publisher

American  

[puhb-li-sher] / ˈpʌb lɪ ʃər /

noun

• publishers
  plural

1. a person or company whose business is the publishing of books, periodicals, engravings, computer software, etc.

2. the business head of a newspaper organization or publishing house, commonly the owner or the representative of the owner.

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publisher British  

/ ˈpʌblɪʃə /

noun

1. a company or person engaged in publishing periodicals, books, music, etc

2. the proprietor of a newspaper or his representative

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• publishers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of publisher

1425–75; late Middle English: one who proclaims publicly; see publish, -er ¹

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Explanation

A builder builds. A dancer dances. A publisher publishes — which is to say, oversees the printing, editing and, most importantly, the selling of books, magazines, websites, and even music. It's a matter of debate who is more important at a magazine, the editor or the publisher, but I'm sure you could get convincing arguments for either. The editor is in charge of content, while the publisher runs the business side of things and often owns the operation, too. The publisher of a newspaper is often also the owner. When a writer wants to get their book published — printed and sold — they send it to a publishing house, which may become the book's publisher.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

publisher publishers

Elizabeth Vaziri, commissioning editor at Voyager and Magpie at the publisher Harper Collins, told the programme fantasy had "always been a portal for escapism".

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

Loyal listeners will have to wait a little longer for the full-cast version of “A Court of Splintered Harmony,” which isn’t expected from publisher Graphic Audio until December.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

A publisher from Tavistock, Devon, said he was "holding back" from filling two new positions at his firm because of the cost of taking on new employees.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

He would frequently grace the covers of teen pop magazines, including Tiger Beat, thanks at least in part to his manager Charles Laufer, the magazine’s publisher.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

But his publisher did not think one huge book would sell well and encouraged him to publish smaller books about more specific topics, which is what he did.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman

When Beth Kobliner pitched her book “Get a Financial Life” to publishers in 1996, they told her that young people were too busy having fun to care about money.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026

Today, Spotify says it offers more than 800,000 audiobooks from nearly 300 publishers and more than 50,000 authors.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

The publishers claim they notified Dean's record label of the potential infringement in August, but the music was not pulled from distribution.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

In July, a Munich court ruled against Suno in a case brought by GEMA, which collects royalties for German songwriters and publishers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

“I have not pursued mainstream publishers as hard as I should have,” he conceded.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

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Related Words

• journalist
• magazine
• media
• newsperson
• reporter
• writer

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