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 ]
The self-published picture book 'The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep,' which shot to the top of Amazon's U.K. print list a few weeks ago, has officially been acquired in by Penguin Random House. The publisher took world English rights to the book in a joint deal between Random House U.S. and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The real beneficiary of the DIY book boom is the publishing industry itself. The post Self-Publishing Is Good for You … and Authors and the Book Industry appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2015-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After selling roughly 300 copies prior to last week, self-published picture book 'The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep' moved more than 29,000 print copies in the week ended August 23. It's also rumored that the book were acquired by Random House for seven figures. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jean-Luc Morel, sales manager for Penguin in France, is to retire from the company after 25 years. Morel’s last day will be 22nd September. In the coming weeks he will hand his work over to existing members of the Penguin Random House international sales team: Pauline Konink, sales manager for... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Janice Galloway has called on Creative Scotland to “to do something drastic” to stop the nation’s writers from struggling. According to the Scotsman, Galloway, author of The Trick is to Keep Breathing (Vintage Classics), has warned that most of Scotland’s writers are being left to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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While half of the publishing industry has taken advantage of the brief August lull to spend a fortnight in Devon reading Elena Ferrante, the reality—as many a hard-pressed publicist can testify—is that the autumn rush is almost upon us. In under a fortnight, Jamie Oliver’s Everyday Super Food... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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We asked you what three authors you'd take to your desert island. You said William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Stephen King. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book publishing is an absolute meritocracy, if you disregard all the deeply ingrained misogyny and racism. Wait ... Continue reading at HuffPost
[ HuffPost | 2015-08-06 13:54:21 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster posted an 8.6% increase in operating income in the second period of 2015 over the same period in 2014 while revenue fell 5.6%, to $199 million. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ben Freeman, organiser of London event, says: ‘Everyone realises the internet hasn’t killed the record industry or the publishing industry – just changed it’A fair celebrating the future of physical objects in media – from books and magazines to records and cassettes – will debut in London this... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nikkei’s $1.3 billion deal to buy the Financial Times underscores the fact that the publishing industry’s fortunes lie in going digital, experts say. Continue reading at Knowledge@Wharton
[ Knowledge@Wharton | 2015-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booksellers will get “quicker and wider access” to book proofs from across the publishing industry through a partnership with the Booksellers Association and NetGalley. UK booksellers will get access to digital proofs from over 50 publishers – including Bonnier, Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jet Blue, Random House and Mary Pope Osborne are giving away free kids books through a program that places book vending machines in underprivileged neighborhoods. The post Vending Machines to Dispense Free Kids Books appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-07-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author protest group Authors United is asking authors to sign a letter to the US Justice Department, asking it "to examine Amazon's control of the book market." The letter has been drafted with the help of the Authors Guild. Meanwhile both the American Booksellers Association and the Association... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The theme of this year’s Children’s Media Conference (CMC), which took place 1-3 July in Sheffield, was “All Change”. Which is apt, because the children’s TV industry (from which this conference was originally born) is experiencing a disruption just as profound and perhaps more urgent than... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Profile’s publishing director Mike Jones is to leave the company at the end of this week, by mutual consent. Jones joined Profile from his role as non-fiction publishing director at Simon & Schuster almost exactly a year ago in July 2014. The publisher said it was “very sorry” to make the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ovum’s new Digital Consumer Publishing Forecast is published tomorrow. It takes a five year view at how this sector will change. Ahead of publication, Ovum analyst Charlotte Miller gives TheMediaBriefing an exclusive look at some of t ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Citing a major uptick in Internet piracy, the Authors Guild has urged Congress to require ISPs to monitor and filter the Internet for pirated works. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Authors Guild is asking bestselling authors to push back against the industry's reigning 25% ebook royalty rate "on behalf of all authors, as well as themselves.” Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Novelist Kerry Hudson is setting out ‘a provocation’ calling for wholesale change to encourage and reflect broader spectrum of voicesThe award-winning novelist Kerry Hudson is set to make a bold call for change in UK publishing, which she believes is failing “to reflect the extraordinary... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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