Classy move, Random House

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willietheshakes

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According to the Mediadecoder blog at the New York Times, it's going to be a happy holiday season for every Random House employee in the US (and, if my Facebook feed is to be believed, possibly in Canada?):

Markus Dohle, the chief executive of Random House, promised employees — from top editors to warehouse workers — a $5,000 bonus to celebrate a profitable year. The cheering went on for minutes, according to people in attendance.

Call it 5,000 shades of green.

It warms the very cockles, it does.
 

swvaughn

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That's... a lot of money.

I don't even want to THINK about the implications there regarding 50 Shades of Shoot Me.

But I'm super happy for all the Random House employees. Best holiday ever!
 

Filigree

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At least one company is offering an old-fashioned Christmas bonus instead of the new traditions: shorter hours, fights about benefits (if they're even available), and possibly a pink slip.

Publishers sell books. Right now, smut sells. Fifty Shades of Meh is not my particular cuppa, but since I signed on to the erotica bandwagon, I can't really complain about that market.

James and other celebrity authors are probably lifting sales for lots of unknown writers. They've forced the Big Five and a bunch of smaller publishers to accept erotica as a worthwhile risk, and successful self-published authors as a market-tested commodity.

The insane profits have probably allowed Random House's other divisions some breathing room. Maybe more slots for non-erotica writers. I know a lot of would-be sf&f authors who'd love to publish with Del Rey, and this might ultimately give them a better chance.

So, Merry Christmas to Random House.
 

swvaughn

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Oh, I have zero problems with smut. I'm all for smut -- more of it! Mainstream too! :D

I have other objections to 50S, but won't get into them here. I'll just be happy for the RH crew, who are getting a really nice thank-you. You're right, Filigree, that just doesn't happen any more. So yay for them! :)
 

jjdebenedictis

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Yowsers, that's an awesome Christmas bonus! Congratulations to the employees indeed!
 

Snowstorm

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Well good for Random House. Yep, a good ol' fashioned bonus. Nice to see the workers getting a bit of that "share the wealth" rather than just the CEOs getting mega-millions. Merry Christmas.
 

blacbird

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This also craps on the standard big corporation tradition of handing out year-end bonuses only to management people above a certain level (which one very large multinational I worked for always did).

caw
 

Torgo

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This also craps on the standard big corporation tradition of handing out year-end bonuses only to management people above a certain level (which one very large multinational I worked for always did).

caw

Every publisher I've worked for has had some kind of profit-share scheme. They're pretty good at that.
 

Williebee

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I have a friend who took the stock options instead of cash bonuses for about 10 years. Then the company sold. And she retired at around 40 with a collection of 7 figures in the bank.

Now she takes cruises and follows her favorite bands around the country.
 

fireluxlou

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I've worked for two companies (not publishers) that have had bonus schemes. It's always nice to get a letter saying how much you're going to get this half the year :D
 

ladyleeona

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Nice to know it's trickling all the way down. Probably going to make everyone's holidays a lot better. :) Good on them.
 

Beachgirl

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At least one company is offering an old-fashioned Christmas bonus instead of the new traditions: shorter hours, fights about benefits (if they're even available), and possibly a pink slip.

Publishers sell books. Right now, smut sells. Fifty Shades of Meh is not my particular cuppa, but since I signed on to the erotica bandwagon, I can't really complain about that market.

Can I + 1,000? And since I'm one of those people who got a pink slip in their holiday stocking, I'm thrilled with all the exposure (no pun intended) 50SOG has brought to the erotic romance genre.
 

fredXgeorge

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When I first saw the thread title I thought it was sarcastic. That is so great, especially when it is the same for ALL employees. Well done, Random House.
 

Tedium

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It seems like I've been seeing a lot of negative publishing news lately. It's really nice to see something good for a change.

Congrats to everyone at Random House.
 

frimble3

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When I first saw the thread title I thought it was sarcastic. That is so great, especially when it is the same for ALL employees. Well done, Random House.
Yes, that's what struck me, too. So many places would have automatically done it on a sliding scale. Good on them.
 
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