books are intense, but a lot of them are.
People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn
Before I head out, I will just say the imprints I tend to favor, at least according to the most books read by imprint, are Random House, FSG, One World, Doubleday, Crown, Avid Reader Press, and Simon & Schuster.
What do you think? Please weigh in! What are you fave (and least fave) imprints? What did I get right and wrong? What imprints have you read the most of?
If you want more of me and my nonsense be sure to listen to The Stacks podcast every Wednesday and follow me over on Instagram for a lot more book content.
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For the purposes of this list I am calling actual imprints and smaller publishers imprints.
Again, this isn’t totally true for some of the imprints on this list that are their own publishers, like Haymarket or The New Press.
Which can vary drastically from their fiction lists, I’m talking to you, Riverhead.
In some cases, editors take their authors with them, though not always right away.
Maybe that is a post for another day.
I focused here on the imprints I have read the most books from. If I have read less than 3-5 books from the imprint I didn’t include them. Also, I excluded Picador and Vintage because they mostly (though not exclusively) publish paperback versions of books from the main imprints in their houses (Vintage for Random House, Picador for Simon & Schuster).
When I floated the idea of making this list to my pal Sara Hildreth, she mentioned she had made a similar list years back, so if you want to know more about the fiction personalities at imprints, check out her piece.
In most cases, I tried to pick a book that I have featured on The Stacks or in this newsletter. Or if not that, I tried to pick a book that is very popular or clearly exemplifies my description. For some of the larger imprints, the one book will not encapsulate the range of books they put out.
Myriam Gurba, Garrett M. Graff, Adam Higginbotham, Hayley Cohen Gilliland.
I know this doesn’t mean anything but I swear, it makes sense to me.
No, I’m not naming names.
On both the fiction and nonfiction sides.
It was just announced yesterday, that MCD x FSG is shuttering, which makes me so sad. I love this imprint and hope everyone working there lands on their feet elsewhere so the good books keep coming.
What a lot of effort went into making this list, thank you so much.
This! Is my jam. I'm on the verge of tracking my favorite editors, The Stacks influence is strong...