TBRN - News

Carol Fitzgerald Explains Why No New Novel Cracked the Top 20 Print Bestsellers List in the First Half of 2016

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 19:25:00 +0000

Frontlist Fiction Hits a Dry Spell

By Jim Milliot, with reporting by Rachel Deahl and Judith Rosen

No adult fiction title released in the January-through-June period managed to make the top 20 print bestsellers list in the first half of the year. In the first six months of 2015, two novels released that year, The Girl on the Train and Grey, held the first and third spots, respectively, on the print list and were #1 and #2 on the Amazon Top 20 Kindle E-books List.

Publishers have been expecting difficulty getting media attention for their books in the second half of 2016, as coverage of the presidential election dominates the various media outlets where authors usually drum up publicity. But in the first half of the year, the news cycle was already focused on the unusually entertaining Republican primary campaign season and news about terrorist attacks and police shootings. “Current events have gotten in the way” of publishers’s efforts to promote new books, said Carol Fitzgerald, president of The Book Report Network.

Read the full story on PublishersWeekly.com

Carol Fitzgerald Reflects on Jon Stewart's Legacy and Influence on Non-Fiction Books

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 18:56:00 +0000

Book world turns a page on late night
by Patrick Ryan

This week, late night starts a new chapter in more ways than one.

Jon Stewart leaves The Daily Show Thursday after a 16-year run, making way for 31-year-old comedian Trevor Noah to take his seat behind the news desk next month. But with the changing of the guard, could the satiric chat show's literary leanings be on the way out?

Since his start in 1999, Stewart has championed non-fiction books, inviting authors onto the show for engaging, thoughtful discourse about topics political, economic and social. In many cases, writers have experienced significant sales boosts after Daily Show appearances.

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald Weighs In on Harper Lee and Marketing 'Go Set a Watchman'

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Fri, 10 Jul 2015 20:38:00 +0000

‘Go Set a Watchman’: Marketing the Book Without Harper Lee
By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg

For many highly anticipated new books, publishers trot out the authors for appearances on the talk show circuit or “60 Minutes.” TV interviews are particularly important in book publishing, where marketing executives view word-of-mouth and social media campaigns as often more effective than traditional advertising.

But Harper Lee, 89, isn’t doing any of that in support of her upcoming novel “Go Set a Watchman,” which publishes July 14 (read the first chapter here). The author, famously press shy, has no plans to grant media interviews, said Tina Andreadis, a spokeswoman for HarperCollins Publishers....

Read the full blog post on WSJ.com

Carol Fitzgerald Comments on 'Go Set a Watchman' Pre-Publication Buzz

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 19:51:00 +0000

HarperCollins Has a Lot Riding on Harper Lee’s ‘Go Set a Watchman’
By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg

When the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. on July 14, more than 90 stores nationwide will begin selling Harper Lee’s new novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” to fans who couldn’t wait until the morning. The early store openings, together with hundreds of thousands of promotional items given to retailers in recent months including posters and bookmarks, are part of the big marketing push publisher HarperCollins is counting on to keep “Watchman” on the national best-seller lists through the holiday season.

Sparking store interest has been the easy part. Fans of Ms. Lee’s classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” are clamoring for her first new book in 55 years. Intrigue around how it came to HarperCollins has added to the buzz. A lawyer for Ms. Lee said she discovered the decades-old manuscript for “Watchman” in 2014, igniting concerns about Ms. Lee’s desire to have it published and her well-being. An Alabama state investigation concluded Ms. Lee was not a victim of elder abuse.

Read the story on WSJ.com
(May require sign-in to view full story.)

Carol Fitzgerald Comments on 'Girl on the Train' Success

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 18:53:00 +0000

Girl on the Train' sells 1 million copies
by Jocelyn McClurg

Publisher Riverhead is tooting its horn over the latest hot news for the runaway hit The Girl on the Train, and why not?

Paula Hawkins' debut psychological thriller passed the 1 million-copies-sold mark this week, with impressive speed. It's a phenomenal number for a novel by a previously unknown author.

