News

Publishing giant Simon and Schuster is issuing refunds for the 600 “hand-signed” edition of Bob Dylan’s new book The Philosophy of Modern Song after it turned out Dylan’s autograph was a “penned replica.”

Simon and Schuster announced the news on Instagram, writing, “To those who purchased The Philosophy of Modern Song limited edition, we want to apologize. As it turns out, the limited edition books do contain Bob’s original signature, but in a penned replica form. We are addressing this immediately by providing each purchaser with an immediate refund.

Bob Dylan has written his first book since his 2004 memoir Chronicles: Volume One. The Philosophy of Modern Song, out November 8th, will be a collection of over 60 essays focusing on songs by other artists.

Dylan will analyze songwriters such as Stephen Foster, Elvis Costello, Hank Williams, and Nina Simone. “[Dylan] analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal,” a press release noted. “These essays are written in Dylan’s unique prose.

NewsCorp CEO Robert Thomson, whose company owns book publisher HarperCollins, on Wednesday slammed the “anti-market logic” of the nation’s largest book publisher acquiring rival Simon & Schuster.

Earlier, ViacomCBS confirmed that German media giant Bertelsmann’s Penguin Random House had won a heated auction for Simon & Schuster with a $2.175 billion cash deal. HarperCollins, the nation’s No. 2 book publisher, had also bid for the company.

“There is clearly no market logic to a bid of that size — only anti-market logic,” Thomson said in a statement. “Bertelsmann is not just buying a book publisher, but buying market dominance as a book behemoth. Distributors, retailers, authors and readers would be paying for this proposed deal for a very long time to come. This literary leviathan would have 70 percent of the US Literary and General Fiction market.”

Thomson concluded by throwing a bit of shade. “There will certainly be legal books written about this deal,...

German media giant Bertelsmann has set a deal with ViacomCBS to acquire publishing unit Simon & Schuster for $2.17 billion in cash.

Bertelsmann, owner of publishing giant Penguin Random House, was seen as a logical contender for Simon & Schuster. ViacomCBS announced its intent to sell the publishing arm earlier this year as part of the company’s post-merger streamlining to focus on content investment.

Simon & Schuster will operate as a separate unit under the Penguin Random House umbrella. Jonathan Karp, president-ceo of Simon & Schuster, and Dennis Eulau, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, will continue to lead the division. The deal is expected to close next year.

ViacomCBS said it would use the proceeds from the sale to pay down debt, fund its dividend and to invest in “strategic growth priorities.” ViacomCBS chief Bob Bakish in March told investors that Simon & Schuster had attracted interest from 25 bidders. Bertelsmann was believed...

Updated with comment by News Corp CEO Robert Thomson:

News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson called the ViacomCBS’s announcement regarding the sale of Simon & Schuster to Bertelsmann as defying “market logic.”

“There is clearly no market logic to a bid of that size – only anti-market logic. Bertelsmann is not just buying a book publisher, but buying market dominance as a book behemoth,” the executive said Wednesday on the nearly 2.2 billion combination of Simon & Schuster with Bertelsmann’s Penguin Random House announced earlier in the day. News Corp.’s owns publisher HarperCollins and was also in the running for Simon & Schuster.

The deal needs regulatory approval.

“Distributors, retailers, authors and readers would be paying for this proposed deal for a very long time to come. This literary leviathan would have 70 percent of the US Literary and General Fiction market. There will certainly be legal books written about this deal, though...

A federal judge did not say when he would decide whether to grant the Trump administration’s move to block the release of former national security adviser John Bolton’s new book, but he did recognize a reality: The Room Where It Happened is already out there.

“The horse, as we used to say in Texas, seems to be out of the barn,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in a videoconference hearing on Friday.

Details of the book’s bombshell revelations about President Donald Trump already have been widely reported, as journalists obtained copies and an excerpt ran in The Wall Street Journal.

The Justice Department is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block the book’s release, but also wants the judge to force Bolton to direct proceeds for the book to the government for the time being.

The book is set to be officially...