Monday, November 30, 2009

Doubleday Canada to publish a new book from international comedy star Russell Peters



Doubleday Canada is proud to announce that it has acquired the rights to a new book from international comedy star Russell Peters. The yet-untitled book will be published in Fall, 2010.

Born in Toronto, Russell Peters is an international comedy sensation. Over the course of his twenty-year career, he has headlined comedy festivals at home in Canada and throughout North America. In recent years, he has gained a devoted following around the world, and has performed sold out arena tours of China, South Africa, Australia, the UK, Singapore, Sweden, Norway, Lebanon, Bahrain, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and India.

Peters uses his wry and funny observations about race, class and culture to illuminate our human shortcomings with the sizzling accuracy of a well-aimed laser. His quick wit and gift for mimicking languages and accents allows Russell to create characters of all races and cultures to forge an immediate bond with his audience, regardless of their cultural background.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Self-Publishing Imprint Harlequin Horizons Furthers Opportunities for

Harlequin Enterprises Limited has launched Harlequin Horizons; a self-publishing partnership with Author Solutions, Inc. (ASI) -- the world's leading self-publisher.

Harlequin, Book Business magazine's 2009 Publishing Innovator of the Year, regards the self-publishing venture as an accessible opportunity for emerging authors to bring themselves to the attention of the reading public.

"Harlequin Horizons expands upon Harlequin's tradition of providing wonderful opportunities for fresh voices in women's fiction," said Donna Hayes, publisher and CEO of Harlequin Enterprises. "Partnering with Author Solutions, Inc., the recognized world leader in self-publishing, is an innovative and original approach to discovering new authors to add to our traditional publishing programs."

Through this strategic alliance, all sales, marketing, publishing, distribution, and book-selling services will be fulfilled by ASI, but Harlequin Horizons will exist as a division of Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Harlequin will monitor sales of books published through the self-publisher for possible pickup by its traditional imprints.

"Harlequin has been a leader in driving change in the publishing industry for many years, and we are thrilled to partner with them to launch Harlequin Horizons. This new imprint will give thousands of emerging authors the unprecedented opportunity to make their professionally published books available to the enthusiastic and growing set of women's fiction readers," said Kevin Weiss, ASI president and chief executive officer.

Harlequin Horizons is the second such partnership ASI has launched with a leading trade publisher in the last two months. The parent company of industry-leading self-publishing imprints AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford Publishing, and Xlibris, ASI brought to market more than 21,000 new titles in 2008.

To learn more about the publishing packages available through Harlequin Horizons, visit http://www.harlequinhorizons.com/.

DreamWorks Studios and Doubleday Acquire Rights to Robopocalypse

DreamWorks Studios and Doubleday have acquired, in a pre-emptive deal, the rights to Daniel H. Wilson's unpublished manuscript, "Robopocalypse," it was announced today by Mark Sourian and Holly Bario, Co-Presidents of Production at the studio, and Jason Kaufman, Executive Editor and Vice President, at Doubleday.

DreamWorks acquired the film rights from literary manager Justin Manask and is putting the project into accelerated development. Kaufman acquired world publishing rights to "Robopocalypse" from Laurie Fox at the Linda Chester Literary Agency and a tentative 2011 publication date has been set for the book.

"Robopocalypse" explores the fate of the human race following a robot uprising.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Innovative "Skinny" Series Shakes Up Traditional Publishing

RAND Publishing's award-winning SKINNY ON series is making waves in the publishing industry by challenging the conventional model for non-fiction books. The Skinny On books are... simply, skinny -- short, concise summations of bottom-line information presented in a visual and funny format.

"The Skinny on Success: Why Not You?" is the sixth installment from RAND this year. Their first book, "The Skinny on the Housing Crisis" was recently awarded the Gold Medal in a competition sponsored by NAREE, a group of 600 journalists, beating out power-publishers like Doubleday and Wiley.

"The Skinny on Success" features interviews with Jim Nantz, Brian Williams, and Olympic medalist Dwight Stones and endorsements from the CEO/Chairman of Pfizer and the CEO of The Huffington Post:

The Skinny On Series has already made a dent in the market; readers, reviewers, business leaders, and journalists alike are rejoicing in the time-saving, bottom-lined, "insider" format:

RAND Publishing titles are available at local or online booksellers through all major wholesalers including Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Brodart, and Follett or directly from the publisher at http://www.theskinnyon.com/.

Harlequin Launches Digital-Only Publishing House

Harlequin Enterprises Limited, the global leader in series romance and one of the world's leading publishers of women's fiction, announced the launch of Carina Press(TM), a digital-only publishing house that will operate independently of their traditional publishing businesses.

Carina Press (http://www.carinapress.com/) is a digital-only publishing house whose eBooks will be sold direct to consumers through the Carina Press Web site and numerous third-party Web sites. Carina Press will publish a wide range of women's fiction -- romance, erotica, science fiction, mystery, family sagas, choose your own adventures, horror, thriller and more, including every conceivable subgenre of these categories.

"As a digital-only publisher Carina Press is a natural extension to our business; it builds on our digital strength and leadership position. We expect to discover new authors and unique voices that may not be able to find homes in traditional publishing houses," said Donna Hayes, CEO and Publisher of Harlequin Enterprises. "It definitely gives us greater flexibility in the type of editorial we can accept from authors and offer to readers. As well, we hope to reach a new group of readers with niche editorial."

