By Emily Nazemgoff, Staff Writer

On Oct. 19, 2026, the “Big Five” publishing houses — Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan and Penguin Random House — announced they would stop publishing books indefinitely. A spokesperson from HarperCollins said that they would stop releasing books with topics that made people uncomfortable, for the sake of American citizens. This decision came from a sharp uptick in banned books, a steep decline in book sales, and pressure from various figures. “Nobody forced us to do this. Just when the ALA and Concerned Women for America won’t leave us alone, there is only one clear option,” commented one HarperCollins employee.

“Books are just too political these days. Every day, there are books about real life. Nobody is reading books about safe topics anymore,” says Jennifer Lambert, the editor-in-chief of HarperCollins. “We will no longer publish books until authors write non-offensive books.”

This decision has been in the making for years. In 2018, Macmillan announced that it would stop publishing children’s books. “All of these books are trying to change children. Even the most inconspicuous of books has a hidden agenda. We cannot willingly contribute to the grooming of children any longer. Books about racism make kids feel embarrassed to be American. If innocent children read books about sex, drugs, or homosexuality, what is stopping them from trying these things?”

This statement was met with poor reactions from the other Big Five houses. “You cannot give in to the book banners. They are literally people who spend all their time trying to get books removed from public spaces. They won’t stop until illiteracy runs rampant,” said Nihar Malaviya, the CEO of Penguin Random House Publishing. High-level employees from Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins agreed with Malaviya’s sentiments. “Giving in to the book banners tells them they are right,” said an anonymous Hachette Book Group employee.

Despite the fiery response from Hachette Book Group, a mere two years later, they announced that they would stop publishing books of the Young Adult genre. “The majority of teenage readers are reading YA. These young adult books are heavily influencing teenagers every day. These children are being corrupted by books about sex and drugs. One book can change the course of a life. We cannot commit to corrupting children anymore. Our contacts at Concerned Women for America are helping us implement this change. We are forever grateful to them for showing us the dark side of books,” said a representative from Hachette Book Group. They also mentioned that the anonymous employee had been let go for “going against their company beliefs and policies.” Let it be remembered that Hachette Book Group’s official response was anti-Macmillan, as was the anonymous statement.

This all culminated in the unanimous decision from the Big Five. They will stop publishing books to “protect American citizens,” according to Simon and Schuster. Penguin Random House, Macmillan, and Hachette Book House all confirmed that, as internationally based publishing houses, they would continue publishing out of the US.

The decision to continue international publishing was met with relief by American citizens. “Think about it this way. When my little boy started reading, he stopped playing with rifles. Now, he can only hit a bullseye from 250 yards. In all those other countries, they will be so busy reading that their aim will tank. Now we can defeat all those inferior countries. This way when we invade Canada, we can beat Canada in any war, just like how I beat everyone in all the wars.” said Eric Cartman, 29, of South America, Colorado. Cartman is a vocal book banner, and an active supporter of the Concerned Women for America.

However, book banning as a war strategy isn’t a popular opinion. “Eric? We fought together. He was such a damn fool he almost got his brains blown out. You know, he wants to invade Canada.” said Kyle Broflovski, 32, of Boulder, Colorado. “If there are no more books, people will only get dumber. Imagine if we had nothing but spears against nuclear bombs.”

Without even factoring in the war element, the idea of ridding America of new books was met with overwhelming support. “I just wish we could have done this earlier. About three years ago, my little girl read this book about girls kissing. Now she is kissing girls. Last week, a girl proposed to her! If she hadn’t read this book, she would be married to a man. She used to like men, you know,” said Penny Young Nance, CEO and president of Concerned Women of America. Nance’s daughter got engaged to her long-term girlfriend last week. “Of course, we love and support reading. Empowering young women is the most rewarding part of this job. I would recommend that every young woman read Feisty & Feminine: A Rallying Cry for Conservative Women. I wrote it to help little girls become pillars in their society.”

“Kids these days are so moldable. Every day, they come home learning something new from books. Kids don’t need to learn about racism, war, or that silly gender nonsense. Racism is as much of a fantasy as unicorns and vaccines. No more books about how it isn’t trendy to be white will mean that little kids won’t feel uncomfortable in their own skin,” said Mary Doxer, a mother of four and vocal book banner.

Doxer is an active member of Concerned Women for America, an organization that advocates for, among other things, the removal of all books they deem unacceptable. “I am so glad that the publishers are finally working with us. It was so exhausting, getting books banned, one by one. And the worst part was that we had to repeat it all the time. If you banned a book in Dallas public schools, you would have to ban it in Houston. Finally, the publishers are not only meeting us where we are, but also trying to accommodate different beliefs. If they accommodate all those woke books, they should extend the same courtesy to us,” Doxer said. All of these quotes highlight one overarching theme, publishing may be a thing of the past.

“This is a disgrace. What happened to freedom of the press?,” inquired Sophie Smith, a resident of Omaha, Nebraska. “When my parents immigrated here, they told me that you could speak your thoughts and think what you want to think. What happened to that? It means so much to my kids when they get to read books about people like them. There are so few books about marginalized groups, and now it will be stuck at this number forever.” Smith’s two kids, 14 and 12 are both avid readers.

Another side effect of a stagnant number of books is in the classroom. “I teach high school, and  I have for nearly 20 years. And I try to update the curriculum, you know? Swapping To Kill A Mockingbird with The House on Mango Street. Additionally, I was going to start teaching an African American literature class next year. How am I supposed to teach a class with an outdated curriculum? No new books are impossible for educators,” said an anonymous high school English teacher. Despite the criticism, the Big Five will stay stubborn unless something changes. Because the many book banners in positions of power are much more important than a few random people.

But how do kids feel about this? “Books and pieces literature and historical documents are literally our main way of knowing how we’ve evolved…If we didn’t have a lot of those things written down in books, in literature, in historical documents, we won’t be able to know over half of our history,” said Lucy Escobar (pseudonym) ‘30. “The things that we are banning right now in this country are books and pieces of literature that have a lot of meaning and that show issues that happened. If we don’t share these things through literature, we are cutting off our access to learning and knowledge.” Despite the vocal opinions of Doxer and the other people who worked tirelessly to reach this monumental goal, not everybody is thrilled, including Sapna Tipirneni ‘30. “Books are a form of communication. They spread knowledge, thereby shaping the world for the better. Banning a book is taking away valuable information, and erasing one’s right of free speech.”