Horror author Stephen King says in publishing trial that consolidation hurts competition

"You might as well say you're going to have a husband and wife bidding against each other for the same house.

Horror author Stephen King said in testimony on Tuesday in a trial to determine if Penguin Random House will be allowed to merge with Simon & Schuster that consolidation in the book industry is bad for competition.

In a trial that began on Monday, the U.S. Justice Department is arguing that a federal judge should block a $2.2 billion merger of two of the "Big Five" book publishers in a trial that is expected to also feature testimony from the chief executives of the two publishers. The government is arguing that the deal would lead to lower advances for some authors who earn $250,000 or more rather than a more traditional argument that consumers would pay more for books.

King took issue with pledges that the companies have made to allow Simon & Schuster imprints, basically different brands of books, to continue to bid against Penguin Random House independently for books. "You might as well say you're going to have a husband and wife bidding against each other for the same house. It's kind of ridiculous," he said in court.