The Big 5

In my last blog article, I mentioned two ways of publishing books: self-publishing and traditional publishing. This blog article is going to focus on traditional publishing for the purpose of exploring which publishing companies are the most popular and how their websites attract writers of particular genres. 

According to Olivia Smith in the article, "What are the 'Big Five' Publishing Houses?," there are five main traditional publishing houses (Smith): 

• Penguin/Random House,
• Hachette Book Group,
• Harper Collins,                          
• Simon and Schuster, and
• Macmillan

Although these five publishing houses still hold plenty of hype in the publishing world, it is hard for writers to get published (Smith). Therefore, as I mentioned in the last article, self-publishing rates have skyrocketed in recent years. But still, the Big Five continue to bring in the majority of revenue from book sales. 

Penguin Random House is the biggest publishing house in the U.S., earning $3.3 billion in 2019 (Kolmar). This publishing house is recognized by even those who are not big readers. They publish in all types of genres, as do all of the other big publishing companies, but they specialize in genres of mystery/suspense, sci-fi/fantasy, biography/memoir, and Spanish language fiction. Penguin Random House seems to emphasize its support of Hispanic and Black authors, as seen in their advertisements on their home page (Penguin). 

The next largest publishing house is Hachette Book Group, bringing in a whopping $2.7 billion (Kolmar). The genres Hachette focuses on are fiction, mystery/thriller, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, and teen and YA. Scrolling through the official website for Hachette, you can see that they advertise for women writers (probably because March is women's history month). They also advertise for a new cook book, LGBTQ+ novels, and political topics books, as well as their new releases (Hachette). 

One of the most well-known publishing companies, which is third on our list, is Harper Collins. Their revenue comes out to $1.5 billion (Kolmar). Harper Collins is best known for their romance genre, but they also specialize in both fiction and nonfiction categories of memoir/biography, narrative nonfiction, history, sports, literary fiction, thrillers, and contemporary women's fiction. As with Hachette, Harper Collins pushes for books celebrating women's history this month, new editions of The Lord of the Rings, and a new series from a bestselling Nordic author (HarperCollins). 

Fourth on our list is Macmillan, bringing in $1.4 billion in revenue (Kolmar). As you scroll through their homepage, Macmillan seems to appeal to writers of thriller, fantasy, YA, mystery, sci-fi, and nonfiction. You can also see their list of bestsellers, their top genres, corporate responsibilities (i.e. sustainability, diversity, equity, and inclusion), new releases, book events, and how to connect with communities of other writers (Macmillan). 

Last on the list of the Big Five is Simon and Schuster, bringing in $993 million (Kolmar). Again, there are a mix of genres they publish. Their main focus seems to be in the most popular genre, romance, with an emphasis in the genres of memoir/biography and thriller/mystery as well. For this publishing house, we also see women's history month books advertised, as well as new releases, trending books, and books for children and teens (New). 

All this to say, the Big Five publishing houses in the U.S. keep their place as the tycoons of the publishing industry because they offer a variety of genres to publish in. Their world renowned recognition also plays a large role in their continued profits. In the last blog post of this series, we will dive into the logistics of book sales and how total revenue is distributed among publishers, distributers, and authors. 

Works Cited

Hachette Book Group, 2023, https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/.

“HarperCollins Publishers: World-Leading Book Publisher.” HarperCollins, 2023, https://www.harpercollins.com/.

“Macmillan Publishers.” Macmillan, 3 Aug. 2022, https://us.macmillan.com/.

“New Book Releases, Bestsellers, Author Info and More at Simon & Schuster.” New Book Releases, Bestsellers, Author Info and More at Simon & Schuster, 2023, https://www.simonandschuster.com/.

“Penguin Random House.” PenguinRandomhouse.com, 2023, https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/.

Smith, Olivia. “What Are the ‘Big Five’ Publishing Houses?” BookScouter Blog, 10 Jan. 2023, https://bookscouter.com/blog/big-five-publishing-houses/.

Kolmar, Chris. “23 Gripping Book Industry Statistics [2023]: Facts about the US Book Industry.” Zippia 23 Gripping Book Industry Statistics 2023 Facts About the US Book Industry Comments, 17 Aug. 2022, https://www.zippia.com/advice/us-book-industry-statistics/.

*Photo: https://vgiordano-publishing.umasscreate.net/publishing/the-big-5-and-the-job-search/