I'll admit it--I wasn't feeling the Comic-Con love this year. The buzz was too big, too Hollywood, and too immense. It's been six years since I worked my first Comic-Con, and I was afraid that the crush of people and the much-hyped focus on film and TV would change the whole mood once and for all. I'm happy to report that I was wrong. The crowds are immense, and Hollywood is out in force, but the mood is excellent. The fans are brilliant. And right now I'd contend that the San Diego Convention center might just be the happiest place on earth.

DK is located in the Star Wars Pavillion this year. While the show officially started on Thursday, Wednesday night the hall opens for a few hours for all the fans with 4-day badges. There were a lot of them!

To celebrate the start of the show, we gave away limited edition art prints from our forthcoming book, Star Wars Blueprints.

The books illustrators, Chris Trevas and Chris Reiff, signed copies of the book along with the print. It rocked! We had a steady stream of fans from the moment the exhibit hall doors opened, and it didn't slow down all night. The prints were all numbered and fans were very choosy about which numbers they wanted. It's funny, at my first Comic-Con it drove me nuts when fans would up-end a pile of books to find the one in the most gleaming, pristine condition. After a few shows, I stopped getting annoyed, and this year I'm helping! Heck, I won't even put a book on display if it's got a crushed corner or scratched jacket. I love our fans--and I want them to leave the DK book happy (and loaded down with swag).

-- Rachel Kempster, Associate PR Director

View DK's photos from Comic-Con!

Read a review of Comic-Con by Penguin's Ashley Fisher

Comic-Con, Comic Con, Comics, fantasy, Sci-Fi,SF, Star Wars, anime, DK, Dorling Kindersely, Penguin books, books

As we round down the final few posts for our Penguin Imprint Feature, we're going to step aside and allow Nichole Morford to post about life at DK. She's going to be guest blogging for the next few entries, and will reveal what being a DK Editor actually entails.

Every DK book holds a promise of some kind-of instruction, of entertainment, of resourceful information. The best possess all of these attributes, and such is the case with one of our lead Fall titles, Real Sex for Real Women. Publishing in November, this book makes good on its title's promise in a revolutionary way.

Dr. Laura Berman is one of the world's leading experts on women's sexuality and relationships. Her secret is that she truly understands the way women think. Real Sex for Real Women is both a celebration of what it means to be female and a guide to how to renew your self-esteem, relationship, and sex life. Her main message: if you value yourself, you will value your relationship-and if you value your relationship, you have to devote time and energy to your sex life. Her advice on how to do this is practicable for women who are working, who are mothers, who have a million things on their plate. It is not "glamorized" like so many relationships guides-all of which makes it much, much sexier. This is a book that is aspirational in the best possible sense, because it is also achievable!

Look for Real Sex in late fall, and get ready for your sex life to be transformed. In the meantime, get a taste of Dr. Berman's advice by visiting her website (www.drlauraberman.com), or by tuning into The Today Show to see her bi-monthly segments on relationships. Listen, learn, and watch your relationship get hotter by the second, whether you're in year 25 of a marriage or day 25 of a summer fling.

DK, Dorling Kindersely, Penguin books, imprint, editors, authors, guides, book publisher, books, eyewitness, dictionary, encyclopedia, publisher

As we round down the final few posts for our Penguin Imprint Feature, we're going to step aside and allow Nichole Morford to post about life at DK. She's going to be guest blogging for the next few entries, and will reveal what being a DK Editor actually entails.

About a month ago, we held a very unconventional editorial meeting. At our publisher's invitation, we headed to "that most traditional of publishing environments"-the pub-and sat down to talk about a rather non-traditional publishing topic-the Kama Sutra. It was a cozy gathering at the Pitcher and Piano. There's something about stepping outside the office that always gets the inspirational juices flowing.

Mostly we were there to discuss new ways of presenting this classic love manual. A challenge of writing or editing sex books is that there are only so many positions that are, well, plausible. A rework of the Kama Sutra doesn't provide brand new information, so needs a clever package and spin on content to add to our already impressive sex and relationships library. We came up with several inspired possible KS routes-and then started drinking.

