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68-548: Created by Edward Stratemeyer , the Stratemeyer Syndicate was the first book packager to have its books aimed at children, rather than adults. The Syndicate was wildly successful; at one time it was believed that the overwhelming majority of the books children read in the United States were Stratemeyer Syndicate books, based on a 1922 study of over 36,000 American children. Stratemeyer's business acumen

136-569: A Ted Scott Flying Stories book, published in Germany in 1930 as Ted Scott Der Ozeanflieger. The artwork was generally changed when reprinted in other countries, and sometimes character names and other details were as well. For example, in Norway, translations of the Nancy Drew books were first published in 1941, the first European market to introduce the girl detective. “The translators changed

204-425: A company to exploit the opportunity. At the time, Simon was a piano salesman and Schuster was editor of an automotive trade magazine. They pooled US$ 8,000 , equivalent to $ 142,000 today, to start a company that published crossword puzzles. The new publishing house used "fad" publishing to publish books that exploited current fads and trends. Simon called this "planned publishing". Instead of signing authors with

272-406: A federal judge approved a settlement of the antitrust claims, in which Simon & Schuster and the other publishers paid into a fund that provided credits to customers who had overpaid for books due to the price-fixing. In 2014, Simon & Schuster signed a partnership deal with Amazon over ebooks and also launched a new speculative fiction imprint. On October 21, 2014, Simon & Schuster signed

340-526: A heart attack; six years later, Max Schuster retired and sold his half of Simon & Schuster to Leon Shimkin. Shimkin then merged Simon & Schuster with Pocket Books under the name of Simon & Schuster. In 1968, editor-in-chief Robert Gottlieb , who worked at Simon & Schuster since 1955 and edited several bestsellers including Joseph Heller 's Catch-22 , left abruptly to work at competitor Knopf , taking other influential S&S employees, Nina Bourne , and Tony Schulte. Simon & Schuster

408-862: A lively atmosphere growing up. Stratemeyer was a member of the Roseville Athletic Club and the New Jersey Historical Association. Stratemeyer died at age 67 in Newark, New Jersey on May 10, 1930, of lobar pneumonia and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Hillside, New Jersey . On May 12, 1930, two days after his death, the New York Times reported that his Rover Boys series "had sales exceeding 5,000,000 copies". Stratemeyer pioneered

476-419: A massive number of editors, copy writers , stenographers , cowriters and secretaries . They greatly contributed to a new genre of juvenile fiction and helped launch several series, including Edward Stratemeyer appears in the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles . In the series, Stratemeyer is the father of the fictional Nancy Stratemeyer, who dates Indiana Jones in high school. Indiana

544-418: A multi-book and co-publishing deal with Glenn Beck which fell over many of its imprints and included adult non-fiction, fiction, children, and YA literature as well as e-book and audiobook originals. As part of CBS, Simon & Schuster has been the primary publisher for books related to various media franchises owned by and/or aired on CBS such as CSI . The company has also held a license to publish books in

612-431: A multi-year partnership deal with Amazon.com in negotiations concerning the price of e-books. Simon & Schuster also launched a new science fiction imprint called Simon451 that would publish titles across science fiction and fantasy with an emphasis on ebooks and online communities. The name of the imprint was inspired by Ray Bradbury 's book Fahrenheit 451 (the temperature at which books burn). Bradbury's classic

680-482: A new literary fiction imprint under Gallery Books Group. They also launched North Star Way, a platform-based program to provide authors with services beyond publishing including brand management, online courses, sponsorship, and business partnerships. Also as of 2016, Simon & Schuster had more than 18k e-books available for sale and signed a deal to distribute Start Publishing LLC, a catalog of 7,000 e-book titles. In 2019, CBS and Viacom reunited to form ViacomCBS. As

