Book News: Markus Dohle’s Big Flop
A Brief Profile of Simon & Schuster Canada
A division of Simon & Schuster, which in turn is part of the Paramount Global group of companies.
“Simon & Schuster is a global leader in general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for readers of all ages, and in all printed, digital, and audio formats.”
Genres Published
Notable Authors
Genevieve Graham,
Rupi Kaur
Beverley McLachlin
Peter Mansbridge
Kate Morton
Liz Nugent
Neil Pasricha
Tegan & Sara
Kathy Reichs
Iain Reid
Jesse Thistle
Ruth Ware
Notable Imprints
Simon & Schuster
Scribner
Atria Books
Gallery Books
Pocket Books
Tiller Press
Adams Media
Threshold Editions
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
Simon & Schuster Audio
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council at Simon & Schuster Canada
The focus of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council is to foster a positive and inclusive work environment. It is our goal that Simon & Schuster Canada becomes an Employer of Choice, so that both prospective employees and authors of varied backgrounds will be attracted to Simon & Schuster Canada and view the company as a superior publisher of quality books.
The Council is comprised of employees from all divisions and levels of the organization, which supports the efforts of the company to develop an inclusive, respectful, and effective cross-cultural workplace. Each council member serves on a core committee and meet regularly to focus on the following initiatives:
Staffing, Retention and Career Development
Associates Program
Community Involvement
Diversity Events
Workplace Diversity Awareness
Source: https://www.simonandschuster.ca/p/canada-corporate-information
With this week’s books news assignment topic looking at trade publishing, I came across this article that does a bit of a deep dive into the aftermath of the proposed merger of ‘Big Five’ publishing giants Penguin Random House (PRH) and Simon & Schuster (S&S).
The actual details of the attempted merger and the ensuring court case have been detailed extensively elsewhere, including the New York Times and PBS, but this article is interesting in delving first backwards in time, looking in particular at the rise of Marcus Dohle, CEO of PRH, from an engineer heading up the printing division of Bertelsmann – parent company of what was then simply Random House – to the head of Random House who spearheaded its merger with Penguin, and finally to this latest attempt at a further consolidation of the global publishing industry.
The article then turns its attention to the present and future, looking at some of the immediate fallout from the resulting antitrust lawsuit launched by the US Department of Justice, and what the implications might be for the industry going forward.
I was especially intrigued by the exploration of the relationship of literary agents with PRH and its many imprints, and how some of the biggest lasting damage coming out of this trial could be the betrayal of trust felt by many of those agents in their relationships with PRH editors and imprints.
And on a larger scale, McCreesh looks at the conjecture around what might happen next with S&S, still for sale by Paramount Global, formerly known as ViacomCBS, something that bears careful monitoring not just for its potential impact on publishing but also librarianship. On its own, McCreesh says, “S&S remains a well-run business: Its valuation has only jumped higher and higher since [Dohle] first tried to buy it back in 2020” (2023). But McCreesh also points out the danger of it now being acquired by a venture capital firm that could know little if anything about the publishing industry, and possibly leave the large publishing industry in even worse shape.
So even though McCreesh ends his article with this quote – ‘“I think this may be, on some level, the end of the love for conglomerate publishing,” mused one publishing pooh-bah. “This is a 30-year-long story that we’re watching end”’ (2023) – the larger story is far from over.
– Winston
Works Cited
Alter, A. & Harris, E. (2022, October 31). Judge Blocks a Merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/31/books/penguin-random-house-simon-schuster.html
Italie, H. (2022, November 1). Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster merger blocked by federal judge. PBS News Hour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/penguin-random-house-and-simon-schuster-merger-blocked-by-federal-judge
McCreesh, S. (2023, January 12). Markus Dohle’s Big Flop: What Penguin Random House’s Failed Bid to Eat S&S Means for Publishing. New York Magazine. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/01/markus-dohles-failed-bid-to-eat-simon-and-schuster.html
Simon & Schuster. (n.d.) Simon & Schuster Canada [website]. https://www.simonandschuster.ca/
