HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

Hachette Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachett ...

, and

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of

News Corp News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The second incarnation of the News Corporation (1980–2013), original News Corporation, it was formed ...

. The name is a combination of several publishing firm names:

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, an American publishing company acquired in 1987—whose own name was the result of an earlier merger of

Harper & Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

(founded in 1817) and Row, Peterson & Company—together with Scottish publishing company

William Collins, Sons William Collins, Sons (often referred to as Collins) was a Scottish printing and publishing company founded by a Presbyterian schoolmaster, William Collins, in Glasgow in 1819, in partnership with Charles Chalmers, the younger brother of Thomas ...

(founded in 1819), acquired in 1989. The worldwide CEO of HarperCollins is Brian Murray. HarperCollins has publishing groups in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, India, and China. The company publishes many different

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

s, both former independent publishing houses and new imprints.

History

Collins

Harper

Mergers and acquisitions

Collins was bought by

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...

in 1989, and was combined with Harper & Row, which NewsCorp had acquired two years earlier. In addition to the simplified and merged name, the logo for HarperCollins was derived from the torch logo for Harper and Row, and the fountain logo for Collins, which were combined into a stylized depiction of flames atop waves. In 1990, HarperCollins sold J. B. Lippincott & Co., its medical publishing division, to the Dutch publisher

Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer N.V. () is a Dutch information services company. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (Global) and Philadelphia, United States (corporate). Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a ...

. In 1996, HarperCollins sold

Scott Foresman Scott Foresman was an elementary educational publisher for PreK through Grade 6 in all subject areas. Its titles are now owned by Savvas Learning Company which formed from former Pearson Education K12 division. The old Glenview headquarters of ...

and HarperCollins College to

Pearson Pearson may refer to: Organizations Education *Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada *Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC *Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation) Companies *Pearson PLC, a UK-based int ...

, which merged them with

Addison-Wesley Longman Addison-Wesley is an American publisher of textbooks and computer literature. It is an imprint of Pearson PLC, a global publishing and education company. In addition to publishing books, Addison-Wesley also distributes its technical titles through ...

. News Corporation purchased the Hearst Book Group, consisting of

William Morrow & Company William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. The c ...

and

Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reach ...

, in 1999. These imprints are now published under the rubric of HarperCollins. HarperCollins bought educational publisher

Letts and Lonsdale Letts and Lonsdale is a British educational publisher of revision guides under the Letts and Lonsdale brand names. The company is a subsidiary of HarperCollins, an international publisher owned by News Corporation, and is within the company's Coll ...

in March 2010. In 2011, HarperCollins announced they had agreed to acquire the publisher Thomas Nelson. The purchase was completed on July 11, 2012, with an announcement that Thomas Nelson would operate independently given the position it has in Christian book publishing. Both Thomas Nelson and

Zondervan Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publ ...

were then organized as imprints, or "keystone publishing programs," under a new division, HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Key roles in the reorganization were awarded to former Thomas Nelson executives. In 2012, HarperCollins acquired part of the trade operations of

John Wiley & Son John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...

in Canada. In 2014, HarperCollins acquired Canadian romance publisher

Harlequin Enterprises Harlequin Enterprises ULC (known simply as Harlequin) is a romance and women's fiction publisher founded in Winnipeg, Canada in 1949. From the 1960s, it grew into the largest publisher of romance fiction in the world. Based in Toronto, Canada si ...

for C$455 million. In 2018, HarperCollins acquired the business publisher

Amacom HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

from the

American Management Association The American Management Association (AMA) is an American non-profit educational membership organization for the promotion of management, based in New York City. Besides its headquarters there, it has local head offices throughout the world. It o ...

. In 2020, HarperCollins acquired the children's publishers Egmont Books UK, Egmont Poland and Schneiderbuch Germany from the

Egmont Group The Egmont Group (formerly The Gutenberghus Group) is a Danish media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishing but has over the years evolved to comprise mass me ...

. On March 29, 2021, HarperCollins announced that it would acquire HMH Books & Media, the trade publishing division of

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Financial Dist ...