The sales numbers are "very impressive," says Carol Fitzgerald, president of the online Book Report Network. "In a sluggish market during a tough winter it's a clear runaway winner."

Train, this year's Gone Girl, is No. 1 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list for the third straight week. (The full list will publish on Thursday.) It was a hit from the get-go, landing at No. 2 on Jan. 22. Train first hit No. 1 on Feb. 12, then slid back to No. 2 for one week as Fifty Shades of Grey briefly reigned.

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald Weighs in on the 20th Anniversary of USA Today’s Bestseller List

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 19:10:00 +0000

What 20 years of best sellers say about what we read
by Bob Minzesheimer and Anthony DeBarros

Blame or credit the digital age, says Carol Fitzgerald, founder of the Book Report Network of websites. "There is more and more targeted self-help information readily available online. With keystrokes people are pulling together the information that they typically would seek out in books," she says.

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald shares thoughts on Tom Clancy’s passing

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 15:16:00 +0000

Appreciation: Tom Clancy mastered the techno-thriller
by Bob Minzesheimer

"He interjected completely plausible --- but chilling --- scenarios into everyday settings," says Carol Fitzgerald, president of the Book Report Network, websites about books and authors. "Readers would always end up thinking, 'What if?'"

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald on Scribd’s new subscription service

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 15:06:00 +0000

Scribd Book Service Adds HarperCollins Titles
by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg

"If somebody wants the new Stephen King or John Grisham, and they can't get it, they'll go somewhere else," said Carol Fitzgerald, president of the Book Report Inc., a closely held company that operates a network of websites connecting books and readers. "Also, can't people do this through their local library and get whatever they want?"

Read the full story on WSJ.com

Carol Fitzgerald weighs in on the future of Barnes & Noble

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 19:56:00 +0000

What's future of Barnes & Noble after CEO exit?
by Bob Minzesheimer

July 10, 2013 - Carol Fitzgerald, founder of BookReporter.com, says that before Borders collapsed, both chains faced similar issues: "Oversized stores and a shrinking of two categories, music and DVD videos." But B&N "was in a better cash position to weather the storm, which is how they survived."

She suggests that what B&N needs to do now is "what Borders started to do with their concept stores, but it was too late. It needs to quickly examine what the consumer really wants in stores…It has the space to create 'shops' in its stores for readers --- book group shops, YA (young-adult) shops. Think the first floor of Harrod's (the famed London department store) to make shopping there an experience. The warehouse approach needs to be redefined to be something fun."

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Publishers Weekly Coverage of the Children’s Book Council Forum on Social Networking where Carol Fitzgerald presented

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:14:00 +0000

YA Readers in the Age of Social Networking: A CBC Forum
by Matia Burnett

May 16, 2013 - A Children’s Book Council forum drew a sizeable crowd to Scholastic’s downtown Manhattan headquarters on Tuesday, May 14, for a discussion called Engaging Relationships: How Kids & Teens Discover, Connect With, and Share Their Passions. One glance at the stage made it clear that this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill panel. Two of the speakers were just a few years younger than the other participants: they were two sisters, both YA bloggers from the Reading Teen blog – 12-year-old Reagan and 18-year-old Kit, who helped provide a multigenerational perspective on reading and writing within the context of social media.

Joining the bloggers were Rachel Fershleiser representing Tumblr, Ed Meagher of DOGO Books, Ashleigh Gardner from Wattpad, and Carol Fitzgerald from the Book Report Network. Charlie Schroder of Charlie & Co. moderated.

Read the full story on PublishersWeekly.com

Carol Fitzgerald Weighs in on Novels about Women Behind the Famous Men

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:32:00 +0000

Novel ideas: The women behind the famous men
by Deirdre Donahue

11:46a.m. EST February 13, 2013 - Publishers are releasing a bonanza of new titles in the vein of 'The Paris Wife' and 'Loving Frank.'

Along with a big glass of wine and a few nibbles of cheese, women in book clubs these days crave a toothsome novel that triggers strong emotions and spirited debate.

