G.P. Putnam's Sons
For more than two decades, G.P. Putnam's Sons has led the publishing industry with more hardcover fiction and nonfiction New York Times bestsellers than any other imprint in the publishing industry. Its impressive list of award-winning, bestselling authors is well-known around the world. With its rich history and unrivaled bestselling track record, G.P. Putnam's Sons continues to be one of the most respected and prestigious imprints in the industry.
Today, Putnam has broadened its list with outstanding works that reflect contemporary interests. Among the distinguished roster of bestselling fiction authors Putnam publishes are: Dave Barry, Alex Berenson, Lilian Jackson Braun, Tom Clancy, Robin Cook, Patricia Cornwell, Catherine Coulter, Robert Crais, Clive Cussler, Frederick Forsyth, Sue Grafton, William Gibson, W.E.B. Griffin, Jack Higgins, Jayne Ann Krentz, Kate Mosse, Sara Paretsky, Robert B. Parker, Ridley Pearson, Amanda Quick, J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts, John Sandford, Daniel Silva, Amy Tan, Kurt Vonnegut, Randy Wayne White and Stuart Woods. In nonfiction, authors published by the imprint include Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo, Lance Armstrong, James Baker, Thomas Barnett, A. Scott Berg, Maureen Dowd, Goldie Hawn, T.D. Jakes, Spencer Johnson, Bob Schieffer and Neale Donald Walsch.
History of Putnam
In 1838, twenty-four year-old George Palmer Putnam, a bookseller in New York City, joined with John Wiley in founding the firm of Wiley & Putnam. Under the direction of Putnam, the company soon expanded from the retail book business into publishing. Ten years later, when the two men parted ways, George P. Putnam conducted business under his own name. From the beginning, he exhibited an astute sense of literary foresight, publishing such luminaries as William Cullen Bryant, Thomas Carlyle, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, James Russell Lowell, Francis Parkman, and Edgar Allan Poe.
After the Civil War, Major George Haven Putnam joined his father, and soon his brothers John Bishop and Irving followed. When the elder Putnam died in 1872, his three sons continued the business under its present name, G. P. Putnam's Sons. George Haven, who assumed principal responsibilities for publishing activities, remained head of the firm until 1924. John Bishop was concerned chiefly with book production, and Irving managed the Putnam bookstore.
In the late nineteenth century, the company continued to demonstrate a knack for publishing bestsellers and an ability to keep pace with changes in American reading habits and interests. Its list diversified and grew steadily, emphasizing biography, history, travel, science, theology, and political philosophy, along with such distinguished novelists as Joseph Conrad, Walter de la Mare, E. M. Forster, John Galsworthy, and William Henry Hudson. In 1880, Putnam accepted a 200,000-word manuscript written in pencil on yellow paper submitted by nineteen-year-old Anna Katherine Green; her book, published as The Leavenworth Case, is credited today with helping to establish the detective novel as a genre.
In 1884, a young Theodore Roosevelt convinced the Putnam brothers of his fervor for a career in publishing and was made a special partner. With characteristic exuberance, Roosevelt barraged the firm with proposals, few of which were practical. He did, however, make a valuable contribution with his Naval War of 1812, and later, after entering public office, wrote several works published by Putnam, including The Winning of the West.
In 1930, George Haven Putnam died, followed a year later by Irving, and in 1932, George Putnam's grandson Palmer C. Putnam retired. By then, Putnam had merged with the publishing firm of Minton, Balch, and with the passing of the Putnams, Minton and Balch were in control. The father-and-son tradition was over.
In 1936, Putnam joined with the firm of Coward-McCann (which became Coward, McCann & Geoghegan in 1971), to publish such writers as Elizabeth Goudge (Green Dolphin Street, The Child from the Sea) playwrights Thornton Wilder (Our Town) and Philip Barry (The Philadelphia Story), Knut Hamsen, Elmer Rice, Siegfried Sassoon, Christopher La Farge, Alexander Woollcott, John Le Carre (The Spy Who Came In from the Cold) and William Golding (Lord of the Flies).
With the 1955 publication of Norman Mailer's Deer Park, then Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, Putnam shook the literary world. Deer Park had been rejected by many publishers because of its sexual content; Putnam bought the novel, turned the storm of controversy to its advantage, and created a bestseller. When Lolita was released in 1958, the protest was international in scope and far more heated; the book was banned in several U.S. cities and even in France. The book has since come to be regarded, of course, as a masterpiece. Both books were significant not only because of their success, but also because of the important victory against censorship each represents.
