Stephen King: The Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster Merger Will Hurt Book Authors
Famous horror author Stephen King testified for the US Department of Justice on Tuesday, saying a proposed merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster would harm authors, according to the Associated Press.
>King is one of the world's most famous authors, with mega bestsellers like 'The Shining', which was made into an acclaimed film in 1980, and 'Carrie, his first published novel, which it sold in 1973 and also made into a film, a cult classic from 1976. It has published nearly 100 novels and short stories, according to its site, with its latest release in September 2022, titled "Fairy Tale".
During his testimony, he said that having fewer publishers available would hurt authors, and that claims by the two publishing houses that they would still compete for manuscripts were dubious.
"You might as well say you're going to have a husband and wife fighting over the same house," he said, according to the AP. "It would be kind of very gentlemanly and sort of 'After you' and 'After you'."
Simon & Schuster is King's publisher, but it sided with the government, which sued to stop Penguin Random House from buying Simon & Schuster last November, according to Axios.< /p>
King also discussed his career in a statement and under questioning, the outlet reported. He said when he was first looking for a publisher in the 1970s, there were plenty of choices, but now in New York he's limited to the "big five."
These are Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins Publishing, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan.
Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp said it was still a competitive environment.
The publishing world also feels it must come together to compete with Amazon, Frank Foer wrote in The Atlantic in November 2020.
"To counter Amazon, publishers have sought to increase their bargaining power. They believe they can match Amazon's size only by growing their own," he wrote.
>As in many industries, consolidation has been the rule for a long time. "With the big fish swallowing the little fish, the book industry is becoming increasingly competitive and brutal," wrote one author in a 1970 Businessweek article, according to a 2001 article in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association.
King's also spoke about the economic difficulties of selling books for authors. "I came because I think consolidation is bad for competition," King said, according to the AP.
"The way the industry has evolved," he added, "it's getting harder and harder for writers to find money to live on."
The incomes of more than half of authors fell below the US federal poverty line in 2015 according to an Authors Guild survey, per The Guardian.
Famous horror author Stephen King testified for the US Department of Justice on Tuesday, saying a proposed merger between Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster would harm authors, according to the Associated Press.
>King is one of the world's most famous authors, with mega bestsellers like 'The Shining', which was made into an acclaimed film in 1980, and 'Carrie, his first published novel, which it sold in 1973 and also made into a film, a cult classic from 1976. It has published nearly 100 novels and short stories, according to its site, with its latest release in September 2022, titled "Fairy Tale".
During his testimony, he said that having fewer publishers available would hurt authors, and that claims by the two publishing houses that they would still compete for manuscripts were dubious.
"You might as well say you're going to have a husband and wife fighting over the same house," he said, according to the AP. "It would be kind of very gentlemanly and sort of 'After you' and 'After you'."
Simon & Schuster is King's publisher, but it sided with the government, which sued to stop Penguin Random House from buying Simon & Schuster last November, according to Axios.< /p>
King also discussed his career in a statement and under questioning, the outlet reported. He said when he was first looking for a publisher in the 1970s, there were plenty of choices, but now in New York he's limited to the "big five."
These are Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins Publishing, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan.
Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp said it was still a competitive environment.
The publishing world also feels it must come together to compete with Amazon, Frank Foer wrote in The Atlantic in November 2020.
"To counter Amazon, publishers have sought to increase their bargaining power. They believe they can match Amazon's size only by growing their own," he wrote.
>As in many industries, consolidation has been the rule for a long time. "With the big fish swallowing the little fish, the book industry is becoming increasingly competitive and brutal," wrote one author in a 1970 Businessweek article, according to a 2001 article in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association.
King's also spoke about the economic difficulties of selling books for authors. "I came because I think consolidation is bad for competition," King said, according to the AP.
"The way the industry has evolved," he added, "it's getting harder and harder for writers to find money to live on."
The incomes of more than half of authors fell below the US federal poverty line in 2015 according to an Authors Guild survey, per The Guardian.What's Your Reaction?
