GENERAL NEWS HEADLINES
January 04 – January 11 , 2007 Edition
50 Cent and MTV
Books to Launch
G-Unit Books
NEW YORK, NY/1/2/2007Following on the heels of his New York Times bestselling autobiography From Pieces to Weight , hip hop heavyweight 50 Cent is expanding his publishing empire and creating a line of street fiction with his G-Unit imprint. G-Unit Books is a joint venture with MTV/Pocket Books, the publisher of 50s memoir.
The gritty and true-to-life stories will be told in the form of hip hop novellas. Like 50s rhymes these tales will tell the truth about The Life; the sex, guns and cash; the brutal highs and short lives of the players on the streets. 50 Cent will be collaborating with todays hottest writers to create searing, raw tales, in the vein of Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim. G-Unit Books will launch in January 2007 with three titles written by some of the biggest names in the genreNikki Turner, Noire and K. Elliot.
MTV/Pocket Books is launching the imprint with an in-store signing at 6 p.m. January 4, 2007 at Borders Books and Music in the Time Warner Center in New York City. 50 Cent and Essence bestselling authors Nikki Turner and K. Elliott will be on hand to greet fans and sign their remarkable new titles. The books are scheduled to hit the streets on January 9, and include: DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR by Nikki Turner is perfectly captures the gritty flavor of the streets. Urban Trendsetters magazine crowned Nikki Turner “the Princess of Hip-Hop” and she has solidified her place as one of the biggest names in the genre of street lit. Her two breakout hits, THE GLAMOROUS LIFE and A HUSTLER’S WIFE were Essence bestsellers. BABY BROTHER by Noireone of the hottest names in black urban erotica is urban fiction at its best. Noires bestselling, critically acclaimed fiction titles include: THUG-A-LICIOUS, CANDY LICKER and G-SPOT. Publisher’s Weekly raved of, G-SPOT, “If there was ever any doubt that pulp was alive and thriving, Noire’s highly sexy, highly vivid G-Spot dispelled it.” Completing the trio is K. Elliotts THE SKI MASK WAYa searing tale from an up-and coming chronicler of the streets. K. Elliott is the author of the Essence Bestseller ENTANGLED.
50 Cent is the biggest name in hip hop and has achieved enormous success in all of his ventures, in addition to his record breaking success in the music world. His first foray into the book world was in August 2005 with his critically acclaimed autobiography From Pieces to Weight (MTV/Pocket Books) which was an instant bestseller and spent 8 weeks on The New York Times list.
50 CENT has sold over 20 million records worldwide. His record-breaking debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin has sold over 12 million units worldwide, with the largest debut in SoundScan history. His business empire includes: a record label (G-Unit Records, a division of Interscope Records), apparel/footwear ventures (G-Unit Clothing and footwear, joint ventures through Ecko Clothing Company & Reebok, respectively), vitamin water (Formula 50, through Glacéaus Vitamin water), and a video game (50Cent: Bulletproof through Vivendi Games). His future plans are to dominate the film and television worlds through two new G-Unit ventures in film & television and his most prized project: the nonprofit organization The G-Unity Foundation, which aims to better the life of urban youth.
MTV Books is an imprint of MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION and Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster). Simon & Schuster, a part of the CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Online, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at http://www.simonsays.com.
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), owns and operates the following television programming services — MTV: MUSIC TELEVISION, MTV2, mtvU, VHI, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, MTV INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV NETWORKS, a package of 12 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen worldwide.
