Open letter takes aim at some Simon & Schuster publishing deals

Simon & Schuster may have severed distribution ties with one controversial book, but some of its employees still have criticisms of its decisions.

Employees are circulating an open letter that anyone — not just their co-workers — is welcome to sign.

The letter lists a number of goals:

• That Simon & Schuster cancel its book deal with former Vice President Mike Pence and refrain from signing any future deals with Trump administration members. On Tuesday, the publisher's president told staff that Pence's deal would remain, in the spirit of its "mission to publish a diversity of voices and perspectives," according to the Guardian.

• That it end its distribution deal with Post Hill Press, which published controversial US Representative Matt Gaetz and will publish a memoir by a police officer involved in the raid that killed Breonna Taylor. (Simon & Schuster said last week that it would not handle the distribution of that officer's memoir, though it would honor other distribution agreements with the press.)

• And that it re-evaluate, on an ongoing basis, all partnerships that promote bigotry and/or harm marginalized communities.

The open letter to Simon & Schuster is available publicly.