PEANUTS Children's Publishing Rights Acquired by Running Press

Running Press Book Publishers, an imprint of the Perseus Books Group, has acquired the primary PEANUTS children's publishing license from United Media (UM), the agency that syndicates and licenses PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz. The deal with UM will initiate a novelty children's book line that will focus on the vast amount of content derived from the PEANUTS comic strip and popular television specials. Already in the works for a fall 2007 release is "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."

Writer/Director Andrea Janakas Will Adapt Award-Winning Memoir, LAST TIME I WORE A DRESS

Andrea Janakas who recently directed the award winning festival favorite, "GYPSIES, TRAMPS, & THIEVES" is attached to adapt the compelling memoir, "LAST TIME I WORE A DRESS" which Harper's Bazaar described as "a gripping account of a young girl's sojourn in the looking-glass world of psychiatric institutions."

"LAST TIME I WORE A DRESS" by Daphne Scholinski is about a young girl growing up in the Chicago suburbs who played first base in Little League and preferred drawing to playing with dolls. When she was 15 years old she was locked up in a mental hospital, diagnosed as "an inappropriate female", and spent the rest of her high school years undergoing extreme femininity training. At 18, her insurance ran out and she was discharged.

Now 40 years old, Dylan Scholinski, is a distinguished artist, author and public speaker. Dylan has appeared on 20/20, Dateline, and Today to discuss his hospital experiences and has been featured in such publications as Harper's Bazaar, Elle Magazine, USA Today, Spin, and the Boston Globe, to retell his story.

After 10 years in publication, one of the top essential books on adolescent hospital memoirs, will now be retold on the big screen.

Scholastic to Publish Mega-Bestselling Author Meg Cabot

Scholastic has won the rights to publish Meg Cabot, one of today's most popular and bestselling authors for teens. The deal was negotiated on behalf of Meg Cabot by Laura Langlie of Laura Langlie Literary Agency.

Meg Cabot, who took the publishing world by storm with her phenomenally successful Princess Diaries books, heads off in a dazzling new direction with the launch of three brand-new series. As part of its "Meg Cabot Girl-World Domination" campaign, Scholastic will publish Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls, a smart, funny series for readers ages 8-12 launching in spring 2008. In addition to the Allie Finkle books, two new trilogies for teens, Airhead and Abandon, will be published in 2008 and 2009. Airhead is daring, highly entertaining and a new direction for Meg Cabot, and Abandon is a dramatic modern retelling of the myth of Persephone.

Meg Cabot is the author of over forty books for adults and teens, many of which have been bestsellers including five #1 New York Times bestsellers, most notably the Princess Diaries series from HarperCollins.

Randall Radic Signs Book Deal with Ephemera Bound

Randall Radic's book, "The Sound of Meat," is to be published by Ephemera Bound. The memoir is awaited with some anticipation for its literary merit. " "The Sound of Meat" is to be released by Ephemera Bound on June 30, 2007.Ephemera Bound is an independent press, specializing in an eclectic mix of works ignored by other publishers. Other authors include J. Eric Miller, Cindy Bokma, Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc, Sensuous Sadie, The Suburban Diva & Satan's Angel.

New English Author Gets Signed by CAA

The LA based Creative Artists Agency, is acting as agent for English author Jasper Cooper to deal with inquiries for film rights. Jasper's first book, Candara's Gift, which became an Amazon No.1 bestseller following its launch in June 2006, is now attracting significant interest as potential for a major film. The enthusiastic Hollywood interest in turning the fantasy book into a film has delighted Jasper.

Jasper Cooper's first book Candara's Gift has already made the first strides towards becoming a world-wide success. Jasper is in contact with many publishers around the world who have shown a positive interest in publishing the trilogy in their countries. He has already secured a contract with a Turkish publisher. In the UK Candara's Gift continues to sell well in Waterstones bookstores throughout the country. These developments are remarkable for a self published book which has had very little promotion since its online beginnings at Amazon. However Jasper is now looking for the right UK publisher to take on the Kingdom of Gems trilogy so that he can concentrate fully on his writing.