FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact
Christi Cassidy, +1-505-986-1142

Publishers Weekly Hits Twitter Milestone, Surpasses 200,000 Followers
Bible of Book Publishing Grows Its Social Media by Leaps and Bounds

New York, NY – October 25, 2011 – Cheers went up in the Publishers Weekly offices when the number of @PublishersWkly Twitter followers hit 200,000, a new milestone. It was Monday night, October 17, and jubilant staffers watched as, even after the milestone was reached, the number of followers quickly continued to climb. By the end of the week nearly 2,000 more had signed on.

Eileen Gardner, the lucky 200,000th Publishers Weekly follower, a self-professed pop-culture junkie, says, “The publishing process can be daunting, and no one tells you how much persistence and discipline you need to break in as a published author. When I heard that I was the 200,000th Twitter follower on Publishers Weekly, I felt like the universe was telling me to keep going, to keep writing and to keep working at getting my book published.”

An aspiring young-adult author who lives in Peru, New York, near Plattsburgh, Gardner writes a blog about “Writing. Life.” Her YA manuscript, Stellar, which she calls “light science-fiction,” is the story of a 17-year-old girl who finds out that her family is involved in an alien conspiracy.

In addition to a complimentary one-year subscription to Publishers Weekly, Gardner was offered a guest post on PW’s popular PWxyz blog, the magazine’s blog about book news. “Han Solo Said It Best: ‘Never Tell Me the Odds’” by Eileen Gardner is live today at www.PWxyz.com.

“The publishing industry embraced Twitter in a big way since Twitter got going—which makes sense, since books are all about communication, and since digital is such a big part of where books are heading,” says Craig Teicher, director of digital operations for the weekly magazine. “We’re really excited that the publishing community has turned to Publishers Weekly on Twitter with such enthusiasm.”

In honor of the milestone, the magazine is offering specially priced print subscriptions through November 30, 2011. Readers in the U.S. and Canada are able to purchase a one-year subscription for $200 (regularly $250). Outside the U.S. and Canada, the price is $300 (regularly $350). All subscriptions include complimentary digital access.

“Publishers Weekly observes what has become the hard-news standard of tweeting only objective news and stories,” says PW president George Slowik, Jr., from Publishers Weekly’s offices in New York. “PW is distinguished by keeping PW tweets out of the realm of personal opinion or commentary.”

Teicher proudly points to mini-milestones achieved by Publishers Weekly’s other Twitter handles: @PWKidsBookshelf recently passed the 11,500 mark; @PWreviews topped 5,000 followers; @PWxyz exceeded 3,500; and @PWComicsWorld capped 2,000.

Nascent Twitter handles, which Teicher says are already growing quickly, include @PWReligion and @PWAudio. Just beginning to rev up are @PWTipsheet and @PWSelect.

Publishers Weekly averages 30 tweets per day, all of them related to national and international book publishing, book deals, bookselling, book reviews, publishing technology, digital trends in publishing, financial news, news about book awards and other information. Slowik estimates that Publishers Weekly is the largest Twitter account specific to the book publishing industry, with other publishing-oriented accounts trailing by wide margins.

Teicher adds, “Twitter has become one of the main ways PW serves the publishing industry, by providing news throughout the day and evening, seven days a week.”

For more information, contact Christi Cassidy, +1-505-986-1142 or +1-917-217-4269, or e-mail ccassidy@publishersweekly.com.

About Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly is the international newsmagazine of the book publishing industry. Founded in 1872 and published continuously since then, the weekly trade magazine publishes six newsletters, including PW Daily and PW Tip Sheet; five blogs, including the all-new ListenUp; and a robust Web site. The magazine has also launched a mobile edition, digital editions and an app. Publishers Weekly reviews more than 8,000 books each year, in addition to featuring author interviews and news about bookselling, marketing, merchandising and the publishing trade, along with regular columns on rights, people in publishing and bestsellers.

Web sites:
PWxyz Blog – www.PWxyz.com
Publishers Weekly – www.publishersweekly.com
Twitter – www.twitter.com @publisherswkly
Facebook – www.facebook.com/pubweekly
Eileen Gardner’s blog, “Writing. Life.” – http://eileengardnerwrites.blogspot.com