And they're finding it in books that center on a famous 20th-century man — and the sometimes forgotten woman at his side. Through the magic of fiction, novelists are creating a prism that illuminates history and love, bringing these women back to life.

It's an approach that has produced some surprising hits, with more waiting in the wings hoping to make the same climb up the best-seller list.

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald comments on author book tours in Forbes

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:26:00 +0000

Book Tours: Hell or Helpful? Author's Snark Ignites Debate
by Craig Wilson

11:02a.m. EST January 24, 2013 - As First World Problems go, the awfulness of the author’s book tour is hardly a novel one. Yet a recent column in Salon by “Go The F*** To Sleep” writer Adam Mansbach on the horror that is the under-attended bookstore appearance provoked a notably strong response, both among those who sympathized with his plight, or at least found his description of it worth a chuckle, and among those who were less than amused.

To the latter, many of whom work in the book industry, Mansbach displayed a lack of graciousness in mocking the resources being used to flog his book at a time when those resources are increasingly in short supply for other authors.

Read the full story on Forbes.com

Carol Fitzgerald Talks about Books about Heavenly Journeys in USA Today, 1/15/2013

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:42:00 +0000

Publishing world cashes in on heavenly journeys
by Craig Wilson

4:19p.m. EST January 11, 2013 - At least three best sellers tell stories of near-death experiences, with more to come.

Can it be true? Do people really see a light at the end of a tunnel when they have a near-death experience?

Could that be heaven up ahead?

Well, it could be. And that light is shining brighter than ever these days. Heaven is hot. Hotter even than that other place. Just ask any bookseller in America.

Folks have been going to heaven with amazing regularity lately. They look around — one even sat on Jesus' lap — then come back to report on the trip. It's a lucrative journey

Three of these tales have ascended to heavenly heights on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list recently, and more are on the way.

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald weighs in on Twilight and movies based on YA novels

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 17:32:00 +0000

'Twilight' leaves bite marks on Hollywood

by Bryan Alexander

9:56pa.m. EST January 15, 2013 - The 'Twilight' franchise wraps up its run Friday after already earning $2.5 billion. But the series is still an impact player.

Even eternal vampire love must come to an end.

The Twilight Saga movie franchise's days are wrapping up to some staggering numbers: five movies, a three-sided romance entangling a human, a vampire and a werewolf — and $2.5 billion (and counting) in worldwide box office.

The passionate fans of the series, which is based on Stephenie Meyer's four best-selling novels, will have a chance to let out one more box-office roar as the final chapter, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2, hit select theaters at midnight Thursday (before opening wide Friday), nearly four years after the original (2008's Twilight) started the Twi-hards screaming.

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald Remarks on J.K. Rowling's Top Hardcover Sales With USA TODAY, 10/04/2012

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:11:00 +0000

Book buzz: J.K. Rowling, Neil Young, 'The Chew' make list news
By Lindsay Deutsch

3:04PM EST October 4. 2012 - Here's a look at what's buzzing in the books world today:

'Young' man: In a big fall for rock memoirs, Neil Young has a hit — his Waging Heavy Peace enters the list at No. 33 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list. It's in the running for best-selling rock memoir of the year. Gregg Allman's My Cross to Bear, released in May, peaked at No. 65. But waiting in the wings: Who I Am by The Who's Pete Townshend, on sale next week. Rolling Stone, in an early review, calls Who I Am "candid to the point of self-laceration." The most popular rock memoir in recent years was Life by the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards; it entered the list at No. 3 in 2010 and remained in the top 50 for 11 weeks. -Carol Memmott

'Casual' collection: J.K. Rowling's post-Harry Potter novel for grown-ups, The Casual Vacancy, lands on the list at No. 1 and is her first book to be simultaneously published in hardcover and as a less expensive e-book. But the hardcover is outselling the e-version, unlike Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl (No. 6) and Lee Child's A Wanted Man (No. 7). Terry Adams, Little Brown's e-book and paperback publisher says, "With an author as beloved as J.K. Rowling, it is not surprising that some people would prefer the physical experience of owning and reading the printed book." Carol Fitzgerald, president of BookReporter.com, says: "For years, readers collected the Potter books... She's perceived as a 'collectible author' who they want to display on their shelves. You cannot do the same thing with an e-book." Publisher Little, Brown reports that Rowling's novel sold 375,000 copies in all formats its first six days on sale. -Bob Minzesheimer

