Puffin Adds New Senior Editorial Role to its Publishing Team

London, 28 July 2008: 

Francesca Dow, Managing Director at Puffin, has announced a new senior appointment to the editorial team. Elv Moody, currently Editorial Director for fiction at Scholastic, will join Puffin in the newly created role of Editorial Director for Classic Puffin.

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Penguin Group Achieves Strong Sales and Profits in First Half of 2008

London and New York, 28 July 2008: 

Penguin Group has made an excellent start to the year, with a particularly strong first-half publishing schedule. Underlying sales are up 9% over 2007 at the midpoint, and underlying profits up 28%. This excellent start puts Penguin in a strong position to sustain its publishing and commercial success and deliver its goal of double-digit margins for the full year.

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1,500 PENGUIN EBOOKS READY FOR SEPTEMBER LAUNCH OF SONY READER IN THE UK

London, 24 July 2008: 

Penguin announced today that it would have 1,500 of its best-selling titles available in epub format along with all new publishing in time for the arrival of the Sony Reader in September. By the end of 2008, this number will increase to more than 2,500 titles from across the Penguin Group.

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THE BOOKSELLER'S JOEL RICKETT JOINS PENGUIN

London, 23 June 2008: 

It was announced today that Joel Rickett, Deputy Editor of The Bookseller magazine has been appointed Editorial Director for Viking. Joel will join the existing commissioning team at Viking, led by Publishing Director, Venetia Butterfield and including Tony Lacey, Eleo Gordon, Mary Mount and Kate Barker. His arrival signals Viking's ambition to expand the range of its list and seek out the very best authors writing in categories with a broad appeal across the whole retail market.

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PENGUIN AUSTRALIA AND PENGUIN CANADA WIN 2008 PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR AWARDS

London, 18 June 2008: 

John Makinson, Chairman and CEO, Penguin Group, announces that Penguin Australia was named Publisher of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards and Penguin Canada was named Publisher of the Year by the Canadian Booksellers Association. Both honours were presented at publishing industry awards ceremonies held this past weekend.

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2008 PENGUIN DESIGN AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

London, 17 June 2008: 

Penguin announced today the winners of the 2008 Penguin Design Award. Jenna Jones has won first place for her striking and original design of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Second place went to Jez Burrows and third place to Matthew Chilton for their eye-catching interpretations of the same title.

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MANAGEMENT CHANGES AT PENGUIN GROUP

London, 23 April 2008: 

Two senior management changes have been announced today at Penguin. Nigel Portwood, the Penguin Group Chief Financial Officer, will take on a new role as Executive Vice President, Global Operations for the group. He will be succeeded as Chief Financial Officer by Coram Williams, currently Head of Financial Planning and Analysis at Pearson Plc.

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PENGUIN ANNOUNCES STRONG 2007 RESULTS

London, 03 March 2008: 

“The Penguin Group today announced strong 2007 results across all territories and divisions showing good underlying sales growth and a significant double-digit profit increase. Underlying operating profits grew 20 % to £74m, whilst underlying revenues grew 3% to £846m."

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OPRAH CHOOSES “A NEW EARTH” BY ECKHART TOLLE AS HER NEW BOOK CLUB SELECTION

Chicago, 30 January 2008: 

“Being able to share this material with you is a gift and a part of the fulfillment of my life’s purpose,” Oprah Winfrey said on Wednesday, January 30, 2008, as she revealed the 61th Oprah’s Book Club selection “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle. She added, "It was an awakening for me that I want for you, too."

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PENGUIN BECOMES FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRADE PUBLISHER TO PUBLISH CLASSICS IN KOREAN

Seoul, London, New York, 28 January 2008: 

Penguin has signed an agreement with Woongjin Think Big Co., Ltd., one of the largest trade publishers in South Korea, to publish its famous Classics in South Korea. The partnership makes history as Penguin becomes the first English language publisher to publish classics in Korean.

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PUFFIN TO PUBLISH PREQUEL TO INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING CLASSIC ANNE OF GREEN GABLES

London, 14 December 2007: 

To coincide with the centenary anniversary in 2007 of L. M. Montgomery’s classic children’s book Anne of Green Gables Puffin is to publish the first ever officially sanctioned prequel to the story, Before Green Gables, by award-winning Canadian author Budge Wilson.

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CHANTAL NOEL JOINS PENGUIN TO HEAD UP RIGHTS DEPARTMENT

London, 10 December 2007: 

It was announced today that Chantal Noel has been appointed as Penguin Rights Director. Chantal will succeed Sophie Brewer, whose decision to leave Penguin was announced in the autumn. Sophie leaves at Christmas after nearly eleven years with the company to pursue new challenges in the industry.