748-472: A planned manuscript, they came up with their own ideas, and then hired writers to carry them out. In the 1930s, the publisher moved to what has been referred to as "Publisher's Row" on Park Avenue in Manhattan , New York. In 1939, Simon & Schuster backed Robert Fair de Graff to found Pocket Books , America's first paperback publisher. In 1942, Simon & Schuster and Western Publishing launched

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816-456: A result, Simon & Schuster became part of the newly formed ViacomCBS. Since February 15, 2022, ViacomCBS is known as Paramount Global . In March 2020, ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish announced the company's intention to sell the Simon & Schuster division, as it "does not have significant connection for our broader business." Bakish expected the sale to close in 2020, a date that was delayed by

884-464: A software publisher in partnership with Davidson & Associates named Simon & Schuster Interactive. The studio published video games such as Outlaw Golf , Deer Avenger , I.M. Meen , Chill Manor , EVE Online , and games based on Richard Scarry 's characters. S&S Interactive shut down in 2003. In 1998, Viacom sold Simon & Schuster's educational operations (including Prentice Hall, Macmillan, and Jossey-Bass) to Pearson plc ,

952-407: A tremendously popular series in the vein of the classic dime novel . The Rover Boys was described as "The first highly successful series by Edward Stratemeyer; each volume had a preface from Edward Stratemeyer himself, thanking his readers and touting the other books. It's generally accepted that Stratemeyer wrote all of the books." He said this series was his personal favorite. Stratemeyer formed

1020-592: Is a fan of Tom Swift and gives Stratemeyer advice for one of his stories. Simon %26 Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC ( / ˈ ʃ uː s t ər / , SHOO -stər ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster . Along with Penguin Random House , Hachette , HarperCollins and Macmillan Publishers , Simon & Schuster

1088-417: Is also published by Simon & Schuster. Simon & Schuster expanded beyond book publishing in 2015 by offering a new business model and additional services for authors. In 2015, Simon & Schuster announced the creation of a new publishing unit and imprint called North Star Way. The imprint would publish non-fiction titles such as self-improvement, inspirational and mind-body-spirit titles. In addition,

1156-484: Is considered one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers. As of 2017 , Simon & Schuster was the third largest publisher in the United States, publishing 2,000 titles annually under 35 different imprints . In 1924, Richard Simon 's aunt, a crossword puzzle enthusiast, asked whether there was a book of New York World crossword puzzles, which were popular at the time. After discovering that none had been published, Simon and Max Schuster decided to launch

1224-773: The Star Trek franchise under Pocket Books . In 2011, Simon & Schuster signed a number of co-publishing deals. Glenn Beck signed a new co-publishing deal with Simon & Schuster for his own imprint, Mercury Ink . Under Atria, Simon & Schuster also launched a publishing venture with Cash Money Records called Cash Money Content. On April 11, 2012, the United States Department of Justice filed United States v. Apple Inc. , naming Apple , Simon & Schuster, and four other major publishers as defendants. The suit alleged that they conspired to fix prices for e-books , and weaken Amazon.com 's position in

1292-492: The COVID-19 pandemic . In September 2020, German media group Bertelsmann , which owns Penguin Random House , announced that it was interested in acquiring Simon & Schuster. According to Bertelsmann chief executive and chairman Thomas Rabe , "We've been the most active player on the consolidation of the book publishing market in the last 10 years. We combined Penguin and Random House very successfully to create by far

1360-593: The Little Golden Books series in cooperation with the Artists and Writers Guild. In 1944, Marshall Field III , owner of the Chicago Sun , purchased Simon & Schuster and Pocket Books. The company was sold back to Simon and Schuster following his death in 1957 for $ 1 million. In the 1950s and 1960s, many publishers including Simon & Schuster turned toward educational publishing due to

1428-511: The Rover Boys . For decades, libraries refused to carry any Syndicate books, considering them to be unworthy trash. Series books were considered to "cause 'mental laziness,' induce a 'fatal sluggishness,' and 'intellectual torpor. ' " Series books were considered to ruin a child's chances for gaining an appreciation of good literature (which was subsequently shown by one study not to be the case), and to undermine respect for authority: "Much of

