Simon Maverick will mostly work with self-published authors to produce original audiobooks and is planning 50 titles in its first year. That puts it squarely in competition with Podium Publishing. (See my 2023 coverage of Podium.) Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp says, “I think that self-published authors are a fertile opportunity for Simon & Schuster in the same way that mass market publishing used to be,” Karp said. “Mass market publishing has given way, I think, to independent publishing. And we want to be a part of that.” Learn more about Simon Maverick.
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.