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FIRST GLIMPSE OF PENGUIN'S NEW BOND BOOK, DEVIL MAY CARE

London, 03 December 2007: 

James Bond is renowned for his impeccable taste when it comes to women, and the girl on the front of the brand new Bond book will leave you both shaken and stirred. The jacket image for Devil May Care, written by Sebastian Faulks, is unveiled today.

http://www.penguin007.com/

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SALLY FLOYER ANNOUNCES HER RETIREMENT

London, 30 November 2007: 

After twenty-four years with Penguin, it was announced today that Sally Floyer, Managing Director of the Brands and Licensing Division, will retire at the end of March 2008.

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WOLF TOTEM BY JIANG RONG SELECTED FOR THE SHORTLIST OF THE MAN ASIAN LITERARY PRIZE

Beijing, 25 October 2007: 

The multi-million copy Chinese bestseller Wolf Totem, by Jiang Rong, has been included in the shortlist for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize.

This new prize was established to recognize new voices in Asian literature that are yet to appear in English. Five books from around Asia have been selected for the final list, with Wolf Totem the only representative from the Chinese mainland.

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LAUNCH OF THE UK’S FIRST ONLINE BOOK COMMUNITY FOR TEENAGERS

London, 8 October 2007: 

Spinebreakers.co.uk, a pioneering entertainment portal into the world of books, run by teenagers themselves launches today (Monday 8th October 2007).

Editorial control of the site is in the hands of a core editorial team of nine teenagers aged between 13 and 18 years, supported by a large network of contributing teen editors from across the UK. The site also invites contribution of vidlogs, blogs, short stories, alternative book jackets, soundtracks, reviews from any young person aged 13 to 18.

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EXCITING NEW DEVELOPMENTS AT PUFFIN

London, 24 September 2007: 

Puffin announces that Sarah Hughes has been promoted to Publishing Director for fiction, with overall responsibility for the Puffin fiction list and managing the whole fiction team, following Rebecca McNally's departure.

Sarah's authors include bestselling Eoin Colfer, Jill Murphy, Rick Riordan, Melvin Burgess and Kevin Brooks.

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PENGUIN INDIA APPOINTS NEW CEO AND PRESIDENT

London, 8 August 2007: 

Penguin today announces that Mike Bryan is to become CEO and President of Penguin India from 1st September. He replaces Thomas Abraham who will leave to join the Hachette Group.

Mike Bryan has been with Penguin for 27 years, most recently as International Sales and Marketing Director for Penguin in the UK and US. Under his tenure Penguin's international markets have delivered impressive sales growth. In addition to leading a large international sales team, Mike Bryan has also managed a portfolio of significant international agency relationships including Bloomsbury, Faber & Faber and A&C Black, all of which are also Penguin India agencies. Most recently, his team managed the sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the majority of export markets.

Penguin Chairman and Chief Executive John Makinson commented: “Mike is one of Penguin's most talented and experienced senior executives. His international experience and Penguin pedigree will bring a real understanding of the opportunities for Penguin in India as well as strengthen our Indian connections with Penguin in the rest of the world. Running Penguin India is one of the most important jobs in the company and I am delighted that Mike will be taking the helm.”

Mike Bryan commented: “I am really excited to be joining the Penguin India team and look forward to working with such an outstanding group of colleagues. Penguin India is the envy of all trade publishers with one of the most dynamic publishing lists in the world. India is going through an exciting and rapid expansion and it is going to be a real privilege to be part of it.”

Penguin Books India is the largest English language trade publisher in the subcontinent. Headquartered in New Delhi, the company's commercial activity includes the publishing of its own books in the English language and the distribution of books from overseas publishers including the Penguin Group, Bloomsbury, Faber & Faber, A & C Black, Time Warner Books Group UK, and BBC (adult) Books.

Penguin India began publishing in 1987 with seven titles. Today, the company publishes over 200 titles every year and has an active backlist of over 750 titles. Penguin publishes nearly all of India's top bestselling authors, including Kiran Desai, Vikram Chandra, William Dalrymple, Vikram Seth, Arundhati Roy, Shobhaa De, and Mani Bhaumik with Amitav Ghosh the latest world-class new writer to join the list. In February this year Penguin made history by making a clean sweep of the Crossword Awards, India's biggest book awards by winning in all major categories in English. The best book in the fiction category went to Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra, non fiction went to Two Lives by Vikram Seth, and the popular award went to The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. Penguin India was the first international publisher in India to develop a sustained publishing programme in a language other than English in 2005.

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