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1496-564: The United States Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit to block Penguin Random House's proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster. The lawsuit argues that the acquisition would create a publisher with too much influence over books and author payments. A federal judge sided with the plaintiff, leading Paramount to nullify the deal in November 2022. In 2022, Simon & Schuster employee Filippo Bernardini

1564-696: The baby boom market. Pocket Books focused on paperbacks for the educational market instead of textbooks and started the Washington Square Press imprint in 1959. By 1964 it had published over 200 titles and was expected to put out another 400 by the end of that year. Books published under the imprint included classic reprints such as Lorna Doone , Ivanhoe , Tom Sawyer , Huckleberry Finn , and Robinson Crusoe . In 1967, Simon & Schuster acquired Monarch Press Publishing, Inc., along with its extensive line of college and high school study guides published. In 1960, Richard Simon died of

1632-434: The book-packaging technique of producing a consistent, long-running series of books using a team of freelance writers. All of the books in the series used the same characters in similar situations. All of the freelance writers, including Mildred Benson , who developed the character of Nancy Drew, were published under a pen name owned by his company. Through his Stratemeyer Syndicate , founded in 1906, Stratemeyer employed

1700-403: The "nucleus of S&S's educational and informational business." Three California educational companies were also purchased between 1988 and 1990 – Quercus, Fearon Education and Janus Book Publishers. In all, Simon & Schuster spent more than $ 1 billion in acquisitions between 1983 and 1991. In the 1980s, Snyder also made an unsuccessful bid toward video publishing which

1768-726: The 1930s and the second, with different cover art, in the 1950s. Victor Appleton ; Richard Barnum ; Gerald Breckenridge ; Nicholas Carter ; Lester Chadwick ; Allen Chapman ; Alice B. Emerson ; Howard Roger Garis ; Mabel C. Hawley ; Laura Lee Hope ; Gertrude W. Morrison ; Margaret Penrose ; Homer Randall ; Roy Rockwood ; Frank V. Webster ; Arthur M. Winfield ; Mildred A. Wirt (Benson) ; Clarence Young Not found 2023 as Gutenberg authors: Franklin W. Dixon; Carolyn Keene; Eugene Martin Edward Stratemeyer Edward L. Stratemeyer ( / ˈ s t r æ t ə ˌ m aɪ ər / ; October 4, 1862 – May 10, 1930)

1836-1060: The Bureau of Business Practice was sold to Wolters Kluwer . Subsequently, Macmillan Library Reference's children's imprints (Silver Burdett Press, Dillon Press, Crestwood House, Silver Press, New Discovery and Julian Messner ) were closed. Then, Gale acquired Macmillan Library Reference (Charles Scribner's Sons Reference, Macmillan Reference, Thorndike Press, G.K. Hall , Twayne Publishers and Schirmer Books). Finally, IDG Books acquired Macmillan General Reference (including Frommer's , J.K. Lasser , Betty Crocker Cookbooks, Weight Watchers Dieting and Cookbooks and Howell House Pet Books but excluding Complete Idiot's Guides , which Pearson later transferred to Macmillan Computer Publishing under Alpha Books and currently part of Penguin Random House under Dorling Kindersley ). In 2002, Simon & Schuster acquired its Canadian distributor Distican. Simon & Schuster began publishing in Canada in 2013. At

1904-521: The Moss-Covered Mansion ) entire plots were cast off and replaced with new ones. In part, these changes were motivated by a desire to make the books more up-to-date. Grosset & Dunlap , the primary publisher of Stratemeyer Syndicate books, requested that the books' racism be excised, a project that Adams felt was unnecessary. Grosset & Dunlap held firm; it had received an increasing number of letters from parents who were offended by

