National Lampoon Plans to Yuk it Up in Print

by Rachel Deahl, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 2/1/2006

It was over three years ago that National Lampoon was making news in the entertainment trades for bringing on a new executive team and attempting to reinvigorate its aging, and arguably dying, comedy brand. Now, after making significant strides into television (with a humor network broadcast at numerous colleges), home video and DVD (producing a number of straight-to-video and DVD titles), as well as the online arena (with the humor site www.nationallampoon.com), the company has announced its own publishing wing: National Lampoon Press.

With distribution through Holtzbrinck and plans to do 10 to 12 titles annually, the company currently has six books ready to drop, the first of which are set to hit stands by September. Among the planned titles are: National Lampoon The Saddadm Dump: Saddam Hussein's Trial Blog; National Lampoon Joke Jokes Jokes; and National Lampoon Not Fit for Print: Tasteless Jokes.

The book division marks the comedy outfit's first foray into publishing since its stopped producing its magazine in 1997. According to Holtzbrinck's president of sales, Alison Lazarus, NL's book imprint is part of the company's overall expansion into multiple media platforms. "They're ramping up the National Lampoon brand in general, and books is just one aspect of it." Lazarus added that the company will be actively using its other divisions—television, film and online—to promote its print efforts. "The whole company is in growth mode…and we think we'll have a number of great books coming from them."