An imprint of Pan Macmillan in the United Kingdom and Australia and of Macmillan Publishing in the United States, Picador was launched in 1972 to publish outstanding international writing in paperback editions. In 1990 Picador underwent a period of considerable expansion and began to develop a hardback list. Nine years later the imprint became part of the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group when that corporation expanded its 70 percent ownership in Macmillan to 100 percent.
In 2007 Picador announced its controversial plan to launch most of its new titles as paperback originals, a trend its expects the rest of the other UK publishing industry to follow.
Picador's list of high profile authors includes Jonathan Franzen, Michael Chabon, Angela Carter, Thomas Pynchon, Bret Easton Ellis and Salman Rushdie.
Among the numerous Australian authors to have been published by Picador are Roger McDonald, Gillian Rubinstein (as Lian Hearn), Kirstyn McDermott, Kim Scott, Markus Zusak, Phillip Hui, Michael McGirr, Peter Porter, Sam De Brito, Gregory Day, Emily Ballou, Rodney Hall, Anson Cameron, Lily Brett, Delia Falconer, Joan London, Peter Mews, Jacklyn Moriarty, Dorothy Porter, Gail Jones, Eliot Perlman, Malcolm Knox, Sue Gough, Dave Warner, Kathy Lette and Tim Winton.
