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.

Wiley Acquires Publications from Carpe Diem Communications

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has acquired three controlled-circulation publications from Carpe Diem Communications, Inc., of Yardley, Pennsylvania. The acquisition expands Wiley’s global controlled-circulation portfolio of life and physical science offerings.

The three periodicals are: Food Quality, PFQ (Pharmaceutical Formulation & Quality), and Contamination Control.

THINKFilm Shoots for THE MOON

THINKFilm has acquired North American rights to IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON, a documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker David Sington that brings together the surviving crew members from the Apollo missions to tell their stories by interweaving stunning archival footage with first-hand testimony. The deal was announced by the company's President and CEO, Jeff Sackman, who plans to release the film in theatrical engagements in 2007 in association with Discovery Films.

Bull Market Entertainment Acquires Award Winning Screenplay Wake

Bull Market Entertainment has acquired Wake, a screenplay written by Lennox Wiseley. Wake is about a young woman who, in her struggle to experience emotion, attends the funerals of strangers. At one of the funerals, she meets a man mourning his fiancée. As he helps her come to terms with her complex feelings about passion and death, she finds herself falling in love... until she discovers that he may have murdered his fiancée – and she could be next.'Wake' was a semi-finalist in the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship competition run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences where it was one of the top 100 scripts out over 5000 entries. It was also a finalist in the 2005 Creative Screenwriting Competition and a semi-finalist at the Austin Film Festival. Production on 'Wake' is expected to begin in June in Los Angeles.

Salmon Creek PR Signs Best Selling Author

Salmon Creek PR has signed best-selling author and pet radio host Tracie Hotchner. Tracie Hotchner is the author of the million-copy bestseller Pregnancy & Childbirth, which was nominated for the American Book Award. Her current work has shifted to four-legged furry family members with the publication of "The Dog Bible: Everything Your Dog Wants You to Know" (Gotham Books, November 2005). It is the first all-inclusive comprehensive guide to everything pertaining to the relationship of people and their dogs. "The Cat Bible: Everything Your Cat Expects You to Know" will be published by Gotham in October 2007.

Scribner to Publish New Book From Steve Martin on His Early Years

Susan Moldow, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Scribner, an imprint of the Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Division, announced that Scribner will publish a memoir by New York Times bestselling novelist and legendary comedian Steve Martin. The book, titled BORN STANDING UP, is Martin's first work of narrative non-fiction, and is a riveting chronicle of his early years as a stand-up comedian and a fascinating portrait of an era.

Martin, the author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling Cruel Shoes, Pure Drivel, Shop Girl, The Pleasure of My Company, and the play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, brings all his talent to this taut, moving, exquisitely written, and, of course, laugh-out-loud funny memoir.

"This is a book that no one but Steve Martin could write, but it is also the universally compelling story of a man whose aspirations and fierce tenacity took him to greatness," said Nan Graham, Vice President and Editor- in-Chief of Scribner, who acquired world rights from Martin's longtime agent Esther Newberg of ICM. The book will also be available on compact disk and for digital download from Simon & Schuster Audio, and Simon and Schuster will publish in the United Kingdom.

Book Deal: “The Progress of Man” by Dr. Thomas Moore

Alphar Publishing has signed a deal for “The Progress of Man.” Thomas Moore says he likes Dubya. “As a character he feels like living in my own skin: There are two ways of measuring the progress of man, from within or from without... There is an effective objective method for comprehending man's progress, and that is by way of exploring my own progress, or more objectively, by exploring someone that I know well, such as the persona of Dubya.”

Ripplewood to Acquire The Reader's Digest Association

An investor group led by Ripplewood Holdings LLC has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (NYSE: RDA) , a global leader in publishing and direct marketing, in a transaction with an aggregate value of $2.4 billion. Reader's Digest is a publisher and direct marketing company that creates and delivers products and content for magazines, books, recorded music collections, home videos and online websites. Its flagship magazine, Reader's Digest magazine, is published in 50 editions and 21 languages with a monthly circulation of approximately 18 million and a global readership of approximately 80 million.

