Contact: Susannah Greenberg,
Susannah Greenberg Public Relations,
(646) 801-7477,
publicity@bookbuzz.com
Jenny Pedroza of The Writer's Coffee Shop, Original Publisher of "Fifty Shades of Grey"
Jenny Pedroza,
Discoverer of Bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy,
to Keynote at uPublishU at BookExpo America
(New York, NY, Sunday, June 3, 2012)
As the
Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon impact is being felt throughout the book industry,
BookexpoAmerica is launching a day of education devoted to self-published authors called
uPublishU at the Javits Center in New York City. The keynote address will be given by the discoverer of the best selling,
Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, Jenny Pedroza. The book was born out of the self-published eBook boom and may very well be pointing the way to a new publishing model for the entire book industry.
The
Fifty Shades of Grey erotic book trilogy by E.L. James, is now possibly the best selling book of all modern publishing. The trilogy was recently reported in
Publishers Weekly to have sold over 10 million copies and to constitute 25% of the adult fiction market in the last few weeks.
And who is behind this publishing juggernaut? According to Christopher Kenneally of the
Copyright Clearance Center, this editorial miracle maker "is a third grade teacher named Jenny Pedroza from Mansfield, Texas, about to leave teaching and then step onto a plane to BookExpo America on Sunday June 3rd, to speak a uPublishU. She is one of the founders of
The Writer's Coffee Shop, the original publisher of the trilogy before Random House took it over. She had no publishing background but was a writer of fan fiction. She and the other founders of The Writer's Coffee Shop, an online reading and writing community, discovered and decided to go after E.L. James and publish her, so that others could enjoy her work. Now Pedroza will be quitting teaching third grade because of the success of
Fifty Shades of Grey."
Kenneally will be introducing Ms. Pedroza when she gives the keynote address at uPublishU and he will moderate the panel that follows.
"The self-publishing world is proving to be fertile ground for growing the next generation of blockbuster writers, a win-win situation for all involved," adds Kenneally.
Says Pedroza of her success:
"It should be a joy to big publishing houses and the book industry, too, that though we don't yet know the exact shape of the changes to come in this business, the love of reading has in fact been increased by eBooks and social media, and that the readers are out there."
"
Fifty Shades of Grey's success combines the strengths of self-publishing, women's fiction, eBooks, and social media for a winning formula. This is great news for the book world, as it strives to adapt as fast as it can to digital change, and great news for aspiring authors as well" observes Susannah Greenberg, of
Susannah Greenberg Public Relations, a veteran independent book publicist also slated to speak at uPublishU on a panel entitled
Building The Buzz For Books—The New Book Publicity along with Jim Milliot of
Publishers Weekly, the leading book industry magazine and
PWxyz a reviews outlet for self-published books, and Patrick Brown of the social reading site Goodreads, a booster of self-published books through reader reviews.
BookExpo America has long been the annual signature event of the bookselling industry where the fall line up of books is showcased by book publishers to booksellers. But as times change, with the digital revolution, eBooks, and the explosion of the self-publishing industry it engenders, Bookexpo America is evolving to recognize changes in the industry by expanding its educational events across the board in all aspects of the industry but especially the self-publishing world with the launch of its new day of education, uPublishU at BookExpo America.
Successful self-published authors Darcie Chan, of
The Mill River Recluse; Brittany Geragotelis, of
Life's a Witch; C.S. Marks, of the
Elfhunter trilogy; and Theresa Ragan, of
Return of the Rose will will all speak at uPublishU as well.
Greenberg's panel at uPublishU, "Building the Buzz for Books," points to another phenomenon supporting the tremendous tripartite boom of self-publishing, eBooks and women's fiction, which is the recent birth of new ways to build the buzz for books, especially social media. Social media and reader reviews are becoming more important as traditional book reviews in print outlets such as magazines and newspapers are shrinking and disappearing, while social reading sites like
Goodreads grow larger every day. Goodreads has 7.3 million members, more than 100 million page views and 15 million unique visitors a month. It is a US Top 150 site, the 10th largest social networking site and growing. It is the world's largest site for readers and book recommendations.
"As the self-publishing world expands, discoverability amongst the thousands of self-published books out there, is a challenge. Goodreads, with its vast community of readers and
PWxyz with its book industry clout, are critical bellwethers to readers and others in the industry that a new book is attention worthy, " says Greenberg, pointing out that
Fifty Shades of Grey success was helped by the 11,000 plus readers reviews on Goodreads and that even more recently, a new women's erotica book is breaking through,
Bared to You by Sylvia Day and its ascent is assisted by the over 2800 ratings of it that have been posted in less than two months on Goodreads.
Says Greenberg about how the digital revolution has changed the practice of book publicity for her, "Book publicity has been virtually transformed in the last five years both by the increase in the number of self-published authors I represent and the ways in which I can now publicize their books. Before eBooks and social media, I was loathe to take on self-published authors because of the obstacles of book distribution issues and the unwillingness of mainstream media to cover books which are self-published. But eBooks and social media have changed all that. And I think that the leadership at BookExpo America are to be commended for their vision, for recognizing that change has come, that self-publishing now has a seat at the table, and that with the launch of the uPublishU event, BookExpo America is working to educate the book industry and authors alike to work together for the success of all."
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Related Links and Stories:
Fifty Shades Trilogy Tops 10 Million Sold
http://pwne.ws/Kl8JFx
10 Million Shades of Green: Erotic Trilogy Dominates Book Sales
PW Daily: Berkley Touting Its Own 'Fifty Shades' Imitator
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/52041-berkley-touting-its-own-fifty-shades-imitator.html
Greenberg to Speak at uPublishU:
http://bookbuzzbysgpr.blogspot.com/2012/02/susannah-greenberg-to-speak-at.html
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For further information, please contact:
Susannah Greenberg, Susannah Greenberg Public Relations,
(646) 801-7477,
publicity@bookbuzz.com
