The story
Founding and early history
Publisher Donald Fine founded Arbor House in Westminster, Maryland in 1969, using a $5,000 loan. Fine was vice president of Dell Publishing and a co-founder of Delacorte Press before starting his own business.
Arbor House initially specialized in hardcover publications and developed a list of fiction and nonfiction titles. The company published works by authors including Hortense Calisher, Ken Follett, Cynthia Freeman, Elmore Leonard and Irwin Shaw.
Hearst ownership
Arbor House was acquired by the Hearst Corporation in 1978 for $1.5 million. During this period, the company expanded its publishing activities and moved into paperback publishing.
Industry officials had previously speculated that Arbor House would merge with William Morrow & Company, another company subsequently acquired by the Hearst Corporation, unless it published a number of best-selling books. Arbor House published Elmore Leonard's Bandits and Sydney Biddle Barrows' The Mayflower Madam, which became bestsellers.
In January 1987, Arbor House reduced its publishing list from approximately 70 books per year to approximately 40 books.
In June 1987, it was announced that Arbor House would become an imprint of William Morrow & Company beginning in January 1988. Arbor House's employees transferred to William Morrow & Company.
Resumption of operations
Arbor House resumed independent publishing operations in 2019. The resumed operation continued under the Arbor House name and developed a contemporary publishing and author-services operation.
The current Arbor House Publishers operates through its website at arborhousepublishers.com.
From Wikipedia’s article on Arbor House, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3