Penguin Launches Penguin 2.0, iPhone App; Stanza Deal with Random House
by Craig Morgan Teicher -- Publishers Weekly, 12/8/2008 8:47:00 AM
A hint of optimism follows one of publishing’s bleakest weeks in the form of digital announcements from two of the big trade houses: Penguin Books and Random House.
The bigger news comes from Penguin Group USA, which today announced a new program it is calling Penguin 2.0, Called by CEO David Shanks, “the next evolution of the Penguin brand,” the Penguin 2.0 initiative at this point includes two programs, both centered around a new section of the Penguin Web site: www.penguin.com/whatsnext, which will feature a new blog and access to exclusive Penguin content, including enhanced e-books, videos and special print products. Penguin Personalized, the first print enhancement to be offered through the Penguin 2.0 site, is a partnership with SharedBook, which will allow consumers to add a custom dedication to particular Penguin books, which will be printed POD and shipped. Penguin is starting the program with a holiday-themed title: A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings by Charles Dickens. A dozen more titles will be added in the next few months.
The other piece of Penguin news is Penguin Mobile, an iPhone app, available for free from the Apple App store. The application makes the features of the Web site—the blog, book previews, podcasts, news and Penguin-specific book-finding tools—available on the iPhone. Some Penguin e-books are already available to iPhone users through eReader; the Penguin Mobile app offers the Penguin 2.0 site’s enhanced content, not access to Penguin e-books. Jeff Gomez, Penguin’s senior director of online consumer sales and marketing, pointed out that Penguin is “the first of the big New York publishers to have a dedicated iPhone app.”
Random House’s announcement of a partnership with Stanza, the popular iPhone e-book reader from Lexcycle, follows recent announcements from other companies—including Pan Macmillan and Fictionwise—through which e-books by several RH authors will be available for free beginning today through Stanza. The roster of authors includes Alan Furst, Julie Garwood, Charlie Huston, David Liss, Laurie Notaro, Arthur Phillips and Simon Rich. The first books available will come from these authors’ backlists and will include previews of upcoming 2009 titles by each. Acknowledging the growing need to use free content to market new books, Avideh Bashirrad, deputy director of marketing for Random House, said, “we’re happy to modify our traditional marketing methods to make use of the new technology available to readers today.”
