Search Tips: Finding the Elusive Publisher Web Site

There are a couple of things to bear in mind when searching for publishers on the Web. First, not all publishers have Web sites. Second, a significant number that are on the Web are not yet listed properly (e.g. they aren't on one or two of the major search engines), so can't be found now matter how diligently one tries.

AcqWeb's Home Page

Last updated:
July 13, 1999

1. Search the Web with MetaCrawler. It's fast, effective and the best general search engine for our purposes. There are, of course, many other possibilities. We have a selective listing in the Guide to Searching the Web. But usually if we cannot find it with MetaCrawler, it's on to the next step....

2. Try guessing what their Internet address (DNS) might be. For example, for "Dover Publications" try www.DoverPublications.com or www.dover_reprints.com. While this technique doesn't work often, it only takes a few seconds -- and as publishers become more Web savvy, the likelihood of it working increases.

3. When possible, try a site or publisher-specific technique:
   • Associations: try one of the useful directories listed in the left blue margin of the Associations and Institutes page.

   • Vendors: similarly, check the left blue margin of the Library Vendors page. There are some very helpful resources here, from ALCTS and others.

   • University Presses: University Press Catalogs from the Association of American University Presses.

   • You know the city the publisher is located in. Try an address searcher, such as Web Search Reference.

   • There is a listing in AcqWeb, but you get a "404 Not Found" message. These are typically longer URL's, frequently encountered with publishers that are the puppets of corporate mergers. Try chopping off the end of the URL. For example, if http://www.huge_pub.com/holding/home.html results in a 404, see what you can find at http://www.huge_pub.com/. You might try their search engine if they have one.

4. Literary Market Place (U.S. publishers) and International Literary Market Place. Most mid-size and large libraries have subscriptions to the print version. If you are lucky, your library has a subscription to the electronic version.

5. Try Other Links to Publishers. Many of these sites have their own long lists of publishers -- for example Bookwire's. The regional lists, such as Australian Libraries Gateway's Directory, can be particularly helpful.

6. If you find that elusive publisher or have a suggestion on search strategy and can spare a couple of minutes, drop us a line so we can add it to AcqWeb.

   A note to aspiring authors: we support your literary efforts, but please do NOT email us asking for advice. Instead, see Referral Resources.