Yesterday, back in 7C for our typical monthly meeting, we saw the first fruits of our labor. Our art director had mocked up covers for all our best brainstorms, and as we passed them around the table, the concepts really began to take root. This is a unique attribute of a DK book: it often starts with the design. Seeing a well-designed jacket is sometimes just the trigger you need to create a well-thought-out book. In the end, this results in the best of both worlds: pictures and words that together make up a beautifully complete reference.

DK, Dorling Kindersely, Penguin books, imprint, editors, authors, guides, book publisher, books, eyewitness, dictionary, encyclopedia, publisher

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As we round down the final few posts for our Penguin Imprint Feature, we're going to step aside and allow Nichole Morford to post about life at DK. She's going to be guest blogging for the next few entries, and will reveal what being a DK Editor actually entails.

We're in the midst of starting presentations for the Frankfurt Book Fair here, which means that there is quite a lot of buzz in the office. It's also Global Week, so there are a fair number of American accents mixed in with the Brits-along with German, Australian, and the odd Canadian. One of the nicest things about working for DK is its truly global perspective and reach. Typically, our main outposts publish simultaneously, with varied DK translations following in their wake. Every month the directors of these branches come to London to compare notes and brainstorm.

This sort of globalization means that our books must appeal to a very wide market. As an editor, you start thinking about this at presentation stage, when you're compiling contents lists and collaborating with designers to decide how the book should look. The ideal product is timely and has a distinct personality, yet won't date quickly or look too British or American to be unappealing in, say, India. Of course, we sometimes do books that are designed for specific markets-but by and large, we try to make books that are compelling for everyone.

As we round down the final few posts for our Penguin Imprint Feature, we're going to step aside and allow Nichole Morford to post about life at DK. She's going to be guest blogging for the next few entries, and will reveal what being a DK Editor actually entails.

Hi all. I'm writing from London, where I've been working as an editor for DK for the past eight months. Prior to November 07, I spent two and a half years in the New York office, where I looked at new submissions, liaised with authors and agents, helped brainstorm book ideas, and made lots and lots of phone calls. Such is the fabulous life of an editorial assistant.

Here in the UK, I edit sex and business books. A natural combination, right? Editing non-fiction is the best (and most fun) form of continuing education, because you learn so much new information with each project. Already today I have tried to find answers to the following questions: How do the fantasy lives of men and women differ? What determines the laws of attraction? And, most riveting of all, exactly which curriculum forms the backbone of a degree in Financial Accounting? Clear evidence, I think, that there's never a dull moment in the editorial day.

Throughout the week, I'll be writing on unique aspects of my job, the differences between the New York and London publishing worlds, and the many fabulous books on the DK horizon. Any questions, let me know. Otherwise, keep reading for more thoughts on sex, business, and a whole lot more.

DK, Dorling Kindersely, Penguin books, imprint, editors, authors, guides, book publisher, books, eyewitness, dictionary, encyclopedia, publisher

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As publishing folk, we love all of our children equally-each as their own work of genius, humor, instruction or sheer entertainment. The years have taught us the art of extolling all of the books on our list, from the front list blockbuster to the midlist gem. Yet, once every season or so, there's a book (or books) that you think of just a little too often, that creeps into your thoughts time and again like a middle school crush. After 10 years of being in this business, it's always amazing when you fall just a little bit in love all over again (and again, and again).

The most recent object of my affection isn't a gripping memoir, or stunning fiction debut. That's not what we do here at DK. It's a cookbook-and more specifically a baking book. I don't even like to bake, and am certainly not very good at it, but I am confident that Nick Malgieri's The Modern Baker will save me.

At the end of this coming September, home cooks are going to be introduced to a new way to think about baking. With recipes designed to be completed in an hour, for everything from pies to cookies to breads and savory treats, The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri is going to have everyone falling in love with baking again! The staff at DK and friends will also be giving you a chance to take a peek at our kitchen skills as we attempt to become modern bakers with the launch of the Modern Baker Blog later this summer! Follow us through our triumphs (and possible tragedies) along the road to baking mastery. Look out for it. It should be a lot of fun.

