How to Pitch a Translation - A Guest Post by Nanette McGuinness

Finding a publisher who will take on a book in translation can be tricky.  Let’s say you’ve read a great book in one of your working languages, and you think it might become the next Harry Potter.  You’ll have studied the publisher’s catalogue and backlist to make sure it’s a good match for them. Even so, how can an editor even tell? They’re unlikely to be able to read the book in the original language, they probably haven’t heard of the author and/or illustrator, and they may not know you or your work, particularly if you’re trying to break in as a translator. Even if you’re established.

Your job is to advocate for the book when you share it with the editor. Put yourself in the acquisition editor’s shoes: arm them with the facts they’ll need to persuade the other teams, especially marketing, that the book is worth the risk and immense amount of time and money the publishing house will need to invest  in it.

At a minimum, the editor will need to know the author, illustrator, publisher, when and where was it published, and in what language and language variant. They will also want a short synopsis and the themes the book addresses, as well as:

• Other books or media in the marketplace like it
• Is it part of an existing or planned series?
• Sales figures in the original country
• Has it been reprinted or adapted?
• Movie or other media rights sold?
• Foreign rights in other languages or countries sold?
• Other releases by the author or illustrator?
• Any awards for the book, author or illustrator?
• Other special strengths?
• Thumbnail author and illustrator bios.

All done succinctly.

 Ideally, sales will be through the roof, the book will have reprints galore, and the foreign rights in many other languages (but NOT English) will have been snatched up.

 Which leads to an important point.

Before you can shoot off a pitch, your first step must be to find out who owns the foreign rights and whether these are available in your target language and country.  Most publishing houses will list the foreign rights agent somewhere on their website. (Not all do, and not all respond, either. Additional research may be necessary.)  Start there. The foreign rights agent will be your source for the relevant sales, future series, and rights info. Make sure the rights are available, because if they’ve already been sold in your language, you’ll just waste everyone’s time. And it will break your heart to pour yourself into a book only to find out it isn’t available.

Finally—and here’s the rub—the editor will need to read at least part of the book in English--a decent chunk for a novel and the whole thing for a picture book. For graphic novels, this varies.  Some savvy international publishers commission rough, quick translations, which you can share. Many do not, and then you’ll have to do the translation yourself, much as last week’s interviewee, Oliver Latsch, did. Especially if you’re just starting out, this is an opportunity to show your skills as a translator.

Pitching a translation involves some risk, as there’s no guarantee you’ll be the translator tapped to help shepherd the book into your target language. And just because you’ve done your homework and think a translation is a good match for a publishing house doesn’t mean  they will agree that it’s the right book and the right time, given their current and upcoming lists.

But often they will. 

Award-winning opera singer Nanette McGuinness is the translator of  over 80 books and graphic novels for children and adults from French, Italian, German and Spanish into English, including the much loved Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novels. Two of her translations, Luisa: Now and Then and California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas were chosen for YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens; Luisa: Now and Then was also a 2019 Stonewall Honor Book. Recent translations include Makhno: Ukrainian Freedom Fighter); Rosa Parks; Magical History Tour: Vikings, Tiitanic, Gandhi, and The Plague, Bibi & Miyu #2, LGBTQ YA manga Alter Ego and Sirius, and the critically acclaimed A House Without Windows. 

Last Call for the video recordings from #scbwiSummer22

Friendly reminder...

September 11, 2022 is the last day to watch the recordings of sessions you missed, or those that were so helpful you want to see them again.

If you registered for the SCBWI Summer 2022 conference, you can click here to watch those sessions!

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

An Interview with Oliver Latsch - A Guest Post by Nanette McGuinness

Translator and agent Oliver Latsch grew up bilingual in German and English in East Africa and Germany. He trained to be a scientist and had just completed his PhD in Biology in the U.K. when he was asked to help get some best-selling German children’s books published in English. This led to a career as a literary agent and translator. Since then, he has accumulated 17 published book translations both from German to English and vice versa. His translation of Cornelia Funke's The Thief Lord from German into English was shortlisted for the 2003 Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding translated book and his most recent translations include The Magicians Map by Mikki Lish and Kelly Ngai (into German) , The Silver Tracks (Mirrorworld 4) by Cornelia Funke, Robin Hood and Erik the Red by Tilman Röhrig, and Save Our Freedom: A Wake-Up Call in Digital Times by Bijan Moini (into English).

