We've previously explored what I called "the end of the trade publishing concept", which stems from the now wide-open opportunity to publish available to anybody with a computer and something to deliver as a book. It feels like we may have reached a … [Continue reading]
What the ruling against the PRH-S&S merger means for the publishing business
Judge Florence Y. Pan ruled today that the acquisition of Simon & Schuster by Penguin Random House could not go forward. The ruling was explicitly to protect the "competition" for the "anticipated top-selling books". In other words, the big books … [Continue reading]
“Automated ebook marketing by Open Road; can anybody else do it?”
Open Road Integrated Media has been an active client for the past couple of years. I have been intrigued by their claim of having the only really automated ebook marketing system in existence. I can't say I have the inside knowledge of every other … [Continue reading]
How book publishing has changed in recent decades and the puzzling question of what comes next
My book business career (on the fringes since 1958 and pretty fully immersed since 1973) has been spent considering the path from "intellectual property creator" to "book purchaser". This is a world occupied by authors and packagers and agents; by … [Continue reading]
Doubts about the Department of Justice’s objection to the PRH acquisition of S&S
There are, at this moment, still five US commercial book publishers of mega-size. Penguin Random House is the biggest; HarperCollins is 2nd; and Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster round out the Big Five. PRH is, approximately, as big as … [Continue reading]