Tor Books is the primary

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

of Tor Publishing Group (previously

Tom Doherty Tom Doherty (born Thomas Doherty, April 23, 1935) is an American publisher and the founder of the science fiction and fantasy book publisher Tor Books. He started as a salesman for Pocket Books and rose to be Division Sales Manager. From there, ...

Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles.

History

Tor was founded by

Harriet McDougal Harriet Popham McDougal Rigney (born August 4, 1939) is an American editor. McDougal is most known for her work on several best-selling fantasy and science fiction books and series, including ''The Wheel of Time'' (written by her husband Robert Jo ...

, and

Jim Baen James Patrick Baen (, beɪn , ; October 22, 1943 – June 28, 2006) was a U.S. science fiction publisher and editor. In 1983, he founded his own publishing house, Baen Books, specializing in the adventure, fantasy, military science fiction, ...

in 1980. (Baen founded his own imprint three years later.) They were soon joined by Barbara Doherty and Katherine Pendill, who then composed the original startup team. ''

Tor Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to: Places * Toronto, Canada ** Toronto Raptors * Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain * Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city * Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano * Tor Bay, Devon, England * Tor ...

'' is a word meaning a rocky pinnacle, as depicted in Tor's logo. Tor Books was sold to

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

in 1987. Along with St. Martin's Press; Henry Holt; and

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer P ...

, it became part of the

Holtzbrinck Holtzbrinck Publishing Group () is a Privately held company, privately held German company headquartered in Stuttgart, that Holding company, owns publishing companies worldwide. Through Macmillan Publishers, it is one of the Big Five English-lan ...

group, now part of Macmillan in the US. In June 2019, Tor and other Macmillan imprints moved from the

Flatiron Building The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a 22-story, steel-framed triangular building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinke ...

, to larger offices in the Equitable Building.

Imprints

Tor is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group. The Forge imprint publishes an array of fictional titles, including historical novels and thrillers. The Nightfire imprint publishes horror, largely but not exclusively with science fiction and fantasy elements. The Bramble imprint publishes romance and romantic stories with elements of other genres. Tor Books has two imprints for young readers: Starscape (for readers 10 years of age and up) and Tor Teen (for readers 13 years of age and up). The Tordotcom imprint focuses on short works such as

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

s, shorter novels and serializations. A United Kingdom sister imprint, Tor UK, specializes in science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and publishes young-adult crossover fiction based on computer-game franchises. Tor UK briefly maintained an open submission policy, which ended in January 2013.

Orb Books Orb Books is a publishing imprint of Tor Books. Orb Books specialises in trade paperback reprints of science fiction and fantasy works of special merit that are otherwise unavailable in mass-market paperback. Authors published by Orb * Pou ...

publishes science-fiction classics such as

A. E. van Vogt Alfred Elton van Vogt ( ; April 26, 1912 – January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born American science fiction writer. His fragmented, bizarre narrative style influenced later science fiction writers, notably Philip K. Dick. He was one of th ...

's ''

Slan ''Slan'' is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer A. E. van Vogt, as well as the name of the fictional race of superbeings featured in the novel. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine ''Astounding Science Fiction' ...

''. Tor Teen publishes young-adult novels such as

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born 17 July 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog ''Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of th ...

's '' Little Brother'' and repackages novels such as

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...

's ''

Ender's Game ''Ender's Game'' is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they ...

'' for younger readers. Tor Labs produces

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

s. A German sister imprint, Fischer Tor, was founded in August 2016 as an imprint of

S. Fischer Verlag S. Fischer Verlag is a major German publishing house, which has operated as a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group since 1962. The publishing house was founded in 1881 by Samuel Fischer in Berlin, but is currently based in Frankfurt am Mai ...

(which also belongs to Holtzbrinck Publishing Group). It publishes international titles translated into German, as well as original German works. Fischer Tor also publishes the German online magazine ''Tor Online'', which is based on the same concept as the English ''

Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...

'' online magazine, but has its own independent content.

