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". Read more
The three-week trial over Penguin Random House's $2.2bn merger with Simon & Schuster has caused widespread debate in the UK trade over the role of advances and the Department of Justice's "absurd" focus on high-earning authors. Read more
One of the largest antitrust trials ever to hit the publishing industry is unfolding in a federal courthouse in Washington. The Department of Justice says that the proposed merger announced in 2020 between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster would stifle competition.
The Department of Justice has claimed Penguin Random House's $2.2bn merger with Simon & Schuster will create a duopoly and damage competition in the US, as both sides made their closing arguments in court.
Penguin Random House's attorneys responded today to the Department of Justice's efforts to block its acquisition of Simon & Schuster, attacking the government's main complaint, that the purchase would "likely result in substantial harm to authors of anticipated top-selling books and ultimately, consumers."
A writer scored a significant victory over publishers this week, when comic book giants Marvel and DC - who had tried to block Graham Jules from using "superhero" in the title of his self-help manual Business Zero to Superhero - backed down after more than two years, just before a hearing in London. Read more
‘I was very aware that because the manuscript has my name on it, people would just publish it, however bad it was, and I wanted honest feedback. I wanted to know that someone believed in the book and I truly enjoyed getting unvarnished feedback through my agent. There was one editor who did not like Strike having a famous father and made that point.
'My theatre background has probably helped me be a braver writer and maybe more rigorous, too: the theatre can sustain bold and abstract ideas, but not slow or sloppy storytelling'
Theatre producer Ellie Keel's debut novel, dark academia thriller The Four was published on 11 April by HQ.
In April of this year, Timothy Garton Ash collected his reward money for winning the prestigious 2024 Lionel Gelber Prize.
Today, in Kyiv, the Oxford University professor presented what he bought with it - a new set of reconnaissance drones for immediate use in the war against Russia.
Acclaimed for her accounts of the darkness and desire found in everyday life, ‘the Canadian Chekhov' has died, having suffered from dementia for more than a decade
Shimmr AI, an artificial intelligence start-up that aims to help publishers promote more of their list, has recruited a host of high-profile advisers from across the books industry, signalling the firm's plans to "deploy globally".
As Little, Brown's SFF imprint Orbit celebrates its 50th anniversary, publisher Anna Jackson reflects on its current record-breaking run and on building the brands of the future.