, for $349 million. The deal would allow HMH to pay down its debt and focus on digital education. The deal was completed on May 10. As of July 7, 2021, HMH's adult books will be published as Mariner Books, while HMH's children's books will be published as Clarion Books. In 2021, HarperCollins acquired the British publishers Pavilion Books. In 2022 HarperCollins acquired Cider Mill Press.

Management history

Brian Murray, the current CEO of HarperCollins, succeeded

Jane Friedman Jane Friedman is the Co-Founder of Open Road Integrated Media, which sells and markets ebooks. She was the President and Chief Executive Officer of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, one of the world's leading English-language publishers, from 19 ...

who was CEO from 1997 to 2008. Notable management figures include Lisa Sharkey, current senior vice president and director of creative development and Barry Winkleman from 1989 to 1994.

''United States v. Apple Inc.''

In April 2012, the United States Department of Justice filed ''

United States v. Apple Inc. ''United States v. Apple Inc.'', 952 F. Supp. 2d 638 (S.D.N.Y. 2013), was a US antitrust case in which the Court held that Apple Inc. conspired to raise the price of e-books in violation of the Sherman Act. The suit, filed in April 2012, allege ...

'', naming

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

, HarperCollins, and four other major publishers as defendants. The suit alleged that they conspired to fix prices for

e-books An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

, and weaken

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

's position in the market, in violation of

antitrust law Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...

. In December 2013, a federal judge approved a settlement of the antitrust claims, in which HarperCollins and the other publishers paid into a fund that provided credits to customers who had overpaid for books due to the

price-fixing Price fixing is an anticompetitive agreement between participants on the same side in a market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price, or maintain the market conditions such that the price is maintained at a given ...

US warehouse closings

On November 5, 2012, HarperCollins announced to employees privately and then later in the day publicly that it was closing its remaining two US warehouses, to merge shipping and warehousing operations with R. R. Donnelley in Indiana. The Scranton, Pennsylvania, warehouse closed in September 2013 and a Nashville, Tennessee, warehouse, under the name Thomas Nelson (which distributes the religious arm of HarperCollins/Zondervan Books), in the winter of 2013. Several office positions and departments continued to work for HarperCollins in Scranton, but in a new location. The Scranton warehouse closing eliminated about 200 jobs, and the Nashville warehouse closing eliminated up to 500 jobs; the exact number of distribution employees is unknown. HarperCollins previously closed two US warehouses, one in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 2011 and another in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2012. "We have taken a long-term, global view of our print distribution and are committed to offering the broadest possible reach for our authors," said HarperCollins Chief Executive Brian Murray, according to'' Publishers Weekly''. "We are retooling the traditional distribution model to ensure we can competitively offer the entire HarperCollins catalog to customers regardless of location." Company officials attribute the closings and mergers to the rapidly growing demand for e-book formats and the decline in print purchasing.

Internet Archive lawsuit

In June 2020, HarperCollins was one of a group of publishers who sued the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

, arguing that its collection of e-books was denying authors and publishers revenue and accusing the library of "willful mass copyright infringement".

Lindsay Lohan lawsuit

In September 2020, HarperCollins sued

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at the age of three. Having appeared as a regular on the television soap opera '' An ...

for entering into a book deal and collecting a $350,000 advance for a tell-all memoir that never materialized.

Anne Frank's betrayal

A 2022 book written by

Rosemary Sullivan Rosemary Sullivan (born 1947) is a Canadian poet, biographer, and anthologist. She is also a professor emerita at University of Toronto. Biography Sullivan was born in the small town of Valois on Lac Saint-Louis, just outside Montreal, Quebec ...

, with HarperCollins as main publisher, designated a Jewish notary as the most likely suspect in

Anne Frank Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...

's betrayal. The conclusion was challenged by experts. The notary's family members threatened a lawsuit and started a foundation. The Dutch publisher withdrew the book, but HarperCollins has not taken any definitive decision.

UAW strike

On November 10, 2022, approximately 250 unionized workers at HarperCollins began an indefinite strike. Local 2110 of the

United Auto Workers The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico ...

