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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Apple loses appeal on ebook antitrust suit

A federal appeals court Tuesday let stand a 2013 lower court ruling that concluded Apple conspired with several top book publishers to raise ebook prices. The Justice Department had accused Apple of unfairly taking control of a nascent market that had been dominated by Amazon.com. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2015-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S buys Australian debut

Simon & Schuster has bought a "unique" debut from an Australian author. S&S ssistant fiction editor Carla Josephson bought UK, Commonwealth & ANZ rights in All These Perfect Strangers by Australian prize-winning author Aoife Clifford from Rebecca Ritchie and Clare Forster at Curtis... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bonnier hires Parkin

Bonnier Publishing has appointed Kate Parkin as executive director of adult publishing. Parkin will be responsible for publishing and management across the division’s adult imprints and will report to fiction chief executive Mark Smith. She joins Bonnier from her role as fiction publisher at... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The crisis in non-fiction publishing

When it comes to high-calibre non-fiction, risk-averse trade publishing houses are producing too many copycat ‘smart thinking’ books that promise more than they deliver. But praise should be given to the university pressesAmid the ambient wails of doom about the publishing industry, I’d like to... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chinese publishers crack the top 10 as STM remains staunch

The changing nature of the worldwide book industry is sharply demonstrated in the upper echelons of the 2015 edition of the Global Ranking of the Publishing Industry: for the first time, publishing houses from outside Europe and North America have cracked the top 10. Both the groups—Phoenix... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Global Publishing Leaders 2015: Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster was founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln ("Max") Schuster. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sick of P&L Statements, Literary Editor Quits, Gets Web Kudos

Sarah Knight was sick of commuting, P&L statements and eating salad at her desk at Simon & Schuster, so she quit to freelance and seek happiness. The post Sick of P&L Statements, Literary Editor Quits, Gets Web Kudos appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stefani, McBride and May join Quarto sales

Quarto Publishing Group UK has made a series of appointments to its sales team, as part of a restructure. John Stefani, previously business development director at Simon & Schuster will take on the role of sales director, while Geraldine McBride, previously trade sales director at Bonnier... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Toby Jones given senior role at S&S

Former Penguin communications manager Toby Jones has been hired as group marketing and publicity director by Simon & Schuster.  Jones, who left Penguin in 2013 to go travelling, will begin at S&S on 1st July and report to chief executive and publisher Ian Chapman.  Marketing director... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Guild Calls for Higher Royalties, Contract Limits

The Authors Guild has outlined some of the "egregious terms" of current contract boilerplates it plans to address in its Fair Contract Initiative, first announced May 28 during BookExpo America. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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King and Galbraith up for CWA Gold Dagger

Stephen King and Robert Galbraith, the pen name for J K Rowling, are among those longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for the best crime novel of the year, for Mr Mercedes (Hodder & Stoughton) and The Silkworm (Sphere) respectively. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Social Media Properties Gain at Licensing Expo

Editors and licensing acquisition executives from publishing houses including Lerner, Bendon, Candlewick, Random House, and others are among the attendees roaming the show floor at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, which runs June 9-11. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Miley Cyrus and her pig: how to pose on a magazine cover with animals

Non-human cover stars are two-a-penny in the publishing industry. Just check out Miley with Bubba Sue on the new issue of Paper magazine. But, as many celebrities past and present show, you have to pick your companion with care…In the competitive world of magazine covers, you’re nobody unless... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookCon 2015: YA Panel Celebrates WNDB, Talks Up Diversity

What a difference a year has made with BookCon, with this year's literary fanfest featuring not one but two author panels specifically addressing issues of diversity in books and in the publishing industry itself. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S rushes through 'Ugly Game' reprint

Simon & Schuster has rushed through a second reprint of The Ugly Game: The Qatari Plot to Buy the World Cup by Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert after the Fifa arrests last week, which dominated news headlines around the world. The publisher ordered a 1,500 reprint of the book, only released... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Fair Contract Initiative' from Authors Guild

The Authors Guild of America has launched a Fair Contract Initiative to “address the major inequities in many boilerplate contract terms today” and educate authors on what terms they can negotiate on. The initiative, announced on Friday (28th May) at BEA, aims to “restore balance to the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookCon 2015: In Our World and Beyond Fantasy, and Reality

Joe Monti, executive editor for Simon & Schuster’s new Saga imprint for science fiction/fantasy, or SFF, admits that diversity is more than an intellectual exercise. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW Picks: Books of the Week, June 1, 2015

This week: Judy Blume's first novel for adults in 17 years, Stephen King's latest, and the absolutely incredible story of Stalin's daughter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2015: Hoopla Signs More ‘Big Five’ Deals

Hachette Book Group and Simon & Schuster this week became the latest Big Five publishers to offer audiobook titles to libraries via Midwest Tape’s nascent Hoopla digital platform. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Authors Guild Announces 'Fair Contract' Initiative

At this year's BookExpo America, the Authors Guild is rolling out its Fair Contract Initiative, a series of commentaries it will publish in the coming months that take a "fresh look at the standard book publishing contract." Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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