The "big 5" publishing companies are the world's five largest English-language publishing groups. These five publishing groups are Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan Publishers, and Simon & Schuster. Collectively, they account for more than three-quarters of the books published in the United States and control much of the English-language trade book publishing industry around the world.
Penguin Random House is the world’s largest trade book publisher, operating in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, India, and South Africa. Hachette Book Group is the second-largest book publisher in the United States and publishes from offices in the United States, Canada, U.K, Australia, and New Zealand. HarperCollins Publishers is the third-largest publishing company in the United States and publishes works in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India. Macmillan Publishers is the fourth-largest book publisher in the United States, with offices in the United States and U.K. Simon & Schuster is the fifth-largest publisher in the United States, with offices in the United States and U.K.
Altogether, these five publishing groups are responsible for the majority of the books that are published in the English-language and influence much of the industry globally.
