Tag: Publisher News

Guest Blog: Spread the Word Initiative from The Story Plant – Sign up for Review Copies

Posted September 12, 2012 by Holly in Promotions | 0 Comments

The Spread the Word Initiative allows bloggers, reviewers, and faithful readers to gain early access to new releases by authors published by The Story Plant. The Story Plant was started in 2008 by two industry professionals who have over 60 years of experience between them. Lou Aronica, Publisher, spent twenty years at big publishing houses, serving as Deputy Publisher at Bantam before becoming Publisher at Berkley and Avon. During this time, he edited and published numerous New York Times bestsellers. A New York Times bestselling author himself, Aronica has written three novels, including the national bestseller Blue, and coauthored nine works of nonfiction. Peter Miller has been managing writers in books and film for more than three decades, representing more than a dozen New York Times bestsellers and Executive Producing more than a dozen movies. His current film projects include a ten-part miniseries based on Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi for HBO with Tom Hanks’ production company Playtone, and a film from Oscar-winning director Brad Bird, based on 1906 by James Dallesandro. The goal of the company is to turn commercial novelists into best-selling authors.

With Spread the Word, we offer you the chance to read a novel by one of our authors and all we ask in exchange is that you talk about it in some way, whether it be on your blog, with your book club, or to your family in friends. We just want you to spread the word about the book – hence the name of the initiative.

We have two books coming out in August that are sure to be hits. Twelve Months by Steve Manchester, The Story Plant’s newest author, tells the story of a man who is given twelve months to live and the decisions he makes in that time. Sweat, the second novel by Mark Gilleo is a suspense fiction story about a young man who gets caught up in a political scandal that could cost him his life. In addition to these books, we have eight books coming out this fall from our authors. For more information about the books we currently have published, please visit our website, www.thestoryplant.com.

As someone who loves to read, I can express enough how great of an opportunity this is. You get to read books before they are available to the general public, putting you in an elite book category. At The Story Plant, we love our supporters and everything that we offer and we hope that we can count some of you among our numbers!

If you want to show your support for the authors and the company, follow us on Twitter (@thestoryplant) or Like us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/thestoryplant)!

Thanks so much for your time reading this!
Allison, Editorial & Marketing Assistant, The Story Plant

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Fifty Shades of Grey Becomes UK Bestselling Novel Of All Time

Posted August 9, 2012 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

I’ve been continually surprised by the amount of press this trilogy is getting. When I think about it, however, it isn’t all that surprising. While we (here at Book Binge and in the community at large) have long been readers of the genre, many are getting their first taste with this trilogy. Thinking back to my first romance novel (though I don’t consider the Fifty Shades trilogy romance), I can understand why everyone is so excited to read something a little darker and a little dirtier. Hopefully we’ll see many romance converts come out of this.

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Random House (UK) today announced yesterday E L James’s Fifty Shades of Grey has sold well in excess of 5.3 million copies in physical and ebook combined in the UK, making it the bestselling British book of all time. The first book in the trilogy remains in the No.1 slot for the 16th week running and overall sales have overtaken even those of The Highway Code. The second and third books, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, continue to sell strongly, with UK sales of 3.6 million and 3.2 million respectively. Combined UK sales for the trilogy are in excess of 12 million copies.

Commenting on the new record, EL James said: “My main ambition when I signed the deal with Random House was to see my books in the shops. I simply had no idea they would be so successful and this is totally unexpected. The whole process has been both extraordinary and rewarding. I couldn’t be more pleased with the sales and would like to thank everyone involved.”

Susan Sandon, Managing Director of Cornerstone Publishing, said: “The Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon is perhaps one of the most extraordinary experiences of my entire publishing career and I feel privileged to be part of it. The speed and sheer size of the sales is incredible and the roles played by so many people across the business simply breathtaking. Each and every department across editorial, art, finance, legal, publicity, marketing, production and home and international sales has risen to the creative and logistical challenges presented by the trilogy with energy, excitement and passion. I take my hat off to the brilliance and professionalism of all involved. And above all, it is so much fun!”

Arrow have also announced that E L James will be signing copies of her books at Waterstones Piccadilly, London on 6th September.

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MacMillan Launches New Romance Community Site!

Posted February 14, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments


Did you guys hear about the new MacMillan romance community site, Heroes and Heartbreakers?

Well, here’s what MacMillan had to say about the new romance community:

Heroes and Heartbreakers (H&H) brings together original stories, pre-release excerpts, blog posts, giveaways and more in a publisher-neutral environment, which means romance content from all publishers, imprints and authors will be featured on the site.

Sounds pretty rad, don’t you think? The site launches today so make sure you stop on by and check things out for yourself. Any site that is dedicated to the growth of the romance community gets two thumbs up from me, so join me while I go and see what they have to offer over there.

See you over there!

