Susan Petersen Kennedy to Chair AAP Trade Publishers Executive Committee

The Association of American Publishers announced this week that Penguin Group (USA) President Susan Petersen Kennedy will take over the chair of the AAP Trade Publishers Executive Committee. Comprised of senior trade publishing executives, the Committee guides the AAP's programs and activities of particular relevance to its trade publishing members. The Committee's primary objective will be to ensure that consumers, the media, and community leaders understand that the book, in all of its manifestations, is alive and well; that millions of readers are inspired, educated, and entertained by books every year; and that publishers add value to books at every step of the publication process: from editorial to design to marketing and publicity to distribution.

"We're delighted that Susan is bringing her legendary energy and talent to AAP on the industry's behalf," said AAP President and CEO Tom Allen.

Susan Petersen Kennedy commented: "This is an extremely exciting time for publishers. The changes our industry is experiencing present us with new challenges, of course, but also new possibilities. I'm looking forward to this opportunity to work with the AAP Executive Committee on navigating the new terrain of our business as it continues to evolve and grow."

The Girls From Ames and Otis Win the Midwest Bookseller's Choice Awards

The Midwest Booksellers Association (MBA) announced this week the 2010 winners of the Midwest Booksellers' Choice Awards and Penguin Group (USA) has two honorees: Jeffery Zaslow's The Girls From Ames: A Story of Women & a Forty-Year Friendship (Gotham Books) is the nonfiction winner and Otis by Loren Long (Philomel) is the children's picture book winner.

The awards honor authors from the Midwest and/or books about the region, which includes the states of Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. They were nominated and chosen by the knowledgeable booksellers of the 220+ locally owned and operated independent bookstore members of the MBA. The awards will be presented formally on October 1, during the 2010 MBA Trade Show in St. Paul, MN.

The Girls from Ames spent 16 weeks on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, and 13 weeks on the trade paperback bestseller list. Also, it was on The Midwest Bestsellers List for 14 weeks and peaked at #1. Check out this fun video in which the author sits down with the Girls to discuss how the book has allowed them to connect with women all over. Told in the tradition of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and The Story of Ferdinand, Loren Long introduced readers to an unforgettable pair of characters. The Deseret News dubbed Otis "a heartwarming story that readers will love," and The Chicago Tribune said, "If your last fond memory of a bovine sitting under a tree is a bull named Ferdinand and you loved Mike Mulligan's steam shovel…this book is for you." Otis was on the New York Times bestseller list for 17 weeks.

Read this three chapter excerpt from The Girls from Ames and watch a read-aloud presentation of Otis.

Five Penguin Group (USA) Authors Included in New York Magazine's Fall Preview

In their August 30-September 6th double issue, New York magazine listed their twenty most anticipated fiction and nonfiction titles for this fall and Penguin Group (USA) had five titles on the list, including:

• Zero History by William Gibson (Putnam)
• Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans (Riverhead)
• How To Read The Air by Dinaw Mengestu (Riverhead)
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, trans. Lydia Davis (Viking)
• The Petting Zoo by Jim Carroll (Viking)

In addition, Where Good Ideas Come from: the Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson (Riverhead) and Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow (The Penguin Press) were also included in the extended list for October releases.

See the full list here.

Watch this video where William Gibson explains what Zero History is about.

Explore the reading group guide to How to Read the Air.

Henry Pollack's A World Without Ice on the Royal Society Prize for Science Books Shortlist

Avery is proud to announce that A World Without Ice by Henry Pollack has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books. The Royal Society Prize for Science Books celebrates the very best in popular science writing, and aims to encourage the writing, publishing and reading of good and accessible popular science books. The winner will be announced on October 21.

"It's never been more important to have a well informed picture of the world we live in and the role of science and technology," said Maggie Philbin, chair of the judges. A World Without Ice paints just that type of picture. The book explores the relationship between ice and people—the impact of ice on Earth, its climate, and its human residents, as well as the reciprocal impact that people are now having on ice and the climate.

The judges have deemed it "a thoughtful and refreshing book that brings ice to life. Well researched and with a personal feel this book is an excellent alternative route into understanding the issues around climate change. Fascinating, accessible and very powerful."

Read an excerpt.

Li Cunxin's Mao's Last Dancer Opens on the Big Screen and Generates Major Media Buzz

A new motion picture, Mao's Last Dancer, based on the Putnam/Berkley book by Li Cunxin (pronounced "Lee Schwin Sing"), from Academy Award-nominated director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy), premiered in the U.S. on August 20th, opening in ten major markets, including New York and Los Angeles, and had the highest per screen average of any movie playing in the U.S. last week. The film will roll out to other cities across the country over the next month. Berkley Trade Paperback's movie tie-in edition of Mao's Last Dancer went on sale July 27 and has been included in much of the press coverage of the film and was a featured title at Costco in August.

