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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HC, S&S Name Company-Wide Diversity Executives

As part of an industry-wide effort to reckon with issues of diversity in trade book publishing, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster have each named new high-ranking staffers to address issues of diversity at their companies. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In New York, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins Announce Diversity Roles

Two Big Five US publishing houses independently announce new directorial appointments focused on workplace diversity and inclusion. The post In New York, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins Announce Diversity Roles appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-09-15 23:40:06 UTC ]
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Berenstain Bears Get a New Faith-Based Series

Random House Children’s Books is expanding the Berenstain Bears franchise with Gifts of the Spirit, a new series of faith-based picture books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Rupi Kaur's third poetry collection acquired by S&S

Simon & Schuster will publish home body, the third collection of poetry and illustrations from Rupi Kaur.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-14 19:44:33 UTC ]
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S&S scoops two from Jess Phillips

Simon & Schuster is to publish a political memoir by Jess Phillips, secured in a two book deal.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-11 10:32:36 UTC ]
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Woodward’s ‘Rage’ is a damning account of Trump’s cowering sycophants and enablers

Bob Woodward provides fresh details of Trump’s outrages and confirmation of old assumptions Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-10 07:03:20 UTC ]
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Barbara Marcus to headline Bookseller Children’s Conference

Barbara Marcus, president and publisher of Random House Children’s Books in the US, will headline this year’s Bookseller Children’s Conference, alongside speakers from World Book Day, Cocoa Girl and authors Andy Griffiths and Katherine Rundell.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-09 20:51:08 UTC ]
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We don’t need Michael Cohen to know the truth about Trump

In April, on the first night of Passover, Michael Cohen—Donald Trump’s former fixer, who was then incarcerated at Otisville prison, in New York—took an early manuscript of a book he’d been working on, and tossed it into a fire that Orthodox inmates had built to burn leavened bread. According to... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review

[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-09-09 12:20:26 UTC ]
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Carolyn Reidy will posthumously receive the National Book Foundation’s lifetime achievement award.

Today, the National Book Foundation announced extraordinary news for an extraordinary prize: The late president and chief executive of Simon & Schuster, Carolyn Reidy, will be the recipient of its Literarian Award at the 2020 National Book Awards. The lifetime achievement award, which honors... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-08 16:43:46 UTC ]
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Carolyn Reidy to receive a lifetime achievement honor at the 2020 National Book Awards

Carolyn Reidy, the late president and chief executive of Simon & Schuster, will receive the Literarian Award, the National Book Foundation announced today. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-09-08 14:14:51 UTC ]
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Publishing must make room for disabled authors - for its own good

Attention to diversity has yet to pay much heed to us, but we are the biggest minority in the world, so if space is cleared everyone stands to win As a disabled writer, it has been a little strange to watch publishers rush to put on online events during the pandemic. Authors have been... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-09-04 14:00:57 UTC ]
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Pope Francis To Write a Response to Covid -19

Simon & Schuster will publish the pontiff's vision of a better future post-pandemic December 1. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Report: Germany’s Bertelsmann Interested in Buying Simon & Schuster

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-09-02 18:34:05 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

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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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

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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

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