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald Shares Stories About Teenreads.com With Keenreaders.org

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:39:00 +0000

Teens know what to read at teenreads.com

Carol Fitzgerald is co-founder and president of the popular teen-books website Teenreads.com, which offers teens everything from book reviews and author information to contests. Founded in 1997 as part of the Book Report Network, it draws 300,000 visitors per month.

Q: How would you describe Teenreads in a nutshell?
A: Teenreads.com offers teen readers—and anyone else who enjoys young adult (YA) books—a place to discover and enjoy books and authors, with a variety of features all developed to initiate and cultivate a love of reading.

Q: When and why was it launched, and how many visitors do you get?
A: The site was launched in July 1997, first only on AOL and called The Book Bag. It was hatched as an idea when the chat rooms and message boards for our adult website were filled with teens chatting about their favorite books—to the complete consternation of our older readers, who felt their discussions were being overrun. I had been noodling the idea of a website for teens since the prior August, when I had been in the library one night, and a young boy came in to ask where the high school summer reading was. The librarian pointed to a shelf of books, remarking, “School starts tomorrow.” The boy replied, “It’s going to be a long night.” These moments spurred the concept of creating an online home for both eager and reluctant readers, where we could not only offer a place to talk about books, but provide some direction for what actually interests teens.

We have approximately 300,000 unique visitors coming to the site each month and there are close to 13,000 subscribers to our monthly newsletter. There is also a relatively new bi-weekly “On Sale This Week” newsletter that goes out to about 700 people, which alerts readers as to what is on sale over a two-week period.

Q: You run everything from reviews to polls and contests. What are your most popular features?
A: The top five features in August were Reviews, the Authors Section, Coming Soon, the Teen Ultimate Reading List and Cool & New. In addition, Contests, Adult Books You Want to Read, Grab Bag of Books, the Poll, Books on Screen and the Blog typically round out the top ten features.

While review and author information have been part of the site from the beginning, other features have grown organically from our conversations with readers, from what we see in our mailbox and from concepts that spark our interest. As an example, Coming Soon was developed as we realized readers wanted to know what to expect in the upcoming months. The Teen Ultimate Reading List was born after I saw the books on my sons’ school reading lists, and felt that most required reading was not fostering a lifelong love of reading, as the books were not exciting or inspiring. Thus we developed a list of books that we thought readers actually would want to read. That list now boasts more than 400 titles.

Cool & New evolved from readers looking for a curated list of new titles while Adult Books You Want to Read gave us a chance to share appropriate Bookreporter.com content with our teen readers. At the same time, we have a feature on Bookreporter.com called “Young Adult Books You Want to Read” that we launched a couple of years ago when we realized that adults were rabid YA fans. In fact, noting this, we are doing a YA Book Survey in October and November asking both teens and adults about their impressions about YA books.

Q: Tell us an inspiring story.

Read the full interview at Keenreaders.org

Carol Fitzgerald Talks About the Release of J.K. Rowling's New Book With USA TODAY, 8/23/2012

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 22:16:00 +0000

J.K. ROWLING WRITES 'CASUAL VACANCY' FOR ADULTS
By Deirdre Donahue and Craig Wilson

Once upon a time, J.K. Rowling set children's imaginations on fire. Can the creator of Harry Potter ignite a similar conflagration for a grown-up audience?

The British author will find out on Sept. 27, when more than 2 million hardcover copies of her first novel for adults hit U.S. bookstores, along with the digital edition. It will be simultaneously released in the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Germany.

Set in the little English town of Pagford, The Casual Vacancy (Little, Brown, $35) revolves around an election held after a member of the parish council unexpectedly dies. Despite the Miss Marple terrain, press materials describe the novel as "blackly comic … Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war."

