Publishers Marketplace
Publishers Marketplace is a subscription web platform and daily newsletter providing deal-tracking databases, agent and editor directories, and integrated retail sales data to book publishing professionals and authors.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Publishers Marketplace does
Publishers Marketplace, operated by Cader Books, Inc. and headquartered in Bronxville, New York, is a subscription-based professional web platform serving the book publishing industry. Its core product is a searchable database of approximately 30,000 agents, editors, and imprints worldwide, paired with proprietary deal-reporting archives and integrated retail sales data from Circana BookScan (print, ebook, and digital audio). The platform also operates Publishers Lunch, a free daily email newsletter reaching 40,000+ industry recipients, and offers higher-margin modules such as Lunch Deluxe, Buzz Books, Job Board, Rights Offerings, Member Profiles, and Featured Page Ads.
The underlying stack combines curated user-submitted deal reports, a database of agent/editor profiles, and partner-provided retail sales feeds, with newer natural-language search features (Agent Matcher and Deal Matcher) added on top. Subscription tiers range from a $30 monthly plan to $90-$120 annual plans, supplemented by a $15 Quick Pass for one-time researchers and usage-based advertising units. Go-to-market is purely product-led and self-serve through publishersmarketplace.com, with no enterprise sales motion or channel partners. The site attracts more than 10,000 daily page views, suggesting a recurring-engagement user base concentrated in literary agencies, publishing imprints, and supporting industry professionals.
Customer segments span literary agents and agencies, editors and imprints, publishing-house executives, authors and aspiring writers, and adjacent professionals such as publicists, film/TV scouts, and international publishers. Pricing is intentionally low ($90-$120 per year for full membership) to support broad adoption across individuals and small agencies rather than enterprise licensing, and the company is privately held with 1-10 employees, no external funding disclosed, and no parent organization identified.
Publishers Marketplace firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Publishers Marketplace
- Legal name
- Cader Books, Inc.
- Website
- https://publishersmarketplace.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Publishers Marketplace is a subscription web platform and daily newsletter providing deal-tracking databases, agent and editor directories, and integrated retail sales data to book publishing professionals and authors.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Publishers Marketplace industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Publishing Industry Intelligence Software
- NAICS
- Other Publishers (51319)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Author Service Marketplaces & Aggregators (Vetting, Bundled Services) (MPAJAJAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Author Business Tools & Analytics (Royalty Tracking, Pricing, Keyword/Market Research) (MPAJAJAO)
Keywords
Where Publishers Marketplace is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Publishers Marketplace business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Subscription Memberships: Primary revenue stream from monthly, 6-month, and annual subscription plans providing access to the full platform including deals database, directories, and BookScan data
- Job Board Postings: Publishing industry job listings at $25 per posting, active for 48 hours, generating incremental recurring revenue
- Classifieds: Paid classified advertising sections for industry professionals seeking representation, subrights, or services
- Featured Page Ads: Premium advertising placements on the platform at $100 per day
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Monthly Subscription |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Six-Month Subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Subscription - Option 1 |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Subscription - Option 2 |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Quick Pass |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Job Board Posting |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Featured Page Ads |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Publishers Marketplace product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Publishers Marketplace operates a subscription web platform that provides publishing industry professionals with proprietary databases of 30,000+ literary agents, editors, and imprints, along with deal transaction histories, rights offerings listings, AI-powered agent/deal matching, integrated Circana BookScan retail sales data, job board postings, and a daily industry newsletter (Publishers Lunch). The product is sold primarily through monthly, six-month, and annual memberships.
Product overview
Publishers Marketplace is a subscription-based web platform providing professional databases, tools, news, and analysis for the book publishing industry. The core offering is Publishers Marketplace itself—a searchable database of 30,000+ agents, editors, and imprints with deal transaction data—augmented by Publishers Lunch, a free daily newsletter, and Lunch Deluxe, the premium expanded edition. Key features include Agent Matcher and Deal Matcher (AI-powered search tools), Circana BookScan (print and ebook sales data), Job Board, Rights Offerings board, Member Profiles directory, Book Tracker, Deal Tracker, Buzz Books, and Classifieds. The platform operates on tiered membership ($30/month for individual members) with optional add-ons including Quick Pass temporary access, Featured Page Ads, and Circana BookScan data subscriptions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Publishers Lunch: A free daily e-mail newsletter and companion to Publishers Marketplace, providing daily news and industry updates. Note: Publishers Lunch is a separate service from Publishers Marketplace membership.
Products and services
- Publishers Marketplace Membership Subscription-based web platform granting access to the publishing industry database of 30,000+ agents, editors, and imprints with deal transaction histories, rights listings, AI search tools, and member profiles. Sold to publishing professionals as monthly, six-month, or annual memberships.
- Publishers Lunch Free daily email newsletter delivering publishing industry news, deal announcements, personnel moves, and analysis to subscribers. Acts as both a standalone free product and a top-of-funnel awareness channel for paid Marketplace memberships.
- Circana Publishers Marketplace BookScan Print book sales data subscription providing weekly access to retail sales data used by book publishers, with optional ebook sales upgrade and digital audio sales upgrade. Available as an add-on to Marketplace membership or as a standalone annual subscription.
