Done Deal: Penguin/Random House Merger

Well, that didn't take long. Three days ago I saw the first article on this subject, and yesterday the merger was announced as a done deal between the two companies. Actually, the expected merger date is a year away, and there's plenty of time for public discussion/lawsuits to intervene, but it does seem that the merger will probably get pushed through. Since these two giant companies are not only competing with the other four corporations among the Big Six Publishers, but also the emerging powerhouses in digital publishing like Amazon, and Apple, the thing that might have prevented the merger—laws against restraint of trade—doesn't look real viable.

As this article in the New York Times points out, this is probably just the beginning of merger/consolidation in the publishing industry to deal with the changing market environment. Smaller publishers could get absorbed or squished (not NYT language—that's mine), but the article suggests that publishers with dedicated authors and readers might find niche markets and do okay.

In response to expressed concerns from literary agents and authors (and it took until yesterday for any of the articles to even mention authors, btw—literary agents were as far down the money chain as the business brains seemed to go when analyzing the merger talks), the new chief executive of the combined companies sought to offer reassurance as follows:

In an apparent effort to ease those concerns {of authors and literary agents}, Mr. Dohle on Monday sent letters to the author, agent and bookselling communities, seeking to reassure them how much a combined Penguin Random House would value them. “For us, separately and in partnership, it is and always will be about the books. Your books,” Mr. Dohle wrote in the message.

He said in the phone interview that the merger would not result in closing redundant imprints and less editorial independence. “The idea of this company is to combine the small company culture and the small company feeling on the creative and content side with the richest and most enhanced access to services on the corporate side,” Mr. Dohle said.

Considering that all the big publishers are owned by giant media companies, which seem totally focused on profits and, it could be argued, don't fully understand or care too much about the culture of books, it's a leap of faith to accept this statement as likely.

In a separate article a couple of days ago (before the merger went through), written for the British newspaper, The Telegraph, the idea that it might not be a bad thing in the long run for the merger to go through was explored thoughtfully. Essentially, the argument is that by creating the clout (through the merger) to fight back against Amazon's relentless policy of unsustainably low book prices, the important aspects that are traditionally available from the industry that are important to make a good book can be saved. In the long run, low low book prices will be as bad for consumers as they are for authors and the industry. This article is worth a read, because good points are made, and as authors it is in all our interests to be aware of the big picture, and to be able to use the information available to position ourselves as best as possible.

Bottom line of hope: we all know that there are many, many, wonderful book people out there still. Knowledgeable, committed, savvy. We're in the trenches, many not even one step removed any more as self-publishing grows, and we see the good guys as well as the disasters. Maybe with these new mega-market forces pushing publishers to fight for their businesses, some creative solutions will be supported and the good guys will win a few key battles. Let's hope so. Let's stay informed and active, and not sit silently on the sidelines to see what happens.