The failure of a recent bid to merge two large publishing companies shines a light on a central issue of cultural powerDespite a rise in self-publishing, commercial publishers are still the main gatekeepers of what arrives on our bookshelves. As such, they have great cultural and – if a book takes off – economic power. A case decided in a US court this week provided an insight into just how much of that power is now concentrated in a small handful of multinational companies.At issue was a planned merger of Simon & Schuster with Penguin Random House (PRH) – two of the so-called big five, which between them control 90% of the US publishing market, a fact not always obvious to the casual observer, as books usually carry on their spines the names of imprints, or subdivisions, of the parent company. PRH, itself the result of a mega-merger in 2013, runs about 300 imprints. Given the reach of these companies – PRH is active in more than 20 countries – the Department of Justice’s successful argument that the planned $2.2bn deal would “exert outsized influence over which books are published in the United States and how much authors are paid for their work” applies globally. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2022-11-04 18:25:28 UTC ]
My brother David Larkin, who has died aged 84, was an art director in the book publishing industry who consistently pushed artists to go beyond their known capabilities – and often saw things in them that they did not themselves perceive.In the late 1960s, as art director at Granada Publishing,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-01-03 15:48:19 UTC ]
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Cindy Spiegel and Julie Grau are starting their own publishing company, after seeing their eponymous imprint shuttered by Penguin Random House in a reorganization at the company late last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Canada is splitting the Knopf Random House Canada publishing group into two different imprints: Knopf Canada and Random House Canada. Each imprint has new leadership and will operate independently. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The planned merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster may be global but it's bad for books both foreign and domestic. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-12-04 19:25:12 UTC ]
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Malorie Blackman is completing her Noughts & Crosses YA series with the sixth and final novel, Endgame, publishing with Penguin Random House Children’s UK in summer 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-02 18:32:59 UTC ]
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Nobody has a human right to a lucrative book contract without regard for whether their opinions are sound or valuableJordan Peterson, the Canadian psychology professor and lobster-loving life coach who came to public attention after refusing to use the preferred pronouns of transgender people,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-12-02 13:56:38 UTC ]
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Earlier this year, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya decided to run for president in Belarus, a country widely known as “Europe’s last dictatorship,” after her husband, a popular YouTuber who had planned to run himself, was jailed. Alexander Lukashenko, the longtime dictator, allowed Tikhanovskaya to... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-12-01 13:25:34 UTC ]
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The biggest trade show in U.S. book publishing is being retired. BookExpo and its attendant consumer-focused events, BookCon and Unbound, will not be held in 2021, as organizer ReedPop considers the future of the events. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-12-01 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster is to publish a biography of former Labour minister John Stonehouse, who faked his own death in 1974. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-29 23:08:09 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House has published its first ever ethnicity pay report, which found that BAME staff are paid 16% less than their white colleagues, on average. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-29 12:21:20 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House and HarperCollins have both scooped prizes at this year's Audio Production Awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-27 08:52:59 UTC ]
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Can Penguin Random House swallow Simon & Schuster while remaining good citizens? Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-27 00:32:40 UTC ]
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German media giant Bertelsmann says that its Penguin Random House division is buying rival Simon & Schuster Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2020-11-25 20:24:15 UTC ]
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German media firm, already owner of the giant Penguin Random House, says acquisition of another major publisher is ‘approvable’ within monopoly rulesGerman media group Bertelsmann is set to acquire publisher Simon & Schuster for $2.17bn, less than a year after it took control of Penguin... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-25 16:55:32 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House parent company Bertelsmann will acquire Simon & Schuster. If the sale is approved by regulators, the Big Five will become the the Big Four. The post Germany’s Bertelsmann To Buy Simon & Schuster for US$2.175 Billion appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-11-25 15:02:49 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House acquires Simon and Schuster, creating the largest megapublisher in the United States. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-11-25 15:00:18 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House Canada’s plans to publish a new work by the ‘professor against political correctness’ has reportedly prompted numerous complaintsThe announcement of a new book from Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, the self-styled “professor against political correctness”, has prompted... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-25 14:35:10 UTC ]
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PRH owner Bertelsmann is to buy Simon & Schuster from ViacomCBS for $2.2bn, it has been announced. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-25 12:40:42 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon has praised the resilience of the book trade in an interview at FutureBook 2020. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-19 21:20:38 UTC ]
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Stephanie Purcell, group rights director at Simon & Schuster, has been appointed group rights director at Bloomsbury. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-19 19:54:32 UTC ]
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