Book Deal

"New" edition of LOTR coming out in 2021!
I'll buy it if there's a new preface by the author.

The Wall Street Journal writes that its parent News Corp is about to acquire the consumer arm of book publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

The deal, which the people said could be announced as early as Monday, would add a portfolio of high-profile novels from authors such as George Orwell, Philip Roth and J.R.R. Tolkien to News Corp’s HarperCollins Publishers division. Terms of the deal couldn’t be learned.

Comments:
1) "Terms of the deal couldn't be learned" is probably not entirely true because the WSJ reporters' contacts with the finance industry are second to none, and they also have internal connections with parent News Corp. However, for legal and ethical reasons only the parties directly involved can release merger information. This information restriction is an example of the Chinese Wall.

2) Nice to know that someone still thinks that they can make money off of books.

3) "authors such as George Orwell, Philip Roth and J.R.R. Tolkien" -- I have read and like these well-known writers, though I hope that they're getting some authors who, you know, aren't dead.