"I expect the world to be ecstatic at the range of her imaginative reach," predicts Rowling's American publisher, Michael Pietsch. One of the few to have read the embargoed book, he calls Rowling "a genius, one of the great writers of all time." Reading the 512-page novel, he says, "reminded me of Dickens because of the humanity, the humor, the social concerns, the intensely real characters."

No wands, apparently: "This book isn't Harry Potter," says Pietsch. "It is a completely different concern."

But the secrecy surrounding The Casual Vacancy isn't. As with Harry Potter, there are no advance copies for the media, no early reviews. In the case of Harry Potter, this public-relations blackout only fed the frenzy. To date, the seven-book series about a boy wizard has sold more than 450 million copies worldwide, and it became one of the most successful movie franchises in history.

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald Comments on the Weak Online Engagement of Oprah's Book Club 2.0 With USA TODAY, 7/18/2012

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:26:00 +0000

OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB 2.0 GOES DIGITAL
By Bob Minzesheimer

When Oprah Winfrey, then the brightest star on daytime TV, began her book club in 1996, inexpensive e-books and e-readers seemed more futurist rumor than everyday reality. Social media could have meant friendly reporters.

Now, as Winfrey, co-owner of a struggling cable network, launches Oprah's Book Club 2.0, she's seeking a literary home on a digital landscape. Comparing today's fragmented do-it-yourself media with the world of 1996 is like comparing Winfrey's 42-acre estate near Santa Barbara, Calif., with her birthplace amid the rural poverty of Kosciusko, Miss.

Publishers and booksellers cheer her club's revival, despite questions whether the new Winfrey, with a much smaller TV audience, carries the influence of the old Winfrey, who turned 70 books into best sellers.

On Sunday, Winfrey's interview with memoirist Cheryl Strayed, the first author chosen for the new book club, airs on OWN's Super Soul Sunday (11 a.m. ET/PT) and simultaneously streams on Oprah Radio and on OWN'S Facebook page. (OWN is short for Oprah Winfrey Network.)

Ratings show that the audience for Winfrey's weekly show Super Soul averaged only 114,000 viewers in the past month — a sliver of her more than 5 million to 6 million viewers when her daily syndicated show ended its 25-year run last year. At its peak, The Oprah Winfrey Show averaged 12 million viewers.

What hasn't changed is how Winfrey, America's favorite reader, reacts when she loves a book.

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald Discusses the Potential Impact of Oprah's Book Club 2.0 With USA TODAY, 6/1/2012

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:43:00 +0000

OPRAH WINFREY REVIVES HER BOOK CLUB THIS MONDAY WITH 'WILD'
By Deirdre Donahue

Borders may be gone, but the Queen has returned.

As publishing prepares for its annual convention, BookExpo America, which opens Tuesday in Manhattan, Oprah Winfrey announced she will revive her fabled book club. Oprah's Book Club 2.0 will launch Monday, this time with digital elements such as enhanced eBooks and social media outreach on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The first book chosen is Cheryl Strayed's Wild. The best-selling memoir describes the author's 1,100-mile hike up the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert to Oregon as the 26-year-old struggled with her mother's death and a failed marriage.

In her video announcement of the relaunch, Winfrey raved about the book, calling it "stimulating, thought-provoking, soul-enhancing."

At 12 p.m. Monday, a special eBook version of Wild will be released that will include a reader's guide and Oprah's notes on her favorite passages. Print books will carry the traditional Oprah sticker.

The question, of course, is whether Winfrey still has the magic to move books. With her syndicated show, which she ended last May after 25 years, Winfrey averaged about 5 million to 6 million viewers when it ended last year and up to 12 million at its peak.

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Carol Fitzgerald discusses popularity of fiction and the drop in non-fiction with USA TODAY, 1/12/2012

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:38:00 +0000

FICTION CONTINUES ITS RISE AS READERS' GO-TO GENRE
By Carol Memmott and Anthony DeBarros

Fiction — led by Kathyrn Stockett's The Help as the year's No. 1 seller — was 2011's go-to genre for the majority of book readers, analysis of data from USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list shows.

