Penguin Partners With BlogHer to Launch Online Book Club, Writer's Conference
(Press Release) Belmont, CA, March 31, 2011—BlogHer, Inc., the leading participatory news, entertainment and information network for women online, and Penguin Group (USA), one of the largest trade book publishers in the nation, announced a new partnership designed to provide influential women in social media with an opportunity to share their love of books and writing with their readers.
Today BlogHer.com is launching a new "Book Club" section. Every month will feature on average two titles from Penguin's prestigious list of bestselling, award-winning authors for discussion by the BlogHer community in the BlogHer.com Book Club, as well as on their blogs and in social media. The BlogHer.com Book Club community will get unique access to their favorite books and authors: live chats, behind-the-scenes looks at the researching and writing process, and tips for writing and publishing books of their own. The inaugural title is "Caleb's Crossing" by Geraldine Brooks, the Pulitzer Prize winning and New York Times bestselling author of "March, Year of Wonders, and People of the Book."
BlogHer and Penguin also announced plans to host a New York-based conference this fall for women writers to discuss the craft of writing and the business of publishing with authors, agents, and other publishing professionals.
"For years, the BlogHer.com community has hosted ad-hoc book clubs where women trade advice on what to read. Partnering with Penguin Group (USA) will give our book-loving influencers access to the best books, authors, and ideas," said Lisa Stone, BlogHer Co-founder and CEO. "Their prestige, breadth and depth as a publisher—from "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" to "Penguin's Young Readers Group"—make Penguin an ideal partner for BlogHer's influential community of social media leaders. A fall conference for authors who want to publish their blogs as books is a natural extension of this exciting relationship."
"We're very excited about this new partnership," said Susan Petersen Kennedy, President of Penguin Group (USA). "The BlogHer community is smart, opinionated, and influential—in other words, the perfect match for our authors and books. I'm looking forward to creating a forum in which women can discuss books, speak with authors, and grow as writers."
