Bloomsbury and Raincoast Books Announce Global Book Aid for Tsunami Disaster Relief
Raincoast Books and Bloomsbury announce a publishing venture to aid Tsunami Disaster Relief. The world's leading writers, including Margaret Atwood and Stephen King, will publish material from their forthcoming works in a single volume, titled New Beginnings. All proceeds raised in Canada will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross.
(PRWEB) January 19, 2005 -- Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and Raincoast Books announced today plans for a unique publishing venture to aid in the effort of Tsunami Disaster Relief.
In an unprecedented publishing move, the worlds leading writers, including Canadas own Margaret Atwood, are coming together to publish material from their forthcoming works in a single volume entitled New Beginnings (Raincoast Books, March 3, 2005, 1-55192-855-8, $12.95, pb). All proceeds raised in Canada from this unique venture will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross.
The authors included in this exciting collection have won many of the worlds top literary awards, including a Nobel Prize and several Booker Prizes, and are considered to be some of the worlds best. Some of these participating writers include:
Margaret Atwood
Stephen King
Ian McEwan
Maeve Binchy
J.M. Coetzee
Mark Haddon
Nick Hornby
Scott Turow
Alexander McCall Smith
Paulo Coelho
Tracy Chevalier
Nicholas Evans
Helen Fielding
Jonny Geller, the Project Director (and Managing Director of the book division of Curtis Brown Agency), approached Nigel Newton, CEO of Bloomsbury with the idea and Newton agreed on the spot to devote the resources of their entire publishing arm to this global publication.
Raincoast immediately seized the opportunity to join the venture and are in the process of working out the final details of Canadian participation with their international partners.
Allan MacDougall, CEO of Raincoast, says that being involved in such a venture speaks to the very best instincts of the publishing community. "Jonny Geller, Bloomsbury Books and of all these authors are being true global citizens, how could we not also? It is my hope that our Canadian retail partners and the Canadian public will get behind the book project and make it a tremendous success."
Bloomsburys US, UK and German divisions along with Raincoast Books will be publishing the book simultaneously on World Book Day (March 3rd). All proceeds raised by Bloomsbury will go the Disasters Emergency Committee fund and it is hoped millions of dollars will be raised worldwide. Canadian proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross.
Jonny Geller: "I hope New Beginnings will be a must-buy for any book-lover. To glimpse the opening chapter of your favourite authors new work before it is published will be an unprecedented experience for their fans. These incredibly generous authors showcase what is great in modern writing today. There should be something for everybody in this collection.
"By spending only $12.95 you will have a great book by the worlds favourite authors, participate in a dynamic global publishing event and give real aid to people rebuilding their lives thousands of miles away."
Nigel Newton: "The Tsunami has devastated so many lives and by publishing this book we hope that a significant amount of money will be raised by the book trade to help bring about reconstruction of the lives of those in the twelve countries affected by the disaster.
"Our goal will be to get as close to 100% of the cover price of the book going through intact to the Disasters Emergency Committee fund. We will not be offering discount on the title to increase its fund-raising potential but we will be offering full returns rights for credit to enable customers to get behind the launch. I would like to thank all the authors who have already donated their writing to this cause. I know that the trade will support this book to the best of their ability -- they have responded with such generosity in the past."
For more information, visit: http://www.raincoast.com/newbeginnings
Raincoast Books is a Canadian publisher and distributor based in Vancouver, BC. Raincoast Publishing produces a wide range of fiction and non-fiction titles for adults and children. Raincoast Distribution is the exclusive Canadian distributor for some of the leading publishers from the U.K., the U.S. and Canada.
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