Book Publishing Company in San Francisco
Normans Publishing is headquartered in San Francisco, so local authors can sit down with the people who will edit, design and publish their book. We work with writers across the city and the wider Bay Area, from first-time memoirists to founders writing about what they have built, and every author keeps full rights and royalties.
Meet the team at our Mission Bay office
Book an in-person or video consultation and walk through your manuscript with an editor before you commit to anything.
A Publishing Company With Its Office in San Francisco
Our office sits on Warriors Way in Mission Bay, a short walk from the UCSF campus and the Third Street light rail. San Francisco authors can review cover concepts and printed proofs in person, which helps with decisions that are hard to judge on a screen, such as paper stock, trim size and how a cover reads from across a table.
Most of the work still happens online, and that suits the way many people here write: around a demanding job, in short sessions, often on the move. Manuscripts, edits and approvals are handled in shared documents, so a meeting is useful rather than necessary.
San Francisco’s literary reputation was built by small presses and independent bookstores, and that tradition is still visible in North Beach and the Mission. Today’s San Francisco author is just as likely to be a product manager, a clinician or a startup founder as a poet, and the books we publish here reflect that range.
Books We Often Publish for San Francisco Authors
Different kinds of book need different editorial priorities. These are the projects we see most often from the city.
Founder and leadership books
Lessons from building a company, raising money or leading a team make strong books when they are written for readers outside the industry. Editing removes jargon and insider shorthand, and ghostwriting through recorded interviews suits founders who cannot block out writing time.
Health, science and research for general readers
With UCSF and a large life-sciences sector on the doorstep, we regularly publish clinicians and researchers writing for a wider audience. Editing focuses on accuracy and plain language, and figures, citations and permissions are checked before layout.
Literary fiction and poetry
Literary work lives or dies on the sentence. Line editing respects the author’s voice, and interior design pays attention to typeface, spacing and, for poetry, how each poem sits on the page.
Memoir and family history
Family histories rooted in Chinatown, the Mission, the Richmond and the Sunset are a steady part of our work. These books often include old photographs and documents, which are restored and placed so they print clearly.
Visit Our San Francisco Office
Meetings are by appointment. Call or email to arrange a time, or start online and come in when it is useful.
Normans Publishing, San Francisco
- 152 Warriors Way, San Francisco,
CA 94158, United States - +1 628-229-2030
- Support@normanspublishing.com
Visits are by appointment. Manuscripts and proofs are handled online.
View mapReaching Readers in San Francisco
A city with strong independent bookselling and a busy events calendar rewards a little local planning around launch.
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Independent bookstores Stores such as Green Apple Books, The Booksmith, City Lights and the Books Inc. locations around the Bay Area are central to the local book scene. Most order through wholesale catalogs, so the book is set up with wholesale distribution and trade terms that make it straightforward for a store to stock or host.
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Readings and literary events Litquake runs every October, and the San Francisco Public Library and neighborhood bookstores host author events throughout the year. We can print event quantities and prepare a one-page sell sheet for booking talks.
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Company and conference sales Business books here often sell in bulk to employers, conferences and speaking audiences. Print runs are quoted for these orders, and shipping is free on orders of 25 copies or more.
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Readers beyond the Bay Local momentum helps, but most sales still come from online retail. Categories, keywords and the book description are written for national search as well as local interest.
Publishing Services for San Francisco Authors
Choose the full process or only the stages your manuscript needs.
Publishing Support Elsewhere in California
The same team works with authors across the state. If you write from somewhere else in California, these pages may be more relevant.
California
An overview of publishing for California authors, including practical points on sales tax, events and distribution.
Book publishing in CaliforniaSan Jose
Just down the Peninsula: technical and professional books, and authors writing around a full-time job.
Book publishing in San JoseSacramento
The state capital: policy and public service writing, regional history and educational books.
Book publishing in SacramentoLos Angeles
Screenwriters moving into prose, entertainment memoir and audiobook-first projects.
Book publishing in Los AngelesSan Diego
Veteran memoir, bilingual editions and illustrated work in Southern California.
Book publishing in San DiegoFrequently Asked Questions
Can I meet the publishing team in person in San Francisco?
Yes. Our office is at 152 Warriors Way in Mission Bay, and meetings are by appointment. Call +1 628-229-2030 or email Support@normanspublishing.com to arrange a time. Many authors start online and come in to review covers or printed proofs.
Do you only work with authors who live in San Francisco?
No. We work with authors across the Bay Area, including Oakland, Berkeley, the Peninsula and Marin, as well as the rest of California and the United States. The process runs online, so an office visit is optional.
How is Normans Publishing different from a traditional San Francisco publisher?
Traditional publishers acquire rights to a book, pay an advance and decide whether to publish it, usually through a literary agent. Normans Publishing is an assisted self-publishing company: you fund production, keep full rights and 100% of royalties, and decide when and how your book is released.
Can you help get my book into San Francisco bookstores?
We set up wholesale distribution so independent stores can order your book through the catalogs they already use, and we can prepare a sell sheet for approaching stores and booking events. Whether a store stocks a title is always its own decision.
I run a company and have very little time. Can you still help me publish a book?
Yes. Ghostwriting through recorded interviews lets you shape the book in a series of conversations, and editing is organized so you review changes in a few focused sessions rather than every day.
How long does publishing take for a San Francisco author?
Most books take 8 to 16 weeks from a finished manuscript to distribution. Ghostwritten books take longer, typically 12 to 20 weeks for a 50,000-word manuscript before publishing begins.
Publishing a book in San Francisco?
Tell us about your manuscript and how you would like to work. We will recommend the right services and send a quote, and you are welcome to come in and talk it through.