Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Company" by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein, who had worked for Avon; they quickly renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. The new name was a combination of the their surnames, unrelated to either the philosopher George Berkeley or Berkeley, California. Under their editor-in-chief Thomas Dardis, over the next few years Berkley developed a diverse line of popular fiction and non-fiction, both reprints and mass-market paperback originals, with a particularly strong history in science fiction (books of Robert A. Heinlein and Frank Herbert’s Dune novels, for example). The company was bought in 1965 by G. P. Putnam's Sons[1][1] and in years to follow undertook a hardcover line under the Berkley imprint, chiefly but not only for science fiction. For example, Merle Miller’s Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman (1973), and The Search for J.F.K. by Joan and Clay Blair Jr. (1976) were substantial nonfiction books under that imprint. When Putnam bought Grosset & Dunlap and Playboy Press, the Jove, Ace and Playboy Press paperback lists were added to that of Berkley; the Playboy list was eventually absorbed into Berkley, while the Jove and Ace lists have continued as distinct imprints.
Following its publication (1985) of the paperback reprint edition of Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October, Berkley Books became increasingly interested in publishing military combat fiction and technothrillers; its publicity campaigns at military bases contributed to the success of its reprint edition of Dale Brown's Flight of the Old Dog.[2] The Penguin Group purchased Putnam in 1996. When Penguin merged with Random House in 2013 to form Penguin Random House, Berkley was integrated with the larger paperback line New American Library; the Berkley name was retained for that whole program, which is part of PRH's Penguin Adult group, and publishes in mass-market paperback, trade paperback, and hardcover formats.[2]
In December 2008, Berkley cancelled the publication of the Herman RosenblatHolocaust memoir titled Angel at the Fence when it was discovered that the book's central events were untrue.[3][4] In 2011, Berkley Books launched its ebook imprint InterMix.[5] In September 2012, Berkley Books announced that a trilogy of erotic romance novels by Maya Banks had been acquired for publishing. Her trilogy was described as similar to the Fifty Shades trilogy, featuring three billionaires.[6][7]
In 2015, the sister paperback group New American Library was merged into Berkley.[8][9] In April 2015, Berkley Books signed the self-published author Jasinda Wilder.[10][11] In January 2016, Berkley was merged into Penguin's Putnam/Dutton. Ivan Held replaced Leslie Gelbman as president of Berkley Books.[12] In 2020, Berkley Books announced two new horror books by Grady Hendrix.[13]
berkley, books, imprint, penguin, group, parent, companypenguin, group, penguin, random, house, founded1955, years, 1955, foundercharles, byrne, frederic, kleincountry, originunited, statesheadquarters, locationnew, york, cityimprintsace, jove, american, libra. Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group Berkley BooksParent companyPenguin Group Penguin Random House Founded1955 68 years ago 1955 FounderCharles Byrne and Frederic KleinCountry of originUnited StatesHeadquarters locationNew York CityImprintsAce Jove New American LibraryOfficial websiteberkleyjoveauthors wbr com berkleysignetmysteries wbr com Contents 1 History 1 1 Imprints 2 Authors 3 Comic books 4 References 5 External linksHistory EditBerkley Books began as an independent company in 1955 It was founded as Chic News Company by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein who had worked for Avon they quickly renamed it Berkley Publishing Co The new name was a combination of the their surnames unrelated to either the philosopher George Berkeley or Berkeley California Under their editor in chief Thomas Dardis over the next few years Berkley developed a diverse line of popular fiction and non fiction both reprints and mass market paperback originals with a particularly strong history in science fiction books of Robert A Heinlein and Frank Herbert s Dune novels for example