John Irving Leaves Random House for Simon & Schuster

Posted on May 17, 2011

Author John Irving is switching publishers. He is leaving his longtime publisher Random House for Simon & Schuster. Irving signed a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster.

Irving told the Wall Street Journal, "I might not have looked at Random House with a slightly critical eye if I had seen my titles decline in foreign territories, but they've done as well or better as previous titles. Only in the U.S. have my titles taken a hit."

Random House, which has published eight of Irving's books, said in a statement, "While we are sorry we could not reach an agreement to publish his latest novel, we are proud to have been John's publisher and we will continue to market his backlist vigorously. We wish him the best."

Publishers Weekly calls Irving's move to Simon & Schuster a major coup for publisher Jonathan Karp. Karp says publishing Irving is a "privilege I have dreamed of since I was a young Random House editor and was introduced to John by his first editor, Joe Fox."