About Us
About Random House New Zealand
Random House New Zealand is a subsidiary of Random House International, the largest English language publisher in the world, owned by the Bertelsmann group. We have sister companies in Australia, the UK, Europe, the USA, Canada, South Africa and India. Our international best-selling authors include Lee Child, James Patterson, E L James, Bill Bryson, Nigella Lawson, Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes and Ben Elton among many others. In New Zealand, we publish major lists within the areas of fiction, art and design, architecture, food, social and natural history, biography, and business.
We have a distribution centre in Glenfield on Auckland's North Shore, from which we also distribute other publishers' books. Over the years this centre has developed an enviable reputation for reliability and speed of service. This, along with the skills of all our talented staff, is one of the reasons that Random House New Zealand has been voted Publisher of the Year and Distributor of the Year by the book trade for several years in a row.
New Zealand publishing
In addition to our high-profile international titles, Random House New Zealand has a very active, award-winning local publishing division which publishes around 110 titles a year, making us among the most active of local publishers.
New Zealand fiction
Random House New Zealand has three fiction imprints – Vintage, Black Swan and Arrow – and publishes a range of leading local fiction writers, from the late Janet Frame to CK Stead. The list includes Fiona Kidman, Shonagh Koea, Jenny Pattrick, Owen Marshall, Witi Ihimaera, Charlotte Grimshaw, Peter Wells and Stephanie Johnson, as well as new and emerging authors such as Paul Cleave, Sarah Laing and Carl Nixon. Our commitment to supporting local literary fiction is substantial, and we are proud of the number of Montana Award winners among our large group of authors.
New Zealand children's books
In the last few years Random House New Zealand has steadily increased its commitment to junior and young adult fiction with a list that is strong not only in illustrated and natural history books, but also in fiction. Our writers and illustrators are regular stars of the NZ Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults each year.
Godwit
Godwit is Random House New Zealand's prestigious non-fiction imprint, highly regarded for its extensive and elegant publishing in the areas of gardening, design, art, art history, photography and poetry.
General non-fiction
A very active part of our extensive list, Random House New Zealand publishes in most non-fiction areas, ranging from biography, history and natural history to gardening and cooking.
Business development unit
Established to work in partnership with businesses and institutions, Random House New Zealand's BDU specialises in bespoke publishing for organisations as diverse as Whitcoulls, the New Zealand Listener, the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society, the Automobile Association, and well-known cafés and restaurants such as Soul, Zarbo, the Nourish Group and Café L'affare. It brings book publishing solutions to a wide range of clients.
Distribution partners
Alongside our own titles, Random House sells and distributes books on behalf of local publishers Gecko Press, Huia Publishers, Te Papa Press, and Australian-based Hardie Grant Publishing. Books by these publishers also appear on our website. To identify one of these books, look for the imprint information at the bottom of any title information page.
Environmental statement
Random House New Zealand is committed to being both a sustainably run business and a good corporate citizen, and has achieved Gold-level accreditation in the Enviromark system. Our environmental policy commits us to attaining environmental best practice in key areas such as waste minimisation, energy use reduction and carbon offsetting.