1972-558: The Netherlands and Belgium, as well as its sister companies, the audiobook producer Thinium , and Bookchoice , a subscription-based platform for e-books and audiobooks. This is the first expansion of Simon & Schuster into a non-English market. In September 2024, it was announced that Simon & Schuster Australia had entered an agreement to acquire publisher Affirm Press . Simon & Schuster has published thousands of books from thousands of authors. This list represents some of

2040-463: The S&;S Video division never took off. Simon & Schuster launched its audiobook division in 1985. According to Korda, audiobooks were a major business for Simon & Schuster by the 1990s. In 1989, Gulf and Western Inc., owner of Simon & Schuster, changed its name to Paramount Communications Inc. In 1990, The New York Times described Simon & Schuster as the largest book publisher in

2108-407: The Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1905 and hired journalists to write stories based on his ideas. He paid them a flat rate for each book and kept the copyrights to the novels. Stratemeyer married Magdalena Van Camp, the daughter of a Newark businessman, on March 25, 1891. The couple had two daughters: Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (1892–1982) and Edna C. Squier (1895–1974), both of whom would later take over

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2176-454: The Stratemeyer Syndicate to produce books in an efficient, assembly-line fashion and to write them in such a way as to maximize their popularity. The first series that Stratemeyer created was The Rover Boys , published under the pseudonym Arthur M. Winfield in 30 volumes between 1899 and 1926, which sold over five million copies. The Bobbsey Twins first appeared in 1904 under the pseudonym Laura Lee Hope , and Tom Swift in 1910 under

2244-552: The Syndicate existed; the Syndicate had always gone to great lengths to hide its existence from the public, and ghostwriters were contractually obliged never to reveal their authorship. Grosset & Dunlap was awarded the rights to The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew volumes that it had published, but the Syndicate was judged free to take subsequent volumes elsewhere. Subsequent volumes were published by Simon & Schuster . Adams died in 1982. In 1984, Simon & Schuster purchased

2312-715: The Syndicate later specialized in children's mystery series. This trend began in 1911, when Stratemeyer wrote and published The Mansion of Mystery , under the pseudonym Chester K. Steele . Five more books were published in that mystery series, the last in 1928. These books were aimed at a somewhat older audience than his previous series. After that, the Syndicate focused on mystery series aimed at its younger base: The Hardy Boys , which first appeared in 1927, ghostwritten by Leslie McFarlane and others; and Nancy Drew , which first appeared in 1930, ghostwritten by Mildred Wirt Benson , Walter Karig , and others. Both series were immediate financial successes. In 1930, Stratemeyer died, and

2380-703: The Syndicate was inherited by his two daughters, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Edna Stratemeyer Squier. Stratemeyer Squier sold her share to her sister Harriet within a few years. Harriet Stratemeyer introduced such series as The Dana Girls (1934), Tom Swift Jr. , The Happy Hollisters , and many others. In the 1950s, Harriet began substantially revising old volumes in The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series, updating them by removing references to outdated cultural elements, such as "roadster". Racial slurs and stereotypes were also removed, and in some cases (such as The Secret at Shadow Ranch and The Mystery at

2448-563: The UK). These other series first appeared around the 1950s outside the United States. The second Stratemeyer Syndicate series to be reprinted outside the United States appears to have been the first two books in the Don Sturdy series, although exact dates of printing are unknown. Those were The Desert of Mystery and The Big Snake Hunters . There are two British versions known of the latter book; both were printed by The Children's Press, one in

2516-411: The United States with sales of $ 1.3 billion the previous year. That same year, Simon & Schuster acquired the children's publisher Green Tiger Press. In 1993, Simon & Schuster bought Macmillan (including Scribner's , Free Press , and Jossey-Bass), and changed its name to Paramount Publishing. Viacom then bought Paramount in 1994 and changed the name back to Simon & Schuster. Macmillan

2584-454: The age of 26, he sold his first story, Victor Horton's Idea , to the children's magazine Golden Days for $ 76, over six times the average 1888 weekly paycheck. Stratemeyer moved to Newark, New Jersey, in 1890 and opened a paper store. He ran his shop while continuing to write stories under pseudonyms. He was able to write for many genres including detective dime novels, westerns and serials that ran in newspapers. In 1893, Stratemeyer hired