(UAW) union includes people in design, marketing, publicity, and sales for the company. The UAW union made the decision to strike after drawn-out negotiations between it and HarperCollins, which resulted in members "working without a contract since April." According to a spokesperson, HarperCollins "has agreed to a number of proposals that the UAW is seeking to include in a new contract" and "is disappointed an agreement has not been reached" but "will continue to negotiate in good faith." As of December 19th 2022, the strike is ongoing.

Noted books

HarperCollins maintains the backlist of many of the books originally published by its many merged imprints, in addition to having picked up new authors since the merger. Authors published originally by Harper include

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

, the Brontë sisters, and

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...

. Authors published originally by Collins include H. G. Wells and

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

. HarperCollins also acquired the publishing rights to J. R. R. Tolkien's work in 1990 when

Unwin Hyman George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

was bought. This is a list of some of the more noted books and series published by HarperCollins and their various imprints and merged publishing houses. * '' The Hobbit'', J. R. R. Tolkien (1937) (originally published by George Allen & Unwin) * '' The Lord of the Rings'', J. R. R. Tolkien (1954–1955) (originally published by George Allen & Unwin) * ''

The Art of Loving ''The Art of Loving'' is a 1956 book by psychoanalyst and social philosopher Erich Fromm. It was originally published as part of the '' World Perspectives'' series edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen. In this work, Fromm develops his perspective on huma ...

'',

Erich Fromm Erich Seligmann Fromm (; ; March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a German social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was a German Jew who fled the Nazi regime and settled in the U ...

(1956) * '' Master and Commander'', Patrick O'Brian (1970) (adapted into the 2003 film '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'') * the '' Leaphorn and Chee books'', Tony Hillerman (1970–2006) * '' The Silmarillion'', J. R. R. Tolkien (ed.

Christopher Tolkien Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor, becoming a French citizen in later life. The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father' ...

with Guy Gavriel Kay) (1977) (originally published by George Allen & Unwin) * '' Collins English Dictionary'' (1979), a major dictionary * ''Sharpe'' series, Bernard Cornwell (1981–2006) * '' Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo'', Hayden Herrera (1983), adapted into the 2002 film '' Frida'' * '' The History of Middle-earth'' series, J. R. R. Tolkien (ed. Christopher Tolkien) (1983–1996) * ''

Weaveworld ''Weaveworld'' is a 1987 dark fantasy novel by English writer Clive Barker. It is about a magical world that is hidden inside a tapestry, known as the Fugue, to safeguard it from both inquisitive humans and hostile supernatural foes. Two norm ...

'', Clive Barker (1987) * the Paladin Poetry Series (1987–1993) * '' The Alchemist'', Paulo Coelho, (1988) (first published in Portuguese as ''O Alquimista'', 1988) * subsequent novels in the ''

Take Back Plenty ''Take Back Plenty'' (1990), is a novel by British writer Colin Greenland, which won both major British science fiction awards, the 1990 British SF Association award and the 1991 Arthur C. Clarke Award,Clute and Nicholls 1995, p. 525. as well a ...

'' series, Colin Greenland (1990+) * ''Where There's a Will: Who Inherited What and Why'',

Stephen M. Silverman Stephen M. Silverman is an American biographer, journalist, and editor. He was chief entertainment correspondent for the ''New York Post'' from 1977 to 1988,

(1991) *'' Dorothy Wordsworth's Illustrated Lakeland Journals'' (1991, Diamond Books) * ''

The Language of the Genes ''The Language of the Genes'' (HarperCollins, ) is a popular science book by Steve Jones about genetics and evolution. It followed a 1991 series of Reith Lectures by Jones with the same title.Steve Jones Steve or Steven Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Steve Jones (English presenter) (born 1945), English musician, disk jockey, television presenter, and voice-over artist *Steve Jones (musician) (born 1955), English rock and roll guita ...

