Berkley Books is an imprint of the

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initi ...

History

Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Company" by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein, who had worked for Avon; they quickly renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. The new name was a combination of the their surnames, unrelated to either the philosopher George Berkeley or

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. Under their editor-in-chief Thomas Dardis, over the next few years Berkley developed a diverse line of popular fiction and non-fiction, both reprints and mass-market paperback originals, with a particularly strong history in

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

(books of

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...

and Frank Herbert’s '' Dune'' novels, for example). The company was bought in 1965 by

G. P. Putnam's Sons G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group. History The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 partnership between George Palmer Putnam and J ...

and in years to follow undertook a hardcover line under the Berkley imprint, chiefly but not only for science fiction. For example,

Merle Miller Merle Dale Miller (May 17, 1919 – June 10, 1986) was an American writer, novelist, and author who is perhaps best remembered for his best-selling biography of Harry S. Truman, and as a pioneer in the gay rights movement. Miller came out ...

’s ''Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman'' (1973), and ''The Search for J.F.K.'' by Joan and Clay Blair Jr. (1976) were substantial nonfiction books under that imprint. When Putnam bought Grosset & Dunlap and

Playboy Press PLBY Group, Inc. is an American global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Hefner as Playboy Enterprises, Inc. to oversee the ''Playboy'' magazine and related assets. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California. The company is focu ...

, the

Jove Jupiter ( la, Iūpiter or , from Proto-Italic "day, sky" + "father", thus " sky father" Greek: Δίας or Ζεύς), also known as Jove ( gen. ''Iovis'' ), is the god of the sky and thunder, and king of the gods in ancient Roman religio ...

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

and

paperback lists were added to that of Berkley; the Playboy list was eventually absorbed into Berkley, while the Jove and Ace lists have continued as distinct imprints. Following its publication (1985) of the paperback reprint edition of

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of his novels have ...

's ''

The Hunt for Red October ''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...

'', Berkley Books became increasingly interested in publishing military combat fiction and technothrillers; its publicity campaigns at military bases contributed to the success of its reprint edition of Dale Brown's ''

Flight of the Old Dog ''Flight of the Old Dog'' is a 1987 thriller novel written by Dale Brown. The novel's descriptions of B-52 controls and operations are based on Brown's knowledge of the systems as a USAF navigator. The flight is also recreated as a special mis ...

''. The Penguin Group purchased Putnam in 1996. When Penguin merged with Random House in 2013 to form

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase ...

, Berkley was integrated with the larger paperback line

New American Library The New American Library (also known as NAL) is an American publisher based in New York, founded in 1948. Its initial focus was affordable paperback reprints of classics and scholarly works as well as popular and pulp fiction, but it now publish ...

; the Berkley name was retained for that whole program, which is part of PRH's Penguin Adult group, and publishes in mass-market paperback, trade paperback, and hardcover formats. The

purchased Putnam in 1996. Penguin merged with

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

in 2013 to form

. Today, Berkley is part of PRH's Penguin Adult group and prints in mass-market paperback, trade paperback, and hardcover formats. In December 2008, Berkley cancelled the publication of the

Herman Rosenblat Herman A. Rosenblat ( 1929 – February 5, 2015) was a Polish-born American author, known for writing a fictitious Holocaust memoir titled ''Angel at the Fence'',Rosenblat, Herman (2009) ''Angel at the Fence'' Berkley Hardcover, purporting t ...

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

memoir titled '' Angel at the Fence'' when it was discovered that the book's central events were untrue. In 2011, Berkley Books launched its ebook imprint InterMix. In September 2012, Berkley Books announced that a trilogy of erotic romance novels by Maya Banks had been acquired for publishing. Her trilogy was described as similar to the ''Fifty Shades'' trilogy, featuring three billionaires. In 2015, the sister paperback group

was merged into Berkley. In April 2015, Berkley Books signed the self-published author Jasinda Wilder. In January 2016, Berkley was merged into Penguin's Putnam/ Dutton. Ivan Held replaced Leslie Gelbman as president of Berkley Books. In 2020, Berkley Books announced two new horror books by

Grady Hendrix Grady Hendrix is an American author, journalist, public speaker, and screenwriter known for his best-selling 2014 novel '' Horrorstör''. Hendrix lives in Manhattan and was one of the founders of the New York Asian Film Festival. Life and career ...

.Berkley Announces Two New Horror Novels by Grady Hendrix
''Tor.com'', 24 June 2020

Imprints

* Ace Books * Jove Books *

Authors

Its major authors have included:

Comic books

*1976–1977: ''Bionic Woman PB'' (Berkley Novel) *1977: ''From the Land Beyond Beyond SC: The Films of Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen'' *1988: ''New Comics SC'' *1998: ''X-Men Empire's End PB'' (Berkley Novel)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control * American speculative fiction publishers Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Science fiction publishers Publishing companies established in 1955 1955 establishments in New York City