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Simon & Schuster facts for kids
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Headquarters in New York City
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| Subsidiary | |
| Founded | January 2, 1924 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | Simon & Schuster Building,
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United States
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Products | Books |
| Services | See § Imprints |
| Revenue |  US$1.1 billion (2022) |
| Owner |
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Number of employees
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c. 1,600 (2023) |
Simon & Schuster LLC is a famous American company that publishes books. It is owned by a company called Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. It was started in New York City way back in 1924 by two friends, Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster.
Simon & Schuster is one of the "Big Five" book publishers in the English language. This means it's one of the five largest and most important publishing companies in the world. The other four are Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, and Macmillan Publishers. As of 2017, the company was publishing about 2,000 new books every year under 35 different brand names called imprints.
Contents
History
How It All Started
The story of Simon & Schuster begins with a crossword puzzle. In 1924, Richard Simon's aunt loved doing the popular crossword puzzles from the New York World newspaper. She asked him if there was a book of them. Richard discovered that no one had ever published a book of crossword puzzles before.
He and his friend, Max Schuster, saw a great opportunity. Richard was selling pianos and Max was an editor for a car magazine. They put together $8,000 to start their own company just to publish crossword puzzle books. Their first book was a huge hit!
The new company became known for "planned publishing." Instead of waiting for authors to bring them ideas, they came up with their own ideas for books that they thought people would love. Then, they would hire writers to create them.
Growing Bigger
In 1939, Simon & Schuster helped start Pocket Books, which was the first company in America to sell paperbacks. Paperbacks were smaller, cheaper books that more people could afford. In 1942, they also helped create the famous Little Golden Books series for children.
The company was bought and sold a few times over the years. In the 1950s and 1960s, many families had children, so there was a big need for school books. Simon & Schuster started publishing more educational books, including classic stories like Ivanhoe and Robinson Crusoe for students.
In 1975, a large company called Gulf+Western bought Simon & Schuster. The new CEO, Richard Snyder, helped the company grow even more.
The 1980s and 1990s
In the 1980s, Simon & Schuster bought many companies that published educational books and maps. This helped them become a major publisher of school materials. By 1990, Simon & Schuster was described as the largest book publisher in the United States.
In 1994, a company called Viacom bought Simon & Schuster. During this time, the company also started Simon & Schuster Interactive, a part of the company that made video games like Deer Avenger and I.M. Meen. This part of the company closed in 2003.
Near the end of the 1990s, Viacom sold the educational parts of Simon & Schuster to another company. This meant Simon & Schuster could focus mainly on publishing books for the general public, also known as "trade publishing."
The 21st Century
At the end of 2005, Viacom split into two companies, and Simon & Schuster became part of the CBS Corporation. The company continued to publish popular books, including books related to TV shows like CSI and the Star Trek series.
In 2012, the company was accused of working with other publishers and Apple Inc. to set the prices of e-books. The U.S. government said this was against the law. The publishers later agreed to a settlement, which gave money back to customers who had paid too much for e-books.
Also in 2012, Simon & Schuster started Archway Publishing, which helps authors publish their own books.
In 2019, the parent companies CBS and Viacom joined together again to become ViacomCBS. This company is now known as Paramount Global.
Recent Changes
In 2020, Paramount announced it wanted to sell Simon & Schuster. Penguin Random House, another one of the "Big Five" publishers, agreed to buy it for over $2 billion. However, in 2022, a judge blocked the sale. The U.S. government had argued that if the two giant companies joined, it would be bad for authors and readers.
Finally, on October 30, 2023, a different company called Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) bought Simon & Schuster for $1.62 billion.
In 2024, Simon & Schuster expanded into a non-English market for the first time by buying Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK), the largest book publisher in the Netherlands.
Famous Authors
Simon & Schuster has published books by thousands of authors. Here are some of the most well-known writers who have worked with them:
- Dan Brown
- Donald Trump
- Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Ernest Hemingway
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Hillary Clinton
- Howard Stern
- Hunter S. Thompson
- Janet Evanovich
- Jennette McCurdy
- Jodi Picoult
- John Irving
- Joseph Heller
- Mary Higgins Clark
- Philippa Gregory
- R. L. Stine
- Sandra Brown
- Shel Silverstein
- Stephen King
- Thomas Wolfe
- Walter Isaacson
Company Logo
The logo for Simon & Schuster was inspired by a painting like The Sower by Jean-François Millet.
The logo for Simon & Schuster is called "The Sower." It shows a person planting seeds in a field. This image was inspired by a famous 1850 painting by the French artist Jean-François Millet. The idea is that publishing a book is like planting a seed that can grow into a great idea.
Imprints
Simon & Schuster publishes books under many different names, which are called imprints. Each imprint focuses on a certain type of book. Think of them as different brands owned by the same company.
Books for Adults
- Atria Publishing Group: Publishes a wide variety of books, including those by African-American authors (37 INK) and books in Spanish (Atria Español).
- Gallery Books Group: Publishes books on many topics, including pop culture (MTV Entertainment Books) and books by conservative writers (Threshold Editions).
- Scribner: A very old and respected imprint that publishes important fiction and non-fiction.
- Simon & Schuster: The main imprint, which publishes many bestsellers and works from the Folger Shakespeare Library.
Books for Children
- Aladdin: Publishes picture books and chapter books for younger readers.
- Atheneum: Publishes award-winning books for kids and teens.
- Little Simon: Focuses on books for very young children.
- Salaam Reads: An imprint that publishes books featuring Muslim characters and stories.
- Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers: The main children's imprint, publishing many popular and classic kids' books.
See also
In Spanish: Simon & Schuster para niños
- The other "Big Five" English language book publishers: Hachette, Holtzbrinck/Macmillan, HarperCollins and Penguin Random House
- Books in the United States
- Media of New York City