The oldest independent mass-market publisher in America.

Dorchester Publishing has been involved in the publishing of mass market books since 1971, making Dorchester the oldest independent mass market publisher in America. From our founding, we have strived to bring the best fiction to millions of fans. Although mostly known for romance, Dorchester also publishes world-class horror, thrillers and Westerns titles, as well as the award-winning Hard Case Crime line of pulp-style mysteries, and recently added Science Fiction and Fantasy titles from the award-winning Wildside Press. In addition, Dorchester has recently begun distributing the bestselling Family Doctor series of health guides in the U.S. and Canada.

Our size and independence give us the opportunity to react quickly to the new interests of the reading public and find and develop fresh types of Romances, Horror, Westerns, Thrillers and Young Adult books to appeal to today's fans. In 1994, we reacted to the market and created a new imprint, Love Spell, to handle the newer types of romance. It became the perfect complement to our traditional Leisure imprint.  In 2003 we added Thrillers and created the Smooch imprint for Young Adult titles.  And in the summer of 2004, we launched Making It for trade paperback chick-lit novels.

Above all, Dorchester is driven to bring you the best books possible at a good value. Our covers demonstrate the work of the best artists in the business, illustrating our determination to produce the highest quality overall product. Our titles can be found wherever books are sold, and we also offer book clubs and a comprehensive Web site for automatic, easy ordering.

We have constructed Fan Registries - Romance, Horror, Western, and Thriller - where you can let us know what types of books and which authors you would like to see more often. You can e-mail your responses to us, as well as any questions you may have.

We would love to hear from you.

Click to learn more about Romance, Horror, and Westerns

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Romance
Our continuing devotion to romance has made Dorchester unique in the publishing industry. For more than three decades, Dorchester has succeeded in giving a start to hundreds of first-time authors. We continue to promote and help them grow in the market as they develop their talents and broaden their fan base. Our success shows in the large number of authors who published their first book with us, continued to grow and find new fans, and are now national best-sellers. Authors like Madeline Baker, Norah Hess, Cassie Edwards, Patricia Gaffney, Catherine Hart, Shirl Henke, Dara Joy, Jayne Ann Krentz, Christine Feehan, and Connie Mason all began their publishing careers with Dorchester. Our lines have also enticed authors from other houses to join our ranks. Authors like Alesia Holliday, Pamela Clare, and Katie MacAlister are all new additions to our literary family, having joined us in the past few years. Their additions to our program simply strengthens a framework of best-selling authors and facilitates our ability to consistently publish a strong, broad selection of romances to appeal to a wide range of fans. Many of our authors are winners of awards given by the Romantic Times, Romance Writers of America, Affaire de Coeur and other organizations. We have singular winners and Lifetime Achievement recipients.

Dorchester is the leader in consistently publishing romances that appeal to these special interests. We continue today to consistently bring our readers other specialty genres like Time-Travel, Paranormal, Futuristic, Faerie Tale, and Heartspell (which involves a little magic in the affairs of the heart). To find out more about these specialty romances, check out our Love Spell pages.

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Horror
While Historical Romances have made us the respected independent publisher we are today, Dorchester also boasts an expanding selection of Horror, Technothrillers, and a wide range of Westerns.

Our Horror program is recognized as the strongest in the industry. Every month we bring some of the best writers in the business to the readers of the genre. We have published novels and collections by some of Horror's greatest authors, such giants as Richard Laymon, Graham Masterton, Jack Ketchum, and Douglas Clegg. Leisure Horror titles have won numerous awards, from the Bram Stoker Award to the International Horror Guild Award, and our authors have been recognized by organizations including the Horror Writers Association, the World Fantasy Society, the British Fantasy Society, and the International Horror Guild. In addition to established popular favorites, Leisure will always be committed to discovering new talent. We have published the debut novels of such rising stars as Jemiah Jefferson, Gary A. Braunbeck, and Brian Keene, whose The Rising received the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel.  We were also very proud to have introduced such popular and respected authors as Tom Piccirilli, Simon Clark, Tim Lebbon, James A. Moore and Mary Ann Mitchell to a wide paperback audience. But whether they are written by a grandmaster in the field or a hot new author, our titles are sure to keep you up at night. For more information on these and other books, check out our Leisure pages.

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Westerns
Recognizing a growing void in the market as many publishers abandoned Westerns, Dorchester solidified an already strong position by moving quickly to expand our monthly offerings. Each month we offer classic Westerns, Western Historical Fiction, and new fiction by some of the most talented of today's authors. Many of our authors are winners of the prestigious Spur Award given by the Western Writers of America. We actively seek new authors and hope to regenerate interest in this genre to a whole new group of fans, as well as bringing the best in westerns to the devoted readers. Some of the new Western authors we have introduced to readers include Will Cade, Cotton Smith, Tim McGuire, John D. Nesbitt, Tracy Knight and Spur Award winner Hiram King. We have also published, for the first time in paperback, work by classic authors such as Max Brand, Zane Grey, Will Henry and Alan LeMay. From new writers to classic authors, Leisure publishes a broad spectrum of the finest Westerns in the genre.

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