Brad Martin

What price do you put on culture?

That's the question Canadian writers and publishing professionals have been asking in the wake of comments by Brad Martin, the head of Penguin Random House Canada.

"I'm not interested in a book that is going to generate less than $100,000 in revenue unless the editor or publisher has a compelling vision for the book and/or the author," Martin told The Globe and Mail's Mark Medley in a recent column about the merger of Penguin and Random House - a seismic shift in the publishing landscape.

There seems to be some controversy in Canada over a recent statement by Brad Martin, head of Penguin Random House Canada, in a column discussing the PRH merger. Martin said, “I’m not interested in a book that is going to generate less than $100,000 in revenue unless the editor or publisher has a compelling vision […]

The post Penguin Random House Canada head courts controversy with $100,000 minimum revenue requirement appeared first on TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics.

Canada’s biggest multinational publishing house just got bigger. Random House of Canada has become the sole owner of McClelland & Stewart, one of Canada’s oldest publishing houses.

Random House has owned a share of M&S since 2000 when its sole owner and chairman Avie Bennett sold it 25% of the company and donated 75% to the University of Toronto with the intent that M&S would maintain its editorial independence. Random House had been providing services such as sales, production, human resources and accounting to M&S since that time.