Carol Publishing Group was an American

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

company.

Lyle Stuart Lyle Stuart (born Lionel Simon; August 11, 1922June 24, 2006) was an American author and independent publisher of controversial books. He worked as a newsman for years before launching his publishing firm, Lyle Stuart, Incorporated. A former pa ...

founded its predecessor around 1955. Steven Schragis bought Stuart's publishing business in early 1989, renaming it to Carol Publishing. Carol was a going concern from its 1989 sale to its bankruptcy in 2000;

Kensington Books Kensington Publishing Corp. is an American, New Yorkbased publishing house founded in 1974 by Walter Zacharius (1923–2011)Grimes, William''New York Times'' (MARCH 7, 2011). and Roberta Bender Grossman (1946–1992). Kensington is known as "Am ...

bought its assets after Carol liquidated. It was mainly known for salacious titles about celebrities.

Early history and sale (1955–1989)

The organization that was to become Carol Publishing Group began around 1955, when

established Lyle Stuart, Inc., a publishing outfit later based in

Secaucus, New Jersey Secaucus ( ) is a Town (New Jersey), town in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 22,181, an increase of 5,917 (+36.4%) from the 2010 United St ...

, known for "scandalous" titles including biographies of celebrities. Stuart sold his eponymous company, and its imprints Citadel Press and University Books, to Carol Management for US$12 million, effective January 9, 1989. The deal was orchestrated by Steven Schragis, then the executive vice president of Carol Management. After the sale closed, Schragis took over control of the new entity, known initially as Carol Communications. Carol Management was a family business and Schragis was a member of the family that controlled it. The name "Carol" was Schragis's mother's and his purchase from Lyle Stuart was financed with a loan from his parents, aunt, and Carol Management itself.

Operations, litigation, and bankruptcy (1989–2000)

Carol's business model focused on

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

and

publicity In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The sub ...

. An encyclopedia of publishing suggests that Schragis, in his role as Carol's head, "exemplified the ' hard-sell' accountant-publisher mentality of today taken to perhaps its furthest extreme". A 2001 profile of Schragis said Carol was known for its "lowbrow celebrity bios"; ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' called Carol a publisher of "salacious star biographies". Carol published several unauthorized biographies and distributed (but did not itself publish) a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

manual called '' Final Exit'' by

Derek Humphry Derek Humphry (29 April 1930 – 2 January 2025) was a British and American journalist and author. He was a proponent of legal assisted suicide and the right to die. In 1980 he co-founded the Hemlock Society and in 2004 after the Society dissol ...

, an advocate of the

right to die The right to die is a concept rooted in the belief that individuals have the Self-ownership, autonomy to make fundamental decisions about their own lives, including the choice to Suicide, end them or undergo voluntary euthanasia, central to the b ...

. An imprint named after Lyle Stuart published books by

Kahlil Gibran Gibran Khalil Gibran (January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931), usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and Visual arts, visual artist; he was also considered a philosopher, although he himself reject ...

. Carol made a foray into artificial intelligence with the 1993 romance novel '' Just This Once'', about three quarters of which was written by a computer. In 1990, Carol won an appeal in the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

that allowed it to publish ''A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed'', a biography of

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored the pseudoscie ...

, who founded the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...

. The book contained quotations from Hubbard's writings totaling about 3 percent of the biography.

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

sued Carol over ''The Joy of Trek: How to Enhance Your Relationship with a "Star Trek" Fan'', which Paramount said infringed its copyright in ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

''. Carol lost. It lost again in '' Castle Rock Entertainment, Inc. v. Carol Publishing Group Inc.'' (1998), where the Second Circuit, affirming the trial judgment by

Sonia Sotomayor Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...

, found that Carol's ''Seinfeld Aptitude Test'', a trivia book about ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'', infringed

Castle Rock Entertainment Castle Rock Entertainment is an American independent film and television production company founded in 1987 by Martin Shafer, director Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman, Glenn Padnick (September 8, 1947 – February 27, 2025) and Alan Horn. Histo ...

's copyright in the show. Around April 1999, a sale of Carol to LPC Group, a book distributor, appeared imminent. As of that time, Carol published 100–125 new books each year and had a

backlist A backlist is a list of older books available from a publisher. This is opposed to newly-published titles, which is sometimes known as the frontlist. Business Building a strong backlist has traditionally been considered the best method to produce ...

of 1,300. The deal fell through. Carol filed for bankruptcy on November 15, 1999. Its assets were sold in 2000 to

. Carol was headquartered at 120 Enterprise Avenue, Secaucus, New Jersey. Its booklist covered most commercial categories. Its Citadel imprint was the second-largest entertainment book publisher in the United States. Carol's editor-in-chief was Hillel Black.

References

{{Authority control 1955 establishments in the United States 2000 disestablishments in New Jersey Book publishing companies based in New Jersey Defunct companies based in New Jersey Secaucus, New Jersey Companies based in Hudson County, New Jersey Mass media in Hudson County, New Jersey