(1993) * ''

The Gifts of the Body ''The Gifts of the Body'' is a 1994 novel by Rebecca Brown, and originally published by HarperCollins. The book consists of several interconnected stories. Plot The several short stories are narrated by a caregiver who is tending to several pa ...

'', Rebecca Brown (1994) * '' Microserfs'', Douglas Coupland (1995) * '' Thoughts'', Tionne Watkins (1999) * '' Shuka Saptati: Seventy tales of the Parrot'' a new translation from the Sanskrit by

A. N. D. Haksar Aditya Narayan Dhairyasheel Haksar (born 3 December 1933) is a well known translator of Sanskrit classics into English. Born in Gwalior, central India, he is a graduate of The Doon School, Allahabad University and Oxford University. He was a care ...

(2000) * '' First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers'', Loung Ung (2000) * ''

Bel Canto Bel canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song", )—with several similar constructions (''bellezze del canto'', ''bell'arte del canto'')—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing. The phrase was not associat ...

'', Ann Patchett (2001) * '' A Theory of Relativity'', Jacquelyn Mitchard (2001) * recent volumes in the '' Discworld'' series by Terry Pratchett (books from 2001 to present) * ''

American Gods ''American Gods'' (2001) is a fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow. The book was pub ...

'',

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

(2001) * '' Boonville'', Robert Mailer Anderson (2003 reprint) * ''

Quicksilver Quicksilver may refer to: * Quicksilver (metal), the chemical element mercury Arts and entertainment Music * Quicksilver, a bluegrass band fronted by Doyle Lawson * "Quicksilver" (song), a 1950 hit for Bing Crosby * ''Quicksilver'' (sound ...

'',

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work exp ...

(2003) * '' Don Quixote'', a new translation by Edith Grossman (2003, Ecco) * ''

Acquainted with the Night "Acquainted with the Night" is a poem by Robert Frost. It first appeared in the Autumn, 1928 issue of ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'' and was republished that year in his collection '' West-Running Brook''. Poem Interpretation and form T ...

'', Christopher Dewdney (2004) * '' State of fear'', by

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...

(2004) * ''

Darkhouse ''Darkhouse'' is a 2005 mystery- detective novel written by Irish author Alex Barclay and published by HarperCollins in the United Kingdom, and later in the USA, France and many other markets. It is the debut novel of pseudonymous former journa ...

'', Alex Barclay (2005) * '' Anansi Boys'', Neil Gaiman (2005) * '' The Hot Kid'',

Elmore Leonard Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thri ...

(2005) * '' Freaky Green Eyes'', by

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and non-fiction. Her novels '' Bla ...

(2006) * '' Next'',

(2006) * '' Domicilium Decoratus'', Kelly Wearstler (2006) * '' Pretty Little Liars'', Sara Shepard (2006) * '' Mister B. Gone'', Clive Barker (Harper) (2007) * '' Loving Natalee: A Mother's Testament of Hope and Faith'',

Beth Holloway Elizabeth Ann Holloway (''née'' Reynolds; born 1960) is an American speech pathologist and motivational speaker. She became widely known in the international media after her teenage daughter, Natalee, disappeared while she was on a high school ...

(2007) (about Natalee Holloway) * '' The Raw Shark Texts'', Steven Hall (2007) * '' The Children of Húrin'', J. R. R. Tolkien (ed. Christopher Tolkien) (2007) * '' The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power'', Jeff Sharlet (2008) * '' Going Rogue: An American Life'',

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

(2009) * ''

Pirate Latitudes ''Pirate Latitudes'' is an action adventure novel by Michael Crichton, the sixteenth novel to be published under his own name and first to be published after his death, concerning 17th-century piracy in the Caribbean. HarperCollins published th ...

'', Michael Crichton (2009) (posthumous publication) * '' Wolf Hall'', Hilary Mantel (2009) * '' Shattered: The True Story of a Mother's Love, a Husband's Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Texas Murder'', Kathryn Casey (2010) * ''

Micro Micro may refer to: Measurement * micro- (μ), a metric prefix denoting a factor of 10−6 Places * Micro, North Carolina, town in U.S. People * DJ Micro, (born Michael Marsicano) an American trance DJ and producer *Chii Tomiya (都宮ちい ...

