DK (publisher): Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|British publisher of general reference and illustrated non-fiction books}}

| founded = {{start date and age|1974}}<br />[[London]], [[England]], U.K.

| founders = [[Christopher Dorling]]<br />[[Peter Kindersley]]

| headquarters = [[Shell Mex House|80 Strand]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dk.com/uk/|title=DK UK|website=dkbooks}}</ref><br />[[London]], England, U.K.

| keypeople = Paul Kelly

| imprints = Alpha, DK Eyewitness Travel, DK Children’s, DK Adult, DK Licensing, DK Learning, Phonic Books, Rebel Girls

| numemployees = 750

'''Dorling Kindersley Limited''' (branded as simply '''DK''') is a British multinational [[publishing]] company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 [[languages]].<ref name="about">{{cite web|url=https://www.dk.com/uk/information/about-dk/|title=About DK|website=dkbooks}}</ref>

Established in 1974, DK publishes a range of titles in genres including travel (including [[Eyewitness Travel Guides|DK Eyewitness travelTravel]]), history, geography, science, space, nature, sportsports, gardening, cookery, parenting and parentingmany others.

The worldwide CEO of DK is CarstenPaul CoesfeldKelly.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3689#m47682|title=Carsten Coesfeld New DK CEO|website=www.shelf-awareness.com|access-date=2020-05-14}}</ref> DK has offices in New York, Melbourne, London, Munich, New Delhi, Toronto, Madrid, Beijing, and Jiangmen.

DK works with licensing partners to publish books such as [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]], [[Lego|LEGO]], [[Star Wars]], [[DC Comics]], the [[Royal Horticultural Society]], [[MasterChef]], and the [[Smithsonian Institution]].

DK has commissioned authors such as [[Mary Berry]], [[Monty Don]], [[Robert Winston]], Huw Richards, and [[Steve Mould]] for a range of books.

[[File:DK logo 2014.svg|150px|thumb|DK logoLogo, 2014–2020]]

DK was founded in 1974 by [[Christopher Dorling]] and [[Peter Kindersley]] in London, andas ina 1982[[book movedpackaging|book into publishingpackager]].<ref name="about"/> TheIts first book publishedas undera thepublisher DKin namethe UK was a ''First Aid Manual'' for the British voluntary medical services.<ref>British Red Cross Society, St. John Ambulance, St. Andrews Ambulance, ''First Aid Manual'', 1982, {{isbn|0863180019}}</ref> In 1988, DK Inc. published the first Eyewitness book. DK Inc. began publishing in the United States in 1991. That same year, [[Microsoft]] bought a 26 percent stake in DK.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/Thomson_M&A/Microsoft_Corp_acquires_a_minority_stake_in_Dorling_Kindersley_Ltd-196674040 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803093908/http://www.alacrastore.com/storecontent/Thomson_M%26A/Microsoft_Corp_acquires_a_minority_stake_in_Dorling_Kindersley_Ltd-196674040 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-08-03 |title=Microsoft Corp acquires a minority stake in Dorling Kindersley Ltd |date=1991-03-18 |publisher=[[Thomson Financial]] |access-date=2008-10-30 }}</ref> In 1996, DK hired Neal Porter, Richard Jackson and Melanie Kroupa from [[Orchard Books]] to start the DK Ink imprint, but [[Grolier]] sued the trio.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/25/business/not-the-usual-farewell-editors-quit-and-are-sued.html | title=Not the Usual Farewell: Editors Quit and Are Sued | newspaper=The New York Times | date=25 November 1996 | last1=Mansnerus | first1=Laura }}</ref> DK and Grolier settled the lawsuit.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/19970710/38655-grolier-dk-settle-8-million-tampering-suit.html | title=Grolier, DK Settle $8 Million Tampering Suit }}</ref>

In 1999, itDK overestimated the market for ''[[Star Wars]]'' books and was left with millions of unsold copies, resulting in crippling debt.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/616623.stm |website=www.bbc.co.uk |title=Star Wars book flop hits DK |date=24 January 2000 |publisher=BBC |access-date=17 October 2015 }}</ref> As a direct result, DK was taken over the following year by the [[Pearson plc]] media company and made part of [[Penguin Group]], which also owned the [[Penguin Books]] label.<ref>{{cite news |author=Charles Goldsmith |title=Media Giant Pearson Acquires U.K. Publisher Dorling Kindersley |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB954699553231714048 |access-date=17 October 2015 |work=The Wall Street Journal |publisher=Dow Jones & Company, Inc |date=3 April 2000}}</ref> DK has continued to sell ''Star Wars'' books after the takeover.<ref>{{citation|title=Cover Stories: Political memoirs; the environmental Bible; Dorling Kindersley|work=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/cover-stories-political-memoirs-the-environmental-bible-dorling-kindersley-828940.html|author=The Literator|date=16 May 2008}}</ref>

DK publishes a range of titles internationally for adults and children. Most of the company's books are produced by teams of editors, designers and designers cartographers who work with freelance writers and illustrators. Some are endorsed by "imprimaturs": such as the [[British Medical Association]], the [[Royal Horticultural Society]] and the [[British Red Cross]].

BradyGames was a publishing company in the United States operating as a DK [[imprint (trade name)|imprint]], which specializes in [[video game]] [[strategy guides]], covering multiple [[Video game console|video game platforms]]. It published its first strategy guide in November 1993 as a division of [[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|MacMillan Computer Publishing]]. In 1998, [[Simon & Schuster]] (which acquired Macmillan in 1994) divested BradyGames as part of its educational division to [[Pearson plc]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/04/business/pearson-revises-simon-schuster-deal.html|title=Pearson Revises Simon & Schuster Deal|newspaper=The New York Times|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=4 July 1998}}</ref> BradyGames has grown to publish roughly 90-100 guides per year.

* [{{official|https://www.dk.com/ DK website]}}

[[Category:TravelBook guide bookspackagers]]

[[Category:KindersleyTravel familyguide books]]