Random House is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann and global education and publishing company Pearson PLC. Random House also has an entertainment production arm for film and television, Random House Studio, of which the most recent release was One Day. The company also creates story content for media including video games, social networks on the web, and mobile platforms. It is one of the largest English-language publishers, formerly known as the "Big 6", now known as the "Big Five".
Bertelsmann owns 53% of the joint venture.
History
In 1988, McGraw-Hill Education acquired the Schools and Colleges division of Random House Inc.
Bertelsmann acquired Random House in 1998.
In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks with rival conglomerate Pearson plc, over the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random House and Penguin, and the merge completed on 1 July 2013.
Random House, USA
Random House was founded in 1927 by Americans Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint, reprints of classic works of literature, from publisher Horace Liveright. Cerf is quoted as saying, "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random," which suggested the name Random House. Its American divisions currently include the Crown Publishing Group, the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, the Random House Publishing Group, and Random House Children's Books.
Random House entered reference publishing in 1947 with the American College Dictionary, which was followed in 1966 by its first unabridged dictionary. Today it publishes the Random House Dictionary of the English Language and Random House Webster's College dictionaries, probably the main competitors for Merriam-Webster reference titles.
The American publishers Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and Pantheon Books were acquired by Random House in 1960 and 1961, respectively; works continue to be published under these imprints with editorial independence, such as Everyman's Library, a series of classical literature reprints. Random House has been the distributor for Shambhala Publications since 1974. They also currently distribute Rizzoli Books, National Geographic Books, Steerforth Press, Wizards of the Coast, Vertical Inc., Welcome Books, The New York Review of Books, Titan Books, Other Press, Kodansha Manga, Hatherleigh Press, North Atlantic Books, Monacelli Press Books, Sasquatch Books, and DC Comics. In 1998, Bertelsmann AG bought Random House and it soon went global.
The publisher's main U.S. office is located at 1745 Broadway in Manhattan, in the 684-foot Random House Tower, completed in 2003 and spanning the entire west side of the block between West 55th Street and West 56th. Its lobby showcases floor-to-ceiling glassed-in bookcases filled with books published by the company's many imprints. Earlier addresses were 457 Madison Avenue, New York 22, NY; 20 East 57th Street, New York 22, NY; and 201 East 50th Street, New York, NY 10022.
International branches
Random House, Inc. maintains several independently managed subsidiaries around the world.
The Random House Group is one of the largest general book publishing companies in the UK and is based in London. The Group comprises five publishing companies: Cornerstone Publishing, Vintage Publishing, Ebury Publishing, Random House Children's Publishers UK and Transworld Publishers, boasting more than 40 diverse and highly respected imprints. Its distribution business services its own imprints as well as 60 other UK publishers. The Random House archive and library is located in Rushden in Northamptonshire.
The Random House Group also operates branches in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa (as a joint venture under the name Random House Struik), and India as part of its overseas structure. In Australia offices are in Sydney and Melbourne. In New Zealand it is based in Glenfield, Auckland, while Random House's Indian headquarters are located in New Delhi.
Verlagsgruppe Random House was established after Bertelsmann's 1998 acquisition of Random House, grouping its German imprints (until then operating as Verlagsgruppe Bertelsmann) under the new name. It is the second largest book publisher in Germany with more than 40 imprints, including historic publishing houses Goldmann and Heyne, as well as C. Bertelsmann, the publishing house from which today's Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA would eventually evolve. Verlagsgruppe Random House is headquartered in Munich (with additional locations in Gütersloh, Cologne, and Aßlar), employs about 850 people, and publishes roughly 2.500 titles per year.
Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial is Random House's Spanish-language division, targeting markets in Spain and South and Central America. It is headquartered in Barcelona with locations in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and the United States. From 2001 until November 2012, it was a joint venture with Italian publisher Mondadori (Random House Mondadori). Upon Bertelsmann's acquisition of Mondadori's stake in the JV, the name was kept temporarily four months. Some authors published by Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial include include Dr. César Lozano, Yordi Rosado, Dr. Nancy Alvarez and Alberto Sardiñas.
Random House of Canada was established in 1944 as the Canadian distributor of Random House Books. In 1986 the company established its own indigenous Canadian publishing program that has become one of the most successful in Canadian history. Until January 2012 it used to hold a 25% stake in McClelland & Stewart, with the remaining 75% being controlled by the University of Toronto. It is now the sole owner of McClelland & Stewart.
In late 2009 and early 2010, respectively, Random House discontinued their Japanese joint venture Random House Kodansha, which had been established in 2003, and also divested their four-year ownership of Random House Korea. The company has since named Random House Australia managing director Margie Seale responsible for exploring and evaluating potential future business opportunities in Asia.
Work Experience
In the UK, Random House offers London based work experience placements designed to give individuals an insight behind the scenes of a publishing house and can last up to 2 weeks. Some areas within the Work Experience include; editorial, translation rights, marketing, design and publicity.
On 16 March 2015, Random House revealed a new internship named, The Scheme. This is a 13-month paid internship aimed at finding the Marketers of tomorrow.
Divisions and imprints
Random House, USA publishers
Random House International
See also
- List of English language book publishers
- List of largest UK book publishers
- Media of New York City
- Publishing
References
External links
- Official website
- Mary H. Munroe (2004). "Bertelsmann Timeline". The Academic Publishing Industry: A Story of Merger and Acquisition â€" via Northern Illinois University.Â