'', Michael Crichton (2011) (posthumous publication) * '' The Dressmaker of Khair Khana'', Gayle Tzemach Lemmon (2011) * '' A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold'' by

Abhinav Bindra Abhinav Apjit Bindra is an Indian Olympic gold medallist, retired sport shooter, and businessman.Go Set a Watchman'',

Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926February 19, 2016) was an American novelist best known for her 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee has received numero ...

(2015) * ''

The Poppy War ''The Poppy War'' is a 2018 novel by R. F. Kuang, published by Harper Voyager. ''The Poppy War'', a grimdark fantasy, draws its plot and politics from mid-20th-century China, with the conflict in the novel based on the Second Sino-Japanese War, ...

'',

R.F. Kuang Rebecca F. Kuang is a Chinese-American fantasy writer. Her first novel, '' The Poppy War'', was released in 2018, followed by the sequels ''The Dragon Republic'' in 2019 and ''The Burning God'' in 2020. Kuang released a stand-alone novel, ''Bab ...

(2018)

Harper children's books

Children's book editor Ursula Nordstrom was the director of Harper's Department of Books for Boys and Girls from 1940 to 1973, overseeing the publication of classics such as ''

Goodnight Moon ''Goodnight Moon'' is an American children's book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. It was published on September 3, 1947, and is a highly acclaimed bedtime story. This book is the second in Brown and Hurd's "cla ...

'', '' Where the Wild Things Are'', '' The Giving Tree'', ''

Charlotte's Web ''Charlotte's Web'' is a book of children's literature by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams; it was published on October 15, 1952, by Harper & Brothers. The novel tells the story of a livestock pig named Wilbur and his ...

'', Beverly Cleary's series starring Ramona Quimby, and '' Harold and the Purple Crayon''. They were the publishing home of

Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book ''Where the Wild Things Are'', first published in 1963.Turan, Kenneth (October 16, 200 ...

, Shel Silverstein, and

Margaret Wise Brown Margaret Wise Brown (May 23, 1910 – November 13, 1952) was an American writer of children's books, including ''Goodnight Moon'' and ''The Runaway Bunny'', both illustrated by Clement Hurd. She has been called "the laureate of the nursery" for ...

. In 1998, Nordstrom's personal correspondence was published as ''Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom'' (illustrated by

), edited by

Charlotte Zolotow Charlotte Zolotow (born Charlotte Gertrude Shapiro; June 26, 1915 – November 19, 2013) was an American writer, poet, editor, and publisher of many books for children. She wrote about 70 picture book texts. The writers she edited include Paul Fl ...

. Zolotow began her career as a stenographer to Nordstrom, became her ''protégé'', and went on to write more than 80 books and edit hundreds of others, including Nordstrom's ''The Secret Language'' and the works of

Paul Fleischman Paul Fleischman (born 1952) is an American writer of children's books. He and his father Sid Fleischman have both won the Newbery Medal from the American Library Association recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American l ...

. Zolotow later became head of the children's books department, and went on to become the company's first female vice president. '' The Chronicles of Narnia'' series by C.S. Lewis, while not originally published by a merged imprint of HarperCollins, was acquired by the publisher. HarperCollins has published these notable children's books: * the

I Can Read! I Can Read! is a line of beginning reading books published by HarperCollins. The series is rated by level and is widely used to teach children to read English. The first book in the series was Else Holmelund Minarik's '' Little Bear'', published ...

series for beginning readers, including the '' Amelia Bedelia'' ( Peggy Parish), ''

Frog and Toad ''Frog and Toad'' is a series of easy-reader children's books, written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. Each book contains five simple, often humorous, sometimes poignant, short stories chronicling the exploits of an anthropomorphic frog and toad ...

'' (

Arnold Lobel Arnold Stark Lobel (May 22, 1933 – December 4, 1987) was an American author of children's books, including the '' Frog and Toad'' series and '' Mouse Soup''. He wrote and illustrated these picture books as well as ''Fables'', a 1981 Caldecott M ...

