Top Five Publishers Make $4.8 Billion

Written on August 23, 2006 by Nancy Callahan in Books, Getting Published, Publishing, Writing

The five largest US publishers (aka the “Big Five” — Random House, HarperCollins, Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster and Time Warner Trade Books) raked in $4.8 billion in revenue in 2004.

Random House, of course, was the country’s largest publisher last year, with U.S. sales of about $1.33 billion, roughly flat with 2003. HarperCollins and Penguin usually run neck and neck for the country’s second largest publisher. In 2004, HC, with a big assist from Zondervan and The Purpose-Driven Life, edged ahead of Penguin. HC had North American sales of approximately $965 million last year, with North America accounting for about 73% of HC’s worldwide sales. Penguin, which received a boost of $40 million from its Penguin Press, Gotham and Razorbill imprints in 2004, had estimated sales in the U.S. of $900 million last year.

To compare: 63,000 small publishers (‘everyone else,’ I’m guessing) generated revenue of $14 billion.

[Source: Publishers Weekly, via KeepMedia]

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One Response to Top Five Publishers Make $4.8 Billion
  1. Best of Niner Niner September 06 | My Secret Side Biz
    April 14, 2008 | 11:05 pm

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