It initially published general fiction and non-fiction, but not westerns, light romances or children's books.
It published works by many prominent authors, including Archibald MacLeish, John O'Hara, Erskine Caldwell (including his American Folkways series) Anaïs Nin, Conrad Aiken, Wallace Stegner, E. E. Cummings, Howard Fast, Benjamin Spock, Joseph Jay Deiss, and William Bradford Huie.
In addition to their literary list, the firm published many works of military history, with a focus on aviation in the war years.
Duell, Sloan and Pearce soon became sales agent for Musette Publishers, which had a line of children's books.
In 1956, Duell, Sloan and Pearce terminated the arrangement with Little, Brown, and joined the McKay Group, a cooperative selling and manufacturing association in New York.