Our massive new ebook THE TRIAL: The DOJ’s Suit to Block Penguin Random House’s Acquisition of Simon & Schuster has rocketed to the top 100 at Kobo (up from No. 275155) and is now available through Apple Books as well. (The former clocks us at 2,440 pages, while the latter calls it only 1,448 pages.) Either way, we’re delighted to have this important document out in the world and available to the community. The file will not be available in the Kindle store any time soon because, quite frankly, we can’t afford their margins — but the versions we are […]
Bertelsmann Touts Growth Investments
Penguin Random House senior management is in Gutersloh, Germany now, joining over 500 Bertelsmann colleagues from around the world, for a management meeting. Bertelsmann’s leaders are touting their “Boost” growth plans, expecting to invest between €5 and €7 billion euros across the company’s divisions by 2025. The objective, chief executive Thomas Rabe said, is to raise their results to sales of €24 billion and group profits of €2 billion.
Publishing Today: The Comprehensive Account of THE TRIAL
While publishers large and small are planning to issue versions of the still-unwritten January 6th report, only Publishers Lunch is bold enough (or crazy enough) to bring to market a nearly complete record of THE TRIAL: The DOJ’s Suit to Block Penguin Random House’s Acquisition of Simon & Schuster. It may not be the “big book” of the fall season, but it’s certainly a strong candidate for the biggest book. (Or ebook, since we’re still figuring out the mechanics of doing something so long through print-on-demand.) This digital doorstop, at nearly 700,000 words, brings together the significant day-by-day antitrust trial […]
Congress Said to Prepare Resolutions Opposing School Book Bans
Following the alarming rise of selective local banning of books in various school systems, both the House and Senate are reported to be preparing resolutions “to protect the rights of students to learn.” Resolutions are expression of sentiment, however, and are not laws. From coverage in Politico, which has seen a draft, the resolution “expresses concern about the spreading problem of book banning and proliferating threats to freedom of expression in the United States” and “reaffirms the United States’ commitment to supporting writers’ freedom of expression, and the freedom of all Americans to read books without government censorship.” It also […]
Metropolitan Books to be Disbanded
Co-founder of Metropolitan Books and current svp, publisher Sara Bershtel and “other staff” at Metropolitan “will be leaving” on October 14, Macmillan confirmed to Publishers Lunch after we learned that the respected imprint would be closed and inquired for details. Longtime Metropolitan editor and associate publisher Riva Hocherman will remain and work for Holt, we were told separately, though she was not mentioned in the brief statement. Holt president and publisher Amy Einhorn “also announced that more information about Metropolitan’s future would be shared soon.” Staff indicated to PL that there has been no news internally yet about reassignment of […]
People: Indigo Promotes Ruis to CEO
Indigo Books president Peter Ruis, who joined the company in early 2021, has been promoted to CEO and joins the company’s board as well. Controlling owner Heather Reisman relinquishes the leadership role and takes the position of executive chair, where she will “continue to drive Indigo’s vision and growth strategy while also remaining deeply involved in the business.” Chief customer and digital officer Andrea Limbardi moves up to president. (Limbardi has been with the company for over 20 years.) The company notes, “The Board and its Human Resources, Compensation and Governance Committee have been involved in the entire succession planning […]