The following is a list of presses and publishers specializing in diverse lit and writing by / for people with disabilities, including mental illness, or about the disability / mental health experience.
* Inclusion here does not equal endorsement. Please do your own research before querying, especially for self-publishing options.
All links are current as of August 2020. If you find a non-working link, or if you know a publisher that should be added to / deleted from this list, please let me know.
Thank you!
— Nicole Melanson
39 West Press is an independent book publisher committed to releasing books that encourage critical thinking and promote constructive discourse on key social, cultural, political, and economic issues affecting life in the U.S. We publish books of art, poetry, literary fiction, and creative non-fiction, thereby promoting a diverse range of experiences and voices, including but not limited to people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA, as well as historically marginalized populations.
Blair is a new, nonprofit press combining the lists of Carolina Wren Press and John F. Blair, Publisher. We strive to publish quality writing, focusing on authors and subjects historically neglected by mainstream publishers, including women, people of color, authors with disabilities, and LGBT authors. True to our roots in North Carolina, we look to the many voices of the South—and beyond—as sources of work and inspiration.
We publish mental health books to give a voice to writers with mental health experiences around the world. We also give a voice to family members of people with mental health experiences and many other disabilities. (Please note that Chipmunka operates on a self-publishing Print-on-Demand model.)
Although not a disability-centric press as such, FLP has established a solid reputation for publishing exceptional writers, many of whom identify as disabled.
Handtype Press is a company that showcases the finest literature and art created by signers, Deaf and hearing alike, or about the Deaf or signing experience the world over.
INCLUDAS Publishing works to bring disability diversity to readers. We represent diverse artists who identify with a particular ability status, as well as works that have a main character with any disability.
Based out of Minneapolis, disability publisher Oleb Books seeks to expand representation of disability in literature, or D Lit, by publishing disability stories by writers with disabilities.
We publish books by people within diverse disability communities. We seek authors living at intersections such as disability, race, and class.
In 2012, Squares & Rebels was created by Handtype Press to bring out books initially about the LGBT experience in the Midwest. With the publication of QDA: A Queer Disability Anthology, however, S&R has expanded its focus to include books that explore the queer and/or disability experience regardless of one’s region of origin.
SFK Press is an independent publisher based in Metro Atlanta. SFK Press seeks book-length fiction by fearless authors. Our mission is to tell a million tales of y’all mean ALL, with a Southern accent. We especially encourage submissions from indigenous, LGBTQIA+, disabled, current or previously incarcerated, and non-binary people, women, and people of color.
We seek out meaningful representation for voices & characters that have not been historically included in mainstream fantasy & speculative fiction. We look for writers with diverse perspectives: writers of color; women writers; queer writers; disabled & neurodivergent writers; writers with different ethnic, religious, and class backgrounds; writers of different ages.
Trigger Publishing is an altruistic mental health and wellbeing publisher. We share uplifting and inspirational mental health stories and publish self-help books to aid people in their own recovery. Trigger includes self-publishing and children’s imprints.
