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 ]
Google's book scanning project constitutes fair use under U.S. copyright law, an appeals court confirmed Friday, ending a ten-year legal fight by the Authors Guild and other writers' groups to have it stopped. Google began working with libraries in 2004 to digitize their book collections,... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From editorial assistants to senior VP’s, this is how much people who work in publishing reported earning last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An appeals court rejected the claims of the Authors Guild that Google's massive book scanning project is copyright infringement. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster has bought world rights (excluding Germany) in These Days of Ours, a new novel by Juliet Ashton, and will publish in June 2016. Ashton, who was previously published by Sphere in the UK, is a superstar in Germany, where she has shifted more than 100,000 copies for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple’s ebook division will no longer be overseen by a court-appointed monitor after the US Justice Department ruled that the company had made improvements to its antitrust compliance program. Despite the positive outcome for Apple, the Justice Department was critical of the company’s... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2015-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribner has scooped up the rights to most of Stephen King's works, in every format you can imagine, the publisher announced Monday. The deal includes many of King's horror classics, including "Christine," "IT," "The Dead Zone," "Cujo," "Misery," "The Tommyknockers," "Firestarter" and "Dolores... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After a decade of change in the publishing industry, the 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair (which runs October 14–18) marks something of a turning point. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) has become a member of the Publishers Licensing Society (PLS), meaning IPG members will now have a stronger voice in the area of collective licensing and the management of rights. The IPG will be the first new member to join the society since it was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Ireland is to bring all publicity for Penguin, Random House and DK publishing in-house, with sales moving to one integrated team, and Michael McLoughlin appointed as m.d. of the business. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It may not have quite the same resonance as William Goldman’s infamous line about the movie business—“nobody knows anything”—but Carolyn’s Reidy’s comment, made at a recent Book Industry Study Group meeting held in New York, that “the more we know, the more we have to learn” is an excellent... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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There’s a huge problem at the moment in journalism and the publishing industry, which is that no journalism or media company has figured out how to actually fund their content in this new age of the Internet. The big reason is that newspape ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster's Threshold Editions will publish a new, untitled book by Donald Trump October 27. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mexico's publishing industry has great potential, but the lack of organized government is a persistent problem, argues Déborah Holtz of Trilce Ediciones. The post Mexico Needs a Government Policy to Promote Publishing, Reading appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A membership survey, contract initiative, and a dues hike are part of the organization's new program. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This summer, two years after the merger of Penguin Canada and Random House of Canada was finalized in July 2013, more than 200 employees left the publishers’ longtime separate headquarters and moved into a new Front Street office in downtown Toronto. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors Guild says median income for members has fallen 24% in five years, with piracy, Amazon and publishing economies contributing to slump in earningsThe earnings of more than half of American authors fell below the US federal poverty level last year, according to a survey from the Authors... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It has been a bit more than nine years since David Foster Wallace delivered “Federer as Religious Experience,” the Magna Carta of what has become one of the most popular genres in sports journalism: the Roger Federer think piece. The now-classic essay, penned for the short-lived New York Times... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2015-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW's Star Watch honors the publishing industry's up-and-coming talent. Get to know tomorrow's leaders. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Trade publishing seems mostly to have forgotten it even has a neighbour," says Alastair Horne in his #FutureBook15 manifesto. "Unlike the music and trade publishing industries, scholarly publishing went digital of its own volition, and kept control of its routes to market." Horne admonishes,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hachette Livre c.e.o. and chairman Arnaud Nourry will be interviewed as part of Frankfurt Book Fair’s c.e.o. talk series. Nourry will be questioned by the editors of The Bookseller, Livres Hebdo, Bookdao, buchreport, PublishNews Brazil and Publishers Weekly. The discussion, moderated by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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