2652-607: The color of Nancy's car, shortened the text, and made the language easier to read; but they made no substantive changes” to the stories. By the 1970s, Nancy Drew stories had “been translated into Spanish, Swedish, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Icelandic. Other series reprinted outside the States include The Dana Girls , The Hardy Boys and the Bobbsey Twins (in Australia, France, Sweden, and

2720-634: The contempt for social conventions ... is due to the reading of this poisonous sort of fiction." Franklin K. Mathiews, chief librarian for the Boy Scouts of America , wrote that series books were a method, according to the title of one of his articles, for "Blowing Out the Boys' Brains", and psychologist G. Stanley Hall articulated one of the most common concerns by asserting that series books would ruin girls in particular by giving them "false views of [life] ... which will cloud her life with discontent in

2788-533: The end of 2005, Viacom split into two companies: CBS Corporation (which inherited S&S and Paramount Parks ), and the other retaining the Viacom name. Also in 2005, Simon & Schuster acquired Strebor Books International, which was founded in 1999 by author Kristina Laferne Roberts, who has written under the pseudonym "Zane". A year later, in 2006, Simon & Schuster launched the conservative imprint Threshold Editions . In 2009, Simon & Schuster signed

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2856-597: The future Stratemeyer Syndicate . Stratemeyer enjoyed the outdoors and often took annual summer trips to the Great Lakes , Lake George and Lake Champlain with his family. They traveled as far as the west coast and Yosemite . A humble man, he never sought public attention and preferred living a private and quiet life with his family at their home on N. 7th Street in the Roseville section of Newark. His relationships with his daughters were warm and Harriet recalled

2924-581: The future". None of this hurt sales and Stratemeyer was unperturbed, even when his books were banned from the Newark Public Library as early as 1901, writing to a publisher: "Personally it does not matter much to me. ... Taking them out of the Library has more than tripled the sales in Newark." Some syndicate series were also reprinted in foreign countries. An early foreign version was

2992-471: The global publisher and then owner of Penguin and the Financial Times ; Pearson then merged the operations with Addison-Wesley Longman to form Pearson Education . Later, Pearson sold several of the acquired S&S divisions: first Appleton & Lange was divested to McGraw-Hill and Master Data Central was sold to Master Data Center . Then, Jossey-Bass was sold to John Wiley & Sons and

3060-548: The group would also serve as a platform and set of services for authors that go beyond what a traditional book publisher offers to find their audience. The services include helping authors expand their reach through online courses, seminars, workshops, mobile applications, video and audiobooks, sponsorships and business partnerships, and podcasts. North Star Way sits within the Gallery Publishing Group division. According to Michele Martin, publisher and founder,

3128-401: The hardworking young American, which greatly influenced him. As a teenager, Stratemeyer operated his own printing press in the basement of his father's tobacco shop, distributing flyers and pamphlets among his friends and family. These included stories called The Newsboy's Adventure and The Tale of a Lumberman . After he graduated from high school, he went to work in his father's store. At

3196-516: The ideas in the books into a variety of platforms." The name prompted Marvel Comics to attempt to register the name of their superhero Northstar in February 2015. The application was denied as Simon & Schuster had already made a trademark application for North Star Way in January. Simon & Schuster launched SimonSays.com a portal for online video courses in 2016, along with Scout Press,

3264-583: The largest book publisher in the world, actually the only global book publisher. Given this position we would, of course, be interested in Simon & Schuster." Vivendi , which owns the French publisher Editis , and News Corp , which owns HarperCollins , were also named as contenders in acquiring Simon & Schuster. ViacomCBS expected the bids to be placed before November 26, 2020. On November 25, 2020, ViacomCBS announced it would sell Simon & Schuster to Penguin Random House for $ 2.175 billion. The deal