) and '' Little Bear'' ( Else Holmelund Minarik and

) books * the ''Warriors'' series (2003–present) * the '' Pretty Little Liars'' series, by Sara Shepard (2007–present) * '' A Series of Unfortunate Events'',

Lemony Snicket Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American author Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970). Handler has published several children's books under the name, most notably ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'', which has sold over 60 million copies and s ...

* '' A Taste of Blackberries'', Doris Buchanan Smith (1973) * ''Skulduggery Pleasant'' series, Derek Landy * '' Bart Simpson's Guide to Life'' (1993) * international rights to Dr. Seuss (inherited from Collins; 1950s-present) * ''

Love That Dog ''Love That Dog'' is a free verse piece written by Sharon Creech and published by HarperCollins. It is written in diary format, in the perspective of a young boy who resists poetry assignments from his teacher. The author drew inspiration from Wal ...

'', Sharon Creech (2001) * '' The Giving Tree'', Shel Silverstein (1964) * '' Where the Sidewalk Ends (book)'', Shel Silverstein (1974) * '' The Saga of Darren Shan'', Darren Shan (2000–2004) ** '' Cirque du Freak''

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series, Darren Shan and Takahiro Arai (2006–2009) * ''

The Dangerous Book for Boys ''The Dangerous Book for Boys'', by Conn and Hal Iggulden is a guidebook published by HarperCollins, aimed at boys "from eight to eighty." It covers around eighty topics, including how to build a treehouse, grow a crystal, or tell direction ...

'', Conn and Hal Iggulden (2006) * '' Sabriel'', Garth Nix (1995) * '' A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears'', Jules Feiffer (1995) * '' Mister God, This Is Anna'', Fynn (pseudonym of Sydney Hopkins) (1974) * the '' Little House on the Prairie'' series, Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932–2006) * ''

The Wolves in the Walls ''The Wolves in the Walls'' is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, published in 2003, in the United States by HarperCollins, and in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. The book was highly praised on release, winning three awards for that yea ...

'',

and

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpt ...

(2003) * ''

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

'', Walter Dean Myers (1999) * '' Coraline'',

and

(2002) * '' Surviving the Applewhites'',

Stephanie S. Tolan Stephanie S. Tolan (born 1942 in Ohio) is an American author of children's books. Her book Surviving the Applewhites received a Newbery Honor in 2003. She obtained a master's degree in English at Purdue University. Tolan is a senior fellow at the ...

(2002) * ''

The Gollywhopper Games ''The Gollywhopper Games'' is a children's novel for readers aged 10 to 14. It was written by Jody Feldman and illustrated by Victoria Jamieson. It has been praised for its interactive games and puzzles. This is Feldman's first novel. It was p ...

'' (2008) * '' Ruby Redfort'' (series), Lauren Child (2011) * '' Divergent'', Veronica Roth (2011) * '' Survivors'' series (2012-2019) * '' The School for Good and Evil'',

Soman Chainani Soman Chainani is an American author and filmmaker, best known for writing the children's book series ''The School for Good and Evil''. Soman's series, ''The School for Good and Evil'', debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List, has sold mor ...

(2013–present) * '' Splat the Cat'', Rob Scotton (2007–present) *''

,'' E. B. White (2015) * ''Little Penguin'', Tadgh Bentley (2015–present) * '' Elinor Wonders Why'' adapted books (2021–present)

Imprints

HarperCollins has more than 120 book

s, most of which are based in the United States. Collins still exists as an imprint, chiefly for wildlife and natural history books, field guides, as well as for English and bilingual dictionaries based on the Bank of English, a large corpus of contemporary English texts. HarperCollins imprints (current and defunct, including imprints that existed prior to various mergers) include:

Current

Adult

Children

* HarperCollins Children's Books ** Harper Festival, a publisher of novelty books founded in 1992 ** HarperTeen ** HarperTeen Impulse (digital imprint) ** HarperTrophy ** Amistad ** Balzer + Bray ** Collins ** Clarion Books ** Greenwillow Books **

Heartdrum Heartdrum is a publishing imprint of the English-language publishing house HarperCollins that specializes in children's books by North American Indigenous authors. Audience Heartdrum was launched in 2019 and is an imprint of the American publi ...

