Bertelsmann

Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (German pronunciation: [ˈbɛʁtl̩sˌman] ), is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates and is active in the service sector and education. Bertelsmann was founded as a publishing house by Carl Bertelsmann in 1835. After World War II, Bertelsmann, under the leadership of Reinhard Mohn, went from being a medium-sized enterprise to a major conglomerate, offering not only books but also television, radio, music, magazines and services. Its principal divisions include the RTL Group, Penguin Random House, BMG, Arvato, the Bertelsmann Marketing Services, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments.

From the Wikipedia article “Bertelsmann”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

BMG Records, GmbH, BMG Ariola S.p.A., BMG Ricordi S.p.A., Bertelsmann Music Group Limited, Eurodisc Music Group Limited, BMG Records (UK) Limited, BMG Entertainment International UK & Ireland Limited, BMG UK & Ireland Limited, BMG Music, Inc., 2 Entertain, Hutchinson, BMG Music Taiwan Inc., Stern, Fremantle, BMG Rights Management, RTL Group, Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft, Haus des Berliner Verlages, Archivio Storico Ricordi, Talkback, Talkback Thames, Thames, KSD, Boundless productions, Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe, Elefanten-Press-Verlag, BMG Music Publishing, Arista Records, Inc..

Large trade publishers generally accept manuscripts only through literary agents, while many independent and small presses accept direct submissions during reading periods. Before submitting anywhere, read the publisher's current guidelines, study recent books on its list, and never pay a reading or publishing fee to a traditional publisher.