Along with other writing organizations such as the RWA and NWU, The Authors Guild has written a letter to the Department of Justice, urging it to stop Penguin Random House’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster. It argues the deal would give PRH control over 70 percent of the literary and general market share in the US and decrease literary diversity, among other things. Sara Grace of Publishers Lunch, commenting on the letter (subscription required), says the 70 percent claim is “highly disputable and not particularly well sourced.” PRH maintains that its current share of sales is around 14 percent, with Simon & Schuster’s around 4. The government will be assessing the merger as a matter of course.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