** HMH Books for Young Readers ** Katherine Tegen Books ** Walden Pond Press ** Blink Young Adult *Farshore (formerly Egmont Books UK) **Electric Monkey

Christian

* Thomas Nelson ** Grupo Nelson ** Nelson Books ** Tommy Nelson ** W Publishing Group ** WestBow Press *

** Editorial Vida ** Zonderkidz **Zondervan Academic **Zondervan Reflective

Audio

* HarperAudio * Caedmon, audiobooks * HarperCollins Children's Audio

Bureau

HarperCollins Speakers Bureau HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

Digital

* HarperCollins e-Books * HarperCollins Productions

Defunct

Business strategy

Web approach

In 2008, HarperCollins launched a browsing feature on its website to allow customers can read selected excerpts from books before purchasing, on both desktop and mobile browsers. This functionality gave the publisher's website the ability to compete with physical bookstores, in which customers can typically look at the book itself, and Amazon's use of excerpts ("teasers") for online book purchasers. At the beginning of October 2013, the company announced a partnership with online digital library Scribd. The official statement revealed that the "majority" of the HarperCollins US and HarperCollins Christian catalogs will be available in Scribd's subscription service. Chantal Restivo-Alessi, chief digital officer at HarperCollins, explained to the media that the deal represents the first time that the publisher has released such a large portion of its catalog. HarperCollins formerly operated ''authonomy'', an online community of authors, from 2008 to 2015. The website offered an alternative to the traditional " slush pile" approach for handling unsolicited manuscripts sent to a publisher with little chance of being reviewed. Using authonomy, authors could submit their work for peer review and ranking by other members; the five highest-ranked manuscripts each month would be read by HarperCollins editors for potential publication. The site was closed after authors "learned to game the system" to earn top-five rankings, and fewer authonomy titles were selected to be published. From 2009 to 2010, HarperCollins operated Bookarmy, a social networking site.

Speakers Bureau

The HarperCollins Speakers Bureau (also known as HCSB) is the first lecture agency to be created by a major publishing house. It was launched in May 2005McGee, Celia
"A Way to Give Authors a Lucrative Second Platform."
''The New York Times'', June 4, 2007. Retrieved February 23, 2009. as a division of HarperCollins to book paid speaking engagements for the authors HarperCollins, and its sister companies, publish. Andrea Rosen is the director. Some of the notable authors the HCSB represents include Carol Alt, Dennis Lehane, Gregory Maguire, Danny Meyer, Mehmet Oz,

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

, Ted Sorensen, and

Kate White Kate White (born September 3, 1951) is an American author, former magazine editor, and speaker. From 1998 to 2012, she served as the editor-in-chief of ''Cosmopolitan'' and left to concentrate full time on writing suspense fiction. She is the ...

HarperAcademic

HarperAcademic
is the academic marketing department of HarperCollins. HarperAcademic provides instructors with the latest in adult titles for course adoption at the high school and college level, as well as titles for first-year and other common read programs at academic institutions. They also attend several major academic conferences to showcase new titles for academic professionals.
HarperAcademic Calling
a podcast produced by the department, provides interviews with authors of noteworthy titles.

HarperStudio

HarperCollins announced HarperStudio in 2008 as a "new, experimental unit... that will eliminate the traditional profit distributions to authors. The long-established author advances and bookseller returns has not proved to be very profitable to either the author or the publisher. The approach HarperStudio is now taking is to offer little or no advance, but instead to split the profit 50% (rather than the industry standard 15%), with the author." The division was headed by Bob Miller, previously the founding publisher of

Hyperion Hyperion may refer to: Greek mythology * Hyperion (Titan), one of the twelve Titans * ''Hyperion'', a byname of the Sun, Helios * Hyperion of Troy or Yperion, son of King Priam Science * Hyperion (moon), a moon of the planet Saturn * ''Hyp ...