Nanette McGuinness: How did you come to translate and represent Cornelia Funke's books?

Oliver Latsch: The Cliff Notes version: I am Cornelia’s cousin. She was always like an older sister to me, since she often looked after my brother and me, starting when I was six, when she moved to our city to go to college.  While I grew up and went to university in the U.K., Cornelia became a successful writer. After I had finished my PhD, she asked me to help her fulfill one of her big ambitions: to see her books in English, which was the language of her favorite children’s books. She had always admired J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, T.H. White, and others, and she just wanted to see her books on a bookstore shelf next to these giants. That was it: it wasn’t about more success or more money. I ventured out and went to book fairs and visited publishers and got lots and lots of rejections. I realized I wouldn’t get anywhere until I had full translations, so I translated two of Cornelia’s novels. That way we finally found (or were found by) publisher Barry Cunningham. He published the books in the U.K. and through his partners at Scholastic, in the U.S. So Cornelia did indeed find her books next to Lewis and White and Tolkien and our lives changed in ways neither of us could have anticipated.

NM: How did you become a translator? Do you prefer translating children's literature to grownup literature?

OL: My start as a translator was an accidental one. When I found that the main hurdle to helping Cornelia get her books published in English was (and still is) that publishers really prefer reading the entire book in translation before they can consider it for publication), I took her then-most promising books, The Thief Lord and Dragon Rider, and translated both into English. The idea was to give publishers a notion of the wonderful stories and characters so they would acquire the rights. Then they could have a “proper” translator work on them. When we finally managed to have them published by The Chicken House and Scholastic, they actually used my translation of The Thief Lord and had me work with Anthea Bell to polish up my translation of Dragon Rider. That, of course, was a dream entry into professional translation!

By now, I'm comfortable translating almost any genre and age group. Children’s literature is more fun and whimsical (if it’s well written!), but the challenges of grownup fiction or nonfiction are also fun to tackle!

NM: Your Cornelia Funke translations—including Pirate Pig, among many—show a wonderful ear for word play, authorial voice, sentence rhythm and sound. How do you go about rendering such tricky things cross-linguistically? What is your process or does it differ for each book?

OL: Having known Cornelia for such a long time and having read all her books and, most importantly, having heard her read from her books many, many times, I do think I had special access to her tone and her intent, especially for her younger books such as Pirate Pig. That gave me the insight and also the confidence to take a few liberties with the translation so as to get the same fun tone as the German text had. It also taught me that it’s vital to try and have a personal conversation with the author before translating their words. When you’re translating, you always have a myriad of choices to weigh—words, sentence structure, and much more–that by themselves or in aggregate over the length of a novel can have a big impact on how the reader perceives the tone and voice of the author and the characters. So it’s helpful to know what the author sounds like in real life. When I can’t speak to the author, I will try to read interviews and articles by them to give me an impression. For example: is that person very earnest and serious, or more tongue-in-cheek? That way I can gauge their prose accordingly and translate it so that it is closer to the way it was perceived in the author’s mind.

NM: You're both a translator and an agent, which must be quite a juggle? Have you always done both or did one come first?  How do you balance these two challenging professions—and has the balance shifted during your career?  Is one your "favorite child?"

OL: I was asked to be an agent first…  Well, I didn’t even know that was what it was called. But I quickly discovered that having a complete translation is key to making the process easier or even work at all. So really, I’d say agenting and translating went hand in hand. Later I did more of the agenting and management work, because some of the books became so successful that I was busy helping look after the global rights and author appearances and everything that came with working with a suddenly successful author. In recent years, I have tried to do more translations again. The process is such a wonderful linguistic deep-dive and I wouldn’t want to miss it. Sadly, translating doesn’t pay very well, so I do have to keep my agenting side active as well!

NM: You've mentioned that translator Anthea Bell was both a friend and a mentor, which is amazing and fortunate, as she was truly a giant in the field. Can you tell us about her and how you met her? What was it like working with her and having her as a mentor?

OL: Anthea was and still is a legend. Her translations of such wide-ranging works as The Trial, by Kafka, and the Asterix and Obelix comics are still the best! Anthea was brought on by Barry Cunningham to bang my translation of Cornelia’s Dragon Rider into publishable shape. That process was awe-inspiring. Anthea was the most gracious person. Always kind and polite and humble, and always encouraging. She also had my translation of The Thief Lord shortlisted for the Marsh Award. Being told about that is still one of the big highlights of my life. Anthea was a true Renaissance woman with knowledge in almost any field of human endeavor. So interested in everything!