HM Rivergroup PLC Announces the Acquisitions of Houghton Mifflin Company

HM Rivergroup PLC, a newly-formed Irish public limited company, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Houghton Mifflin Holding Company, Inc., a leading U.S. educational publisher. The purchase price of approximately $3.4 billion consists of approximately $1.75 billion in cash plus the assumption of approximately $1.61 billion in net debt. In addition, as part of the transaction, certain Houghton Mifflin management and employees will roll over $40 million of their equity into equity of HM Rivergroup.

HarperCollins Publishers Introduces the New Luxury in Reading

HarperCollins Publishers has launched HarperLuxe, the new standard in larger print publishing. "HarperLuxe aims to provide a more comfortable reading experience," says HarperLuxe publisher Liate Stehlik. The hallmarks of the new line will feature print at a more readable 14-point size font, with 20-point leading and wider margins. Published in full-size paperback format, the new books are light to carry and easy to read, magnifying the pleasures of great reading both in form and function.

Sheryl J. Anderson Signs With Artist International Management

Writer/producer/novelist Sheryl J. Anderson has signed with Artist International Management's literary division. Anderson will be represented by Artist International's Vice President of Management, Stan Spry. Most recently Anderson was the Co-Executive Producer on the Lifetime series "For the People." She was also a writer for Spelling Television and Paramount Studios' long-running television hit "Charmed" for several seasons, finishing her run on the show as a Co-Executive Producer.

RR Donnelley Awarded Multi-Year World Book, Inc. Global Contract

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company has been awarded a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract extension to produce both domestic and international encyclopedias and other reference books for World Book, Inc. Since 1917, World Book, Inc. has set the standard for providing accuracy, objectivity, and reliability in research materials for both children and adults and continues to publish the number-one selling print encyclopedia in the world, The World Book Encyclopedia.

About.com and Adams Media Introduce the About.com Book Series

About.com and Adams Media introduced the first four titles of a 24-part series of informative “how-to” books (www.about.com/books). The series begins with the release of “the About.com guide to Acoustic Guitar;” “the About.com guide to Having a Baby;” “the About.com guide to Job Searching;” and “the About.com guide to Southern Cooking.” Written by About.com Guides, each book is supplemented with companion content on the corresponding author’s About.com GuideSite. Readers are encouraged to dig more deeply into the subject with online updates, which provide expanded information on their areas of interest.

New Thomas Harris Novel to be Published in December

William Heinemann, an imprint of the Random House Group, will publish the new novel by Thomas Harris, Hannibal Rising, on the 5th December 2006. The film version of the new novel, for which Harris also wrote the screenplay, will be released in February 2007. The film, which is produced by the Dino De Laurentis Company, stars Gaspard Ulliel, the French co-star of the 2004 film A Very Long Engagement, as the young Dr. Lecter. William Heinemann have UK and Commonwealth rights for this and for a further novel by Harris. Hannibal Rising will also be published simultaneously as an audio book by Random House, with Thomas Harris reading the text.

Penguin Group to become the official book publisher of L.M. Montgomery 100th Anniversary Editions

Penguin Group (Canada) willundertake a major Canadian and international publishing program in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Anne of Green Gables, including publication of an official prequel, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the book's original publication in 1908.

To further celebrate this significant anniversary, Penguin will publish a special collectible 100th anniversary edition of Anne of Green Gables, featuring the original cover art of M.A. Claus and W.A.J. Claus. A third project, Imagining Anne: The Scrapbooks of L.M. Montgomery will bring to life Montgomery's own thoughts and interests using selected pages from her own scrapbooks from the years 1893 to 1908, covering her time as a college student, teacher and writer, and the years in which she created the character of Anne Shirley, leading to the publication of Anne of Green Gables in 1908.

HarperCollins Publishers and Grupo Planeta Join Forces

HarperCollins Publishers and Grupo Planeta have entered into a co-publishing agreement to develop a line of Spanish-language titles that will be published in the United States by the Rayo imprint of HarperCollins. The new venture will launch in the fall of 2006 with two previously published novels by international bestselling Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón.