Attack of the Giant Penguin

Looking to offset the surge in electronic books and the growth of Web retail companies such as Amazon and Apple, two media conglomerates, England's Pearson and Germany's Bertelsmann, plan to create the world's largest book publisher, Penguin Random House ("PRH"), the Wall St. Journal reports today.

If it withstands antitrust review, the new entity would represent nearly 25 percent of the world's English-language book sales, according to the WSJ article. Authors who would publish under PRH include John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Toni Morrison and naughtynovelist E.L. James of Fifty Shades of Gray fame.

Bertelsmann will control 53 percent of PRH to Pearson's 47 percent interest in the joint venture. Random House CEO Markus Dohle is expected to oversee the entity and Penguin CEO John Makinson would serve as Chair of PRH, according to the WSJ piece.

Wouk This Way

Aharon Meskin, Herman Wouk and Misha Asherov. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Mediabistro.com reports that a new book by 96-year-old best-selling author Herman Wouk is expected to be published this fall by Simon & Schuster.

The Lawgiver, which tracks communications between characters concerning a proposed movie about the Biblical leader Moses, is the latest literary effort by the author of The Caine Mutiny. The Winds of War and Marjorie Morningstar are among Herman Works' Wouks, er, Wouk's works.

Hope Wouk's agent got a hefty advance for its nonagenarian client.