NM: What is the scene in German children's literature today and are there differences between the German- and English-language children's literature market?

OL: Ah … how to answer that question without ruffling feathers or denting egos on either side? When I first started working in both language markets, I was struck by how much more advanced the craft seemed, especially in the U.S., compared to Germany. I always thought it had to do with the fact that writing is perceived more as a craft here, and so authors will share their work and critique it, and they will go out and attend writer retreats or college courses on writing. In Germany, writing was traditionally considered something you couldn’t learn but as a talent you were gifted with. There’s a Carl Spitzweg painting of the suffering poet all alone in his leaky and cold attic that, to me, always captured that. This is changing a lot now. I do sense that young German authors are much more open to other influences and to critique. There is so much brilliant literature for children and young adults coming out in Germany that I hope we can break more cracks into that almost impenetrable wall surrounding the English-language markets. Here’s to staying ever hopeful!

NM: What advice or suggestions, if any, would you give aspiring authors who submit to your--or any agency? Are you open to pitches for books in translation as well as books originally written in English?

OL: I think the first thing I’d tell anyone is: show us, don’t tell us! I really should make that the motto of our agency. We get so many manuscripts of authors that are so enthralled by the world they’re creating (especially when they’re writing science fiction or fantasy) that they simply can’t imagine we wouldn’t be in awe of the sheer scope of their world and its history. Stories are still primarily about characters. Bring me characters that are worth knowing and following. They don’t need to be good people. They can also be bad, or badass. They just have to be interesting. Those characters need to go through something, and the reader absolutely has to know whether they get there, and how. Make us feel what they’re feeling. Start there. Everything else is icing. A good story needs to have good characters with relatable problems first. Whether all that happens in the past or the future or in space or in some fantasy world is just icing. Never start with the concept of your world. Always start with the characters.

And there ends my rant!

All that said, yes, I’m open for pitches on anything and either language. Just give me a good story! Grab my attention. Please!

NM: What current projects (either translating or agenting) are you excited about--if you can share that with our readers?

OL: Nooo … I’m not telling. I may not be superstitious, but I’d still rather not jinx anything, just in case! I can say that I am excited about having taken on some nonfiction projects recently. It’s a refreshing change of pace and perspective—a great balance to constantly having your heartstrings pulled by fictional stories!

 NM: Thank you so much for joining us!  To all those reading this interview, please (please!) only pitch your very best work that you think will be a good fit for LatschLit Literary Agency after carefully considering what is on their website—whether you send a translation or an original work in English.

Award-winning opera singer Nanette McGuinness is the translator of  over 80 books and graphic novels for children and adults from French, Italian, German and Spanish into English, including the much loved Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novels. Two of her translations, Luisa: Now and Then and California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas were chosen for YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens; Luisa: Now and Then was also a 2019 Stonewall Honor Book. Recent translations include Makhno: Ukrainian Freedom Fighter); Rosa Parks; Magical History Tour: Vikings, Tiitanic, Gandhi, and The Plague, Bibi & Miyu #2, LGBTQ YA manga Alter Ego and Sirius, and the critically acclaimed A House Without Windows. 

Disability in Publishing Launches with a Virtual Town Hall and Website Resources

 

Last month saw the virtual town hall announcing the formation and launch of Disability in Publishing! The group is cooking up lots of great things for disabled folks working in publishing...

Their mission reads: 

Our mission is to create community, provide resources, and increase accessibility across the industry in order to increase disability visibility and retain the talent of disabled publishing professionals. We will support each other through advocacy, education, networking, and community. We are committed to working from an intersectional perspective. 

And their website already includes some helpful resources that will grow over time, including:

An Agents Directory, "A list of agents who are interested in representing authors who have disabilities, and books with disability representation."

An Editor Directory, "A list of editors who are interesting in acquiring books with disability representation and working with writers with disabilities."

A Freelancer Directory, "A list of individuals who are open to freelance or work-for-hire work  and identify as a Person with Disability"

There will be a listing for jobs and an accessibility guide for employers as well!

You can learn more about Disability in Publishing here.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

An Interview with Marietta Zacker - A Guest Post by Moth Detlaf

Marietta Zacker of Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency

Can you tell me a little bit about your journey in the industry and the formation of Gallt & Zacker? 

