Penguin Gives BEA-Goers Sneak Peek at Book Truck

Last week, Penguin introduced the public to a very fun new concept at BEA. As a way of selling books to the masses in a manner similar to the ever-popular food trucks, Penguin will be launching their brand-new book truck on a cross-country journey.

GalleyCat tells us more:

The 27-foot-long Book Truck contains two bookshelves with 96 feet of shelf space, LED lighting, awnings and café tables and chairs. The Book Pushcart was “inspired by the design of the classic New York City hotdog cart.”  The mobile booksellers will travel the country, you can track them at the Penguin Book Truck site. Here’s more from the release:

The Penguin Book Pushcart will be at the Delecorte Theater in New York City’s Central Park for performances at the 2013 season of Shakespeare in the Park.  The Penguin Book Truck and Pushcart will also visit the American Library Association Conference in Chicago, “Tom Sawyer Day” at the Mark Twain house in Hartford, CT and numerous other bookstores, festivals, library events and author signings throughout the year.  In October, in conjunction with the National Steinbeck Center’s kickoff of the 75th Anniversary of the publication of John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Grapes of Wrath, (published by Penguin) the Penguin Book Truck will travel West on Route 66 from Oklahoma to California, following the route of the fictional Joad Family and stopping at numerous museums, universities and historical sites along the way.   

See the original post HERE 

I've gotta say, I'm pretty stoked about this idea (though it's not the first time the concept has been employed. Book Riot has a fun post about the history HERE).

It reminds me of the good ole days when the Scholastic Book Fair came to town. A bookmobile like this can be not only a great marketing tool with the buzz and build-up of excitement as people await the truck's arrival in their hometown, but it's a way to hand-sell books again, to get people excited about reading (and reading in print).

Of course, the idea does pose a few concerns in terms of getting the truck stocked and with a varied enough inventory, but those kinks can be worked out. ;)

I just hope they take the book truck to the beach!

Best Cereal Box Reading EVER

Kids in the UK are very lucky this year. Soon they'll be able to read excerpts from Roald Dahl's award-winning children's books while they munch away on their breakfast. I would've killed for that kind of entertainment as a child!

The author of classic KidLit like Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, and James and the Giant Peach will be appearing on the back of cereal boxes throughout the UK. The excerpts serve as promotional materials for, well, reading.

GalleyCat fills us in:

Penguin UK’s Puffin imprint has cut a deal with Asda to print excerpts from several Roald Dahl titles on cereal boxes. Oddly enough, Dahl once wrote: “Do you know what breakfast cereal is made of? It’s made of all those little curly wooden shavings you find in pencil sharpeners!”

According to The Telegraph, the excerpts will appear in at least ten million Asda brand cereal boxes sold in Asda supermarket chains. The excerpts will be drawn from The Witches, The Twits, The BFG, Danny, the Champion of the World, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Penguin Children’s Books managing director Francesca Dow explained in the article: “There is a real awareness in the publishing world that there is an increasingly tight competition for children’s time, especially from digital activities such as games consoles, as they grow up.”

Read the original post HERE

Penguins list of 10 Essential Classics is a Heartbreaker

Even people who hate to read seem to have at least one classic novel that they love. At least that's what I've seen in my experience.

My little sister (now 22), for example, hated reading for a long, loooong time. It wasn't until she read Of Mice and Men at my incessant prodding that she actually started to enjoy it. Now, I can usually convince her to read books pretty easily. Not that she reads a ton, but that one classic made reading a positive experience for her.

So, I was intrigued when Penguin released its list of the top ten "Essential Penguin Classics." And I was, quite honestly, disappointed with the picks listed:

Where are the edgier classics? Farehnheit 451? Slaughterhouse 5? Lolita? Of Mice and Men, my sister's fave?

It breaks my heart a little to see that all the books voted on here are on the fluffier side, nothing really dark. Sure, most of them are from the Romantic Age--a period that tends to be broodier than it sounds--but still. Not exactly books I would categorize as life changers or thought provokers.

What book do you wish made this list?