Ivan Held
President,
G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Ivan Held was named President of G.P. Putnam';s Sons in 2005. Most recently, he was Vice President and Associate Publisher at Warner Books, where he helped publish numerous #1 bestsellers. Before that, he was the founding Publisher of Random House Trade Paperbacks. In addition, he also acted as Associate Publisher of the hardcover division. Mr. Held had previously worked at Penguin Group (USA) from 1997 to 2000, when he was Marketing Director and Associate Publisher at Viking. He began his career in publicity at Random House, where he ultimately became Vice President, Director of Publicity.
Neil S. Nyren
Senior Vice-President,
Publisher, and Editor in Chief
Neil S. Nyren came to Putnam in 1984 from Atheneum, where he was Executive Editor. Before that he held editorial positions at Random House and Arbor House. He personally edits Dave Barry, Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, W .E. B. Griffin, Jack Higgins, Mike Lupica, John Sandford, and Daniel Silva.
Marian Wood
Vice-President
Marian Wood joined Putnam in June 1999 as Vice-President of Marian Wood Books, an imprint she launched under the auspices of Henry Holt & Company in 1996. Among the writers she publishes are Sue Grafton, author of the bestselling alphabet mysteries; the prize-winning novelists Karen Joy Fowler, Kaye Gibbons, John Lanchester, Sharon Kay Penman, Daniel Woodrell, and the award-winning poet Linda Bierds.
Awards
Mystery of the Nile by Richard Bangs and Pasquale Scaturro
- Banff Mountain Book Festival—Adventure Travel, Finalist (2005)
Walking Money by James Born
- Barry Awards—Best First Novel, Finalist (2005)
Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
- The Christopher Awards—Winner (2004)
Crazy by Pete Earley
- Amazon Best Books/Non-fiction (2006)
Take Big Bites by Linda Ellerbee
- International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Awards—Literary Food Writing Finalist (2006)
Rain Storm by Barry Eisler
- Gumshoe Awards—Finalist, Best Thriller (2004)
Run the Risk by Scott Frost
- Edgar Awards—Best First Novel Finalist (2006)
Hard, Hard City by Jim Fusilli
- Gumshoe Awards—Finalist, Best Mystery (2004)
The Dream Life of Sukhanov by Olga Grushin
- New York Times Notable Book (2006)
- Borders Original Voices (January 2006)
- Library Journal Best Book (2006)
- Washington Post Best Book (2006)
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
- BookSense—March 2006 pick
- The Crime Writer Association—Finalist, Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (2005)
- British Book Award (aka the Nibbie) for "Richard and Judy Best Read of the Year," (2005)
- Quill Awards—Finalist for Sci-Fi/Horror/Fantasy Prize (2006)
- Washington Post Best Book (2006)
Find Me by Carol O'Connell
- BookSense—December 2006 pick
Arturo Perez-Reverte
- Great Cross of Naval Merit—Winner (2005)
Second Sight by Amanda Quick
- Amazon Best Books/Romance (2006)
Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts
- Quill Awards—Winner of Romance Prize (2006)
A Death in Vienna by Daniel Silva
- Gumshoe Awards—Finalist, Best Thriller (2004)
- Barry Awards—Best Thriller, Finalist (2005)
- The Crime Writers' Association—Finalist, Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (2005)
The English Assassin by Daniel Silva
- The Crime Writers' Association—Finalist, Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (2006)
Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
- Delaware's Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service—Winner (2005)
- Chinese-Americans Librarians Association—Winner of Best Chinese Book Award (2005)
- Amazon Best Books (2005)
Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War by Evan Wright
- PEN Center USA Literary Award–Research Nonfiction (2005)
- Los Angeles Times Book Prize–Current Interest (2005)
- Amazon Best Books (2004)
- J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize (2004)
An Air That Kills by Andrew Schneider and David McCumber
- Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism (2004 Finalist)
City Room by Arthur Gelb (A Marian Wood Book)
- Anne M. Sperber Prize (Fordham University) (2003)
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
- Media Ecology Association's Mary Shelley Award for Outstanding Fictional Work (2003)
The Delicate Storm by Giles Blunt (A Marian Wood Book)
- Dashiell Hammett Award (2003)
Sister Noon by Karen Joy Fowler (A Marian Wood Book)
- PEN/Faulkner Award (2001 Finalist)