Choosing novels over non-fiction is a long-term trend; fiction has climbed from 67% of the titles in USA TODAY's weekly top 150 in 2007 to 78% last year.

And the reason the retiree sitting in the beach chair next to yours and the businesswoman relaxing in the airport lounge are reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo? We're craving that "Calgon, take me away" moment.

"People are interested in escape," says Carol Fitzgerald of the Book Report Network, websites for book discussions. "In a number of pages, the story will open, evolve and close, and a lot of what's going on in the world today is not like that. You've got this encapsulated escape that you can enjoy."

Read the full story on USAToday.com

Bookreporter.com and Teenreads.com Launch On Sale This Week Newsletters Keeping Readers Informed of New Releases

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:56:00 +0000

New Weekly Newsletter Keeps Readers in Touch with New Releases

NEW YORK --- April 13, 2011 --- Bookreporter.com and Teenreads.com, two websites in TheBookReportNetwork.com have launched On Sale This Week Newsletters, alerting readers of the books that go on sale each week. The Bookreporter.com newsletter can be found here and the Teenreads.com newsletter can be found here.

Through May, these newsletters will be sent every other Tuesday; in June they will be sent weekly. Each newsletter will include an “On Sale This Week” section as well as a “Coming Soon” section that will list titles due to be published the following week. Each listing includes title, author, release date, imprint, ISBN and one sentence about the book.

“These newsletters evolved from our Coming Soon features, where we list books that will be published in the coming months. We feel that sharing this information with our readers will motivate them to explore and purchase books by their favorite authors --- and explore new ones,” said Carol Fitzgerald, President of TheBookReportNetwork.com. “The reaction from our readers to our initial mailing was wildly enthusiastic, confirming that this information is appreciated.”

The newsletter is printer friendly, which will assist librarians and booksellers, allowing them to post the list of newly released and coming soon titles on bulletin boards to alert their patrons, or to use the list when placing orders. Readers will find the printable list helpful when they go to bookstores, as it will assist them in finding the new titles that they are most interested in.

To view the most recent Bookreporter.com On Sale This Week Newsletter, click here: http://www.bookreporter.com/newsletters/on-sale-this-week/index.asp

For more information, or to sign up for the Bookreporter.com On Sale This Week Newsletter, click here: http://www.bookreporter.com/features/on-sale-this-week/index.asp

To view the most recent Teenreads.com On Sale This Week Newsletter, click here: http://www.teenreads.com/newsletters/on-sale-this-week/index.asp

For more information, or to sign up for the Teenreads.com On Sale This Week Newsletter, click here: http://www.teenreads.com/features/on-sale-this-week.asp About TheBookReportNetwork.com:
Bookreporter.com is part of TheBookReportNetwork.com (TBRN), a group of eight websites about books and authors that have become gathering places for a devoted community of more than 1.6 million booklovers since 1996. TBRN’s other sites include ReadingGroupGuides.com, GraphicNovelReporter.com, FaithfulReader.com, Teenreads.com, Kidsreads.com, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com and AuthorYellowPages.com, a searchable directory of author websites.

Teenreads.com’s “Ultimate Teen Reading List” Celebrates Five Years and Announces New Titles

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:14:00 +0000

Teenreads.com Expands Ultimate Teen Reading List for Five-Year Anniversary

NEW YORK --- March 24, 2011 --- Teenreads.com, a website in TheBookReportNetwork.com, has updated its Ultimate Teen Reading List. The list includes nearly 400 titles, ranging from fiction to nonfiction that are recommended pleasure reading for teens aged 12-17. Twenty-one graphic novel and manga titles appear on the list this year, the first time this format has been spotlighted this heavily.

“We started the Ultimate Teen Reading List in 2006, as we noticed that many required reading lists were dated and we felt that they were not inspiring pleasure reading,” says Carol Fitzgerald, Founder of Teenreads.com and President of TheBookReportNetwork.com. “Our goal in creating this list was to get teen readers excited about reading by selecting books that would appeal to them. We hope that schools and libraries will adopt titles from our list to supplement their suggested or required reading lists.”