 My love, admiration for, and respect of children’s literature came from my experiences as a native Spanish speaker who relied on stories to make sense of the world. My abuelo opened that world for me. After college, I taught children and young adults where I witnessed and came to understand how stories and books transformed their learning. I was then convinced that I had to be involved in the creation of children’s books. And because of my personal experiences and the experiences of my students, I desperately wanted to ensure that others who didn’t see their own lives reflected in the pages of books could start to do so. I worked one-on-one with authors and illustrators, connecting their work to schools and libraries, then worked on the editorial side of publishing. I found my way to Nancy in 2008 and haven’t left her side since. We cemented our partnership In 2016. 

 What makes for the best relationship between an agent and author/illustrator? 

 Without a doubt, honesty and communication. Every relationship is different, so there is not a script to follow. Instead, like any other collaboration, as long as there is heartfelt and open conversation, it can and often does work. 

 What would you advise authors/illustrators to look for when querying agents? 

 Look for people who you feel will ‘get you.’ Our job is to sell your work, but I firmly believe that we do our job best when we are fully invested in the idea that people NEED to read the stories and see the images you create. I would also suggest to authors and illustrators to hop on a phone or video chat and talk with an agent before signing on. There needs to be a comfort level and a basic understanding of how the partnership will work. It’s important to note that this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to develop a friendship, but at the very least, there should be a certain ease to the back and forth! 

 With all the changes to the landscape in publishing, do you see the role of the agent changing at all? 

 I don’t know that our role will change that much. After all, our most important role is to wholeheartedly believe that the world would be a better place because of those stories we are presenting — whether told in words or images — and that should never change, in my opinion! What I hope will change is the inclusion of many more voices in the publishing industry because that will lead to finding untold stories, which will then lead to all readers seeing themselves and their lives reflected in our books. Abuelo and I would be proud if we accomplished that!

Moth Detlaf (they/them) is a bookseller and the social media manager for Books of Wonder in NYC. They can often be found huddled in a corner somewhere surrounded by a palace of queer books for all ages--bonus points if there are dragons involved. Finding the books that make kids of all ages and demographics (including the grown up ones) feel the way they have always felt as a reader is one of their favorite things.

Emotions are Complex: Robert Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions can help us convey that for our characters

So back in 2001 Robert Plutchik, a professor emeritus at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and adjunct professor at the University of South Florida, published a paper in American Scientist called The Nature of Emotions about... our emotions. In that paper, he shared (figure 6) a visual model of human emotions, both in cone form and unfolded like an origami star.

The idea is that there are eight basic emotions, presented as four pairs of opposites: Joy/Sadness; Trust/Disgust; Fear/Anger, and Surprise/Anticipation. Emotions get more intense closer to the center (like anger intensifying to rage or mellowing to annoyance.)

Interestingly, the space in-between the colors of the unfolded star allows for the intersectionality of emotions (like labeling the space between surprise and sadness as disapproval.) We can feel more than one emotion at the same time, and often do -- likewise for our characters!

For your work in progress, I hope this visual model is a helpful tool as you craft and shape your characters' emotional reactions!

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

For the Love of Angry Girls - a Guest Post by Moth Detlaf

This is not a guide for making your angry girls feminine.

This is not a guide to make them likeable.

This is not a guide to tone down their anger to make them palatable.

ID: dark paneled wood serves as the background for painted flowers

This is examining how the angry girl functions in literature.

This is supporting the young readers who identify with her anger.

This is showing that her rage at the injustice around her can change her world.

Jason Reynolds on Writing -- Well, NOT Writing -- Heroes and Villains

In this 2022 PrintMag Design Matters podcast interview, Jason Reynolds said:

“Well, I’m so glad you brought up this idea around heroism. I don’t believe in that. I try not to ever write heroes and villains because I just don’t believe in heroes and villains. I believe in journey folk. That we’re all just sort of on the journey, you know what I mean? And whether one is heroic or villainous is contextualized by whatever particular part of the journey that they’re on, but that swings and changes.”

Jason continues, speaking about his novel Ghost:

“Ghost does a lot of things that some people would look down on, and then he does other things that some people would applaud him for, and that’s just what it is to be a person. And all I ever want to do in my books is just show, for me, specifically, Black children as human beings, as people. And that’s all he is, a person with a heart, and fear, and jokes, and ambition, and anger and doubt. He’s just a person...”

Inspiration for us all!

