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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Report: Simon & Schuster’s Date for John Bolton’s Book Is Now in May

The publication date moves to May for the controversial White House memoir of Donald Trump's former national security advisor John Bolton. The post Report: Simon & Schuster’s Date for John Bolton’s Book Is Now in May appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-03-04 15:00:09 UTC ]
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HarperCollins UK and S&S UK pull out of London Book Fair

HarperCollins UK and Simon & Schuster have joined the rest of the Big Five publishers in announcing they are not attending the London Book Fair following the coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-03 22:29:32 UTC ]
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A Buoyant 2020 Audie Awards Celebrates 'The Only Plane in the Sky,' Stephen King

At the Audio Publishers Association's annual Audie Awards, which marked a quarter century this year, 'The Only Plane in the Sky' took home the top award and Stephen King received a lifetime achievement as host Mo Rocca and others saluted the progress of the audiobook form over the past 25 years. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-03-03 05:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S Cancels and COVID-19 Concerns Mount for London Book Fair

With Simon & Schuster's exit from London Book Fair, other publishers are watchful–concerned both for employee safety and for cost in case of a quarantine. The post S&S Cancels and COVID-19 Concerns Mount for London Book Fair appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-02-28 18:07:02 UTC ]
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Danse Macabre: Stephen King’s Dance of Death

In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle reviews Stephen King’s early non-fiction book about horror In 1999, the prolific author Stephen King had his own dance with death. One afternoon, he was walking on the shoulder of a road near his home in the US state […] The... Continue reading at Interesting Literature

[ Interesting Literature | 2020-02-28 15:00:22 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster US pulls out of London Book Fair

Simon & Schuster’s US team will not be attending the London Book Fair this year over "health and safety" fears following the coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-28 11:51:27 UTC ]
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Coronavirus is affecting the Italian publishing industry in a big way.

There’s no bigger global news story right now than the slow but intractable spread of coronavirus, which has been hobbling the normal ebb and flow of everything from the stock market to cruises, theme parks and tourism. The virus has affected the publishing industry as well, and there’s perhaps... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-26 17:39:37 UTC ]
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Book Deals: Week of February 24, 2020

Among this week’s notable deals is the seven-figure sale of a debut novel titled The Other Black Girl. The send-up of the publishing industry, by a former Knopf assistant editor, was pitched as Get Out meets Younger. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Global revenues dip at S&S but UK business sees 'turning point'

Simon & Schuster’s global revenues for 2019 fell 1% to $814m, with a 7% decline in operating income, parent firm ViacomCBS has said. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-20 22:25:14 UTC ]
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Sales, Earnings Down in 2019 at S&S

A tough fourth quarter where earnings were hurt by, among other factors, the tariffs on books manufactured in China contributed to a 7% drop in profits in 2019 at Simon & Schuster. Revenue in the year fell 1%. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Dohle: PRH ‘well on its way’ to reducing carbon emissions 20% by 2025

Markus Dohle, Penguin Random House c.e.o., has said Penguin Random House is "well on its way" to reducing its carbon emissions by 20% by 2025, after parent company Bertelsmann declared its goal to be "climate neutral" by 2030. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-02-18 12:34:10 UTC ]
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How Colum McCann Shaped Loss Into a Book

“Apeirogon,” the latest novel from the National Book Award winner, will be released next week by Random House. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-02-17 11:01:40 UTC ]
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On #DignidadLiteraria and American Dirt, Old and New

Below is a collection of articles that respond to American Dirt, consider the injustices of the publishing industry’s Big Five, and highlight books by Chicanx and Latinx writers. ¤ A reading list assembled from these articles: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-02-14 19:23:11 UTC ]
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Pivot in perception or a load of rowlocks? | Brief letters

Boris Johnson | Marmalade years | US publishing industry | Quick crossword | Roysters crispsIt’s all very well Labour demanding an inquiry into who paid for Boris Johnson’s Caribbean holiday (Report, 14 February), but what I should really like to know is when will the Independent Office for... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-02-14 17:21:53 UTC ]
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#DignidadLiteraria invites Oprah 'on a mission to repair' after 'American Dirt' fracas

Critics of "American Dirt" invited Oprah Winfrey on Wednesday to discuss "#DignidadLiteraria and other Latinx groups and the publishing industry that has systematically erased us." Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-02-13 04:43:13 UTC ]
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How 'American Dirt' controversy could change publishing industry

The "American Dirt" uproar is prompting the book industry to review, reenforce, and revamp plans to become more diverse and inclusive. The publishing industry is predominantly run by white women, according to a new study. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-02-12 17:29:22 UTC ]
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How 'American Dirt' controversy could change publishing industry

The "American Dirt" uproar is prompting the book industry to review, reenforce, and revamp plans to become more diverse and inclusive. The publishing industry is predominantly run by white women, according to a new study. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-02-12 17:29:22 UTC ]
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Remembering Alice Mayhew, Legendary Editor

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[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-06 00:28:27 UTC ]
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Remembering Alice Mayhew

On a bookshelf alongside the dining-room table, I maintain a narcissistic shrine consisting of first-edition copies of my eight books. Four of them were published by Alice Mayhew, the legendary editor at Simon & Schuster who died earlier this week at the well-disguised age of 87. And those... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-06 00:28:27 UTC ]
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Before “American Dirt,” There Was “The Korean Angela’s Ashes”

THE CONTRETEMPS OVER Jeanine Cummins’s American Dirt revolves around a narrative of a publishing industry eager for blockbusters, white authors who inhabit the stories of marginalized people, and embarrassment when the multiple flaws and tone-deaf passages of the hyped-up book are exposed.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-02-05 18:00:58 UTC ]
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