The Ultimate Teen Reading List features classics like George Orwell’s 1984 and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, but has been updated with newer titles such as Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, and The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

Graphic novel and manga titles that have been added to the list include Fables by Bill Willingham, Watchmen by Alan Moore, and Stitches by David Small. Two books --- The Alchemist and Twilight --- are on the list in both prose and graphic novel formats. “On another website in TheBookReportNetwork.com, GraphicNovelReporter.com, we have seen graphic novels and manga being adopted into the school curriculum. Given that many educators are not familiar with the format, beyond The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman, which also appears on the list, we wanted to include these to ensure that there was a cultivated list of selections,” Fitzgerald said.

Teenreads.com compiled the list by incorporating suggestions from its more than 382,000 unique monthly readers as well as research by their staffers into what they felt were “must-reads” for teens. Books on the list include young adult titles like Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine, Stolen by Lucy Christopher and The Things a Brother Knows by Dana Reinhart, as well as adult titles that teens would enjoy such as Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray.

For more information or to view all of the titles on the Teenreads.com Ultimate Teen Reading List please visit: http://teenreads.com/features/ultimate-reading-list.asp

About TheBookReportNetwork.com: TheBookReportNetwork.com (TBRN) is a group of eight websites about books and authors that have become gathering places for a devoted community of more than 1.6 million booklovers since 1996. TBRN’s other sites include flagship site, Bookreporter.com, ReadingGroupGuides.com, GraphicNovelReporter.com, Teenreads.com, Kidsreads.com, FaithfulReader.com, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com and AuthorYellowPages.com, a searchable directory of author websites.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
For More Information Contact:
Maureen Linehan
Maureen@bookreporter.com
212-246-3100

ReadingGroupGuides.com Announces Top 25 Book Club Selections of 2010; The Help Takes the Top Spot

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:14:00 +0000

40% of Book Groups Reported Having Read The Help in 2010

NEW YORK --- March 21, 2011 --- ReadingGroupGuides.com, a website from TheBookReportNetwork.com has announced the Top 25 Book Group Discussion Books of 2010. Between mid-December and mid-February, book groups were asked to submit a list of the books that its members discussed in 2010. http://readinggroupguides.com/features/2010_year_end_selections.asp#top25, by Kathryn Stockett, was cited as the most read book, with 40% of the reporting groups noting that it was one of their discussion books.

The Top 25 Most Popular Reading Group Picks for 2010:
1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
2. *The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
3. *The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
4. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
5. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
6. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
7. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
8. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
9. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
10. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
11. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
12. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls
13. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
14. *Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
15. *The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
16. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace… One School at a Time by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin
17. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
18. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
19. *People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
20. *The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
21. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
22. South of Broad by Pat Conroy
23. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
24. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
25. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

*An asterisk (*) indicates that the number of votes a book received is barely distinguishable from the book above it.

“The Help has been a mainstay on many bestseller lists for over a year now, and its appeal made it a must-read for book groups even in hardcover,” says Carol Fitzgerald, President of TheBookReportNetwork.com. “Also, it was nice to see To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2010 on the list. We are certain that this was a re-read for many of the members of reporting book groups.”

A random drawing was held where all entrants were eligible to win a set of books for their book groups, which were contributed by publishers.

For an online link to the Top 25 titles read by reading groups in 2010, please visit:
http://readinggroupguides.com/features/2010_year_end_selections.asp

About TheBookReportNetwork.com:
Bookreporter.com is part of TheBookReportNetwork.com (TBRN), a group of eight websites about books and authors that have become gathering places for a devoted community of more than 1.6 million booklovers since 1996. TBRN’s other sites include ReadingGroupGuides.com, GraphicNovelReporter.com, FaithfulReader.com, Teenreads.com, Kidsreads.com, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com and AuthorYellowPages.com, a searchable directory of author websites.

Results of Bookreporter.com’s Millennium Series Survey

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:22:00 +0000

Surprise Finding: Majority of Bookreporter.com’s Survey Respondents Read Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series in Hardcover and Paperback, Not eBooks

NEW YORK – February 14, 2011 -- Bookreporter.com, a website in TheBookReportNetwork.com, has released the results of its recent Millennium Series Survey, in which they asked readers to answer questions about Stieg Larsson and his bestselling Millennium Series.

