/ THE IMPRIMATUR INDEX™ · VOLUME I · Q2 2026
Which literary intermediaries actually compound?
A rating system for every major literary intermediary — agencies, Big Five publishers + imprints, adaptation studios, literary prizes, and literary magazines. 64 institutions rated across five dimensions — Author Treatment, Editorial Quality, Sales / Distribution Reach, Adaptation Track Record, Rights Posture. Sourced from author payment-rate disclosures, BookScan + NPD Book data, PACER author-publisher disputes, Hollywood adaptation records, and Hard Shiver's proprietary editorial-cohort framework. Updated quarterly.
Grade
Institution
Score
Tier
A
The Wylie Agency
Literary Agency · Tier 1 · Founded 1980
92/100
Excellent
→
A-
CAA Literary
Literary Agency · Tier 1 · Founded 1987 (literary dept) / 1975 (CAA founding)
89/100
Excellent
→
A-
WME Books
Literary Agency · Tier 1 · Founded 2009 (book dept) / 1898 (William Morris)
88/100
Excellent
→
B+
UTA Literary
Literary Agency · Tier 1 · Founded 1991 (UTA founding)
85/100
Good
→
A-
Janklow & Nesbit
Literary Agency · Boutique · Founded 1989
88/100
Excellent
→
A-
Writers House
Literary Agency · Tier 1 · Founded 1973
88/100
Excellent
→
A-
Sterling Lord Literistic
Literary Agency · Tier 1 · Founded 1952
87/100
Excellent
→
B+
Aevitas Creative Management
Literary Agency · Modern · Founded 2014
85/100
Good
→
B+
Trident Media Group
Literary Agency · Tier 1 · Founded 2000
85/100
Good
→
B+
Inkwell Management
Literary Agency · Modern · Founded 2004
83/100
Good
→
B+
The Gernert Company
Literary Agency · Boutique · Founded 2004
83/100
Good
→
A-
Penguin Random House
Publisher · Big Five · Founded 2013 (merger of Penguin + Random House)
88/100
Excellent
→
B+
HarperCollins
Publisher · Big Five · Founded 1989 (current entity)
85/100
Good
→
B+
Simon & Schuster
Publisher · Big Five · Founded 1924
84/100
Good
→
B+
Hachette Book Group
Publisher · Big Five · Founded 2006 (current entity)
84/100
Good
→
B+
Macmillan Publishers
Publisher · Big Five · Founded 1843
84/100
Good
→
A
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Macmillan imprint)
Publisher · Literary Imprint · Founded 1946
92/100
Excellent
→
A
Knopf (Penguin Random House imprint)
Publisher · Literary Imprint · Founded 1915
91/100
Excellent
→
A-
Riverhead Books (PRH imprint)
Publisher · Literary Imprint · Founded 1994
88/100
Excellent
→
A-
Vintage / Anchor (PRH imprint)
Publisher · Literary Paperback · Founded 1954 (Vintage); 1953 (Anchor)
87/100
Excellent
→
B+
Crown Publishing (PRH imprint)
Publisher · Commercial · Founded 1933
85/100
Good
→
A-
W. W. Norton & Company
Publisher · Independent · Founded 1923
87/100
Excellent
→
A-
Bloomsbury Publishing
Publisher · Independent · Founded 1986
86/100
Excellent
→
B+
Grove Atlantic
Publisher · Independent · Founded 1947
85/100
Good
→
B
Other Press
Publisher · Independent · Founded 2002
80/100
Good
→
B+
Tin House Books
Publisher · Independent · Founded 2005
83/100
Good
→
B
Soho Press
Publisher · Independent · Founded 1986
80/100
Good
→
B
Two Dollar Radio
Publisher · Independent · Founded 2005
78/100
Good
→
A
Plan B Entertainment
Adaptation Studio · Founded 2001
91/100
Excellent
→
A
A24
Adaptation Studio · Founded 2012
90/100
Excellent
→
A-
Hello Sunshine (Reese Witherspoon)
Adaptation Studio · Founded 2016
87/100
Excellent
→
B+
New Regency
Adaptation Studio · Founded 1991
83/100
Good
→
B+
Imagine Entertainment
Adaptation Studio · Founded 1986
83/100
Good
→
B+
Bad Robot (J.J. Abrams)
Adaptation Studio · Founded 2001
83/100
Good
→
B+
Annapurna Pictures
Adaptation Studio · Founded 2011
84/100
Good
→
B+
Skybound Entertainment
Adaptation Studio · Founded 2010
83/100
Good
→
B
wiip
Adaptation Studio · Founded 2018
80/100
Good
→
B+
Made Up Stories (Bruna Papandrea)
Adaptation Studio · Founded 2017
83/100
Good
→
A
The Booker Prize
Literary Prize · International · Founded 1969
94/100
Excellent
→
A
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Literary Prize · US · Founded 1948 (current format)
93/100
Excellent
→
A-
The National Book Award
Literary Prize · US · Founded 1950
88/100
Excellent
→
A
The Nobel Prize for Literature
Literary Prize · International · Founded 1901
95/100
Excellent
→
B+
PEN/Faulkner Award
Literary Prize · US · Founded 1981
85/100
Good
→
B+
The Hugo + Nebula Awards
Literary Prize · Genre · Founded Hugo 1953; Nebula 1965
84/100
Good
→
B+
The Edgar Awards
Literary Prize · Genre · Founded 1946
83/100
Good
→
A
The New Yorker (Fiction)
Literary Magazine · Founded 1925
94/100
Excellent
→
A
The Paris Review
Literary Magazine · Founded 1953
92/100
Excellent
→
A-
The Atlantic (Fiction)
Literary Magazine · Founded 1857
88/100
Excellent
→
A-
Granta
Literary Magazine · Founded 1979
88/100
Excellent
→
A-
McSweeney's
Literary Magazine · Founded 1998
86/100
Excellent
→
B+
n+1
Literary Magazine · Founded 2004
84/100
Good
→
B+
The Yale Review
Literary Magazine · Founded 1819
83/100
Good
→
B+
One Story
Literary Magazine · Founded 2002
83/100
Good
→
B-
Wattpad
Platform · UGC · Founded 2006
74/100
Good
→
B
Reedsy
Platform · Author Services · Founded 2014
80/100
Good
→
B+
Submittable
Platform · Submissions · Founded 2010
83/100
Good
→
B+
Manuscript Wish List
Platform · Open · Founded 2014
83/100
Good
→
F
ICM Partners (Merged into CAA 2022)
Defunct / Merged · Founded 1975
18/100
Critical
→
F
Tin House Magazine (Defunct 2019)
Defunct · Founded 1999
18/100
Critical
→
F
The RITA Awards (Defunct 2020)
Defunct · Founded 1981
15/100
Critical
→
B
Folio Literary Management
Literary Agency · Boutique · Founded 2006
80/100
Good
→
B+
Park & Fine Literary
Literary Agency · Boutique · Founded 2018
83/100
Good
→
B+
Atlantic Monthly Press
Publisher · Independent · Founded 1917
83/100
Good
→
B+
Doubleday (PRH imprint)
Publisher · Commercial · Founded 1897
84/100
Good
→
The right intermediary compounds. The wrong one extracts.
Every agency claims author-first values. Every publisher claims editorial excellence. Every adaptation studio claims creative partnership. The Imprimatur Index makes the actual practice visible — so authors, agents, and producers can build careers on intermediaries that compound.