When you're ready to get your novel published, you'll probably start at the top, with companies like Random House, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster. It's helpful to know a little bit about the business, even if you plan to have an agent.
Hachette Book Group
The result of French publisher Hachette Livre's acquisition of Time Warner Book Group, Hachette Book Group comprises imprints Little, Brown and Company, Grand Central Publishing (formerly Warner Books), and Orbit, a science fiction and fantasy imprint.HarperCollins
HarperCollins was founded in New York City in 1817 by the brothers James and John Harper and is now a subsidiary of News Corporation. Read more about the history of the press here, or learn more about their acquisitions process with an interview with editor Jeanette Perez.Penguin Group
Penguin Group boasts an enormous backlist of classic books, which gives their editors the luxury of investing in writers in a more traditional way. This means more stability for the lucky writers whose work is accepted here.Random House
Much of the blockbuster work -- the work you see in the Barnes and Noble windows -- sports the Random House logo on the spine. Currently owned by the German media company Bertelsmann, they've been publishing books since 1927.Simon & Schuster
© 2008 Ginny Wiehardt, licensed to About.com, Inc.
Currently owned by CBS, Simon & Schuster imprints include Pocket Books, Scribner, Free Press, Atria, Fireside, Touchstone, and Atheneum Books for Young Readers. They publish some 2,000 books each year, many of them bestsellers.
