A few years ago I did a post on de-mystifying the Big 6~now 5 really since the merge of Random House and Penguin~publishing houses. A lot has changed since then so I thought it was time for an update. Whether you're on submission, or hope to be soon, it's a good list to have handy.
Here they are in no particular order (some subsidiaries may not be listed. Click on the links for a full listing):
Random House: There are a lot of publishing groups each with their own imprints under this huge roof. Here the groups: Crown Trade Group, Knopf Doubleday Publishing, Random House Publishing Group (including Ballantine, Bantam, Dell, and many others), Random House Children's Books, RH International, RH International.
http://www.randomhouse.biz/ourpublishers/
Click here for
Merge announcement
Penguin: Ace Books, Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, Avery, Berkly Books, Blue Rider Books, Celebra, Current, Daw, Dial Books for Young Readers, Dutton Books, Dutton Children's Books, Firebird, Fredrick Warne, Putnam Sons, G.P. Putnam's Sons Books For Young Readers, Gotham Books, Grosset & Dunlap, Hudson Street Press, Intermix, Kathy Dawson, NAL, Nancy Paulson, Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, Penguin, The Penguin Press, Perigee Books, Philomel Books, Plume, Pintail, Plume, Portfolio, Price Stern Sloan, Puffin Books, Razorbill, Riverhead, Sentinel, Speak, Tarcher, The Viking Press, Viking Books For Young Readers, Viking Studio.
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/publishers/index.html
Simon & Schuster: Atria, Folger Shakespeare Library, Free Press, Gallery Books, Howard Books, Pocket, Scribner, Simon & Schuster, Threshold Editions, Touchstone/Fireside, Aladdin, Atheneum Books, Beach Lane Books, Little Simon, Margaret K. McElderry, Paula Wiseman Books, BFYR, Simon Pulse, Simon Spotlight, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Pimsleur.
http://www.simonandschuster.biz/divisions-and-imprints/divisions-and-imprints
MacMillan: Bedford/St. Martin's, Bloomsberry, Entangled (distributed publisher), Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Farrar Straus & Giroux Books For Young Readers, Feiwel & Friends, First Second, Gray Wolf Press (distributed publisher), Hayden McNeil, Henry Holt & Co., Henry Holt & Co. Books For Young Readers, Kingfisher, Macmillan Audio, Palgrave MacMillan, Papercutz (distributed publisher), Page Street (distributed publisher), Picador, Priddy Books, Roaring Brook Press, Scientific American, Square Fish, St. Martin's Press, Tor/Forge, Bedford/St. Martin's.
http://us.macmillan.com/
HarperCollins: Amistad, Avon, Caedmon, Ecco, Eos, Harper, It Books, Rayo, William Morrow, Balzer & Bray, Greenwillow Books, Harlequin, HarperFestival, Harper Teen, Katherine Tegen Books, Walden Pond Press.
http://www.harpercollins.com/footer/companyProfile.aspx
Hachette Book Group: Grand Central Publishing, Faith Words, Center Street, Hyperion, Little Brown & Co., Little Brown & Co. For Young Readers, Orbit, Yen Press.
http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/publishing_publishing-groups.aspx
Now when your agent puts you out on submission and tells you he/she has submitted you to Perigree Books you don't have to wonder who in the world that is, you'll know it's Penguin! For those who haven't reached the editor submission stage yet, keep this handy, you'll need it someday soon. Don't forget, there are still a lot of great houses out there that aren't part of the big six.