News Corp. ceo Robert Thomson said in answer to a question at the company’s annual meeting he has no doubt that Penguin Random House would face major regulatory issues in the US if they were to prevail in the bidding to acquire Simon & Schuster. “It will clearly be a serious antitrust issue if Bertelsmann acquires Simon & Schuster,” Thomson said. “However cute and clever the structure, if Bertelsmann is a beneficiary, it will be a book behemoth. And this will certainly be a profound antitrust issue for the entire book industry and no doubt for authors around the world.” […]
Education
Briefs: New Books From Franzen and Bridges, Chronicle Expands In Games and Toys
Forthcoming FSG will publish a new novel by Jonathan Franzen, titled CROSSROADS, the first in his trilogy, A Key to All Mythologies, in October 2021. The publisher writes that the novel is “the beginning of a story that encompasses all the ‘mythologies’—the political, religious, and intellectual crosscurrents—that have animated and troubled American life in recent decades.” FSG president Jonathan Galassi said, “Franzen has been universally recognized as the leading novelist of his generation, an inheritor of Steinbeck and Faulkner. He has been telling us the inner history of contemporary America in novel after novel, from The Twenty-Seventh City to The Corrections to Freedom, culminating now […]
Denver’s Publishing Institute Will Go Online This Summer
The University of Denver’s Publishing Institute (DPI) summer program is going online for the 2020 session, the institute announced Tuesday, “in order to balance student health with the need to preserve the DPI student experience.” The program itself is “mostly unchanged,” with the same instructors, curriculum, and assignments. Most classes will be taught live, but “the online format allows for pre-recorded sessions that students may view when it is most convenient to them.” The application period is open through June 1, and tuition remains unchanged at $4810. The institute is enhancing the program’s networking component “by taking advantage of technology […]
McGraw-Hill Shifts Fiscal Year
On the heels of its cancelled merger with Cengage, McGraw-Hill today issued a limited “preliminary Q4 and full-year report”– or otherwise put, announced that it is delaying full financial reporting for the quarter until mid-June, and changing their fiscal year. The company already reported a fourth quarter, ending December 31, back in early March — but the new report reflects a shift to a fiscal year ending March 31, which they say will better align with seasonal industry cycles. The preliminary report, which lacks full financials, touts their digital growth and provides minor updates on how COVID-19 has affected the […]
People, Etc.
Hannah Rahill has been promoted to senior vice president, backlist strategy and development at the Random House Group, reporting to Gina Centrello. She will collaborate with cross-functional teams including RH Digital, RH Analytics, Consumer Insights, and Sales Management, to collect and distill emerging trends and market data and identify opportunities. Dave Snow, vice president, human resources, at Simon & Schuster will lead S&S human resources and the Rockefeller Center facilities department, reporting to Carolyn Reidy. The human resources staffs in New York and Riverside, as well as the facilities staff in New York, will report to Snow, who will also […]
HMH Reduces Salaries, Withdraws Guidance and More
Following yesterday’s news that HMH Books & Media had temporarily closed its Indiana distribution center as the state is on lockdown, parent HMH issued a business update, announcing a series of cutbacks. The “majority of employees” have been reduced to a four-day work week, at pro-rated pay, while directors and top executives have taken a 25 percent cut in base cash compensation. The ceo has taken a 50 percent reduction in base salary, and “senior leadership” has also taken unspecified salary reductions. They say that all of their warehouses and distribution centers, with additional facilities in Illinois, Missouri, and Florida, […]