PW Daily carried this news item reports today that religious publishing house Thomas Nelson (www.thomasnelson.com/consumer/) will be bought by InterMedia Partners VII. Terms of the agreement are available here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6308997.html?display=breaking
What caught my eye was the name Leo Hindery, Jr., InterMedia’s managing partner. Hindery is a big-time cable deal-maker and prolific Democrat donor. Mother Jones profiles his donations here: http://www.motherjones.com/news/special_reports/mojo_400/29_hindery.html
It’s interesting that just as Nelson moves into conservative non-fiction in a big way, with books by conservatives like Glenn Reynolds and Michael Savage published under their Nelson Current imprint, the house is bought by a firm controlled by a major liberal donor. This could be a very interesting marriage of corporate cultures. One hopes InterMedia simply sees religious and conservative publishing as a growth area, and will give company president Michael Hyatt complete editorial control.
If this is a George Soros-styled attempt to muzzle dissenting opinions, it is doomed to failure. The notion that conservative books sell is now well established in my industry. Regnery will continue to publish bestsellers, and the New York-based houses will follow their lead. Let’s hope Hindery & Co. are looking to make money, rather than waste it.
