When considering various book publishing companies there is quite a bit to take into account. Whether you are just learning, or looking to have your own piece of work published, there are quite a few options. Like music record labels, there are the big and famous, and then there are also many, many lesser known companies. This article will give a brief detail of the top book publishers in North America, or as they can be known, the “Big Six”. This guide illustrates where to get a piece of work published, if a person were looking to do that. Therefore, these are the top six book publishing companies in North America:

Hachette Book Group:

The first on the list of top book publishing companies is Hachette Book Group. This company is the smallest on the list. Previously owned by Time Warner, it is currently owned by the European company Hachette Livre. The most well known imprints include “Little, Brown & Company”, “Orbit”, “FaithWords”, and “Grand Central”.

HarperCollins:

Next up is HarperCollins. John and James Harper founded this New York based publisher in 1817. Currently with different branches in various cities, its early authors included Mark Twain and Dickens just to name a few. This organization also has a large role as a children book publishing company. HaperCollins’ imprints include “Collins”, “William Morrow”, “Amistad”, “Avon”, and “HarperEntertainment”

Macmillan:

Third on the list of top book publishing companies is Macmillan. This company is based in New York City, and is owned by Holtzbrinck. The most notable trade houses of Macmillan include: “St. Martin’s Press”, “Tor”, “Henry Holt”, “Farrar, Straus & Giroux”.

Penguin Group:

Moving right along, next we have Penguin Group. This is the second biggest trade publisher in the world, coming in second right behind Random House. This book publishing company is also known for its Classics series. The Classics series started with their first publication of “The Odyssey”. Since then, they have made printed many more notible book in their Classics series. The most well known imprints include: “Riverhead Books”, “Dutton”, “G.P. Putnam’s Sons”, “Viking”, and “Portfolio”

Random House:

Now we move on to the big boy of book publishing companies. Random House is the biggest trade publisher in the word, and is currently a division of Bertelsmann. This company first made news when it was taken to court in regards to their United States publication of “Ulysses”. Since then, they have branched out and are currently sending out a wide variety of books, including children’s books. Some of their notable imprints include: “Doubleday Broadway”, “Alfred A. Knopf”, “Bantam Dell”, and “Crown Publishing Group”.

Simon & Schuster:

Last on the list is Simon & Schuster. This company, owned by CBS, releases just under 2,000 books a year. Their notable imprints include: “Scribner”, “Simon & Schuster”, “Free Press”, and “Pocket”.

Well there you have it, a list of the top book publishing companies on this side of the globe (if you are reading in North America, that is). Hope you found what you were looking for in this article.

Finally, if you would like to learn more about book publishing, visit http://www.bookpublishingcompanies.org