Li Cunxin's extraordinary journey from poverty to international stardom has been getting lots of media buzz. Mao's Last Dancer has been covered by every major Chinese-language television, print, and radio outlet in the U.S., both national and local. Li was also interviewed on "FOX and Friends" on August 6th and was featured in The Wall Street Journal on August 13th. The New York Times ran a fascinating interview with Li Cunxin in the Saturday, August 21st edition and People magazine is scheduled to run a feature later this month.

DK's Star Wars Kick-Off Event a Huge Success

DK's 2010 Star Wars events season is off to a great start. Last Saturday, over 30 Barnes & Noble stores across the country held simultaneous parties to celebrate the launch of Star Wars Year by Year, The Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia, and Star Wars Blueprints: Rebel Edition. Costumed characters from the 501st Legion were in attendance at each location for photo ops and book signings. Star Wars arts & crafts activity stations were also set up for children to recreate their favorite jedi or jawa. Mimobot® Star Wars USB flash drives were raffled off at each location, as well as other prizes and giveaways.

Local press coverage was bountiful, and the Star Wars fan sites posted news about the events, too, including the Rebel Legion's website. The books are making a great impression on the media, with placements currently running on Wired magazine's Geek Dad blog, and a syndicated piece from McClatchy Newspapers that has already been picked up in a dozen top-tier papers.

Two Penguin Press Titles Featured on Booklist Top Ten Food List

In their big October 1st issue, Booklist shines the spotlight on food and The Penguin Press has two titles on their Top Ten List:

• Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg
• Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens by Andrew Beahrs

The October magazine is the Booklist & Book Links issue which is polybagged and mailed to an additional 5-6,000 Librarians!

Read an excerpt from Four Fish.

Read an excerpt from Twain's Feast, and our Q&A with author Andrew Beahrs.

Roc's The Red Tree Earns World Fantasy Award Nomination and Ace to Publish New Sci-Fi Trilogy by Renowned Hollywood Screenwriter David Goyer

Roc author Caitlin R. Kiernan picked up a World Fantasy Award nomination for "Best Novel" for her book The Red Tree (Roc Trade Paperback Original). Published by Roc in 2009, The Red Tree is a chilling dark fantasy about a woman, Sarah Crowe, who moves to an old house and discovers that an ancient oak growing on a desolate corner of the property has a mysterious effect on her physical and mental well-being. Kiernan has published a large variety of short fiction in magazines and anthologies, but is best known for her work on "The Dreaming", a Sandman-related comic book created by Neil Gaiman. A paleontologist as well as a writer, Kiernan currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ace Books will also be publishing a science fiction trilogy by David Goyer, writer of the major motion picture Blade, co-writer of Batman Begins, and creator of The Dark Knight. In July 2011, Ace will publish Heaven's Shadow, with Heaven's War and Heaven's Fall to follow in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Warner Bros. recently acquired the film rights to this series.

Great Publicity Planned for DK's Where to Go When: Italy

Where to Go When: Italy, DK's latest full-color travel idea book featuring a foreword by Frances Mayes, will be hitting the shelves on September 20th to a great publicity campaign. The title will be recommended in Delta's in-flight magazine, Sky, during the holiday season in its November issue, a forthcoming review in Booklist is slated for September 15th, a 3-minute book video with Foreword author Frances Mayes will be available in September, and DK confirmed a slideshow on the Travel homepage of ABC's website the first week of October. The slideshow will also be promoted on the ABC homepage. The last book for which a similar slide show was done received over a million page views! Additionally, NPR advertising on "Weekend Edition" will air on Sunday, Sept 19th and 26th reaching 613 stations nationwide, with has 3.1 million weekly listeners total.

Follow the Car! More Highlights from the Penguin Anniversary-Mobile 

Costumers and fans at Porter Square Books in Cambridge were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Penguin Anniversary car last Friday. The car, with Trish Weyenberg at the wheel, rolled in around 1:00 PM to the reserved parking space in front of the shop. They were greeted by one of the owners, Dale Szczeblowski, and Penguin Paperback sales rep Ann Wachur. There was an impressive Penguin Anniversary display front and center as you walked into their very busy store. They brought out a huge scrumptious birthday cake with a cookie of a Penguin right in the center. Customers spent the next few hours eating cake, receiving Penguin anniversary bags, postcards, and posters and buying lots of Penguin books! It was truly a celebratory event. People gathered around the car, some sitting in it, and looking over all the authors' signatures. (Pictured above is Trish Weyenberg and a customer at Porter Square Books.)

