Layoffs at Random House, Simon & Schuster

Random House, etc. layoff…Yahoo is attributing it to the economy, but I wonder how much is do to people not reading in paper as much.

The economy has crashed down on an industry once believed immune from the worst — book publishing — with consolidation at Random House Inc., and layoffs at Simon & Schusterand Thomas Nelson Publishers.

At Random House, the country’s largest general trade publisher, the man who helped give the world “The Da Vinci Code” is in talks for a new position, while the publisher of Danielle Steel and other brand-name authors is leaving altogether.

“Yes, Virginia, book publishing is NOT recession proof,” said Patricia Schroeder, president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Publishers. “It’s sad day.”