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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Scribner snaps up most of Stephen King's body (of work)

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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Frankfurt Book Fair 2015: A New Era Begins

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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Sales and publicity changes at PRH Ireland

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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IPG becomes member of PLS

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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Up, up and away?

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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Crowdfunding Journalism to Confront the Media Industry's 'Huge Problem'

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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Mexico Needs a Government Policy to Promote Publishing, Reading

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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Trump Signs for New Book with S&S

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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Behind the Authors Guild's New Proactive Approach

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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Canadian Publishing 2015: PRH Canada’s Physical Consolidation Makes The Merger Complete

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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Income for US authors falls below federal poverty line – survey

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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PW Star Watch 2015 Honorees

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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How to Write a Roger Federer Think Piece

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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A manifesto for trade publishing

"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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Arnaud Nourry to be questioned at FBF

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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RH Children's Buys Self-Pubbed Phenom 'Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep'

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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Sales of Self-Published 'Rabbit' Sleep Book Top 29,000

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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Self-Publishing Is Good for You … and Authors and the Book Industry

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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Morel to retire from Penguin France

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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'Drastic action needed' to help Scottish writers

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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