The Penguin Mini was also featured in the August issue of ReadingGroupGuides.com Newsletter for Registered Readers. The newsletter mentioned the authors who participated in the tour this summer and also included photos of the Penguin mini and Janice Y.K., Lee Rosanne Cash, and Sue Monk Kidd posing with and/or signing the car.

Follow the Car to read blog posts from throughout the Penguin Mini tour.

New This Week

Scumble by Ingrid Law (Dial, on sale now)

Scumble is the highly anticipated follow up to the Newbery Honor winner and New York Times bestseller Savvy (Dial, 2008) that won the hearts of children and booksellers everywhere. Even before its official on sale date, Scumble racked up a number of reviews nationwide including hits in the Chicago Tribune, Kansas City Star, Hartford Courant and Orlando Sentinel. In a lengthy feature, BookPage praised Ingrid Law as an "author with a magical touch" and a Booklist starred review lauded, "This companion to the Newbery Honor Book provides the same high level of satisfying plot, delightful characters, alliterative language, and rich imagery." It just might be that Scumble is on the road to Savvy stardom. Ingrid Law will do select appearances around the country this fall. Cities include Atlanta, Boulder, Portland, Austin and Albuquerque.

View the discussion guide to Savvy and Scumble, and read excerpts from these two Ingrid Law adventures.

New Next Week

Rat Girl by Kristin Hersh (Penguin, 8/31)

Penguin Books is starting their fall with a bang! Rat Girl, the memoir by the critically accliamed Throwing Muses frontwoman Kristin Hersh, is hitting stores August 31st to a flurry of attention. Praised in a starred review in Kirkus Reviews as "a thoroughly engrossing work by an original voice," Rat Girl will also be featured as a readers' pick in the October issue of ELLE Magazine. Kristin will be kicking off the book's publication with an event on August 31st at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square, as part of the store's "Upstairs at the Square" series. The event will be an onstage Q&A between Kristin and journalist Katherine Lanpher, and will include a short acoustic performance. Throughout the fall, Kristin will be doing events at the Brooklyn Book Festival, the Happy Endings Reading Series, and an onstage Q&A with Prozac Nation author Elizabeth Wurtzel at The Tank, sponsored by Flavorpill. Kristin Hersh is slated to become as revered for her prose as she is for her songwriting with one of the most highly anticipated memoirs of the fall.

Read excerpts, then join us for a live chat with Kristin Hersh at the Water Cooler on Thursday, September 16th at 8:00 p.m. EST.

The Audacity to Win by David Plouffe (Penguin, 8/31)

Since David Plouffe helped design the plan that brought President Obama to the White House, the lessons of that campaign have become only more relevant. This November, America will once again have a choice. Conservative forces are rallying around leaders like Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Glenn Beck. And Democrats, with historic majorities in both chambers and governing during tough economic times, will need to tell the story of the choices they've made to move America forward. In The Audacity To Win: How Obama Won and How We Can Beat the Party of Limbaugh, Beck, and Palin, Plouffe not only narrates the incredible story of how the Obama for America campaign crafted and implemented its sweeping, unprecedented plan, but also explains the secrets to winning elections in contemporary politics and shows how Democrats can build on the historic campaign of 2008 to keep the country on the right path. Plouffe will be touring to promote the Penguin paperback edition, which features a new chapter on the challenges of 2010. Keep an eye (and ear) out for interviews with him on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News Radio, the Salem Radio Network and in The Wall Street Journal.

Read an excerpt.

Hector and the Search for Happiness by François Lelord (Penguin, 8/31)

In the tradition of The Little Prince and The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Hector and the Search for Happiness by François Lelord, has already touched the hearts of more than two million readers worldwide (Cosmopolitan Germany wrote that "Even the most aloof, the most detached reader will be won over by this book."). It arrives stateside on August 31st, and advance reviewers in the U.S. are falling prey to Hector's charms—Bookpage raved, "Utterly charming…Hector and the Search for Happiness turns psychological research into a fast-paced, enchanting story. Lelord himself is a psychiatrist, and his interest in the human mind is infectious." Hector, a Parisian psychiatrist suffers from a chronic, incurable malady that ails him and his patients alike: unhappiness. He's baffled by this dissatisfaction, especially since he and so many of his patients have enough food and money to live in comfort. Like Candide before him, Hector embarks on a journey around the world to understand the root of happiness. The journey turns out to be as captivating in its hopefulness as it is wise in its simplicity. And it doesn't hurt to picture Hector looking a little bit like Patrick Dempsey (Dr. "McDreamy" of Grey's Anatomy)—Dempsey has signed on to play Hector in the movie version of Hector and the Search for Happiness, scheduled for release in 2011.