Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American, New York-based publishing house founded in 1974 by

Walter Zacharius Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born ...

(1923–2011)Grimes, William
"Walter Zacharius, Romance Publisher, Dies at 87,"
''New York Times'' (MARCH 7, 2011). and Roberta Bender Grossman (1946–1992). Kensington is known as “America’s Independent Publisher.” It remains a multi-generational family business, with Steven Zacharius succeeding his father as president and CEO, and Adam Zacharius as general manager. It is the house of many ''New York Times'' bestselling authors, including Fern Michaels, Lisa Jackson, Joanne Fluke and

William W. Johnstone William Wallace Johnstone (October 28, 1938 – February 8, 2004) was an American author most known for his western, horror and survivalist novels. Life and career Early life Born and raised in southern Missouri, Johnstone was the youngest ...

. In addition to the over 500 new titles that the company publishes each year, it has a vast and diverse backlist that includes classics such as '' The Minority Report'' by

Philip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...

, '' Johnny Got His Gun'' by Dalton Trumbo, '' I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell'' by Tucker Max and '' Being and Nothingness'' by

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialist, existentialism (and Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter ...

. Kensington's imprints include

Zebra Books Zebra Books is an imprint of American publisher Kensington Publishing Corp. As the company's flagship imprint until the late 80s, it currently publishes women's fiction, romantic suspense and bestselling historical, paranormal and contemporary ro ...

, Pinnacle Books, Dafina, Citadel Press, and Lyrical Press, which provide readers with a range of popular genres such as romance, military thrillers and espionage, women's fiction, African American, young adult and nonfiction, as well as true-crime, western, and mystery titles.

History

Kensington Books was founded by Walter Zacharius and Roberta Bender Grossman in 1974 as the successor to the paperback publisher Lancer Books, specializing in paperback romance novels. The

and Pinnacle Books imprints debuted in 1975. Rather than bookstores, the company's books were generally sold in railroad stations, airports, bus terminals, and drug stores. In 2008, Kensington acquired the publishing assets of Holloway House (publishers of Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines). Co-founder Walter Zacharius died in 2011. In addition to having run Lancer Books from 1961 to 1973, Zacharius authored the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

novel ''Songbird'', published by

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 pub ...

in 2004 and republished by Kensington Books in 2007 as ''The Memories We Keep''.

Management

Steven Zacharius, son of founder Walter Zacharius, has been with the company since 1993 and has been president and CEO since 2005. He is also chairman of Kensington. The company's senior vice president, Michael Rosamilia, has been the CFO since 1989. Adam Zacharius, Steven's son, is the Vice President - General Manager and originally started working with Kensington seven years ago. Kensington is believed to be the only publishing company with three generations of family management. The staff totals over 85 employees and, in addition to its internal sales team, Kensington has a distribution agreement with

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 o ...

Publisher Services’ global sales force.

Imprints

* Kensington Books — commercial fiction, romance * Citadel — general non-fiction * Dafina — African-American literature * Lyrical Press — digital-first * Pinnacle Books — thrillers,

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

, westerns * Rebel Base — digital-first sci-fi and fantasy * Urban Soul — African-American literature *

—

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

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

, romance

Authors

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/ Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Paranormal fiction Publishing companies established in 1974 Erotic publishers Romance book publishing companies 1974 establishments in New York City