3332-643: The market, in violation of antitrust law . Simon & Schuster reorganized all of their imprints under four main groups in 2012. The four groups included the Atria Publishing Group, the Scribner Publishing Group, the Simon & Schuster Publishing Group and the Gallery Publishing Group. According to CEO Carolyn Reidy , the divisions were created to align imprints that complement one another and that

3400-474: The name North Star reflects their mission, "to publish books that will help readers find the path to a better life, and to be a guide for our authors, not only through publication of their books but also in the many other activities that can help their message find the widest possible audience." In an interview with Kirkus Reviews , Michele Martin expanded that North Star Way, "aims to meet consumers where they are, in whatever form of media they consume. We expand

3468-541: The popular dime-novel writer Gilbert Patten , according to Patten's own autobiography, Frank Merriwell's 'Father': An Autobiography by Gilbert Patten (Burt L. Standish) (University of Oklahoma Press, 1964). Patten writes that he did not like Stratemeyer. (A less-reliable source says that Stratemeyer was hired by Patten to write as an editor for the Street & Smith publication Good News . ) In 1894, he published his first full-length book, Richard Dare's Venture , which

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3536-505: The pseudonym Victor Appleton . Stratemeyer published a number of books under his own name, but the books published under pseudonyms sold better. Stratemeyer realized that "he could offer more books each year if he dealt with several publishers and had the books published under a number of pseudonyms which he controlled." Stratemeyer explained his strategy to a publisher, writing that "[a] book brought out under another name would, I feel satisfied, do better than another Stratemeyer book. If this

3604-453: The stereotypes present in the books, particularly in The Hardy Boys publications. In the late 1970s, Adams decided it was time for Nancy and the Hardys to go into paperback, as the hardcover market was no longer what it had been. Grosset & Dunlap sued, citing "breach of contract, copyright infringement, and unfair competition". The ensuing case let the world know, for the first time, that

3672-422: The structure would "lead to a sharper editorial focus for our imprints even as it takes consideration of the natural affinities among them." In 2012, Simon & Schuster launched a self-publishing arm of the company, Archway Publishing. On November 14, 2013, Simon & Schuster signed a co-publishing agreement with former New York Yankees shortstop, Derek Jeter , to launch Jeter Publishing. In December 2013,

3740-503: The syndicate from its partners — Edward Stratemeyer Adams, Camilla Adams McClave, Patricia Adams Harr, Nancy Axelrod and Lilo Wuenn — and turned to Mega-Books, a book packager, to handle the writing process for new volumes. "They don't have hippies in them," [Adams] said ... "And none of the characters have love affairs or get pregnant or take dope." All Stratemeyer Syndicate books were written under certain guidelines, based on practices Stratemeyer began with his first series,

3808-477: Was acquired by Gulf+Western in an 8-for-1 stock swap on January 28, 1975. Four years later in 1979, Richard Snyder was named CEO of the company. Over the next several years he would help the company to grow substantially. After the death of Gulf+Western head Charles Bluhdorn on February 19, 1983, the company made the decision to diversify. Bluhdorn's successor Martin Davis told The New York Times , "Society

3876-478: Was acquired for US$ 552.8 million. Later that year, Snyder was suddenly fired from S&S and was replaced by the company's president and chief operating officer Jonathan Newcomb. Simon & Schuster then sold several peripheral assets, such as selling Charles E. Simon Co. to CDB Infotek. Gousha was sold to Rand McNally in 1996. In 1994, S&S acquired the software operations of Markt+Technik . Later that year, Simon & Schuster (through Paramount) launched

3944-643: Was an American publisher, writer of children's fiction and founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate . He was one of the most prolific writers in the world, penning over 1,300 books and selling more than 500 million copies. Stratemeyer created many well-known children's fiction book series , including The Rover Boys , The Bobbsey Twins , Tom Swift , The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew , many of which sold millions of copies and remain in publication. On his legacy, Fortune wrote: "As oil had its Rockefeller , literature had its Stratemeyer." Stratemeyer