- Job Board Publishing industry job listing service offering paid posting for employers at $25 per posting (active 48 hours) and free search for job seekers. Provides employers access to publishing professionals seeking new roles.
- Rights Offerings Board Board for posting and browsing rights availability, including film rights, television rights, translation rights, and international rights. Allows rights holders and acquirers to connect over specific rights opportunities.
- Member Profiles Directory Searchable directory of industry professionals including agents, editors, publishers, writers, scouts, and service providers. Available to members for discovering and researching publishing professionals.
- Featured Page Ads Self-service promotional advertising placing short promotional messages on high-traffic pages at $100 per day, available to authors, publishers, and agents seeking visibility.
- Quick Pass Temporary 24-hour access pass at $15 providing up to 50 page requests of limited premium site access. Designed for one-time researchers, gift recipients, or those evaluating the platform before subscribing.
- Buzz Books Publishing industry resource for discovering and tracking book buzz and upcoming releases, provided as a separate sub-brand site under the Publishers Marketplace umbrella.
- Classifieds Community bulletin board for paid classified advertising including representation requests, subrights offerings, awards announcements, job listings, and press releases. Used by industry professionals to communicate news and opportunities.
Companies that use Publishers Marketplace
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Publishers Marketplace technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Publishers Marketplace partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Circana (formerly NPD)coreCircana (formerly NPD Group) provides BookScan retail book sales data integrated into the Publishers Marketplace platform. This partnership gives subscribers access to actual sales figures for books in the market, enabling market intelligence and competitive analysis. The data is a key differentiator for the platform's premium subscription tiers.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Publishers Marketplace competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- PublishersGlobal: International publishing rights and book-services marketplace connecting publishers, agents, and authors across borders. Overlap with Publishers Marketplace's Rights Offerings board and international directory coverage.
- Publishers Weekly: The flagship U.S. trade publication covering book publishing deals, news, and reviews. Comparable audience of agents, editors, and publishers, with overlapping deal-coverage and industry-news functionality.
- NetGalley: Digital review-copy and book-discovery platform connecting publishers with reviewers, booksellers, librarians, and educators. Overlapping audience of authors, agents, and trade professionals using discovery and review workflows.
- Shelf Awareness: Daily trade newsletter reaching booksellers, librarians, publishers, and agents with industry news and bestseller coverage. Comparable daily-newsletter cadence and tight-knit trade audience.
- Kirkus Reviews: Pre-publication review service and industry resource serving authors, agents, editors, and librarians. Comparable professional audience and overlap in pre-publication intelligence and book discovery workflows.
- QueryTracker: Author-focused agent database and querying platform that tracks agent responsiveness and success rates. Direct overlap with Publishers Marketplace's agent-research and vetting use cases for the author segment.
- Edelweiss (Above the Treeline): Industry catalog and marketing platform used by publishers, reps, booksellers, and librarians for title metadata, review copy distribution, and analytics. Comparable B2B SaaS model serving the same publishing-industry buyer personas.
Emerging players
- BookBub: Author-reader marketing platform with Featured Deals and advertising tools reaching millions of readers. Partial overlap through the author persona and discovery/intelligence tooling, though the primary audience is consumers rather than trade professionals.
Regional players
- The Bookseller: The leading UK trade publication covering book publishing deals, news, and reviews. Functionally analogous to Publishers Weekly and Publishers Marketplace for the UK and Commonwealth markets.
- BookBrunch: UK daily trade newsletter for the book industry covering deals, personnel moves, and market intelligence. Comparable daily-newsletter format and trade audience outside the U.S.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Publishers Marketplace social profiles
Digital presencePublishers Marketplace financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Publishers Marketplace leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Publishers Marketplace funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Publishers Marketplace M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Publishers Marketplace
What does Publishers Marketplace do?
Publishers Marketplace operates a subscription web platform that provides publishing industry professionals with proprietary databases of 30,000+ literary agents, editors, and imprints, along with deal transaction histories, rights offerings listings, AI-powered agent/deal matching, integrated Circana BookScan retail sales data, job board postings, and a daily industry newsletter (Publishers Lunch). The product is sold primarily through monthly, six-month, and annual memberships.
Is Publishers Marketplace a public or private company?
Publishers Marketplace is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Publishers Marketplace founded?
Publishers Marketplace was founded in 2015. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Publishers Marketplace based?
Publishers Marketplace is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Publishers Marketplace make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Subscription Memberships are the primary driver. The others are job Board Postings, classifieds and featured Page Ads.
Who are Publishers Marketplace's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are PublishersGlobal, Publishers Weekly, NetGalley, Shelf Awareness, Kirkus Reviews, QueryTracker and Edelweiss (Above the Treeline). BookBub is listed as an emerging player. Regional players are The Bookseller and BookBrunch.
Does Publishers Marketplace have an API?
No public API is recorded for Publishers Marketplace.
What industry is Publishers Marketplace in?
Publishers Marketplace's product category is Publishing Industry Intelligence Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAJAB, Author Service Marketplaces & Aggregators (Vetting, Bundled Services), with a secondary code of MPAJAJAO, Author Business Tools & Analytics (Royalty Tracking, Pricing, Keyword/Market Research). Its NAICS code is 51319 and its SIC code is 2741.