The company was bought in 1965 by G P Putnam s Sons 1 1 and in years to follow undertook a hardcover line under the Berkley imprint chiefly but not only for science fiction For example Merle Miller s Plain Speaking An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman 1973 and The Search for J F K by Joan and Clay Blair Jr 1976 were substantial nonfiction books under that imprint When Putnam bought Grosset amp Dunlap and Playboy Press the Jove Ace and Playboy Press paperback lists were added to that of Berkley the Playboy list was eventually absorbed into Berkley while the Jove and Ace lists have continued as distinct imprints Following its publication 1985 of the paperback reprint edition of Tom Clancy s The Hunt for Red October Berkley Books became increasingly interested in publishing military combat fiction and technothrillers its publicity campaigns at military bases contributed to the success of its reprint edition of Dale Brown s Flight of the Old Dog 2 The Penguin Group purchased Putnam in 1996 When Penguin merged with Random House in 2013 to form Penguin Random House Berkley was integrated with the larger paperback line New American Library the Berkley name was retained for that whole program which is part of PRH s Penguin Adult group and publishes in mass market paperback trade paperback and hardcover formats 2 In December 2008 Berkley cancelled the publication of the Herman Rosenblat Holocaust memoir titled Angel at the Fence when it was discovered that the book s central events were untrue 3 4 In 2011 Berkley Books launched its ebook imprint InterMix 5 In September 2012 Berkley Books announced that a trilogy of erotic romance novels by Maya Banks had been acquired for publishing Her trilogy was described as similar to the Fifty Shades trilogy featuring three billionaires 6 7 In 2015 the sister paperback group New American Library was merged into Berkley 8 9 In April 2015 Berkley Books signed the self published author Jasinda Wilder 10 11 In January 2016 Berkley was merged into Penguin s Putnam Dutton Ivan Held replaced Leslie Gelbman as president of Berkley Books 12 In 2020 Berkley Books announced two new horror books by Grady Hendrix 13 Imprints Edit Ace Books Jove Books New American LibraryAuthors EditIts major authors have included 14 Christine Feehan Clive Cussler Dale Brown Dean Koontz Frank Herbert John Varley Mark Greaney Nora Roberts Patricia Cornwell Peter Vronsky Robert A Heinlein Susan Meissner Tom Clancy Vladimir NabokovComic books Edit1976 1977 Bionic Woman PB Berkley Novel 1977 From the Land Beyond Beyond SC The Films of Willis O Brien and Ray Harryhausen 1988 New Comics SC 1998 X Men Empire s End PB Berkley Novel References Edit Robert D McFadden Walter J Minton Publisher Who Defied Censors Dies at 96 Nytimes com 20 November 2019 History of Berkley Books on the Penguin Group USA website Archived from the original on March 15 2006 Retrieved March 17 2006 Publication of disputed Holocaust memoir canceled Associated Press December 27 2008 Retrieved December 28 2008 Motoko Rich Brian Stelter As Another Memoir Is Faked Trust Suffers Nytimes com 30 December 2008 Berkley NAL to Launch E book Imprint InterMix Publishersweekly com 19 October 2011 Tara Fowler Fifty Shades Watch Erotic book trilogy sells for seven figures Ew com 17 September 2012 Mike Fleming Jr Cliterature Cash Maya Banks Gets 7 Figures For Fifty Shades Like Erotic Book Trilogy Deadline com 17 September 2012 accessdate August 16 2015 Penguin Merges Berkley NAL PublishersWeekly com Retrieved January 15 2018 Berkley and New American Library Combined Locusmag com 26 June 2015 Alison Flood Self published star Jasinda Wilder lands seven figure deal with traditional imprint Theguardian com 7 April 2015 Carolyn Kellogg Two self published successes sign with major publishers Latimes com 7 April 2015 Calvin Reid Penguin Merges Berkley Into Putnam Dutton Publishersweekly com 12 January 2016 Berkley Announces Two New Horror Novels by Grady Hendrix Tor com 24 June 2020 McDowell Edwin May 13 1988 Book notes The New York Times Retrieved February 18 2011 External links EditOfficial website Portals Companies Books Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Berkley Books amp oldid 1133108661, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
