Thread by @stacyfmitchell

Yikes. There’s a deal afoot to merge Simon & Schuster with Random House — which would create a publishing behemoth controlling one-thirds of all books sold in the U.S.

wsj.com/articles/pengu…

"The deal could draw attention from the U.S. Justice Department” — It should draw far more than attention. The government should block this merger.

One consequence would be an even bigger focus on trying to create mega best-sellers — basically pouring money & effort in to potential superstar books, at the expense of publishing new authors, important nonfiction, etc.

This is already a huge problem. Incomes for “mildlist” authors have plummeted as the publishing has consolidated and Amazon has grown to totally dominate the industry.

Concentration produces this pattern across the economy: superstar cities, ultra highly paid superstar CEOs, superstar authors, etc.

The flip side of this is the impoverishment of every other place, business, book. The variation, the diversity, the small scale wonders.