Leave Penguin Alone

A bit buried in last week’s iPad 3 excitement was the news that Apple, along with five major American book publishers, was given notice by the Justice Department that it’s about to be sued for colluding to raise prices. A tech giant can afford to shrug off something as petty as an anti-trust lawsuit over books, but for HarperCollins, Penguin, MacMillan, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster (full disclosure: my publisher) the implications are potentially quite dire. Scott Turow, president of the Authors Guild, went further and argued that “everyone who cherishes a rich literary culture” should be alarmed by the DOJ’s actions. He’s wrong. If there’s a case against the government’s actions it’s that the forces of disruption buffeting traditional publishing are much too large to be blocked by any cartel. The good news is that literary culture should survive either way. Continue reading at 'Slate'

[ Slate | 2012-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #leave penguin #justice department #raise prices #tech giant #authors guild #literary culture

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Leave Penguin Alone'


Penguin Ventures "to generate 15% of profit"

  Penguin UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon has said he expects at least 15% of Penguin's profit... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #penguin ventures #penguin uk #tom weldon


Penguin Development Group Quietly Pads Slate

Random House has Random House Films. Macmillan has Macmillan Films. And Penguin? Although the house has been low-key about the ways it has begun to dip its corporate toes into film production, and Hollywood, it, too, is making inroads there. One way is with Penguin Development Group. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-01-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #random house #film production


Price and Alport to leave Scholastic for MCB

Macmillan Children's Books has appointed Alyx Price [left] to the role of communications... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #leave scholastic #macmillan children


DoJ Penguin settlement to be completed in May

The process for Penguin to join the Department of Justice's settlement over the ebook price-... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Morgan to leave Arts Council

Libraries director Nicky Morgan will leave Arts Council England in July when the organisation... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


E-book restrictions leave 'buyers' with few rights

Unlike the owners of a physical tome, buyers of ebooks are licensees with lots of limitations. It's time to change the rules.There's a crass old joke about how you can never buy beer, just rent it. Who would think that the same joke applies to book buying in the digital age? Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book buying #digital age


Justice Department, Penguin Reach Settlement on E-Book Pricing

The Justice Department said today it had reached a settlement with Penguin Group (USA), one of six companies it had accused of conspiring to raise prices of ebooks. The agreement, if approved by the court, would leave only two companies -- Apple and Macmillan -- facing the lawsuit, due to go to... Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2012-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #justice department #e-book pricing #raise prices #simon schuster


Clark leaves Piccadilly to start own agency

Former commissioning editor of Piccadilly Press Anne Clark has left to start her own literary... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Penguin buys back Puffin Book Club

Penguin has bought the Puffin Book Club back from The Book People. The club was originally... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book people


NYT: Penguin to extend ebook and audiobook library rentals to LA and Cleveland

Penguin will refresh its ebook lending system later today, according to a report from the New York Times. The publisher will start lending out its titles in Los Angeles and Cleveland, mimicking the program that trialled (despite some DRM issues) in New York. Public library users can even expect... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2012-11-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital copy #lose access #permalinkthe verge


Wood leaves Kobo

Kobo UK country manager Phil Wood has left the company, with the Canadian company's ... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #canadian company


Penguin Canada’s Bryan heads for Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury has appointed Mike Bryan in the post of executive director of Bloomsbury Information... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bloomsbury information #penguin canada


A New Era for Books: The Random House-Penguin Merger Is Just the Start

The biggest publishing companies have an easy plan to save their industry: Get bigger Continue reading at The Atlantic

[ The Atlantic | 2012-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Brazil: As “Sophisticated as the US and UK,” says Penguin CEO

This week's issue of PublishNews Brazil features an interview with Penguin CEO John Makinson, an overview of Brazil's ebook market, and Saraiva's latest sales numbers. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #penguin ceo #ebook market


Random House-Penguin merger: reaction

Authors Lindsey Davis Society of Authors chair “As a Random House author, I can say... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #lindsey davis


Making the Penguin Random House Merger Work

The trick to making the Random House/Penguin Group merger work will be to create a publisher that can take advantage of the resources and economies of scale a company with revenue of $4 billion brings and combine that with an editorial approach that emphasizes close cooperation with authors,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #editorial approach


Penguin Random House: Supergroup to redefine trade

Universal shock at the news on Monday (29th October) of a merger between Penguin and Random House... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #random house


Penguin Press title named FT/Goldman Business Book of the Year

  Penguin Press title Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power has won the Financial... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Emerging Markets are Key to Penguin Random House Merger

Overlooked in the much of the discussion of the Penguin Random House merger is just how important Latin America, China and India are to the deal. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #emerging markets


News Corp. Unit Interested in Penguin Group

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has expressed interest in buying book publisher Penguin Group, potentially undermining merger discussions between Penguin and Random House, people familiar with the situation said. Continue reading at AllThingsD

[ AllThingsD | 2012-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #penguin group #rupert murdoch #expressed interest #random house #people familiar