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

In Defense of Fanfiction - A Guest Post by Moth Detlaf

        I am a firm believer that cringe culture is dead--there's way too much to worry about right now without being concerned about whether your hobbies will be viewed as cool or cringey. In particular, I would like to call attention to the death of cringe surrounding the writing of fanfiction.

    Many authors I've met recently during events have started suggesting, ever so tentatively, that fanfiction can be a good way to flex writing muscles.

    I, for one, would like to climb to the roof of my apartment building and shout that to every young writer in Brooklyn (and to all of you, dear friends, who have decided to absorb the words I send into the ether). I know that even as recently as when I was in high school and college, fanfiction was a secret word saved for your carefully curated Tumblr--people never discussed it, and teachers rarely acknowledged it. But, if you give it a chance, I think there's a lot of value to using fanfiction as a writing exercise.

    Just as many visual artists talk about the first steps into developing your own style (tracing and imitation of artists you admire is something I've seen endorsed quite a bit for learning purposes), I think fanfiction serves that function for authors. In my experience, too, it's a great way to quiet the imposter syndrome and turn off editor brain for a bit. It can also help spark inspiration if you've got writer's block. When you're playing in already-established IPs, there's less pressure and more wiggle-room for off the wall ideas.

    

    If you want to work on worldbuilding, take characters you know well and bring them into an unfamiliar environment.

    To work on dialogue, you can put two characters into a situation and see how you interpret their reactions.

    

    To write a specific genre (or a common trope in a genre), you can just as easily put other characters into that situation and allow the scene to play out.

    

    I could certainly go on and on about why I think fanfiction is so easily dismissed by many, but that is a soapbox for another day. For now, I would like to leave you with a small challenge:

    Find an aspect of your writing you would like to improve upon, pick a show/movie/etc you know intimately, and just write. If you've got a case of writer's block, exploring new relationships with characters you're already familiar with is a great way to keep the creativity going while giving your brain a rest. Be cringey, write that coffeeshop AU, make the crossover you've always wondered about. Let the story take charge and see how that affects your other writing.

Moth Detlaf (they/them) is a bookseller and the social media manager for Books of Wonder in NYC. They can often be found huddled in a corner somewhere surrounded by a palace of queer books for all ages--bonus points if there are dragons involved. Finding the books that make kids of all ages and demographics (including the grown up ones) feel the way they have always felt as a reader is one of their favorite things.

10 Gems of Wisdom and Inspiration from the #scbwiSummer22 Conference

The coolest thing about the virtual conference with so many breakout sessions (all of which will be available on video through September 11, 2022) is that you can choose your own path through the offerings, and go back and look at different ones! 

The takeaways and inspiration each of us gets from an SCBWI conference is unique, and so any list of those highlights is going to be subjective and personal. With that caveat, here are some moments from this past weekend's conference that have stayed with me:

#1
Dhonielle Clayton had 345 rejected queries before getting her first YES. In her keynote, she said, "Remember there is a child reader on the other side of all this, waiting" for what we're creating.

#2
In the Editors and Agents panel the discussion of some of the silver lining from the pandemic, including the decentralizing of publishing from New York city. And Elena Giovinazzo urging us to "Continue to be fearless in your creativity." And James Mustelier speaking about not being willing to wait for things to clear up to experience joy -- because things may never clear up. 

#3
Jessixa Bagley saying "You'll always be able to find someone to discourage you." And, "If you love it, pursue it regardless of the outcome."

#4
Dela Wilson quoting Deepak Chopra, "What you pay attention to, grows." And tying that into growing more diversity in publishing.

#5
Martha Brockenbrough saying, "If your book is in your heart, I think that's the best path to get into others' hearts."

#6
Lexie Bean commenting on their debut middle grade novel, The Ship We Built, "This book is a gift to my 10-year-old self."

#7
Kelly Starling Lyons asking us to think of a picture book page turn like a "mini-cliffhanger."

#8
Colleen Paeff's advice to "find your community."

#9
Karol Silverstein sharing in her "Disability Reset" breakout how she learned the euphemistic words crazy and insane are disrespectful (and maybe lazy writing) after her book Cursed was published, and how she was able to replace those in the paperback edition. 

#10
Donna Barba Higuera's advice, "Never forget who you are. Keep nurturing yourself, and your dreams, and the child inside you that needs your stories.

What are the conference moments that resonated most for you? Feel free to share in the comments!

