The publishers counter that the merger would strengthen competition among publishers to find and sell the hottest books by enabling the combined company to offer bigger advances and marketing support to authors. Melissa Bank: Author of 'The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing' dies at 61
The new company, if approved, would be by far the biggest book publishing entity in U.S. and how much authors are paid, giving consumers fewer books to choose from. media and entertainment company Paramount Global would thwart competition and give Penguin Random House outsize influence over what books are published in the U.S. The government contends that allowing Bertelsmann to buy Simon & Schuster from U.S. The other three are HarperCollins Publishers, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan. publisher, which would reduce the so-called "Big Five" U.S. Justice Department has sued to block the proposed $2.2 billion merger of Penguin Random House with Simon & Schuster, the fourth-largest U.S. Dohle not only acknowledged his promise was not legally binding, but should he ever leave Bertelsmann his successor would not be obligated to continue competitive bidding between the imprints.
Speaking of Simon & Schuster's position in bidding after a merger, Dohle said, "We want to keep them as external and independent as possible." Dohle has assured agents that he would permit competitive bidding between Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House imprints even if no other publisher was in contention, an expansion upon the current PRH policy of allowing bidding between imprints as long as outside competitors were still in the running.
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Stephen King: Author testifies against longtime publisher Simon & Schuster in books merger trial Books that sell well are more likely to have received bigger advances, Dohle acknowledged. Advances, which reach into the millions for such top-selling authors as Stephen King and James Patterson, are guaranteed payments to writers that can affect a book's profitability. Under questioning at a federal antitrust trial, CEO Markus Dohle also admitted that while he has promised to allow the two merged companies to continue to bid against each other for deals with authors, Penguin Random House's German parent firm Bertelsmann has no legal obligation to honor that commitment.Ĭommenting on what has been a core government argument, Dohle allowed that smaller advance payments to authors can lead to fewer books being published. But he acknowledged that the merger would buttress his company's position as the biggest U.S. WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of publishing titan Penguin Random House on Thursday defended his company's deal to acquire rival Simon & Schuster against the government's claim it would thwart competition.
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“The law demands that the Escambia County School District put removed or restricted books back on library shelves where they belong.Watch Video: NYC library: Youths read banned books online free In a nation built on free speech, this cannot stand,” said Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America. “In Escambia County, state censors are spiriting books off shelves in a deliberate attempt to suppress diverse voices. The lawsuit said more than 150 additional books are under review by the school board. In one example cited in the lawsuit, the teacher admitted she had never heard of the book “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky but filed an objection form to the novel that contained specific excerpts and phrasing from the book ban website.Īmong the other removed books are “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, “The Nowhere Girls” by Amy Reed and “Lucky” by Alice Sebold. The teacher’s formal objections to the books appear to draw on materials compiled by a website that creates reports on books it deems ideologically unsuitable for children, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit says the removals stem from objections from one language arts teacher in the county, and in each case the school board voted to remove the books over recommendations from a district review committee that deemed them educationally suitable. Penguin Random House, a massive publisher, has published books that have been removed or restricted by the district. PEN America, which has tracked school book bans, advocates for literary freedoms and has a membership of 7,500 writing professionals, including authors whose books have been removed or restricted in the school district. Censorship, in the form of book bans like those enacted by Escambia County, are a direct threat to democracy and our Constitutional rights,” Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, said in a statement.Įscambia County school officials did not immediately return a request for comment. “Books have the capacity to change lives for the better, and students in particular deserve equitable access to a wide range of perspectives.
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