<
https://theconversation.com/the-entire-industry-is-based-on-hunches-is-australian-publishing-an-art-a-science-or-a-gamble-189621>
"Jason Epstein was the publisher and editor of authors such as Norman Mailer,
Vladimir Nabokov, Philip Roth and Gore Vidal. In his 2001 book,
Book
Business, he described how the once-relaxed Random House – where authors
frequented the publishing office (and sometimes slept there), and where editors
had stronger relationships with their authors than they did their colleagues –
metamorphosed during the 1990s into a corporate powerhouse.
Three decades later, publishing appears much less intimate than it was. And a
proposed merger of two of the “big five” publishers – Penguin Random House
(itself made up of two big publishers, Penguin and Random House, which merged
in 2013) and Simon and Schuster – promises to complicate it further.
As
The Conversation recently reported, the US Department of Justice has filed
an antitrust lawsuit, “arguing that the merger will drive down author advances,
result in fewer books being published, and provide less variety for consumers”.
In his testimony, Penguin Random House chief executive Markus Dohle declared
publishers are at the mercy of an unpredictable and unforgiving market,
rendering them incapable of stealing the predicted 50% market share if the
merger goes ahead. “Everything is random,” he was quoted as saying. “So that’s
why we are the Random House.”
Other publishing executives described fluctuating calculations for advance
payments and costings, and inconsistent publicity and marketing investment."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
