(View entire post here)

Jumpstart's Read for the Record Is A Hit

Today, Jumpstart's Read for the Record 2007 Campaign set a new world record for the largest "shared reading experience" on a single day, when hundreds of thousands of adults and children across the U.S. read a custom limited edition of Penguin Young Readers children's classic The Story of Ferdinand, raising more than $1 million for Jumpstart. With 100% underwriting of the custom edition by the Pearson Foundation, proceeds from sales at Toys "R" Us, American Eagle Outfitters, and Hanna Andersson stores will benefit Jumpstart's work with at-risk children. NBC's "Today Show" created a special Ferdinand set on the plaza at Rockefeller Center, and the show was kicked off by First Lady Laura Bush, as she read to a group of children at the White House. In addition, Penguin Young Readers' Mike Lupica, author of the Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids series, was interviewed by Matt Lauer of the Today Show during the 8:30am segment. Lupica also participated in the campaign and read aloud on the air during the 9:00am segment. Other celebrities who participated included Mike Bloomberg, Frank McCourt, Sonia Manzano (Maria from Sesame Street), Meredith Vieira, Mariska Hargitay, and LL Cool J.

New this year, the Pearson Foundation matched each $10 online donation by the public with another donation of a book to a child from a low-income community. Additionally Pearson donated tens of thousands of books to Head Start and other Jumpstart-affiliated early education centers. For more on Pearson's participation, go to http://pearsonfoundation.org/pearsonrftr/.

The New York Times Analyzes the Controversies of an Embargoed Book Release as Exemplified by Alan Greenspan's Age of Turbulence

In today's market, the release of a potential best seller such as Alan Greenspan's Age of Turbulence is carefully monitored and controlled, though often with surprising results. The New York Times examines of the manner in which different best sellers have hit the market, and notes that, "With Mr. Greenspan’s book — partly by design and partly by accident — the rollout seems to have gone about as well as the publisher could have wished. On Monday the book went to No. 1 on Amazon.com and Bn.com, where it has remained since. The book is also selling briskly in stores."

The Kite Runner and The Secret Life of Bees Are Featured as Part of American Place Theatre's Literature to Life Program

Next weekend, September 29th and 30th, the American Place Theatre's Literature to Life Festival of Theatre and Thought program, which is a part of the Museum of the City of New York, will feature performances of two books from Penguin Group (USA): The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) and The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin). For more information and to reserve tickets, call 212-594-4482, ext. 10. Ticket prices start at $10, which includes admission to the museum.

 The Science of Getting Rich is #1 on the BusinessWeek Bestseller List

The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles, published by Tarcher this past April, is currently #1 on the BusinessWeek Paperback Business Books bestseller list. Wattles explains his concept in his seventeen short, straight-to-the-point chapters, and emphasizes how creation and not competition is the hidden key to wealth attraction, and how your power to get rich uplifts everyone around you. The Science of Getting Rich concludes with Wattle's rare essay "How to Get Want You Want"—a brilliant refresher of his laws of wealth creation.

The New York Times Bestseller Highlights for the Week of September 30th

Four new debuts for Penguin Group (USA) on The New York Times bestseller list for the week of September 30th: Pontoon by Garrison Keillor (Viking) is at #3 on the hardcover fiction list; The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker (Viking) is #15 on the hardcover nonfiction list; Hundred-Dollar Baby by Robert B. Parker (Berkley) is #15 on the mass-market paperback fiction list; and Changing You by Gail Saltz (Dutton) is #3 on the children's picture book list.

Here are more bestseller highlights for the week of September 30th:

On the hardcover fiction list, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) is at #2 in its seventeenth week; Dark Possession by Christine Feehan (Berkley) is at #9 in its third week; and The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Riverhead) moves up to #13 in its second week.

On the trade paperback fiction list, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead) holds at #2 in its 132nd week; while The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (Penguin) follows right behind at #3 in its 65th week; and Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos (Plume) moves up to #17 in its second week.

On the mass market paperback fiction list, Innocent in Death by J. D. Robb (Berkley) is at #6 in its third week; Fresh Disasters by Stuart Woods (Signet) is at #9 in its second week; and Silver Master by Jayne Castle (Jove) is at #13, in its third week.

On the paperback nonfiction list, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Penguin) extends its run at #1 to 20 weeks in a row in its 34th overall week; Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin) moves up to #4 in its 33rd week; Fiasco by Thomas E. Ricks (Penguin) rises to #15 in its fourth week; and This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin (Plume) is at #19 in its third week.

And, on the advice, how-to, and miscellaneous paperback list, Getting Things Done by David Allen (Penguin) is at #8 in its second week.

In the young readers sector, Cowboy and Octopus by Jon Scieszka (Viking) moves up to #8 on the children's picture book list in its second week; Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor (Dial Books for Young Readers) is at #5 on the children's chapter book list in its fourth week; and Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan (Philomel) is at #10 on the children's series list in its eleventh week.

Penguin Group News

Penguin books

publishing

bestsellers

literary awards