In news that many publishing veterans will see as ironic, Paramount has announced that it has formed a book publishing imprint, Paramount Global Publishing. Paramount, now part of the giant Skydance, was the longtime owner of Simon & Schuster and couldn’t wait to sell off the publishing company. After a deal with Penguin Random House was blocked by the government, S&S was sold to private investment firm KKR. In addition, for a brief period of time, Paramount executives changed the name of the company to Paramount Publishing, a decision that was unpopular with S&S employees.
The new Paramount team sees book publishing as a way to expand “how fans engage with the company's revered content while also creating new opportunities to develop original IP.” Operating under the products & experiences division, PGP “will develop complementary publishing content inspired by its iconic portfolio of brands and franchises as well as generate new IP through the creation of original stories,” according to the announcement.
The announcement suggests that in addition to continuing to do licensing deals with publishing partners, PGP will publish its own books. The publisher will “oversee direct development, creation and production of the Paramount Global Publishing books,” the announcement said. A distribution partner will be named in the future along with the names of some titles.
The publishing business is being overseen by Josh Silverman, president, Global Products & Experiences, Paramount. Silverman has worked at Disney, Marvel, and Mattel, all companies that are involved in book licensing deals. While at Mattel, Silverman oversaw the creation of an in-house imprint.
Heading up the imprint is Amy Jarashow, who was named head of global publishing. Jarashow is well known in publishing circles, having worked as licensing director at Parragon before being named VP of global publishing at Paramount.