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Today Judi Powers muses on some of her favorite books that are coming out this summer, and takes a quick glimpse as to what is coming down the line. Read on, and see if you don't get as excited as she is!

The hot summer days we've been having in New York make me want to do two of my favorite things: cook with friends and go to the movies! And, it seems that I'm like a lot of other people if I look at DK's biggest books of the summer season.

The awesome DK PR team has gotten so much media coverage of our cookbook, Grill It! (by the dynamic barbecuing team Doc Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger), that I wake up almost daily to see yet another Google Alert with a rave review of the book. It's gotten to the point that I don't actually read the reviews, listen to radio clips, or watch videos where the authors are cooking until around lunchtime because if I look at them in the morning, I'm craving barbecued chicken for breakfast!

Another hot DK book puts me in the same type of jeopardy for selecting my first meal of the day: it's called He Said Beer, She Said Wine by Sam Calagione and Marnie Old. Their interesting and sometimes-surprisingly delicious pairings of wine and beer with some of my favorite foods (ice cream!) have not only sparked some fun conversations with friends and colleagues about which drink is better, they've actually turned me on to beer (and I used to never drink beer).

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This week we round off a series of interviews with the DK staff, where we'll try to figure out the secret to their success by asking them about their favorite childhood books and what sort of trouble they've been up to lately. Next week we'll take a look at some of the great books DK has published, and what they have in store for us down the road.

Nancy Ellwood, Editor

Okay, quick: tell us about yourself, what your favorite book was as a child, and how you ended up as an editor at DK!

I have been a science nerd my whole life. I was always going to be a doctor, actually. Then I got to my senior year of college and thought "hmmm . . . not so much." So I put my degree in English to work and got a job in publishing. And except for almost two years at the Penguin Young Readers Group (hi Grosset & Dunlap and PSS!) I've been in nonfiction my entire career. I'm still a science nerd. Who can spell.

What does being an editor at an Imprint as eclectic as DK involve? Do you wear many hats at once, and if so, how do you keep everything separate in your mind?

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This week we kick off a series of interviews with the DK staff, where we'll try to figure out the secret to their success by asking them about their favorite childhood books and what sort of trouble they've been up to lately. Read these interviews carefully--DK's secrets are contained within!

Katy Ball, Publicist

Okay, quick: tell us about yourself, what your favorite book was as a child, and how you ended up as the US Publicist for DK Eyewitness Travel and Rough Guides!

Though I did fall into publishing partially by happenstance, I have always been a voracious reader. Among my favorite early books was Go Dog, Go, which my parents read to me every night for a while. In it, a narrative-free string of scenes involving party-going dogs that drive cars up tree trunks and dogs that ski past each other in increasingly improbable hats parades by in milky blues and poppy reds. My perfectly common but most heartfelt love of entering new worlds-and the local public library's "Book It!" program that kept me rich in Pizza Hut and waterslide park coupons--kept me discovering new authors, which I continue to do, with the curious shadow of my past manias for Christopher Pike, then Tom Robbins, and more recently Lorrie Moore hanging over me. After growing up in San Jose, CA and moving to the East Coast to explore the nooks and crannies of New York while double-majoring in Language and Mind-a poorly orchestrated but very interesting hodge-podge of linguistics, psychology, and philosophy courses-and Spanish, I was offered a job as a Marketing Assistant by Continuum Books.

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This week we kick of a series of interviews with the DK staff, where we'll try to figure out the secret to their success by asking them about their favorite childhood books and what sort of trouble they've been up to lately. Read these interviews carefully--DK's secrets are contained within!

Rachel Kempster, Associate PR Director

Okay, quick: tell us about yourself, what your favorite book was as a child, and how you ended up doing PR for DK!

My earliest book memories are of Sydney Taylor's All of a Kind Family series--my mom and I would pass them back and forth until they shredded to bits. The books were about five young sisters living on the Lower East Side, and I adored them.

How did I end up doing PR for DK? I answered a New York Times classified ad! It seems so quaint, right? But it's true. I'd dropped out of my doctoral program (I was studying 17th century transatlantic literature) and was working at a bookstore when I answered an ad to be a publicity assistant. I'll admit that at the time I had no idea what that entailed. I just knew I loved books.