Brent Lewis, Vice President Digital, is delighted to announce that Angela James is joining Carina Press as Executive Editor. A veteran of the digital publishing industry, James is a well-known advocate for digital publishing. James has enjoyed a long and varied publishing career, including senior editorial positions at digital-first publishers. "I have admired Harlequin's digital initiatives for years, and have always thought of them as leaders in the digital arena, so I'm unbelievably excited to join the Carina Press team," said James. "I believe Harlequin can bring digital publishing to the next level for both authors and readers."

Lewis added, "Angela has been a key player in growing the digital marketplace for romance. Her experience and insight is a tremendous benefit to the Carina Press team."

Carina Press is currently accepting submissions in all genres of commercial fiction. Carina Press will consider shorter stories, genre novels of 50,000 to 100,000 words and longer, and complex narratives of over 100,000 words. Carina Press will also acquire books that have been previously released in print form, but for which the author has either retained digital rights or had digital rights revert to them. All submissions should be sent to submissions@carinapress.com.

Monday, November 09, 2009

Iceberg Interactive Acquires UK Publishing Rights for Dark Fall: Lights Out - The Director's Cut Edition

Premier videogame publisher Iceberg Interactive has signed the UK publishing rights to the re-mastered The Director's Cut version of Darkling Room's horror adventure for PC 'Dark Fall: Lights Out', the 2nd adventure in the Dark Fall saga. The agreement follows earlier agreements between the companies on Iceberg publishing the 3rd Dark Fall volume Lost Souls and the bundle Adventures in Terror. All three games are set for a November 2009 release.

Lights Out received a lot of acclaim upon its original release in 2004. Dark Fall series creator Jonathan Boakes, who also wrote the successful ghost-hunting title The Lost Crown, has been adding content to the original Lights Out adventure ever since its release, resulting in a much boosted Director's Cut edition to be re-released shortly. The new version includes many additional features such as new graphics and effects, new puzzles and an enhanced story, new spooks and thrills with more ghostly encounters, as well as new additional music and sound to bring the game world even more to life.

Erik Schreuder, CEO of Iceberg Interactive says: "'Lights Out is a great adventure, based on a real life event of people who vanished from a lighthouse about 100 years ago. We are proud to be re-releasing this eerie adventure's final cut, boosted to perform under modern Windows versions and using many upgrades to satisfy both curious newcomers as well as collectors of the Dark Fall series who want to delve deeper into the story and enjoy fresh new parts and puzzles in the game."

DreamWorks Studios Acquires Rights to Young Adult Book Series "Wicked"



DreamWorks Studios has acquired the rights to the young adult book series "Wicked" it was announced today by Mark Sourian and Holly Bario, Co-Presidents of Production for the studio. Aaron and Matthew Benay have signed on to write the adaptation based on their own pitch. The Gotham Group will produce.

A New York Times bestselling series and published by Simon & Schuster, "Wicked" is a five book series written by Nancy Holder and Debbie ViguiƩ. The first two books, "Witch" and "Curse," were published in 2002, followed by "Legacy" and "Spellbound" in 2003. The fifth book, "Resurrection," was published this past summer.

Story follows the journey of a young woman who learns she is a descendent of a powerful coven of witches. Complications arise when she falls in love with a boy who turns out to be a member of a rival coven sworn to destroy her family.

"'Wicked' has all the elements for a great movie--adventure, mystery, star-crossed lovers, bitter enemies, and the supernatural," said Mark Sourian. "Aaron and Matthew came in with an intriguing take on the books and a story that we feel will really speak to all audiences."

Aaron and Matthew Benay, who are brothers, wrote the script for "1906," which Pixar, Warner Brothers, and director Brad Bird are readying for release in 2012.

Best-selling author Nancy Holder has published sixty books and more than two hundred short stories. She has received four Bram Stoker awards for fiction from the Horror Writers Association, and her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages. She has written or co-written twenty Buffy and Angel projects based on the characters from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" film and television series.

Debbie ViguiƩ is author of the Once upon a Time novels "Scarlet Moon" and "Midnight Pearls," as well as the Sweet Seasons novels "The Summer of Cotton Candy," "The Fall of Candy Corn," "The Winter of Candy Canes," and "The Spring of Candy Apples."

Monday, November 02, 2009

Thomas Nelson Partners with Author Solutions to Launch Self-Publishing Imprint, WestBow Press

Thomas Nelson, the world's leading Christian publisher, is partnering with the world's leading self-publishing company, Author Solutions, Inc. (ASI), to launch WestBow Press--a Christian self-publishing imprint. The alliance will allow authors to benefit from the market leadership of Thomas Nelson, while taking advantage of ASI's technology and services that make publishing easy, affordable, and available to anyone.

Long regarded as an industry innovator, Nelson's creation of WestBow Press provides new and emerging authors the opportunity to publish with the global leader in Christian publishing. Thomas Nelson will monitor WestBow Press titles for the purpose of entering into a traditional publishing contract for those that perform well.

Through this strategic partnership, ASI will manage WestBow Press on behalf of Thomas Nelson, and be responsible for selling and delivering a rich array of publishing, marketing, and book-selling services, unique to WestBow Press. Kevin Weiss, ASI president and chief executive officer, believes the WestBow Press partnership will serve as a blueprint for other similar alliances.

ASI, the parent company of industry-leading self-publishing imprints AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford Publishing, and Xlibris, brought to market more than 21,000 new titles in 2008. Since 1997, ASI imprints have published more than 120,000 titles by 85,000 authors worldwide.

To learn more about the publishing packages available through WestBow Press, visit http://www.westbowpress.com/.