Stephen King, Andrew Solomon, and a bunch of agents are set to testify in the PRH antitrust trial.
The federal government’s civil suit to block the acquisition of Simon & Schuster by Penguin Random House is chugging along, with the trial set to begin on August 1. Exhibits to the joint pretrial motion, filed July 15, included lists of witnesses for both sides.
Witnesses for both sides include literary agents, editors and publishing executives, and two major authors. For the defendants: Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday Demon, among others. For the plaintiff: Stephen King, author of… well, a lot of things. According to the filing, Solomon “will testify about the sale of book rights,” and King about “his experiences in selling anticipate top-selling books and his perceptions of the manner in which the market for book rights operates.”
I do think there was a missed opportunity to preview King’s testimony as “the true horror was in monopolies all along,” but maybe he’ll find a way to work that in.
You can peruse the full list of witnesses for the government and for Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster at Court Listener, and speculate about how weird this will make things and the PRH holiday party at your leisure.
