Home 5 News 5 S&S staff launch petition against Mike Pence book deal

S&S staff launch petition against Mike Pence book deal

by | Apr 22, 2021 | News

The latest example of the new spirit of activism in publishing is seen at Simon & Schuster US where staff have launched a petition calling on the publisher to withdraw from a two-book deal with Donald Trump’s former Vice-President Mike Pence.  This follows staff complaints over its proposed distribution of a book by Jonathan Mattingly, a police officer involved in the death of Breoanna Taylor.  The latter is published by Post Hill Press with which S&S has a distribution deal.

The S&S petition reads:  “By choosing to publish Mike Pence, Simon & Schuster is generating wealth for a central figure of a presidency that unequivocally advocated for racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-Blackness, xenophobia, misogyny, ableism, islamophobia, antisemitism, and violence. This is not a difference of opinions; this is legitimizing bigotry.”

It continues: “Long before his Vice Presidency, Mike Pence made a career out of discriminating against marginalized groups and denying resources to BIPOC [black, indigenous and people of colour] and LGBTQA+  [lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, queer and non-heterosexual] communities. From advocating for legalized discrimination against LGBTQ+people, to eroding the teaching of science in favour of Christian theology in public-funded schools, to ending energy efficiency programs, to pushing for guns to be in schools and cars, to taking away funding for and shutting down clinics treating HIV patients, to promoting conversion therapy, to denying bodily autonomy to pregnant people, to abandoning a nation in crisis as the coronavirus ran rampant and killed more than half a million Americans. Mike Pence has literal and figurative blood on his hands. We demand you cancel Mike Pence’s book deal.”

Although S&S has agreed not to distribute the Mattingly title, S&S staff are now calling for S&S to pull out of its distribution deal with Post Hill Press altogether.  But as Nasher went to press, the publisher was refusing to shift on the Pence title.

S&S president and CEO Jonathan Karp sa: “As a publisher in this polarised era, we have experienced outrage from both sides of the political divide and from different constituencies and groups. But we come to work each day to publish, not cancel, which is the most extreme decision a publisher can make, and one that runs counter to the very core of our mission to publish a diversity of voices and perspectives. We will, therefore, proceed in our publishing agreement with vice-president Mike Pence.”

Recent News

09Jul
Is The Salt Path Story as True as It Claims

Is The Salt Path Story as True as It Claims

The author of the best-selling memoir The Salt Path has been accused of stealing £64,000 before losing her home after she failed to pay off her debts, as well as fabricating or giving misleading information about some elements of her book. The 2018 book, and recent film adaptation, told the story of a couple who […]

08Jul
Bibliotheca Alexandrina Celebrates Knowledge

Bibliotheca Alexandrina Celebrates Knowledge

Amid a vibrant cultural atmosphere, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina inaugurated the 20th edition of its International Book Fair, which will run until 21 July 2025. This milestone edition sees broad participation from Egyptian and Arab publishing houses, organized in collaboration with the General Egyptian Book Organization and the Egyptian and Arab Publishers Association.   Marking two […]

08Jul
Boualem Sansal’s Sentence Causes Global Protest

Boualem Sansal’s Sentence Causes Global Protest

The International Publishers Association (IPA) has called the continuing detention of the Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal’s an “afront to freedom of expression”. This week a court in Algeria upheld Sansal’s five-year prison sentence.  The author was charged in March under Algeria’s anti-terrorism laws and convicted of “undermining national unity”. Kristenn Einarsson, Chair of the IPA’s […]

Related Posts

Bibliotheca Alexandrina Celebrates Knowledge

Bibliotheca Alexandrina Celebrates Knowledge

Amid a vibrant cultural atmosphere, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina inaugurated the 20th edition of its International Book Fair, which will run until 21 July 2025. This milestone edition sees broad participation from Egyptian and Arab publishing houses, organized in...

Boualem Sansal’s Sentence Causes Global Protest

Boualem Sansal’s Sentence Causes Global Protest

The International Publishers Association (IPA) has called the continuing detention of the Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal's an “afront to freedom of expression”. This week a court in Algeria upheld Sansal's five-year prison sentence.  The author was charged in...

New Era for Intellectual Property in UAE Academia

New Era for Intellectual Property in UAE Academia

Building on its growing international presence in intellectual property protection while reinforcing the UAE’s standing as a regional and international hub in this field, the Emirates Reprographic Rights Management Association (ERRA) has announced the signing of the...

Previous Next
Close
Test Caption
Test Description goes like this