Author Events and Media - Penguin Group (USA) Weekly Update 6/29:

(View entire post here)

Greg Mortenson Honored by National Education Association

On July 2nd, the National Education Association (NEA) will honor Viking/Penguin author Greg Mortenson with the Mary Hatwood Futrell Award, a special Human and Civil Rights Award, at the NEA’s annual meeting in San Diego, California. The NEA Human and Civil Rights Awards program honors individuals and organizations that promote peace and advance social and economic justice for all people. The Mary Hatwood Futrell Award is given to a nominee whose activities make a significant impact on education and on the achievement of equal opportunity for women and girls.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Three Cups of Tea has also received Pakistan’s highest civil award, Sitara-e-Pakistan (“The Star of Pakistan”) for his efforts to promote education and literacy and is also a nominee for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Concerning Three Cups of Tea, NEA President Dennis Van Roekel stated, “Every student in America’s public schools should receive a copy to learn firsthand what one person can truly do to make a difference in the world.”

Explore the reading group guide for Three Cups of Tea.
 

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Nora Roberts Featured in Major Profile in The New Yorker 

With her latest Putnam hardcover, Black Hills, about to hit stores on July 7th and her first trade paperback original Vision in White (Berkley) still riding high on national bestseller lists, the unstoppable Nora Roberts is back in the media spotlight. The New Yorker ran a 9-page profile of Nora in the June 22nd issue entitled “Real Romance: How Nora Roberts became America’s most popular novelist.” In the article Nora discusses her career - from an unexpected start thirty years ago to today. Leslie Gelbman, Berkley’s President and Publisher and Nora’s long - time editor, is also included in the article.

In July, Nora will be featured at the Romance Writers of America Annual Conference in Washington, DC. While in the capital Nora will speak and sign books at a private event for Washington Post subscribers. In addition, cable channel AMC is airing hosted segments, called “AMC All Star Summer Download,” which will feature news about upcoming movie, CD, DVD and book releases throughout the summer. These segments will air in-between the movies each weekend, and Black Hills is the featured book during the July 4th weekend. And, “Good Morning America” is including Black Hills in their Summer Reading Roundup, which will air this Monday at 8:30am. They will also post an excerpt from the novel at abcnews.com.

View the Nora Roberts Feature or more about the incredibly prolific writer and how she began her writing career.

Dutton Author Daniel Levitin Featured in PBS Documentary

Daniel Levitin, the author of The New York Times bestsellers The World in Six Songs and This Is Your Brain On Music, was featured in a PBS Documentary “The Music Instinct: Science & Song” that premiered on Wednesday, June 24th. Hosted by Levitin, the two-hour documentary featured musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, Bobby McFerrin and Jarvis Cocker and investigated the connections between music and the human mind. To promote the documentary, and the Plume paperback release of The World in Six Songs next month, Levitin was interviewed on the “Bob Edwards Show," and also participated in a live Twitter Q&A throughout the broadcast.

Follow Dan Levitin on Twitter.
 

Books by Perigee Author Keri Smith Become a Viral Phenomenon and International Crazes

Keri Smith’s Wreck This Journal and How to Be an Explorer of the World (Perigee) continue their popularity and have become a viral phenomenon. WTJ was originally published in June 2007 and with very little standard media coverage, but has shipped about 200,000 copies because of the online attention. To get a sense of some of the buzz surrounding the book, check out the WTJ, blog and search for it in Flickr.

The buzz has spread internationally as well: The American Book Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands, which is handled by Penguin’s international sales rep Rob Oud (who has been closely working with the account), has reported that they sell more copies of WTJ than the Harry Potter series! To show their love of Smith, the store decorated their front window with sample prompt and art from How to Be an Explorer of the World, and copies of both titles (pictured).
 

Viking/ Penguin Author Craig Johnson Continues Successful National Tour

Craig Johnson continues his whirlwind dual tour for both The Dark Horse (Viking) and Another Man’s Moccasins (Penguin). Recently, Craig made stops at Murder by the Book in Portland where attendance was higher than it had ever been with 90 people at the event! Craig’s events continue to draw large crowds of mystery fans and have also included Sunriver Books & Music with 90 in attendance and Paulina Springs Books in Oregon where he pulled in an audience of over 40. Craig’s events will carry him through the summer, with stops at Rediscovered Bookshop in Idaho, The King’s English in Utah, and extensive ground throughout all of Wyoming, including The Cody Newsstand, Powell Library, Chickering Books, Hastings Books, Sheridan Stationary and the Barnes & Noble in Cheyenne. The hard work is paying off with The Dark Horse starting to pop up on bestseller lists (it’s #1 on the Denver Post’s). The complete tour can be seen on his website under the “Tour of Duty” tab.

Read Craig Johnson’s blog posts written during the national tour.
 

Eat, Pray, Love to be Featured on the Big and Small Screens

The film adaptation of Eat, Pray, Love (Viking/Penguin) is set to hit the big screen. Brad Pitt’s production company will produce, and Javier Bardem is in negotiations to join the already star-studded cast as “Felipe.” The cast includes the talents of Richard Jenkins and Julia Roberts. According to Daily Variety, filming is scheduled to begin in July and will take place in New York, Rome, India and Bali.

Eat, Pray, Love has held strong on the New York Times paperback nonfiction list for 126 weeks—so it should come as no surprise that it was also recently featured in a book club on the FX show “Rescue Me,” which stars Viking/Penguin author Denis Leary.

Check out the Eat, Pray, Love book page for links to the reading group guide, book trailer, an excerpt from the book, and an author interview and podcast with Elizabeth Gilbert.

Penguin Weekly Update, Authors, Events, Media, Tours, Penguin Books