"[1] The first DAW Book published was the 1972 short story collection Spell of the Witch World by Andre Norton.

[2] In its early years under the leadership of Wollheim and his wife Elsie, DAW gained a reputation of publishing popular, though not always critically acclaimed, works of science fiction and fantasy.

Nevertheless, in the 1970s the company published numerous books by award-winning authors such as Marion Zimmer Bradley, Fritz Leiber, Jerry Pournelle, and Roger Zelazny.

In 1982, C. J. Cherryh's Downbelow Station became the first DAW book to win the Hugo Award for best novel.

Although it has a distribution relationship with Penguin Group and is headquartered in Penguin USA's offices in New York City, DAW is editorially independent and, until 2022, was closely held by its current publishers, Betsy Wollheim (Donald's daughter) and Sheila E.