Random House

Random House
Random House, Inc.
Type Division of Bertelsmann
Industry Books, Publishing
Founded 1925
Founder(s) Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer
Headquarters Random House Tower,
New York City, NY, USA
Area served Worldwide
Key people Markus Dohle (Chairman & CEO, Random House Worldwide/Random House, Inc.)
Núria Cabutí (CEO, Random House Mondadori)
Anne Davis (Executive Vice President & CFO, Random House Worldwide)
Brad Martin (President & CEO, Random House of Canada)
Dr. Joerg Pfuhl (Chairman & CEO, Verlagsgruppe Random House)
Gail Rebuck (Chairman & CEO, The Random House Group)
Frank Steinert (Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer, Random House Worldwide)
Products Books
Revenue increase€1.828 billion Euros (2010)
Owner(s) Bertelsmann
Employees 5,262 (as of December 31, 2010)
Website www.randomhouse.com

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films, of which the most recent release was One Day. The company is also currently developing a division responsible for creating story content for media including video games, social networks on the web, mobile platforms, in print and on film.[1]

Contents

Random House, U.S.A.

Random House Tower headquarters, New York City

Random House was founded in 1927 by Americans Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint. 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.[2]

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 distinguished 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, New York Review of Books, Titan Books, Other Press, Kodansha Manga, Hatherleigh Press, North Atlantic Books, Monacelli Press Books, and DC Comics. In 1998, Bertelsmann AG bought Random House and it soon went global.[3]

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 Ave., New York 22, N.Y.; 20 East 57th St., New York 22, N.Y.; and 201 East 50th St, 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 Books 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 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.[4] 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 AG 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.

Random House of Canada[5] 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. It holds a 25% stake in McClelland & Stewart, with the remaining 75% being controlled by the University of Toronto.

Random House Mondadori is Random House's Spanish-language joint venture with Italian publisher Mondadori, targeting markets in South and Central America and Spain. It is headquartered in Barcelona with locations in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

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.[6]

Divisions and imprints

Random House, U.S.A.[7]

Crown Publishing Group
  • Amphoto Books
  • Back Stage Books
  • Billboard Books
  • Broadway
  • Broadway Business
  • Clarkson Potter
  • Crown
  • Crown Business
  • Crown Forum
  • Doubleday Religion
  • Harmony Books
  • Potter Craft
  • Potter Style
  • Ten Speed Press
  • Three Rivers Press
  • Tricycle Press
  • Shaye Areheart Books
  • WaterBrook Multnomah
  • Watson-Guptill
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Random House Publishing Group
Random House Children's Books
Digital Publishing Group
  • Fodor's Travel
  • Listening Library
  • Living Language
  • Princeton Review
  • Random House Audio
  • Random House Large Print

The Random House Group

Cornerstone Publishing
Vintage Publishing
Ebury Publishing
Transworld Publishers
  • Corgi
  • Bantam
  • Black Swan
  • Channel 4
  • Doubleday
  • Eden Project
  • Expert
  • Transworld Ireland
  • Transworld Sport
Random House Children's Books
  • Bantam
  • Jonathan Cape
  • Corgi
  • David Fickling Books
  • Doubleday
  • Eden Project
  • Red Fox
  • Hutchinson
  • Tamarind
  • The Bodley Head
Mainstream Publishing
Random House Australia
Random House India
Random House New Zealand
Random House Struik

Verlagsgruppe Random House

  • adeo
  • Ansata
  • Ariston
  • Arkana
  • Bassermann
  • Blanvalet
  • Blessing
  • btb
  • carl's books
  • C. Bertelsmann
  • cbj audio
  • cbj avanti
  • cbj Kinder- und Jugendbücher
  • cbt Jugendbücher
  • Der Hörverlag
  • Diana
  • Diederichs
  • DVA
  • Edition Elke Heidenreich
  • Gerth Medien
  • Goldmann
  • Gütersloher Verlagshaus
  • Heyne
  • Integral
  • Irisiana
  • Kailash
  • Knaus
  • Kösel
  • Limes
  • Lotos
  • Luchterhand Literaturverlag
  • Ludwig
  • Manesse
  • Manhattan
  • Mosaik bei Goldmann
  • Paige & Turner
  • Pantheon
  • Penhaligon
  • Prestel
  • Random House Audio
  • Random House Entertainment
  • Riemann
  • Siedler
  • Sphinx
  • Südwest
  • Tag & Nacht

Random House Mondadori

  • Areté
  • Caballo de Troya
  • Collins
  • Debate
  • DeBolsillo
  • Electa
  • Grijalbo
  • Grijalbo Ilustrados
  • Lumen
  • Lumen Infantil
  • Mondadori
  • Montena
  • Plaza & Janés
  • Rosa dels Vents
  • Sudamericana

Random House of Canada

  • Anchor Canada
  • Bond Street
  • Doubleday Canada
  • Knopf Canada
  • Random House Canada
  • Seal Books
  • Vintage Canada
McClelland & Stewart Ltd.

See also

  • List of English language book publishers
  • List of largest UK book publishers
  • Media of New York City
  • Publishing

References

  1. ^ Online.wsj.com, Wall Street Journal Online
  2. ^ C250.columbia.edu, Bennet Alfred Cerf Biography
  3. ^ Random House Company History, from fundinguniverse.com. Accessed April 13, 2008.
  4. ^ randomhouse.com.au
  5. ^ randomhouse.ca
  6. ^ benet.bertelsman.com
  7. ^ Randomhouse.biz
  8. ^ Vintage-anchor.knopfoubleday.com
  9. ^ Nan-a-talese.knopfdoubleday.com
  10. ^ Randomhouse.com

External links


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