History
Another member of the “big six” in publishing Simon & Schuster, aka S&S, was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. And, like HarperCollins and Random House, which are both part of bigger media conglomerates, S&S is owned by CBS Corporation. Today S&S, which is a major trade house (the term “trade” means it publishes books for a general consumer audience as opposed to, say textbooks, for an academic audience), releases about 1,800 titles a year. And, like the other members of the “big six,” S&S is headquartered in New York City.
Notable Imprints
Scribner – A titan in the world of literary publishing, Scribner, once dubbed Charles Scribner’s Sons, is where the legendary Maxwell Perkins worked as an editor. (Perkins, who worked for the NY Times before joining Scribner in the early 1900s, is arguably one of the most famous books editors. He edited American luminaries like Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe.) The imprint itself, in addition to publishing the likes of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, counted Ring Lardner and Edith Wharton on its list. Today Annie Proulx, Don Delillo, Stephen King and Frank McCourt are some of the contemporary writers Scribner publishes.
Simon & Schuster -- The flagship imprint of S&S, Simon & Schuster is known for publishing current affairs, biography and history titles. In 1974 the imprint released Woodward and Bernstein’s All the President’s Men. In its infancy the imprint also published such major titles as Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. Today the imprint’s authors include David McCullough, Doris Kearns, Larry McMurtry, Jimmy Carter and Bob Dylan, among others.
Free Press -- Releasing both fiction and nonfiction, Free Press is known, in particular, for politics and nonfiction titles. To that end it publishes authors like Richard A. Clarke (Against All Enemies), Phil McGraw (aka Dr. Phil) and Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen (the pair behind the uberseller, YOU: On a Diet and its sequel, YOU: The Owners Manual).
Pocket – Founded in 1939, Pocket was the industry’s first paperback imprint. Today Pocket publishes hardcovers as well as paperbacks and, under its umbrella, publishes MTV Books, G-Unit (Rapper 50 Cent’s imprint), Downtown Press and a few other imprints. Known for more commercial books, Pocket does some editions meant to be seen between a paperback and a hardcover, like its oversized mass markets and premium paperbacks.
