Market leaders to create a series of Mystery Case Files books and Harlequin Presents games

Harlequin Enterprises Limited, the global leader in series romance and one of the world's leading publishers of women's fiction, and Big Fish Games(TM), the world's leading online destination for games and interactive entertainment, today announced a new licensing partnership.

In the summer of 2009, Big Fish Games will begin publishing interactive games inspired by Harlequin Presents, the most popular romance-novel series in the world, which regularly tops eRetailer and retail bookstore bestseller lists. These games will be sold on line exclusively at www.bigfishgames.com and at all major retail stores.

In the second quarter of 2010, Harlequin will begin publishing a branded series of books inspired by Mystery Case Files(R), Big Fish Games' award-winning franchise with over 3 million units sold. These novels will be written by Harlequin's bestselling authors. Harlequin will be the first to publish women's mystery fiction for Big Fish Games.

In 2008, Harlequin sold 130 million books and enjoyed a total of 252 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists. Almost half of all romance readers read Harlequin, and the company has some 13 million series readers. Harlequin sold a book every 4.1 seconds in 2008 and has sold 5.76 billion books since its inception. Also in 2008, Big Fish Games served its global customer base nearly 400 million games.

Basketball Legend Jerry West to Publish His Autobiography

Michael Pietsch, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Little, Brown and Company, announced today that Jerry West will write his autobiography for publication in 2010. With the help of critically acclaimed writer Jonathan Coleman, bestselling author of Long Way to Go: Black and White in America and Exit the Rainmaker, West will candidly and poignantly recount the fascinating, complex life of one of sports' greatest heroes -- on and off the court. Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group.

Alfred A. Knopf Canada to Publish a Memoir from Canadian Entertainer Anne Murray

Alfred A. Knopf Canada is acquiring Canadian publisher for a memoir from music icon Anne Murray. The book, tentatively titled All of Me, is scheduled for publication in the Fall of 2009.

"We are thrilled to be publishing what is sure to be one of the most sought after memoirs of 2009. We all grew up with Anne Murray. She is one of Canada's most enduring music legends - and a beloved, admired figure well beyond the music field," says Michael Schellenberg, Knopf Canada's Associate Publisher and acquiring editor of the book. "She has legions of fans who are going to want to find out what the somewhat private performer has to say about her career and the challenges she has met being in the public eye for over four decades. As a great entertainer, she has taken on the writing of her memoirs with the same vitality and professionalism that she brings to her work. This will be a major book for fall 2009."

From her humble beginnings in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Anne Murray has sold more than 50 million albums in a distinguished career that spans four decades and includes four Grammy awards, three American Music Awards, three Canadian Country Music Association Awards and twenty-four Juno Awards. She has been making music since the late 1960s, and the story of her rise to international success mirrors the story of the Canadian music industry. As one of the few Canadian megastars of that era, she prides herself for having remained in Canada.

The book will be written alongside Michael Posner (the author of 4 non-fiction books including The Last Honest Man, a biography on Mordecai Richler). Arnold Gosewich, Murray's literary agent and Anne Murray's manager Bruce Allen completed the deal.

Rodale to Publish Dr. David A. Kessler

On April 27, 2009 Rodale will publish "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite" by Dr. David A. Kessler who served as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration under presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Over the course of seven years, Dr. Kessler met with top scientists, physicians, psychologists, and food industry insiders and conducted research to put together a picture of the multilayered influences that condition millions of us to eat more than we want to or should.

In "The End of Overeating" Dr. Kessler explains that certain combinations of sugar, fat, and salt drive us to eat, and then demonstrates how the food industry create products to stimulate our appetites. This in turn sets in motion a seemingly unbreakable cycle of desire and consumption. His goal in writing "The End of Overeating" is to change the way we look at what we eat and how we can change our behavior.

Dr. David Kessler, a pediatrician, has been the dean of the medical schools at Yale University and the University of California, San Francisco, where he currently is Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology and Biostatistics. He is a graduate of Amherst College, the University of Chicago Law School, and Harvard Medical School.