Gallery Books to publish the rise, fall, and rise again memoirs of WWE Champion Drew McIntyre

The Simon & Schuster imprint, Gallery Books has struck a deal with WWE to publish the memoirs of the Drew McIntyre, a WWE Champion, under the title of A Chosen Destiny: My Story.

The new title will highlight McIntyre’s life journey from a small village in Scotland to the global spotlight of WWE, documenting how from a young age, he dreamed of becoming a WWE Champion.

Slated for release on May 4th, this year, A Chosen Destiny will be published simultaneously as an audiobook from Simon & Schuster Audio and will be read by the author.

The memoir will recount his younger years proving himself to the small crowds on the UK’s Butlin circuit, before making the move to the WWE at the age of 22. He was touted by WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon as The CHosen One to lead the WWE into the future.

However, a series of ill-advised choices and family tragedy saw McIntyre’s life and career spiral. Struggling under the pressure of expectations, he was eventually released from WWE. But, buoyed by the support of his wife and the memory of his beloved mother, McIntyre embarked on a mission to recharge, reinvent and revitalize himself to fulfill his destiny.

“Throughout my career, I have always had an honest and open relationship with my fans,” said WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. “I am honored that Gallery Books has given me the opportunity to tell my story in hopes of inspiring others around the world to follow their dreams.”

“Drew McIntyre has captivated WWE fans everywhere with his explosive popularity and persona in and out of the ring,” said Ed Schlesinger, senior editor, licensing manager for Gallery Books. “We’re incredibly thrilled to be partnering with him and WWE to present his unforgettable, no-holds-barred story of making it to the top as World Champion.”

Penguin Random House owner Bertelsmann sets out to acquire Simon & Schuster for $2.2bn

Bertelsmann, owner of publishers Penguin Random House, has set out to acquire Simon & Schuster from ViacomCBS for $2.2bn, in a move that would ‘strengthen the company’s global footprint,’ particularly in the US.

Simon & Schuster employs around 1,500 people worldwide and generated revenues of $814 million in 2019.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close sometime next year. Bertelsmann has stated that it is ‘confident’ the acquisition would be approved.

The Bookseller reports that Simon & Schuster will continue to be managed as a separate publishing entity under the Penguin Random House umbrella.

Thomas Rabe, chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann said that the deal to acquire Simon & Schuster will enable the company to expand its global content business, strengthen its digital offering and build dominance in the US.

“Following the full acquisition of Penguin Random House in April this year, this purchase marks another strategic milestone in strengthening our global content businesses, which includes Penguin Random House, the Fremantle TV production business, and the BMG music division,” said Rabe.

“The book business has been part of Bertelsmann’s identity since the founding of C Bertelsmann Verlag more than 185 years ago and has lost none of its appeal to this day. Bertelsmann continues to be one of the world’s leading creative companies with annual investments in content of around €6bn.

“Bertelsmann will finance the acquisition of Simon & Schuster from existing cash resources. External borrowing is not necessary, thanks partly to the overall positive business development since the summer and the already completed sale of various businesses, investments and real-estate properties.”

Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, added: “Simon & Schuster is an extremely well-managed and extraordinarily attractive company with world-renowned authors, 2,000 new publications annually, and a catalog of 35,000 titles. We are very proud to welcome this esteemed company, founded in 1924, to our global publishing community.

“We share the same passion for books and reading and will work together to give our authors the greatest possible access to readers worldwide. Penguin Random House empowers its 320 publishers around the world with maximum creative and entrepreneurial freedom and will, of course, extend this to our new colleagues at Simon & Schuster.”

Ian Chapman, UK and international publisher and CEO for Simon & Schuster, said: “The news today comes at the end of a long year for us all and we welcome it with open arms. To become part of the outstanding global company that is Penguin Random House is a truly significant moment for us all. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the staff in the UK, India and Australia for their fortitude and resilience during this uncertain time and our authors and their literary agents who have shown abiding loyalty and trust in us. We look forward to thriving even more vibrantly under new ownership.”

Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing named master publishing partner for Fred Rogers’ new pre-school series Donkey Hodie

Fred Rogers Productions, the entertainment company behind Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Odd Squad, and Peg + Cat, has tapped Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing as its master publishing partner for Donkey Hodie, its multi-platform puppet series for pre-schoolers.

The new series will launch early next year on PBS Kids, it will be supplemented with a wide range of books from Simon & Schuster, all inspired by the new show and the work of Fred Rogers to begin rolling out at retail in the first quarter of 2022.

“We’re very excited to build on our successful relationship with Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing for our newest brand, Donkey Hodie,” said Paul Siefken, president and CEO, Fred Rogers Productions. “Donkey Hodie shows children that they can accomplish great things with a can-do attitude, perseverance, and a little help from their friends.”

Valerie Garfield, VP, publisher, novelty and licensed publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, added: “We’re delighted to develop books for this stunning new series and build on its timely messages about creative problem-solving and goal-setting for pre-schoolers beyond the screen.

“We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with Fred Rogers Productions with another standout brand that will inspire kids and families to learn and play together.”

Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing’s broad assortment of titles for Donkey Hodie will encompass storybooks; Ready-to-Read beginning readers; board books; novelty titles, including pop-up and lift-the-flap titles; early chapter books; and e-book formats. As master publishing partner for Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, the company has produced more than 10 million books in print across a range of formats for that license.

Donkey Hodie is an imaginative puppet series that follows the adventures of Donkey Hodie, a sweet, yellow donkey with a magenta mohawk, and her pals – Purple Panda, Duck Duck, and Bob Dog – who live in the land of Someplace Else. Donkey Hodie is the granddaughter of the original Donkey Hodie character (now known as Grampy Hodie) from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, who appeared in 59 episodes of the beloved classic children’s series.

The new Donkey Hodie series, produced by Fred Rogers Productions and Spiffy Pictures (Nature Cat), is designed to empower children ages three to five to dream big and overcome obstacles in their own lives, to work hard and persevere in the face of failure, to be resourceful and discover they can solve problems on their own—and to laugh themselves silly along the way.

The series is currently in production on 40 half-hour episodes and will feature new music along with re-imagined versions of Fred Rogers’ original songs to reinforce and underscore each story’s positive message.

Asmodee’s Aconyte Books strikes UK distribution deal with Simon & Schuster

Aconyte Books, the fiction imprint of the global games company, Asmodee Entertainment has entered into a distribution agreement with Simon & Schuster for the UK book trade.

Under the new deal, the publishing house will handle sales and distribution when the Aconyte portfolio launches in the UK this October. A partnership with Simon & Schuster is already in place for the US market.

Aconyte’s mission it to create deep tie-in fiction set in the fantasy world’s of much of Asmodee’s game portfolio, as well as those of other partners including Marvel.

Sarah Anderson, client publishing director at Simon & Schuster, said: “We are delighted to welcome Aconyte to the Simon & Schuster family, and we look forward to a long and fruitful partnership over the years to come.”

Aconyte’s publisher, Marc Gascoigne added: “This is lovely news. We’re doing something a little different with fantasy fiction, and the experienced team at Simon & Schuster are a perfect fit. With their impressive track record handling tie-in books based on world-famous properties, Simon & Schuster are the ideal partners to help launch our novels into the British book trade.”