What’s behind the Penguin Random House purchase of Simon & Schuster?
As Book Sales Rise, Could Authors’ Access Shrink?
COVER STORY—When we founded our publishing house in 2007, we were determined to rank among the hundreds of mid-sized “independent publishers” in the U.S.—because our staff and our authors wanted the freedom to publish books that might never climb over the hurdles set up by the Big Five publishers. Now, in 2022, a landmark court case will determine whether the Big Five can increase their power by becoming the Big Four. In our Cover Story, Editor David Crumm outlines the essential issues at stake and provides links to further reading about this milestone in book publishing. Please, read this story and share it with friends via social media and email.
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From our writers—
Martin Davis
Remembering Vin Scully
MARTIN DAVIS, author of 30 Days with America’s High School Coaches, is an expert journalist at covering all aspects of sports. He also writes for the Editorial page of The Free-Lance Star in Virginia. Last week, he published a moving remembrance of the veteran sportscaster Vin Scully. As Martin puts it, Scully “plumbed the human experience and nurtured our hearts, imaginations, and emotions from places most people who listened would never visit.”
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Victor Begg
Faiths vary on start of life
THANKS TO OUR LONG-TIME COLUMNIST—and the author of Our Muslim Neighbors—Victor Begg, the IslamiCity online magazine has published his overview of basic concepts of “the start of life” from a number of religious traditions. The current political upheavals in the U.S. about abortion are largely based on various Christian assumptions. Victor provides a broader perspective. Please, read his column and share it with friends.
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Holidays & Festivals
Raksha Bandhan
AND ON AUGUST 11—Across India and in Hindu communities worldwide, the sacred bonds between brothers and sisters are honored on Raksha Bandhan.
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Book Birthdays
PUBLISHERS and AUTHORS CELEBRATE “BOOK BIRTHDAYS,” the anniversaries of our books’ debuts. Among our August book birthdays are several that continue to be popular with readers—and this is a great opportunity for us to remind everyone of these valuable volumes:
With the MSU School of Journalism Bias Busters’ team, in August 2018, we published 100 Questions and Answers About Police Officers. This guide has sections on training and certification, special assignments, police culture, use of force, community policing, police jargon and police funeral etiquette. All the guides in this series are designed to help improve relationships across communities.
Earlier, in 2016, with the Bias Busters and their professor Joe Grimm, we published To My Professor. Teaching college is difficult and this book has some potential solutions. More than 50 chapters cover situations including expectations, communication, technology, race, gender and religion, mental and physical health. This is a perfect gift for the young person in your life who is heading off to college this fall.
Then, in August 2017, we published a book that has helped readers around the world learn more about American History Made Easy. This overview of American history was developed by veteran English as a Second Language instructor Kathleen Gripman to help men and women attain this crucial educational milestone. What began as a book primarily for ESL students also has become a popular choice for anyone who quickly wants to learn about the broad sweep of American history.
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WANT TO SEE ALL OF THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS?—It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just remember the web address: InterfaithHolidays.com
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Click on this photo to read Ed McNulty’s review of the new Showtime series, The First Lady.
Faith & Film
ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.
Here are some of Ed’s most recent free reviews and columns:
- GABBY GIFFORDS WON’T BACK DOWN—Ed writes, “No matter where you stand on the heated gun control war, you will come to admire the courage of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords who fought hard to recover from her brain injuries when she was shot outside a Tucson area grocery store on January 8, 2011.”
- VENGEANCE—Ed writes, “B.J. Novak’s film turned out very differently from what I had expected. Instead of one of those intense get-even movies that turn up so often on Tubi, this is a dark comedy/mystery that deals with relationships and the process of growing beyond our preconceived notions that lead us to look down on others.”
- EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE—”This unusual film combines the sci-fi multi-universe theme, popularized by Marvel films and the Matrix franchise, as well as embracing the genres of Kung Fu, Mother-Daughter, Husband-Wife estrangement.”
- BRIAN AND CHARLES—”Starting out as a faux documentary about a Welsh village eccentric, this evolves into a buddy movie, with one of the members of the duo being a home-made robot, and then it becomes a threesome when the pair are joined by a supportive woman. A real hoot of a little film!”
- BENEDICTION—”Five years after his film about Emily Dickson, A Quiet Passion, writer-director Terence Davies focuses upon another poet, one from his native England, Siegfried Sassoon.”
- DON’T MAKE ME GO—”Hannah Marks (director) and Vera Herbert’s (writer) film is a road trip film—not a buddy one but a father and daughter tale.”
- ELVIS—”When I first learned that Baz Luhrmann would be directing the Elvis Presley biopic, I knew the film would be flamboyant—look what he did with Romeo and Juliette and Moulin Rouge.”
- THE FIRST LADY—”The ten-part series The First Ladies takes full advantage of the opportunity that a TV series offers to explore details of history not possible in a two-hour movie. Created by Aaron Cooley and executive-produced by Viola Davis.”
- EIFFEL—”French director Martin Bourboulon seems to have gone Hollywood in his period film about Gustave Eiffel and the building of the iconic Parisian landmark.”
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