When was Bantam Books founded and by whom?
Bantam Books was founded in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine, with funding from Grosset & Dunlap and Curtis Publishing Company.
Questions about Bantam Books
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What Supreme Court case did Bantam Books win?
Bantam Books won Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan in 1963. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Bantam's favor, striking down a Rhode Island commission's practice of blacklisting books as an unconstitutional prior restraint on free expression under the First Amendment.
Who turned Bantam Books profitable in the 1950s?
Oscar Dystel, hired in 1954 after working at Esquire and as editor of Coronet magazine, turned the failing company profitable within a year. By the time he retired as chairman in 1980, Bantam held more than fifteen percent of the paperback market with sales exceeding one hundred million dollars.
Who owns Bantam Books today?
Bantam Books is owned by Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, which was formed when Random House and Penguin merged in 2013. Bertelsmann acquired Random House from Advance Publications in 1998 and remains the ultimate parent company.
What notable book series did Bantam Books publish?
Bantam published the complete original run of the Choose Your Own Adventure series, the first original Star Trek novels between 1970 and 1982, the American paperback editions of The Guinness Book of Records, and the Bantam War Book series covering World War II, Vietnam, and Korea. Its Bantam Classics series, started in 1958, has released more than a hundred unabridged public domain titles.
Which major authors have been published by Bantam Books?
Bantam has published a wide range of authors including Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, Stephen Hawking, Maya Angelou, John Steinbeck, Elie Wiesel, George R. R. Martin, Anne McCaffrey, John Grisham, Thomas Harris, and J.D. Salinger, among many others across science fiction, literary fiction, nonfiction, and thriller genres.