, the adult books division of the Walt Disney Company. HarperStudio folded in March 2010 after Miller left for Workman Publishing.

HarperCollins India

HarperCollins Publishers India Pvt Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of HarperCollins Worldwide. It came into being in 1992.

Controversies

''If I Did It''

''If I Did It'' was a book written by

O. J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed "Juice", is an American former football running back, actor, and broadcaster who played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Once a popular figure ...

about his alleged murder of

Nicole Simpson Nicole Brown Simpson (née Brown; May 19, 1959 – June 12, 1994) was the ex-wife of the former professional American football player, O. J. Simpson, to whom she was married from 1985 to 1992. She was the mother of their two children, Sydney a ...

, which was planned as a HarperCollins title, and which attracted considerable controversy and a legal battle over publication.

Ben Collins

In August 2010, the company became embroiled in a legal battle with the BBC after a book it was due to publish, later identified as the forthcoming autobiography of racing driver Ben Collins, revealed the identity of The Stig from '' Top Gear''. In his blog, ''Top Gear'' executive producer

Andy Wilman Andrew Neville Wilman (born 16 August 1962) is an English television producer who is best known as the former executive producer of the ''Top Gear'' show, from 2002 to 2015, as well as being the executive producer of ''The Grand Tour''. He was r ...

accused HarperCollins of "hoping to cash in" on the BBC's intellectual property, describing the publishers as "a bunch of chancers". On September 1, the BBC's request for an injunction preventing the book from being published was turned down, effectively confirming the book's revelation that "The Stig" was indeed Collins.

''East and West''

The company became embroiled in controversy in 1998 after it was revealed it blocked

Chris Patten Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, (; born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life pe ...

's (the last British governor of Hong Kong) book '' East and West'' after a direct intervention by the then-CEO of

News International News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a List of newspapers in the United Kingdom, British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media Conglomerate (c ...

. It was later revealed by Stuart Proffitt, the editor who had worked on the book for HarperCollins, that this intervention was designed to appease the Chinese authorities—of whom the book was critical—as Murdoch intended to extend his business empire into China and did not wish to cause problems there by allowing the book to be published. Murdoch's intervention caused both Proffitt's resignation from the company and outrage from the international media apart from affiliated companies. Chris Patten later published with Macmillan Publishing, initially in America, where it carried the logo "The book that Rupert Murdoch refused to publish". After a successful legal campaign against HarperCollins, Patten went on to publish the book in the UK in September 1998 after accepting a sum of £500,000 and receiving an apology from Rupert Murdoch.

Ebooks

In March 2011, HarperCollins announced it would distribute ebooks to libraries with DRM enabled to delete the item after being lent 26 times. HarperCollins has drawn criticism of this plan, in particular its likening of ebooks, which are purely digital, to traditional paperback trade books, which wear over time.

Omission of Israel from an atlas

In December 2014, '' The Tablet'' reported that an atlas published for Middle East schools did not label Israel on a map of the Middle East. A representative for Collins Bartholomew, a subsidiary of HarperCollins that specializes in maps, explained that including Israel would have been "unacceptable" to their customers in the

Arab states of the Persian Gulf The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...

and the omission was in line with "local preferences". The company later apologized and destroyed all the books.

''What the (Bleep) Just Happened?''

HarperCollins announced in January 2017 that they would discontinue selling copies of Monica Crowley's book '' What the (Bleep) Just Happened?'', due to allegations of plagiarism. The 2012 book had lifted passages from a number of sources including columns, news articles and think tank reports. HarperCollins said in a statement to CNN's '' KFile'', "The book which has reached the end of its natural sales cycle, will no longer be offered for purchase until such time as the author has the opportunity to source and revise the material."

References

External links

*
Greenwillow Books records, 1974–2014
{{Portal bar, United States, United Kingdom, Books 1989 establishments in New York City Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom News Corporation subsidiaries Publishing companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 1989