Penguin Group (USA) and Amazon.com today announced the second annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition, the international contest seeking the next popular novel, which will launch on February 2nd 2009.

During the tremendously successful inaugural competition, Bill Loehfelm emerged as the 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Grand Prize Winner from a pool of 5,000 entrants. G. P. Putnam's Sons published his novel, Fresh Kills, in August 2008 to critical acclaim. The Associated Press hailed the novel as "the finest crime fiction debut since Dennis Lehane burst on the scene...not just a crime novel but a psychological novel of impressive subtlety and complexity." Mr. Loehfelm said, "The opportunity to enter this contest and share my manuscript with two publishing industry innovators like Penguin Group and Amazon was thrilling enough-but to go from longtime struggling writer to nationally published author in nine months is an aspiring writer's dream."

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Two Penguin Group (USA) authors and their books have been selected as finalists for the 2008 National Book Awards: Aleksandar Hemon for The Lazarus Project in the Fiction category; and Jim Sheeler for Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives in the Nonfiction Category. The announcement was made today at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago.

Aleksandar Hemon’s The Lazarus Project, which follows the stories of two young Eastern European immigrants in Chicago separated by a century, whose lives have both been marked by political violence and dislocation, was published by Riverhead books this past May to critical acclaim. Born in Sarajevo, Hemon came to the United State s in 1992. He is the previous recipient of both the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Grant, and the Guggenheim Fellowship. In addition, his book Nowhere Man was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

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New York, New York, September 8, 2008.

As a service to the readers who already bought The Age of Turbulence by former Federal Reserve Chairman Dr. Alan Greenspan, Penguin Group (USA) announced today the publication of the first Penguin "eSpecial," a stand-alone item created exclusively from the new epilogue written for the paperback edition of this international bestseller which goes on sale September 9 and will be available to download later that day.

"With the 'eSpecial' Penguin will have the ability as a publisher to provide eBook readers with the most current and up-to-date information as it unfolds," said John Fagan, eBooks Marketing Director. "In this launch case, we know that many who read the hardcover or eBook edition of The Age of Turbulence would be interested in the new material written by Dr. Greenspan without having to buy the whole book again. We thought the 'eSpecial' item was an affordable and an instant way to provide this."

Published to complement the hardcover edition, this Penguin "eSpecial" will be for sale simultaneously with the new Penguin Books paperback and eBook editions that the epilogue was created for. The epilogue updates Dr. Greenspan's view of economic changes in the U.S. economy, including the current credit crisis, since the original publication of the book in September 2007.

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Silva is setting personal bests as his new Putnam novel, Moscow Rules, debuts at #1 on The New York Times hardcover fiction list for the week of August 10^th. Moscow Rules is Silva's first #1 New York Times bestseller. This is also the first time ever that Silva has held slots on both the hardcover and mass-market New York Times bestseller lists simultaneously. The Secret Servant (Signet) has been on the mass-market paperback list for the past five weeks, reaching as high as #6, also a new record for Silva.

Critics across the country have been praising Moscow Rules, the eighth novel featuring legendary art-restorer-cum-Israeli-secret-agent Gabriel Allon, ever since it landed in bookstores. Today's USA Today writes "Silva ‘Rules.'" The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says "put ‘Moscow Rules' atop your summer beach book list;" and the Houston Press calls the book "A fast-paced thriller with all the appropriate twists and turns." The Rocky Mountain News claims "Silva continues to provide some of the most exciting spy fiction since Ian Fleming put down his martini and invented James Bond," while the Chicago Sun-Times says: "Silva just gets better as the questions get harder."

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Far more than just a comic book collector's show, Comic-Con International 2008 held in sunny San Diego at the massive Convention Center was nothing less than a freewheeling, four day lovefest for all things comic, literary and fringe.

And luckily, I could count myself in as an attendee.

From a prime position on the floor, working in the Penguin booth to greet fellow comic lovers and readers, and to distribute some of our new reads and samplers, I was pleased to be in the middle of all the excitement, reveling in the spirit of community to be found there, gawking at the endlessly elaborate and clever costumed fans (one good looking Joker, Indiana Jones, and Cat Woman after another), and exploring aisle after aisle of offerings from small press vendors and artists-collecting a small mountain of freebies from the movie studios, networks, and the comic industry heavyweights present.

Posters, buttons, graphic novels, oversized bags and tees-my nearly bursting carry-on luggage was at the sheer mercy of its overworked zipper.

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

Troop Drive Coincides with the July 13^th Premiere of HBO Films' Original Miniseries, Generation Kill, Based on Evan Wright's New York Times-Bestselling Book, Re-Released This Month by Berkley

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Penguin Group (USA) is partnering with HBO as a sponsor of the Generation Kill Troop Drive, a program that will deliver care packages to troops destined for Iraq and Afghanistan. The troop drive is scheduled to coincide with the July 13, 2008 premiere of HBO Films' original miniseries, Generation Kill, which is based on the award-winning, New York Times-bestselling Putnam/Berkley book of the same name by Evan Wright, who was embedded with the First Reconnaissance Battalion for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. The seven-part miniseries, written and executive-produced by The Wire's David Simon and Ed Burns, airs on HBO every Sunday night through August 24^th.

Following Generation Kill screenings for veterans and active duty soldiers who were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, HBO compiled a list of goods that soldiers request while overseas - an authentic Marine "Wish List" - that includes everything from razor blades and socks, to DVD's and video games. Penguin Group (USA) has donated 4,000 Tom Clancy books in support of the cause.

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Enter for a chance to win a poster of Charles Stross' Saturn's Children!

This week we welcome Charles Stross, a brilliant new voice in speculative fiction, as our special guest blogger. To get you revved up for his visit, we're giving away fifteen posters of his latest book, Saturn's Children. This amusing and thought-provoking tale is set in a future where humans have become extinct and only our androids remain-though as the femmebot Freya discovers, even without humans the universe is far from being a quiet place.

The first fifteen readers to email us at penguin.blog@us.penguingroup.com with their full name and mailing address will each receive a poster (Approximate Retail Value ("ARV"): $0.00). Offer ends July 14, 2008, 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

For details and Official Rules click here. Get ready for Charles Stross, here and present this week!

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Need a gift for someone who enjoys Latino culture? Have a friend who's taking Spanish classes and needs to hone their reading skills. Are you yourself looking for some Spanish-language or Latino-interest titles? Check out this brochure for an expansive selection of Latino titles being offered across the nation by publishing houses both large and small.

Click here to view the Latino Voices Brochure 2008-2009.

Next month we welcome Tyler Cowen, one of America's most respected economists, as our special guest blogger. To get you revved up for his visit, we're giving away twenty copies of his latest book, Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist. This is a quirky, incisive romp through everyday life that reveals how you can turn economic reasoning to your advantage-often when you least expect it to be relevant.

The first twenty readers to email us at penguin.blog@us.penguingroup.com with their full name and mailing address will each receive a copy (Approximate Retail Value: $15.00).

For details and official rules, click here.

Get ready for Tyler Cowen, here and present the week of 6/23.

View more information on Tyler Cowen's Discover Your Inner Economist.

Tyler Cowen

Discover Your Inner Economist

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