Reality TV Tackles a New Brand of Creativity

BravoTV has been in the forefront of reality tv for years with shows like Top Chef, The Real Housewives, America's Next Top Model, Project Runway, and many more.
In fact, just this month--June 9th to be exact--Bravo premiered another inventive series, Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, airing on Wednesdays at 10/9c:

Work of Art: The Next Great Artist will bring together fourteen aspiring artists to compete for a solo show at the prestigious Brooklyn Museum and a generous cash prize.

[…]

In each episode, contestants are faced with the challenge of creating unique pieces in a variety of mediums such as painting, sculpture, photography, collage and industrial design. The weekly assignments are exciting, original and will challenge the artists' to push the limits of their technical skills and creative boundaries. Completed works of art will be appraised by our panel of top art world figures alongside a new celebrated guest judge every week. Through a gallery showing at the end of each challenge, these industry select dictate which artists have successfully mastered the subject matter and creation of their piece, as well as whose concept leaves the greatest impact.

Learn more about the series HERE

Why am I telling you all this, you ask? Well, because this week's episode challenged each contestant to create cover art for a classic novel. The winner was awarded by having their cover featured on a Penguin Classic.

I gotta say, some of these covers are pretty damn cool. Others, however, I don't get AT ALL.

For example:

COOL: Bram Stoker's Dracula by contestant Mark

HUH?: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice by contestant Judith

Take a look at the slideshow of the artists' work HERE, and let us know which one's YOUR favorite!

Who on Earth Proofread THAT?

Printer's errors happen more often than they should. Typos, incorrect line breaks, missing pages even. It's rare though that a book is pulled off the shelves as a result. Publishers will usually just replace copies where there are major issues, especially since PE's don't usually occur in every batch that's printed.

But every so often, an error is big enough for the books to be pulled and pulped (aka literally shredded and destroyed). Just like it did with The Pasta Bible, a recent release from Penguin Books in Australia.

The Pasta Bible, however, did not contain a printer's error. The error occurred in the editing stages of the book and was just never caught--which is shocking given the nature of the error. One particular recipe called for "freshly ground black people" instead of pepper.

Whoa.

Here's what Penguin had to say about the matter:

Penguin Group (Australia) confirms the Pasta Bible ISBN 9780143011071 has been pulped due to an error in the recipe for Spelt tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto. The recipe incorrectly suggests adding salt and freshly ground black people – instead of freshly ground black pepper. The error occurred during the book's editing process. A member of the public contactedPenguinto advise of the mistake, and 7,000 copies of the Pasta Bible were immediately quarantined in Penguin's warehouse and pulped. A revised edition of the Pasta Bible will be available from late May 2010.

Readers are advised that anyone who wishes to return their current edition of the Pasta Bible can do so by sending the book care of Reply Paid 83659, Penguin Books, 250 Camberwell Rd, Camberwell VIC 3124. Penguin will offer readers the choice of either a full refund or a replacement copy, once the new edition of the Pasta Bible becomes available. Penguin has also contacted Australian booksellers, to advise how remaining stock can be returned for pulping. The team at Penguin sincerely apologises for any offence this error may have caused readers.

Background on Pasta Bible Error

Misprints are always unfortunate and they are doubly unfortunate when they carry an unintended meaning. As the Pasta Bible is a cookbook, there was obviously no intent behind this mistake – it was simply a regrettable error.

At Penguin every book is proofread at least twice, depending on its complexity. In this case it is clear that a spell-check error crept in, the recipe incorrectly suggesting the addition of salt and freshly ground black people instead of freshly ground black pepper. Normally such an error would be picked up by proof readers, but they would have been concentrating on checking quantities, a common source of error in cookbooks. Penguin would also like to point out that it maintains the highest of standards throughout the editing process, hence a mistake such as this is a very rare occurrence. Obviously though, editors are human and even the best and most professional will at times overlook an error.

The moment Penguin was made aware of the misprint it took immediate action and pulped the 7000 copies still in our warehouse. Penguin will also willinglyreplace a copy of the Pasta Bible owned by anyone who feels uncomfortable about having a copy of the book in their possession.The team at Penguin sincerely apologises for any offence this error may have caused.

See Penguin's statement HERE

Talk about a bad proofreader!

Also, check out the AP article HERE.