Stephen King against the sale of 'his' publishing house

Stephen King took to the field in Washington against Paramount's sale of 'his' publishing house: the king of horror testified in federal court against the merger of his historic publisher, Simon and Schuster, with book giant Penguin Random House.

"I'm here because I think it's bad for the competition," the writer said of the $ 2.1 billion acquisition.

King has argued in line with the federal government that the merger would harm authors by limiting the manuscript market: "It has become increasingly difficult for writers to find the funds to pay a living with," he said.

The process should take another two weeks.

Penguin Random House, which belongs to the German company Bertelsmann, is itself the result of a 2013 merger. 75 years old, author of over 80 thrilling novels including "Carrie", "Shining" and "The Green Mile", King challenged Penguin-Random House's contention that the acquisition would not stifle competition because Simon & Schuster would operate independently of other publishing labels affiliated with the publisher.

"It would be like having a husband and wife vying with each other for the same house," the writer said.

King then retraced the profound transformations in the publishing market since he began publishing bestsellers in the mid-1970s: "The more companies there are, the better. When I started there.

there were literally hundreds of publishing houses.

One after another they have been absorbed by other publishers or have gone bankrupt. "

He also said that his first check as a writer was for $ 2,500 for "Carrie," which became a blockbuster book after being made into a blockbuster with Sissy Spacek.

After breaking through, however, he was laughed at by a publisher when he asked for $ 2 million for the next three books and changed publishing house.

Now that he has become a millionaire author, King prints his books with independent publishers, accepting even advances that do not live up to his fame: "I want to ensure their survival".

The transaction, announced in November 2021, had attracted the attention of the Biden administration against the backdrop of concerns about rapid expansion in the media sector and the consolidation of older and more prestigious platforms.

Penguin Random House is the most

world's largest publisher, Simon & Schuster comes in fourth place.

The US government fears that the merger between the two groups would reduce advances for the most successful authors and ultimately result in damage to readers as well, with fewer books on the market.