For immediate release.
More information: http://www.classof2k8.com
Download this file as a Word file or PDF

 

New Books, New Voices

Getting out the word about new books and new children's authors.

It's been said that everyone has at least one book inside, waiting to be written. Yet first books often sink faster than an anvil without water wings. Twenty-eight energetic children's book authors have banded together to help each other stay afloat in the turbulent seas of publishing.

The Class of 2k8 is a group of young adult and middle grade authors with novels debuting this year from major publishers such as Harcourt, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Random House, and more. Aimed at child and teen readers, the books offer a selection from many genres, including mystery, teen romance, historical, fantasy, adventure, and mainstream literary fiction. It's an exciting range of new books from new authors-all easy to keep track of on one website: http://www.classof2k8.com

The Class of 2k8 is a collaborative publicity and marketing effort and was inspired by last year's Class of 2k7 http://www.classof2k7.com. Enthusiasm for 2k7 books resulted in movie deals, multi-city book tours, TV spots, starred reviews, a spot on the New York Times bestseller list, and a National Book Award finalist.

The Class of 2k7 president, Greg Fishbone, hopes the class of 2k8 will build on the 2k7 success. "They're great folks, and their books are going to rock," he says. "It's been great to watch them take everything they learned from watching us and make it into a plan of their own."

The Classof2k8.com web site is dedicated to helping booksellers, librarians, teachers, and readers find exciting new books from among the more than 6,000 new children's and young adult books released each year. The interactive site includes information about the books, the 2k8 blog, book videos, links to author websites, teaching material, and reading group guides, with more content being added as the books are released.

"With so many novels being published each year," says class co-president Marissa Doyle, "we had to find new and creative ways to get out the word about our books."

Class of 2k8 authors are from every part of North America and are available for school and library visits, signings, readings, conferences, panel discussions, and book festivals.

"It's great to see the passion of 27 authors all working toward the same goal," says Class co-president Jody Feldman, "which is to get our books into the hands of the readers we imagined when we wrote our first words."