Authors

Authors published by Tor and Forge include: *

Kevin J. Anderson Kevin James Anderson (born March 27, 1962) is an American science fiction author. He has written spin-off novels for ''Star Wars'', '' StarCraft'', ''Titan A.E.'' and ''The X-Files'', and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the ''Dune'' pr ...

Kage Baker Kage Baker (June 10, 1952 – January 31, 2010Obituary: Kage Baker
", SF Site, Januar ...

Ben Bova Benjamin William Bova (November 8, 1932November 29, 2020) was an American writer and editor. During a writing career of 60 years, he was the author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, an editor of ''Analog Science Fiction and Fac ...

Steven Brust Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He is best known for his series of novels about the assassin Vlad Taltos, one of a disdained minority group of humans livi ...

Jonathan Carroll Jonathan Samuel Carroll (born January 26, 1949) is an American fiction writer primarily known for novels that may be labelled magic realism, slipstream or contemporary fantasy. He has lived in Austria since 1974. Life and work Carroll was bo ...

Myke Cole Myke Cole is an American author of fantasy, science fiction, and non-fiction. His series include the ''Shadow Ops'', ''Reawakening'', and ''Sacred Throne'' series. His career also involves television, having appeared on the CBS reality show '' Hu ...

Charles de Lint Charles de Lint (born December 22, 1951) is a Canadian writer. Primarily a writer of fantasy fiction, he has composed works of urban fantasy, contemporary magical realism, and mythic fiction. Along with authors like Terri Windling, Emma Bull ...

* Philip K. Dick *

Steven Erikson Steve Rune Lundin (born October 7, 1959), known by his pseudonym Steven Erikson, is a Canadian author, novelist who was educated and trained as both an archaeologist and anthropologist. He is best known for his ten-volume spanning epic fantasy s ...

* Sarah Gailey *

Terry Goodkind Terry Lee Goodkind (January 11, 1948September 17, 2020) was an American writer. He was known for the epic fantasy series ''The Sword of Truth'' as well as the contemporary suspense novel ''The Law of Nines'' (2009), which has ties to his fantasy ...

Steven Gould Steven Charles Gould (born February 7, 1955) is an American science fiction writer. He has written ten novels. His 1992 novel '' Jumper'' was adapted into a film released in 2008. Biography Steven Charles Gould was born in Fort Huachuca, Arizo ...

Alex Grecian Alex Grecian (; born Alexander Douglas Grecian on August 6, 1969) is an American author of short fiction, novels, comic books, and graphic novels. His notable works include the comic book series ''Proof'' and the novels in the Scotland Yard's Mur ...

Eileen Gunn Eileen Gunn (born June 23, 1945, Dorchester, Massachusetts) is an American science fiction author and editor based in Seattle, Washington, who began publishing in 1978. Her story "Coming to Terms", inspired, in part, by a friendship with Avram Da ...

* James E. Gunn *

Brian Herbert Brian Patrick Herbert (born June 29, 1947) is an American author, known for his work on the ''Dune'' franchise, which was created by his father, Frank Herbert. Brian Herbert's novels include ''Sidney's Comet'', ''Prisoners of Arionn'', ''Man of ...

Glen Hirshberg Glen Martin Hirshberg (born June 5, 1966 in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan) is an American author best known for horror fiction. Biography Born to parents Linda Hirshberg (psychologist) and Jerry Hirshberg (painter, founder of Nissan ...

Robert Jordan James Oliver Rigney Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), better known by his pen name Robert Jordan," Robert Jordan" was the name of the protagonist in the 1940 Hemingway novel ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', though this is not how the n ...

Sherrilyn Kenyon Sherrilyn Kenyon (born December 11, 1965) is a US writer. Under her former married name, she wrote both urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She is best known for her Dark-Hunter, Dark Hunter series. Under the pseudonym Kinley MacGregor she wr ...

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948) also known by the initials G.R.R.M. is an American author, television writer, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the unfinished series of Hi ...

Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science ficti ...

