Are small publishers doing all the hard work for the big ones?

These days, it is minimally staffed and funded firms who invest in new authors. The giants avoid such risk, only picking the writers once their names are madePaul McVeigh and Kirsty Logan are authors you may have heard of. Both of their debuts were published by Salt, an independent publisher. Paul McVeigh’s The Good Son was shortlisted for a bunch of awards, and won the Polari first book prize this year. Kirsty Logan’s The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales won three awards — including the Polari in 2015— and Logan had her next book published with Harvill Secker, a division of Penguin Random House. The same trajectory is likely for Paul McVeigh. It’s a familiar story.Independent publishers have existed since the 19th century; it wasn’t until the 20th and the 21st that we saw the industry dominated by a few corporations. “The Big Four” publishers – Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, Hachette and HarperCollins – have grown big by buying up small publishers. Hogarth, for example, was founded by Leonard and Virginia Woolf in 1917; now it is an imprint at the Crown Publishing Group, which is in turn a part of Penguin Random House – which itself used to be Penguin and Random House before their merger in 2013. Phew. Related: 'Crazy but fantastic': Man Booker prize pitches tiny publishers into big league Related: A northern powerhouse really is coming – in publishing Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2016-12-08 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Harper switches to Hodder & Stoughton

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 03/06/2011 - 09:58 Hodder & Stoughton has signed a three-book deal with thriller writer Tom Harper, marking the author's move from Random House's Cornerstone. Associate publisher Oliver Johnson signed the deal for world rights through... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Duggan leaves Random House for CourseSmart

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 26/05/2011 - 08:47 Random House Digital director Fionnuala Duggan is to leave the publisher for digital learning company CourseSmart, where she has been appointed managing director for international. The California-based company, which provides... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vintage launches digital campaign for debut

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 25/05/2011 - 14:12 Vintage Publishing's Harvill Secker is launching a digital marketing campaign for one of its autumn debuts, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, teaming up with Failbetter Games. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bodley Head latest to publish Bin Laden title

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 16/05/2011 - 09:06 The Bodley Head has acquired a title looking at the operation that searched for, and finally killed, Osama bin Laden, by al-Qaeda expert Peter Bergen. Publishing director Will Sulkin acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nurturer of Authors Is Closing the Book

The editor Robert Loomis, who is retiring from Random House after 54 years, is known for nurturing writers including Maya Angelou, William Styron, Shelby Foote and Calvin Trillin. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random rushes Bin Laden digital exclusive

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 09/05/2011 - 08:51 Random House is publishing its first "instant ebook exclusive" with William Heinemann's rapid response to the death of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Beyond Bin Laden: The Future of Terror will be published tomorrow... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Make a Plan: A ‘One Stop’ Book Site

In starting Bookish.com, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group USA and Hachette Book Group hope to provide one-stop shopping for books and information about authors. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Publishers, AOL To Launch New Book Recommendation Site [MediaMemo]

Three big publishers and AOL are set to launch Bookish, a "new digital platform for readers". Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group, and CBS' Simon & Schuster are backing the new site, which is supposed to launch this summer; AOL will promote the property and handle ad sales. A press release... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2011-05-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Plaintiffs Drop Suit Over Jimmy Carter Book

A $5 million lawsuit against Simon & Schuster over a book by former President Jimmy Carter was dropped by the plaintiffs on Thursday, three months after it was filed. The plaintiffs in the class-action suit had argued that Mr. Carter's "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," about the Arab-Israeli... Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-05-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Random House Buys Digital Agency

Random House has acquired Smashing Ideas, a digital media agency, in an effort to strengthen its digital publishing side, the publisher said on Thursday. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random House buys digital agency Smashing Ideas

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 05/05/2011 - 15:40 Bertelsmann has acquired digital media agency Smashing Ideas, with the aim of beefing up Random House Inc's digital offerings. The terms of the acquisition were not made public. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital helps lift profit at Simon & Schuster

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 04/05/2011 - 09:30 Digital sales were worth 18% of Simon & Schuster's total global sales in its first quarter as its revenues increased 2% to $155m. Digital revenue more than doubled to $27.9m (£16.9m) from the first quarter in 2010, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Another Palin Book on the Way

Howard Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced on Monday that on May 24, it would publish "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin," an account of Ms. Palin's time as governor and as a vice-presidential candidate, written by Frank Bailey, one of her former aides. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Finnish dystopian crime for Harvill Secker

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 13/04/2011 - 11:56 Harvill Secker has acquired a dystopian crime novel by Finnish writer Antti Tuomainen, set in a futuristic Helsinki. Publishing director Liz Foley bought UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to The Healer through... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Four chosen for Kim Scott Walwyn shortlist

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin and Foyles lead way in Bookseller Industry Awards

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 08:30 Penguin is topping the table with an industry-leading six nominations in the 2011 Bookseller Industry Awards. Following closely behind in the nomination league tables are HarperCollins and Hodder & Stoughton, both listed... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers back new PEN freedom initiative

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 11/04/2011 - 15:34 Penguin, Hachette Livre and Random House have all joined with PEN International for the launch of the literature-championing organisation’s latest initiative, the PEN International Publishers’ Circle. The scheme will see... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Random Creates Hogarth, a U.S.-U.K. Imprint

Two divisions of Random House that exist across the pond from each other are launching a fiction imprint that will share a close but non-exclusive editorial relationship. The Crown Publishing Group in the U.S. and Chatto & Windus, an imprint of Vintage Publishing, which is a division of The... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers gloomy on Borders' turnaround plan

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 07/04/2011 - 09:05 US publishers have dismissed Borders' recovery plan, which includes revamped stores and increased online sales, as unrealistic and are increasingly gloomy about its future. The New York Times reports Borders senior... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder and S&S' "Big Fat" scoop

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 01/04/2011 - 10:34 Hodder & Stoughton and Simon & Schuster are both capitalising on a guilty pleasure, acquiring Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and Will and Kate's Big Fat Gypsy Wedding respectively. H&S senior editor Fenella Bates... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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