Penguin Books moves into self-publishing industry

London, July 21 (ANI): The parent company of renowned publishing house Penguin Books, Pearson, has bought one of the biggest self-publishing companies, Author Solutions Inc (ASI) for 116 million pounds.

The move comes as a big step by Penguin Books into the rapidly expanding self-publishing industry.

Penguin said the deal gave it a leading position in a sector that has entered the mainstream in the past three years.

"Buying Author Solutions will allow Penguin to participate fully in perhaps the fastest-growing area of the publishing economy and gain skills in customer acquisition and data analytics that will be vital to our future," the BBC quoted Penguin chief executive, John Makinson, as saying.

However, some have criticised the buy-out, with one authors' organisation saying it could threaten the rights of new writers.

Deputy General Secretary of The Society of Authors, Kate Pool, said the deal is "misleading" to budding writers."Companies like those in the ASI stable claim to be self-publishing but are not," she claimed.

"Our concern is that ASI companies are very misleading to aspiring authors. They are not self-publishing, nor are they proper publishers, though the apparent endorsement of the Penguin/Pearson brand may lead some authors to think they are," she added.

ASI's chief executive Kevin Weiss said the company was "thrilled to join Penguin to accelerate the pace of change in the industry". (ANI)