Tamsyn Muir Tamsyn Elizabeth Muir (born 14 March 1985) is a New Zealand fantasy, science fiction, and horror author best known for ''The Locked Tomb'', a science fantasy series of novels. Muir won the 2020 Locus Award for her first novel, ''Gideon the Nint ...

* Lucy A. Snyder * L. E. Modesitt, Jr. *

Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen na ...

Harold Robbins Harold Robbins (May 21, 1916 – October 14, 1997) was an American author. One of the best-selling writers of all time, he wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages. Early life Robbins was born Harold Rubin i ...

Brandon Sanderson Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy, science fiction, and young adult books. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the '' Mistb ...

John Scalzi John Michael Scalzi II (born May 10, 1969) is an American science fiction author and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his ''Old Man's War'' series, three novels of which have been n ...

Mary Robinette Kowal Mary Robinette Kowal (; born February 8, 1969) is an American author, translator, art director, and puppeteer. She has worked on puppetry for shows including The Jim Henson Company, Jim Henson Productions and the children's show ''LazyTown''. As a ...

* V. E. Schwab *

Skyler White Skyler White (née Lambert) is a fictional character portrayed by Anna Gunn in the American crime drama television series ''Breaking Bad''. Skyler is married to protagonist Walter White. For her performance, Gunn received critical acclaim. She ...

Gene Wolfe Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and no ...

. Tor UK has published authors such as

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...

, Rjurik Davidson,

Amanda Hocking Amanda Hocking (born July 12, 1984) is an American writer of paranormal romance young adult fiction. Early life Hocking was born and raised in Austin, Minnesota. After high school, she studied human services while working in a group home for pe ...

China Miéville China Tom Miéville ( , born 6 September 1972) is a British speculative fiction writer and Literary criticism, literary critic. He often describes his work as "weird fiction", and is allied to the loosely associated movement of writers called ...

Adam Nevill Adam Nevill (also known as Adam LG Nevill) is an English writer of supernatural horror, known for his book ''The Ritual''. Prior to becoming a full-time author, Nevill worked as an editor. After publishing several novels through Pan Macmillan ...

, and

Adrian Tchaikovsky Adrian Czajkowski (spelt as Adrian Tchaikovsky for his books; born June 1972) is a British fantasy and science fiction author. He is best known for his series ''Shadows of the Apt'', and for his Hugo Award–winning '' Children of Time'' series ...

Ebooks

Tor publishes a range of its works as

ebooks An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...

and, in 2012, Doherty announced that his imprints would sell only

DRM-free Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures, such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DR ...

ebooks by July of that year. One year later, Tor stated that the removal of DRM had not harmed its ebook business, so they would continue selling them DRM-free. In July 2018, Macmillan Publishers and Tor prompted a boycott spread across social media websites and library bulletin boards after they announced that Tor's e-books would no longer be made available for libraries to purchase and lend to borrowers, via digital distribution services such as OverDrive, until four months after their initial publication date. The company cited the "direct and adverse impact" of electronic lending on retail eBook sales but suggested that the change was part of a "test program" and could be reevaluated.

Accolades

Tor won the

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll ...

for Best Science Fiction Publisher in 36 consecutive years from 1988 to 2024 inclusive. In March 2014, ''Worlds Without End'' listed Tor as the second-most awarded and nominated publisher of science fiction, fantasy and horror books, after Gollancz. At that time, Tor had received 316 nominations and 54 wins for 723 published novels, written by 197 authors. In the following year, Tor surpassed Gollancz to become the top publisher on the list. By March 2018, Tor's record had increased to 579 nominations and 111 wins, across 16 tracked awards given in the covered genres, with a total of 2,353 published novels written by 576 authors.

References

External links

Official website
(German)
Official website
(UK)
Official website
(US)

at ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

'', December 2008
''Tor Online'' community site
(German)
''Tor.com'' community site
{{Authority control American speculative fiction publishers Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Science fiction publishers Fantasy book publishers Weird fiction publishers Publishing companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 1980 St. Martin's Press Holtzbrinck Publishing Group