Publisher

Star Books

Star Books was the paperback imprint of the London publisher W. H. Allen from 1973 to 1989, with a list that included Catherine Cookson, Dean Koontz and Michael Moorcock.

Editions tracked: 11
First editions: 1
Books: 11
Years: 1975 to 1983

Search all Star Books editions

Star Books is a publisher active from 1975. We track 11 editions it published between 1975 and 1983, 1 of them first editions across 11 books. Each book lists its first edition and the points that identify it.

About Star Books

Star Books was the British mass-market paperback imprint of W. H. Allen & Co. of London, active from 1973 to 1989.

The imprint came from the paperback division of W. H. Allen, an old London house that by the mid 1970s was part of the Howard & Wyndham group; the Star series note describes the publisher as the paperback division of W. H. Allen, a Howard & Wyndham company, based at 44 Hill Street, London W1. W. H. Allen's better known paperback sister line was Target, famous for its Doctor Who novelisations.

Star's list mixed literary and popular fiction, horror, science fiction and memoir. Authors on it included Catherine Cookson, Dean R. Koontz, Michael Moorcock, Ramsey Campbell, Anaïs Nin, Françoise Sagan, Alan Sillitoe and Tennessee Williams, and it ran a sub-series called the Illustrated History of the Movies. W. H. Allen's wider list in this period also included horror by Graham Masterton, whose The Djinn it issued in 1977, and Shaun Hutson.

Virgin Books acquired W. H. Allen between late 1986 and late 1987, and in 1991 the company was renamed Virgin Publishing; the Star series ends in 1989. Virgin later came under Random House, which bought a 90% stake in 2007, and since November 2009 it has been an imprint within Ebury Publishing.

We have not yet written the guide to Star Books's first-edition conventions. Until we do, check each book's own page: we list its points where we know them. Know how Star Books marked its firsts? Tell us.