The antitrust trial’s afternoon session continued with three literary agents taking the stand for the defense—Elyse Cheney, Andrew Wylie, and Gail Ross. They discussed auctions and negotiations, how they retain their power, and the effect of the possible merger on their clients. Cheney echoed what many other witnesses have said when asked why Big 5 publishers acquire books for $250,000+ more often than non-Big 5 do. “I think the non-Big 5, you know, are just not going to play in that sandbox too many times. They don’t have the same scale.” But when they do acquire ATSB, smaller publishers have […]
