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November 12 – November 19, 2009 Edition NPR Unveils New Book Series at American Publishers Seminar

New York, NY (Authorlink News, November 12, 2009)—AAP’s popular  seminar in New York, “What’s Behind the Pages of the Book Business,” was further enlivened by the announcement by NPR of an exciting new weekly feature on the NPR Books section at NPR.org.  Joe Matazzoni, Senior Arts Producer, NPR Digital Media, announced the launch of a series called “What We’re Reading,” featuring a short list of outstanding new books  along with reactions from NPR reporters, hosts, and staff.

The announcement came at the end of a day on which industry veterans explained some of the ins and outs of the publishing world to young professionals.  Mr. Matazzoni’s announcement came during a session entitled “Media Assets In the Digital Age,” which also featured Paul Bogaards, Executive Director of Publicity, Promotion and Media Relations, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, who noted that because of their strong audience demographic of readers, NPR’s many programs offer some of the best opportunities to spread the word about new books.

Mr. Matazzoni said: “At NPR, we cover a lot of books every week. Among them, there are always a handful of standouts—the shortlist of good reads, the books with buzz. ‘What We’re Reading’ brings you our book team’s picks of the most interesting new fiction and nonfiction releases, along with candid reactions from our reporters, hosts and staff.” Some of the “What We’re Reading” features thus far include:

Lynn Neary, books and publishing correspondent, on The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver: “The Lacuna opens with a bang, quickly drawing the reader into Shepherd’s complicated but compelling early years in Mexico.” Laura Sydell, digital culture correspondent, on Googled, by Ken Auletta: “For someone who wants to understand what is without a doubt one of the most important companies in history, this is a very readable way to get a grasp of the players, the technology and its implications.” Guy Raz, weekend host of All Things Considered, on Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safran Foer: “It didn’t turn me into a vegetarian, but it certainly made me think about it.”

AAP Vice President AAP Tina Jordan, who organized “What’s Behind the Pages of the Book Business,” said, “AAP, with its mission to promote literacy and reading, and support publishers’ efforts  to  increase awareness of new titles among  retailers, librarians and consumers, is delighted to have been chosen as the platform for the announcement of NPR’s ‘What We’re Reading.’ NPR’s programming continues to engage an audience of readers in multiple media formats, and we’re grateful for their commitment to literary cultural dialogue.”

This year’s Introduction to Publishing Program, entitled “What’s Behind the Pages of the Book Business,” opened with a keynote presentation by Morgan Entrekin, President & Publisher of Grove Atlantic entitled, That Was Then This Was Now. The morning featured Making the Imprint Impression, with Amy Einhorn, Vice President & Publisher, Amy  Einhorn Books (G.P. Putnam Sons/Penguin Group USA), Carrie Kania, Publisher, It Books (HarperCollins) and Jonathan Karp, Publisher Twelve; The Market Sell: In Print and Virtual Format, with Mark Gompertz, Executive Vice President, Digital, and Liz Perl, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Simon & Schuster; Who Is our Book Buying Consumer with Kelly Gallagher, Vice President, Publisher, Services Bowker. The series of afternoon presentations included And The Winners Are,…Book Awards, with Harold Augenbraum, Executive Director, National Book Foundation; Media Assets in the Digital Age, with Paul Bogaards, Executive Director of Publicity, Promotion and Media Relations, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Joe Matazzoni, Senior Arts Producer, NPR Digital Media; Leveraging Multimedia Platforms, with Ellen Archer, President, Hyperion and Katherine Tasheff, Executive Director, Digital Media, Hyperion; and a Closing Keynote featuring Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and bestselling author Anna Quindlen, in Conversation with Kate Medina, Associate Publisher, Executive Editorial Director and Executive Vice President, Random House.