4012-411: Was arrested for the 2016–2021 literary phishing thefts . The company released a statement saying they were "shocked and horrified to learn today of the allegations of fraud and identity theft by an employee." In June 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that HarperCollins and investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) had emerged as potential frontrunners for the company. On August 3, 2023, it

4080-507: Was believed to have led to the company's success in the audiobook business. Snyder was dismayed to realize that Simon & Schuster did not own the video rights to Jane Fonda's Workout Book , a huge bestseller at the time and that the video company producing the VHS was making more money on the video. This prompted Snyder to ask editors to obtain video rights for every new book. Agents were often reluctant to give these up – which meant

4148-516: Was born the youngest of six children in Elizabeth, New Jersey , to Henry Julius Stratemeyer, a tobacconist , and Anna Siegel. They were both from Hanover, Germany , immigrating to the United States in 1837. The siblings were educated in English and spoke it to each other. Growing up, Stratemeyer read the works of Horatio Alger and William T. Adams , writers who penned rags-to-riches tales of

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4216-416: Was brought into the company fold in 1985 for over $ 700 million and was viewed by some executives to be a catalyst for change for the company as a whole. This acquisition was followed by Silver Burdett in 1986, mapmaker Gousha in 1987 and Charles E. Simon in 1988. Part of the acquisition included educational publisher Allyn & Bacon which, according to then editor and chief Michael Korda , became

4284-553: Was brought out under my own name, the trade on new Stratemeyer books would simply be cut into four parts instead of three." Some time in the first decade of the twentieth century Stratemeyer realized that he could no longer juggle multiple volumes of multiple series, and he began hiring ghostwriters , such as Mildred Benson , Josephine Lawrence , Howard R. Garis and Leslie McFarlane . Stratemeyer continued to write some books, while writing plot outlines for others. While mystery elements were occasionally present in these early series,

4352-479: Was expected to close in 2022, but was blocked by US federal judge Florence Y. Pan on October 31, 2022. An appeal to the court ruling was announced a day later by Bertelsmann, but it was ultimately canceled on November 21. In 2021, Simon & Schuster made book deals with former Trump administration officials, such as Vice President Mike Pence and Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway . This prompted protests among Simon & Schuster staff. On November 2, 2021,

4420-407: Was in realizing that there was a huge, untapped market for children's books. The Stratemeyer Syndicate specialized in producing books that were meant primarily to be entertaining. In Stratemeyer's view, it was the thrill of feeling grown-up and the desire for a series of stories that made such reading attractive to children. Stratemeyer believed that this desire could be harnessed for profit. He founded

4488-409: Was reported that KKR was in "advanced talks" with Paramount Global. On August 7, 2023, Paramount Global announced that it had agreed to sell Simon & Schuster to KKR for $ 1.62 billion. The sale was completed on October 30, 2023. In May 2024, Simon & Schuster acquired Veen Bosch & Keuning (VBK), the largest Dutch book publishing company. The acquisition includes all of VBK's imprints in

4556-564: Was the first in his Bound to Succeed series. It contained autobiographical content and was similar to Alger's rags-to-riches story formula. In 1899, Horatio Alger wrote Stratemeyer as editor of the Good News , asking him to finish one of his manuscripts. Alger was in poor health at the time. When Alger died later the same year, Stratemeyer continued to edit and finish several of Alger's other books. That same year, after Alger died, Stratemeyer wrote and published The Rover Boys , which became

4624-475: Was undergoing dramatic changes so that there was a greater need for textbooks, maps, and educational information. We saw the opportunity to diversify into those areas, which are more stable and more profitable than trade publishing." In 1984, Simon & Schuster with CEO Richard E. Snyder acquired educational publisher Esquire Corporation, owner of companies including Allyn & Bacon (and former owner of Esquire magazine), for $ 180 million. Prentice Hall

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