Illustrate and Translate and Write On,
Lee

The Elevator Pitch (Or: The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known)

If there's anything I've noticed, it's the extreme love/hate relationship authors have with the elevator pitch. In the words of my favorite tag on AO3, #themortifyingordealofbeingknown. There's something... absolutely terrifying about talking about something you made to strangers, something that hits different than writing up the summaries. A lot of the folks I've talked to don't even think about the elevator pitch until they're asked for one (virtual event greenrooms are the ultimate procrastinators' playground).

So I figured "hey, I do elevator pitches for other people for a living, maybe I can help" and thus, this madness was born. I spied on my coworkers' interactions with customers and thought deeply about how I approach it and came up with a few ideas I think might help if you're also struggling with formatting an elevator pitch (or if you've stumbled upon this article 10 minutes before a virtual panel).

ID: a swirling purple background. The phrase "going up!" is written in big block letters, and there's a cartoon outline of an elevator

Part 1: How do I even explain the plot?

• Cheat a little and take favorite sections from the flap copy and string them together into something vaguely coherent; the more you practice it, the more your brain will choose what phrases it likes in what order.
• Zero in on the big themes and concepts.
• I find it way too easy to get bogged down by my favorite details (and then I just start rambling because they need context darn it!)

Part 2: I think I've got words, how do I put them into people's ears?

• Focus on the ✨vibes✨
• Tell us the tropes! All of them. Yes, even that one. 
• If for social media: Do a silly trend or if you're feeling extra, make a skit 
• Be ridiculous. Look at some of the people whose entire pages are skits. Relish in the bad wigs and silly acting. Embrace it.
• Get on the radar of the fandoms of some of your comps--especially effective if the fandom is in a hiatus period and a drought of content.
• Nothing has made my day more than when I saw someone wearing a shirt related to Our Flag Means Death, called them out, and sent them home with four books to read until season 2.
• Don't worry about getting it right every time or getting everything you want into a pitch every time.
• Sometimes the words don't want to word, and that's okay.

On a slightly more serious note, if I've learned anything, it's that people are so much more forgiving than we think they will be. They want to want your books. I think the number of times I've been called a danger to parents' wallets can show that, even if you don't yet believe it yourself. Go forth and be silly and weird on the internet! 

Moth Detlaf (they/them) is a bookseller and the social media manager for Books of Wonder in NYC. They can often be found huddled in a corner somewhere surrounded by a palace of queer books for all ages--bonus points if there are dragons involved. Finding the books that make kids of all ages and demographics (including the grown up ones) feel the way they have always felt as a reader is one of their favorite things.

Will the Proposed Merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster Happen? The Department of Justice Trial Has Begun...

As reported in Publishers Weekly and elsewhere, the trial to block or not block the merger of Penguin Random House with Simon and Schuster has begun. It's expected to last three weeks.

From the PW piece by Andrew Albanese,

“On November 25, 2020 Bertelsmann, the parent company of Penguin Random House, emerged as the winning bidder for Simon & Schuster from ViacomCBS for $2.175 billion. On November 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice sued to block the acquisition.”

The Department of Justice's view is that “Penguin Random House’s proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster would further entrench the largest publishing giant in the United States (and the world) and give the merged company control of nearly half of the market to acquire anticipated top-selling books from authors.”

Penguin Random House lawyers argue that “this acquisition will benefit readers, booksellers, and authors alike.”

The Authors Guild, in a position statement from November 2021, is against the merger, writing, “The proposed merger would enable the merged firm and the few competitors left to pay less and extract more from authors who often work for years at their craft before producing a book. By reducing author pay, the merger would make it harder for authors to earn a living by writing books, which would, in turn, lead to a reduction in the quantity and diversity of books—which subsequently harms consumers.”

Porter Anderson at Publishing Perspectives offers this analysis:

“In the States, antitrust challenges often are based on questions of monopolies—companies that become the sole or main providers of certain products or services. But this one is positioned by the Department of Justice as a question of what the government says is a risk of monopsony—in which a company might become the sole or main buyer of certain products or services. The question at its most simplistic level, then, becomes whether a PRH-S&S merger would create a company so large that it would control the vast majority of “top-selling” authors’ payments.”

It's important news to be aware of - will our US Publishing industry go down from a "Big Five" corporate publishers to a "Big Four"? Stay tuned...

Illustrate and Translate and Write On,
Lee