Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Big Six Publishers

I've been thinking a lot about publishing lately (Really? Why would I be thinking about publishing?). The term "the big six" gets thrown around frequently. And I started to wonder...who are the big six? And then I wondered if anyone else wondered.

According to Fiction Matters, the Big Six Publishers are:

  • Hachette Book Group
  • HarperCollins
  • MacMillan Publishers Ltd
  • Penguin Group
  • Random House
  • Simon & Schuster
This list surprise anyone? Almost all of them are owned by media conglomerates who also own other media outlets. And they all have multiple (some have many) imprints encompassing all genres.

I know I live under a rock (what can I say, it's cozy), but I've never heard of Hachette Book Group (though I know some of their imprints). All the others are familiar. At least a little.

For your edification, Fiction Matters spells them out in detail at Fiction Matters' "Who Are The Big Six?"

Disclaimer: the article I got this info from was first posted in March 2010.


 picture credited to http://ddeubel.edublogs.org/?s=competition

18 comments:

Laura Pauling said...

I'd think Scholastic would be one. Don't you?

Paula Martin said...

I thought Harlequin would also be there, judging by the number of books it pours on to the market.

Kristine Asselin said...

I agree with you both, Laura and Paula. I wonder if both of those companies suffer from having larger quantities at reduced prices? I'm just taking a guess here (I'd love someone to weigh in who knows!), but I think of both Scholastic and Harlequin as putting out affordable paperbacks.

Ansha Kotyk said...

Great post. I wonder what makes it a big six? # of imprints? Output? Size?

Jessica Lawson said...

Thanks for the info! I agree with Laura and Paula--I was looking for those other two as well :)

Tina Laurel Lee said...

All very interesting. Thanks for the info! I've been under my own rock. Yes, I agree - cozy!

Bkloss said...

Interesting..I've also never heard of Hatchett. Goes to show you - as much as we learn, there's always so much more we don't know. Yikes.

Thanks for the list!

Alicia Gregoire said...

At first I thought Scholastic would be on there as well, but then I remembered they don't do adult fiction/nonfiction.

I didn't know what Hachette published until I had a job interview there. They pointed out Twilight to me and I said, "Oh, I didn't read it." The interviewer looked appalled. Oops.

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

You know what's weird? I just got an email from a mom telling me her daughter could come to my daughter's birthday party, and in her signature? Hatchette Book Group.

Just a random note of non-really-coincidence.

I think Little, Brown is part of the Hatchette book group (and if I'm not mistaken, they published Twilight).

I have no idea why you'd be thinking about publishing right now. ;)

Anita Grace Howard said...

Great post! And look at all of your followers! WOW. Color me impressed. I'm giving out a couple of awards on my blog tomorrow. Please come by because you're up for one. :) See you then...

Author Joshua Hoyt said...

This is an interesting group. It is amazing how much they control and influence the world.

Rachel Harris said...

I looked up the Big Six about a month ago, completely clueless and tired of faking like I knew what they were. I also learned all the imprints, which I was clueless about. So much to know, huh? :-)

Great post!

MTeacress said...

I have to admit that I'm glad the A-Z is over, because I didn't have much time to comment on friends blogs with all that A-Zing.

I love this post. Very helpful info. Thanks. :)

Samantha Hunter said...

I think Harlequin is not listed because it is not a US company -- they have US offices, but they are based in Canada, with home offices in Toronto. Also, while they have single title divisions, category romance (where you have lines, for instance, not imprints) is a different kind of publishing than what the publishers above put out, so that would be my guess as to why Harlequin is not included there.

Sam

Kristine Asselin said...

Ansha--I don't know what the criteria is. Hmm.

Thanks so much to everyone for commenting today--I'm glad it was helpful to so many!

Sam, good point about Harlequin. I didn't realize they were out of Canada.

Samantha Hunter said...

Also (Sorry, tired tonight, almost time to sign off, LOL), what I meant to say is that Harlequin itself is an enterprise owned by a larger Canadian publishing conglomerate, Torstar -- it might fall out differently if we looked at who the international "Big Six" are, but I actually have no idea, LOL. I just knew this because I write for Harlequin, of course. :)

Sam

Wanton Redhead Writing said...

I was wondering who was under my rock with me, it's too darn dark to see. But it is, as you say, so cozy.

Good post, glad to follow you.

N4M3L3SS said...

+1 follower from blog hop, cool blog