That’s a huge Penguin or tiny Random House
This morning, Penguin and Random House — arguably the two book publishers that even nonreaders know by name — announced plans to merge. Bertelsmann, which owns Random House, would control 53 percent of the partnership, with Penguin’s owner, Pearson, controlling 47. If the deal clears the courts, the result would be the largest English-language consumer book publisher. Each publisher’s editorial staff will continue to work independently, but hopefully they will merge logos and have a penguin standing in a random house. It should probably be an igloo.