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Harlequin launches digital-only publishing house, seeking submissions

Posted November 9, 2009 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

Last week Angela James said she had some news to share, and I had a feeling it might be this. We’re very excited for her, and for Carina, the new digital-only pub. Harlequin is already a well trusted name in the publishing world, and I’m sure that will only enhance in the digital side. I’m beyond excited to see what they start producing.

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Carina Press™ currently accepting submissions

Toronto, ON (November 9, 2009) – Harlequin Enterprises Limited, the global leader in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of women’s fiction, announced today the launch of Carina Press™, a digital-only publishing house that will operate independently of their traditional publishing businesses.


Carina Press is a digital-only publishing house whose eBooks will be sold direct to consumers through the Carina Press Web site and numerous third-party Web sites. Carina Press will publish a wide range of women’s fiction—from romance to erotica, science fiction to mystery, family sagas to choose your own adventures, horror to thriller and more, including every conceivable subgenre of these categories.


“As a digital-only publisher Carina Press is a natural extension to our business; it builds on our digital strength and leadership position. We expect to discover new authors and unique voices that may not be able to find homes in traditional publishing houses,” said Donna Hayes, CEO and Publisher of Harlequin Enterprises. “It definitely gives us greater flexibility in the type of editorial we can accept from authors and offer to readers. As well, we hope to reach a new group of readers with niche editorial.”


Brent Lewis, Vice President Digital, is delighted to announce Angela James is joining Carina Press as Executive Editor. A veteran of the digital publishing industry, James is a well-known advocate for digital publishing. James has enjoyed a long and varied publishing career including senior editorial positions at digital-first publishers. “I have admired Harlequin’s digital initiatives for years, and have always thought of them as leaders in the digital arena, so I’m unbelievably excited to join the Carina Press team,” said James. “I believe Harlequin can bring digital publishing to the next level for both authors and readers.”


Lewis added, “Angela has been a key player in growing the digital marketplace for romance. Her experience and insight is a tremendous benefit to the Carina Press team.”


Carina Press is currently accepting submissions in all genres of commercial fiction. Carina Press will consider shorter length stories, genre novels between 50,000 to 100,000 words and longer and complex narratives of over 100,000 words. Carina Press will also acquire books that have been previously released in print form, but for which the author has either retained digital rights or had digital rights revert to them. All submissions should be sent to submissions@carinapress.com.


Carina Press plans to launch in summer 2010 and will release new titles on a weekly basis. Between now and the launch, readers and writers can follow the progress of Carina Press via their blog.


For full submission guidelines and more information on Carina Press please go to www.carinapress.com.

About Harlequin Enterprises

Harlequin Enterprises Limited is the global leader in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of books for women, with titles issued worldwide in 28 languages and sold in 114 international markets. The company produces over 110 titles monthly in print and digital and publishes more than 1,100 authors from around the world. Harlequin Enterprises Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation, a broadly based media company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TS.B). Harlequin’s Web site is located at www.eHarlequin.com. Harlequin has offices in 19 countries, including offices in Toronto, New York and London. For more information please visit www.eHarlequin.com or press.eHarlequin.com.

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Gennita Who?

Posted September 30, 2008 by Casee in Features | 6 Comments

I have been a looooong time fan of Gennita Low. The first one of her books I read was Facing Fear. After reading it, I was a fan for life. To this day, Facing Fear remains one of the most emotionally powerful books I’ve ever read. Obviously you have to be in the mood for something deep to pick up this book. Still, if you haven’t read it, I can honestly say you’re missing out.

After Facing Fear, Gennita went on to release a trilogy of SEAL books before changing publishers. I talked to her after she signed on with Mira and she was really excited about what she felt was going to be a great future. The first book she released with Mira was Virtually His (5/07). This book was the beginning of a trilogy that would tell the long awaited story of Jed, a shadowy and intriguing character that we always wanted to read more of. Virtually Hers, the second book in the series was supposed to be in December of 2007. After the release of Virtually His, the release date of Virtually Hers was pushed back to December 2008. That was a huge disappointment to readers like me, readers that have followed Gennita’s career from the beginning. Now, it seems as though we’re not going to get it in December. It’s been pushed back yet again, this time indefinitely.

As a reader, I feel nothing but disappointment. As a friend of Gennita’s, I feel horribly for her b/c this is basically her life’s work. It’s now been a year and a half since her last release. Authors drop off the map in less time than that. Gennita has faithfully blogged for years and makes rounds to the message boards. Still, how can she be a successful author if she’s not releasing books? And it’s not her that’s not releasing them, it’s Mira.

To appease her fans, Gennita has released a free e-book. You can d/l the e-book by going to her blog. Gennita also has asked her fans to give Mira a nudge by buying Virtually His new. Nothing helps an author like sales will. If you’re a fan like me, you can even write to Mira to ask WTF.

Gennita also recently sent out a newsletter explaining her publishing situation and what you can do to help. You can read the newsletter here.

To support one of our favorite authors, we’re going to giveaway five copies of Virtually His. All you have to do is post Gennita’s newsletter on your blog and leave the link in comments. Contest will run through Saturday, October 4th.

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