Those lying, cheating publishers

A closer read of Judge Pan's decision on the Penguin Random House case

I finally got around to the full text of Judge Florence Pan’s decision on the proposed Penguin Random House/Simon & Schuster merger. As you’ve heard, she blocked it.

She accepted the department of justice’s argument that the deal would lessen competition for that tiny percentage of books that receive advances of $250,000 or more, i.e., anticipated top-s…