Random House Inc.

Penguin Random House U.K. Launches "My Independent Bookstore"
April 8, 2014

Penguin Random House announced the launch of social retail platform "My Independent Bookshop" yesterday. The website, now in beta, allows users to compile their 12 favorite titles to create a virtual bookshop. Authors can participate as well and set up shop with their most recent works. The recommendation engine is linked to major social channels such as Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, allowing bookshop creators to share their favorite works with their friends and family.

Penguin Random House Buys Alfaguara
March 20, 2014

Spanish media group Prisa said yesterday it had agreed to sell Alfaguara, publisher of Nobel-prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa and several other editorial brands, to Penguin Random House for 72 million euros (US$100 million).

Penguin Random House is majority owned by German media group Bertelsmann, while Pearson, the owner of the Financial Times, holds a minority stake. Bertelsmann and Pearson last year completed the merger of their publishers Penguin and Random House.

It Is Not News to Publishers That They Have to Engage Directly With Their Readers
March 19, 2014

Since the merger that has created Penguin Random House, there has been precious little speculation (except by me, as far as I can tell) about what this new behemoth in trade book publishing could do to exploit their scale in new and innovative ways.

Their scale advantage is huge. PRH has something in the neighborhood of half the commercial trade books published, bestsellers and below. (You see numbers as low as 25% for this and most of the time estimates put it around 40%.) For several decades, the big US book clubs

Experts Predict What's Next in Digital Publishing
January 10, 2014

Industry luminaries scry the spins ahead in the helter skelter revolution at the centre of their business.

Anna Rafferty, Penguin digital managing director
"I predict more digital for publishers in 2014.  I'm not being (completely) facetious, I mean more digitalness in all parts of the industry, not just in ebook product output. We're going to be using all of the creepy/fun/incredibly clever targeted and personalised marketing opportunities that our connected lives now afford to the smart marketer to reach, and then truly delight, relevant readers.

"Our New Beginning Together": Markus Dohle's letter to Penguin Random House authors
July 1, 2013

Today, Random House and Penguin are officially united as Penguin Random House. For us, today is a beginning, and I very much want to reach out to you on our first day as a new company, because it all begins with you: you and the books you write and entrust to us to publish. For us, this is a sacred trust, one that before today Penguin and Random House have honored separately. Now it is a commitment and a privilege that unifies us.

Target Drops Deen as Her Book Tops Best Sellers List
June 27, 2013

As diabetes drug maker Novo Nordisk and retailer Target become the latest companies to distance themselves from Paula Deen, her recipes are still number one y'all.

Fans have ensured the embattled chef's upcoming book, “Paula Deen’s New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up,” is already a best seller.

The tome has reached the number one spot on Amazon's best sellers list and is currently second on Barnes & Noble's Top 100 list. Huge interest for a book that's not scheduled to be released until October 15.

Why Big Publishers Think Genre Fiction Like Sci-Fi Is the Future of E-Books
June 26, 2013

One of the biggest success stories in U.S. publishing in recent years has been the continued growth of digital book publishing. Last year, total revenue for e-book sales in the United States reached $3.04 billion, a 44.2% increase on 2011′s numbers and a figure all the more impressive when you realize that growth is additive to the print publishing industry. Even more surprising, publishers have focused much of their attention on genres like sci-fi, fantasy, mystery and romance fiction – markets that have traditionally lagged behind “literary fiction” in terms of sales.


Random House Announces Partnership with Country Inns & Suites
June 10, 2013

Country Inns & Suites By Carlson announced a partnership with Random House, Inc. to enhance one of the hotel's most popular signature programs, the Read It & Return Lending LibrarySM.

Random House will supply 30,000 books to Country Inns & Suites hotels twice a year in the U.S. and Canada through the partnership. The Read It & Return Lending Library is located in the lobby of each Country Inns & Suites hotel in the U.S. and Canada and includes children's, fiction, mystery/suspense, non-fiction and teen titles.