More than 1,700 readers participated in the survey. The most surprising statistic: While Stieg Larsson was the first author to become a member of the “Kindle Million Club,” 84% of readers who responded said they did not read the books on an eReading device. Of those that did read the series in eBook form, 9% read on a Kindle, 4% on Barnes & Noble’s Nook, 1% on a Sony eReader, 1% on an iPad and 1% on “other” reader/mobile devices.

In other results, it comes as no surprise that 71.8% of readers chose Lisbeth Salander as their favorite character in the series. Also earning top votes in the survey, the book that started it all, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO was chosen as favorite book in the series by 27.8%and favorite book cover by 36.4%, although 40% of readers liked all three book covers and could not decide on one favorite.

The popularity of the books has also sparked interest in Swedish tourism, with 44% of readers stating they are ready to pack their bags and visit the sights mentioned in the books, while 5% have already done so.

Regarding the page-to-screen adaptations, 43% have seen and enjoyed the Swedish film versions of the series, while 10% are waiting for the upcoming Hollywood film starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

“We were so pleased by the number of readers who took part in this survey, which is a testament to the cultural phenomenon that Stieg Larsson has created,” says Carol Fitzgerald, President of TheBookReportNetwork.com. “On Bookreporter.com we named the Millennium Series ‘The Series of The Decade,’ and THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST the ‘2010 Book of the Year.’ This survey is just part of our feature.”

For full coverage of Bookreporter.com’s “The Book of the Year…and The Series of the Decade” feature please click here: http://www.bookreporter.com/features/millennium-trilogy/index.asp

About TheBookReportNetwork.com: Bookreporter.com is part of TheBookReportNetwork.com (TBRN), a group of eight websites about books and authors that have become gathering places for a devoted community of more than 1.6 million booklovers since 1996. TBRN’s other sites include ReadingGroupGuides.com, GraphicNovelReporter.com, FaithfulReader.com, Teenreads.com, Kidsreads.com, AuthorsOnTheWeb.com and AuthorYellowPages.com, a searchable directory of author websites.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
For More Information Contact:
Maureen Linehan
Maureen@bookreporter.com
212-246-3100

The Book Report Network to Launch Book Website For Readers in College/Twenty Somethings

noreply@blogger.com (webmaster) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:00:00 +0000

NEW YORK---October 1, 2010---The Book Report Network has announced plans to develop a book website for readers in college and twenty somethings. This website will have suggestions of books to read for personal pleasure, non-required reading. The expected launch date is early 2011.

"At this time, we are not seeing this key market of readers being served directly with a website edited especially for them," said Carol Fitzgerald, President of The Book Report Network. "As this project is still in the development stage, we are using the code name, "CO-20" as we move forward with plans for the site."

To help gather information about the target market for the new CO-20 site --- and to provide direction as to how the site might unfold --- The Book Report Network is conducting a survey of readers between the ages of 17 and 30. The CO-20 Survey is open until October 15, 2010, and anyone who completes the survey is eligible to enter a drawing to win one of 100 $25 gift cards to the bookstore of his or her choice.

Please note: Given customs and mailing restrictions, the prize offerings are only available to residents of the United States and Canada. International readers are welcome to participate, but will not be eligible to win a gift card.

For more information on The Book Report Network’s CO-20 survey, please follow this link, http://www.bookreporter.com/co-20/

About The Book Report Network: TheBookReportNetwork© is a group of eight websites featuring original content about books and authors. Since 1996, these sites --- led by flagship site Bookreporter.com, ReadingGroupGuides.com, GraphicNovelReporter.com, FaithfulReader.com, Teenreads.com and Kidsreads.com --- have become gathering places for a large and devoted audience of readers and book buyers. More than 1.6 million unique visitors come to the sites in the Network each month, making it the largest non-commercial group of book websites on the Internet.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
For More Information Contact:
Maureen Linehan
Maureen@bookreporter.com
212-246-3100