Authors fear the worst if Penguin owner takes over Simon & Schuster

Analysis: if Bertelsmann, owner of Penguin Random House, buys US publisher, writers expect smaller deals and less choice for readersUK watchdog investigates Penguin owner’s Simon & Schuster takeoverJokes circulated online when, in 2013, Penguin and Random House merged: would the new mega-publisher, which became the world’s biggest trade publishing group, be known as Random Penguin? Penguin House? Now, as the prosaically named Penguin Random House’s parent company Bertelsmann’s $2.17bn acquisition of Simon & Schuster comes under scrutiny in the UK, the jokes are fewer and further between.Authors have made it abundantly clear that they fear the fallout if the deal goes ahead. When it was first announced last November, the Authors Guild in the US was quick to register its objections. The acquisition, which would bring heavyweight S&S authors including Hillary Clinton, John Irving, Stephen King and Bob Woodward under the PRH umbrella in the US, would “creat[e] a huge imbalance in the US publishing industry”, it warned, calling on the US justice department to step in. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-03-22 23:24:23 UTC ]

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S&S acquires Pope Francis' 'inspiring' guidance for Covid-hit world

Simon & Schuster is to publish Let Us Dream from Pope Francis in December.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-02 17:32:34 UTC ]
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Judge Issues Sweeping Order Against E-book Piracy Operation

A federal judge in Washington has issued a preliminary injunction against a major e-book piracy operation known as the KISS Library, after the operators of the site failed to show up at a hearing or to file any response to a lawsuit filed in July by the Authors Guild, Amazon Publishing, Penguin... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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Sunday Reading: Summer Fiction

From The New Yorker’s archive: short stories by Zadie Smith, Jennifer Egan, and Stephen King. Continue reading at New Yorker

[ New Yorker | 2020-08-30 10:00:00 UTC ]
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ReBoot Virtual Conference Set for October 13

"ReBoot: Books, Business and Reading," a virtual conference aimed at preparing the publishing industry for 2021, has been set for October 13. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Aspen Institute Looks at a Publishing Industry Challenged to Embrace Diversity

Aspen asks, 'Why is the world of publishing so reluctant to offer Black writers the same major book deals typically offered to white writers?' The post Aspen Institute Looks at a Publishing Industry Challenged to Embrace Diversity appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-08-21 18:41:12 UTC ]
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Meet the Agent: Regina Brooks

We talk with Serendipity Literary Agency founder Regina Brooks, who has built a roster of award-winning authors and illustrators while remaining committed to making the publishing industry more diverse. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-21 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Collins' Beyond Entrepreneurship 2 goes to Random House Business

American writer and consultant Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, is releasing an "ambitious upgrade" of his first book, Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company, previously unpublished in the UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-19 15:02:55 UTC ]
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US publishing revenues dip 4.2% in first half of 2020

The US publishing industry’s revenues are down 4.2% for the year to date, according to the Association of American Publishers' latest StatShot report, although Trade sales in the six-month period held on with a rise of almost 3% compared to the first half of 2019. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-19 02:12:36 UTC ]
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Publishing Leaders Issuing Warning over Amazon’s Market Power

If Amazon's market power over book publishing is left unchecked, competition in the industry will continue to diminish, the heads of the AAP, ABA, and Authors Guild wrote in a letter to the chairman of the House Antitrust Subcommittee. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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Sharmaine Lovegrove: ‘You must spend a year in a bookshop before you get a job in publishing’

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[ The Guardian | 2020-08-15 10:00:40 UTC ]
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Bob Woodward’s new book, Rage, will have “explosive” new material about the president.

Simon & Schuster has revealed details about what publisher Jonathan Karp is calling its most important book of the year: a new account by journalist Bob Woodward of Donald Trump’s presidency, titled Rage, which comes out Sept. 15. After ignoring interview requests for Woodward’s 2018 book... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

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Woodward's Next Trump Book Gets Title, Details Revealed

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Woodward pens new Trump book Rage for S&S

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-12 13:54:39 UTC ]
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Stephen King novel Later to be released by Hard Case Crime

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[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-04 01:17:41 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Extends Temporary E-book, Digital Audio Terms for Libraries

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James Silberman, Editor Who Nurtured Literary Careers, Dies at 93

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A reckoning long overdue: Dana Canedy and Lisa Lucas on their new positions in publishing

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