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Hot off the presses - new collectible posters (14 x 22.5) featuring our most popular jacket art available are for sale now in the Holiday Store. Also, Penguin shirts, hats, ornaments, and much more - make it a Penguin holiday! Get 15% off everything on our site by using the code Holiday09 at checkout! (offer ends on December 31, 2009)

The posters:

(left) Jacket art from the Graphic Classics 25th Anniversary Edition of White Noise by Don DeLillo designed by Michael Cho

(right) Jacket art from the Graphic Classic Edition of Moby Dick by Herman Melville designed by Tony Millionaire.

More Penguin Holiday Store goodies include tote bags, ornaments, water bottles and umbrellas.

And, watch Penguin employees share the books they'll be giving this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

- From all of us at Penguin Online (and Penguin Group (USA) too!)

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Penguin Young Readers Group Partners with Ogmento to Launch Augmented Reality Application for Vampire Academy Signature Edition on November 25th 

New York, NY - November 24, 2009 - Richelle Mead's novel Vampire Academy will become the first U.S. book to incorporate new Augmented Reality technology into the reading experience. On November 25th, Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, will publish an Augmented Reality (AR) limited edition, signature hard cover of the first book in the New York Times bestselling series, which currently has more than 2.25 million copies in print. Using advanced Augmented Reality technology, the book cover will layer text, images and video to give fans of the paranormal series a unique virtual experience. Penguin Young Readers Group is the first U.S. publisher to use this technology in conjunction with a published book.

Unlike other recent Augmented Reality campaigns which require black and white geometric markers to trigger the virtual experience, Penguin's campaign will feature a new "image tracking" technology. When fans visit vampireacademybooks.com and hold the cover of the Vampire Academy signature hardcover up to their webcams, the cover will come to life and share a special message from the author. Most notably, this application will have a viral component, as fans will be able to transfer their own photo onto the cover of the book and share that image with friends via email, social networks, and mobile devices. As an added bonus, a secret gesture will reveal the cover image of Spirit Bound, the fifth book in the series, which is due out in May 2010.

Penguin partnered with Ogmento, a company that creates and publishes Augmented Reality games, to create the interactive experience. To promote the campaign, Penguin will run a full-page ad in People Magazine in the December 7th issue which will also activate the Vampire Academy AR experience.