MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
March 16-31, 2004 Edition
Meredith Teams
With Marvel
on Kids Books
NEW YORK, NY/03/09/04—Publicly-held Meredith Corporation has entered a deal with Marvel Publishing, among the world’s largest publishers of comic books, to release several books related to the Spiderman II movie, due for release in early July. The multiple deal involves 15 to 20 titles, including a party book, story book, two sound story books, and other properties.
The list will include books based upon Meredith magazines articles, and will require Meredith to hire additional product management and editorial staff. The current editorial staff will handle the children’s roll-out, according to editor-in-chief Jim Blume.
The Meredith Publishing Group features 17 subscription magazine brands, including Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies’ Home Journal, Country Home, Traditional Home, MORE, Midwest Living, and American Baby. Meredith publishes more than 170 special interest publications, focusing on decorating, gardening, crafting, remodeling, cooking and other subjects. Meredith has nearly 300 titles in print, which are sold primarily through retail distribution channels.
Marvel Publishing is one of the world’s largest publishers of comic books, with some 4,700 proprietary characters, including Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, and X-Men. The company’s products are sold through specialty stores (about 80%), traditional retail locations, and subscriptions.
