Random Penguin - an Aussie view

Random Penguin jokes aside, the Penguin Random House merger is no laughing matter. It's a new publishing powerhouse (well, assuming the regulatory approval comes through) that will dominate the Australian book industry. Currently Penguin is the biggest publisher in the country. Random House ranks third. As Eloise Keating of Bookseller and Publisher pointed out on ABC radio yesterday, together they will make up about 25% of the Australian publishing industry. And currently seven of the 10 top selling books in Australia this week are published by the duo. What will this mean? Who knows, yet. Henry Rosenbloom, publisher at Scribe, writes in Crikey Weekender about the uncertainty. Bethanie Blanchard opines at Liticism about what a loss to literature the identity of Penguin would be. Your thoughts? We'd love to hear them. Email or tweet us what you think of this tectonic shift in the publishing landscape. From Crikey Weekender. Crikey is a weekday electronic daily news and commentary service to which The Bookman subscribes. Subscription enquiries.Subscription queries: Click here