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Charlaine Harris Lands Eight Books on The New York Times Bestseller Lists for the Week of August 2nd

There are currently 10 million copies in print of the nine books in Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series which are the premise for HBO's wildly popular "True Blood" series which airs on Sunday nights. After attending ALA, Harris was greeted by a crowd of over 600 people her Borders event in Chicago last Monday. Tomorrow, she'll speak in front of a crowd of 5,000 in San Diego as part of ComicCon's "True Blood" Panel. Joining her will be the cast members of HBO's hit show.

Ace will publish her next book, A Touch of Dead, in October.

Penguin Group (USA) Is the Premier Sponsor of the Successful 2009 Harlem Book Festival 

Penguin Group (USA)'s participation at the Harlem Book Fair this past Saturday was a great success. This year, PGI was the Premier Publishing Sponsor of the event, and as in previous years, had hundreds of people stop by the booth located on the main strip. Penguin employees conducted hourly raffles, gave away sleek posters and other Penguin items donated by various departments to the huge crowd of participants lining up at our booth all day long.

At the nearby the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Plume author Renée Warren spoke about her latest book. Part inspiring business story and part insider's how-to, You Buy the Peanut Butter, I'll Get the Bread shares the lessons of two best friends who made their business dreams come true. Ms. Warren signed copies and addressed a rapt audience after her event and at the Penguin Booth.

The Harlem Book Fair, at 135th Street from Malcolm X to Frederick Douglass Blvds., is the largest outdoor book festival in New York City, and the largest African-American book festival in the US. Free to the public, this year's incarnation featured over 250 exhibit booths, four stages, celebrity authors, book selling, storytelling, and a variety of musical entertainments. Penguin was the only major publisher at the fair; to learn about who played key roles in 2009, click here, for the official site of the Harlem Book Fair.

Penguin Group (USA) Has Strong Presence at the 2009 ALA Conference  

Over 28,000 librarians visited Chicago recently for the American Library Association's annual conference where Penguin Group was in full force. Click here for a short reel of ALA highlights from the Penguin adult booth; over 20 PGI authors participated in booth signings, live readings, keynote addresses, themed author panels, and ALA award ceremonies. The list of authors shown in the video with links to individual bookpages can be found directly below the movie window.

Other authors who had events at ALA but do not appear in this video were Gary Moore (Playing with the Enemy, Penguin), Kathryn Stockett (The Help, Amy Einhorn/Putnam) and Denise Swanson (Murder of a Royal Pain, Signet).

Academic/Library marketing staff Alan Walker, Dominique R. Jenkins, Sara Clemens, Therese Neumann and Jim Dassise staffed the Penguin booth with a big assist from Fred Huber and local Chicago reps Brian Wilson and Joe Cain. All in all, it was an amazing conference, highlighted by the boundless energy and passion that librarians always bring with them to ALA for all things Penguin. And kudos to Sha Dileo in Production: the temporary Penguin tattoo giveaways were a big hit.

 

Penguin Young Readers Group Also Shines at This Year's ALA 

Penguin Young Readers kicked off the American Library Association Conference in Chicago last week with a cocktail party and original art show. Booksellers and librarians mingled with our award-winning authors and illustrators and were thrilled to get signed copies of each author's most recent book. 

Penguin had a stellar lineup of keynote speakers at the show. Jacqueline Woodson (Peace, Locomotion) and Laurie Halse Anderson (Wintergirls) were keynote presenters at the President's Program and spoke to a sold out crowd of over 500 plus librarians.  The following day, Laurie Halse Anderson received the Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award and was honored with a standing ovation after she spoke to the luncheon crowd of 400 young adult librarians. At the Caldecott/Newbery Banquet, which had 1200 attendees, Jacqueline Woodson (After Tupac & D Foster) and Ingrid Law (Savvy) received Newbery Honor awards. After the banquet, hundreds of excited librarians stood in line for hours for an opportunity to congratulate to them. The conference ended on a high note at the Coretta Scott King Awards breakfast where Jerry Pinkney (The Moon Over Star) spoke to an audience of 800 to accept his CSK Illustrator Honor Award. Other awards presented at the show went to Jonathan Friesen (Jerk, California), who won the Schneider Family Book Award for Young Adult Literature, as well as two ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award winners, Jim Arnosky (Dolphins on the Sand) and Jean Craighead George (The Wolves are Back).  

In addition to the wonderful acclaim for our award winners, Penguin also hosted signings for New York Times bestselling authors: Judy Blume (Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and the Fudge books), Sarah Dessen (Along for the Ride), John Green (Paper Towns), Gennifer Choldenko (Al Capone Shines My Shoes), Richard Peck (Season of Gifts), and Loren Long (Otis). Long lines snaked through the exhibit hall for all of these authors as librarians stood in line for hours to get books signed.  The show was a huge success for Penguin Young Readers Group with much excitement and fanfare around the booth.

Pictured: Sarah Dessen (left) and Judy Blume (right) in the Penguin booth.

 

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