AvonFanLit.com: Avon Romance Invites Readers and Writers to Express Their Desires During Innovative Online Forum

AvonFanLit.com: Avon Romance Invites Readers and Writers to Express Their Desires During Innovative Online Forum

NEW YORK, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beginning today, America's 65 million romance readers -- and all aspiring romance authors -- can log onto http://www.avonfanlit.com/ and participate in a first-of-its-kind interactive online community that incorporates a writing and voting contest, with the grand prizes including unprecedented access to professional book editors and a programming development deal with Fox TV Studios.

By logging onto http://www.avonfanlit.com/, users can interact with fellow romance readers, bestselling authors and Avon editors during this eight-week online venture, hosted in conjunction with FanLib(TM), an online entertainment company. Participants can submit, rate and discuss fan-written chapters, receive mentoring tips, and win a variety of prizes. Best of all, the finished product will be published by Avon as an original e-book. In addition, a variety of hosted message boards will encourage fans to connect with each other throughout the event.

One grand-prize winner will be flown to New York City to spend a day with Avon, including a meeting with an editor, a visit with the Avon art department, and will learn how books are promoted. A second grand prize winner will be awarded $5000 and a 12-month development deal with Los Angeles- based Fox Television Studios. One lucky "early bird," who registers by 11:59 p.m. on September 6, can win a $1000 gift card from Saks Fifth Avenue! Fifteen other early registrants will win $200 Saks Fifth Avenue gift cards.

"Avon has been at the forefront of romance publishing for more than 50 years, and we hope to continue to lead the way by uniting fans, authors, and editors using FanLib(TM)'s innovative online platform," notes Avon Books publisher Liate Stehlik. "Through AvonFanLit, we plan to create a unique, direct-to-consumer forum where romance fans can come together to write the next page in publishing history."

Other prizes are being provided by key AvonFanLit partners. Stehlik notes, "We are very fortunate to have such strong support from authors, readers and industry organizations. We also are being backed by key partners, such as global book, music and movie retailer Borders Group, Inc., which is supporting the event with in-store signage, coupons and events with book clubs in select stores across the country."

"Romance readers represent a massive group of literate, well-educated women who spend an incredible amount of time online," said Chris M. Williams, CEO of FanLib, Inc. "FanLib's process connects budding writers with an audience of fans and established authors, via the AvonFanLit forum, to create a whole new community of romance enthusiasts."

How To Participate:

From August 23 through September 6, fans log on to http://www.avonfanlit.com/ to vote on one of several premises created by Avon's editorial team. Then, beginning September 7, the winning storyline is announced, kicking off an open call for chapter submissions. For the next six weeks, fans, writers and editors will work together with bestselling novelists Victoria Alexander, Eloisa James, Cathy Maxwell, Teresa Medeiros and Julia Quinn to create a six-chapter novella. Every week, participants have the chance to win a variety of prizes, based on voting by fans and authors. Each week's winning entry determines the progression of the next week's plot until the story is complete. The finished product will become an Avon romance e- book after the contest ends on October 27. Participating author Victoria Alexander notes, "AvonFanLit offers the chance of ultimately getting your work in front of an editor -- that's priceless."

Interact with Authors and Editors:

Each week, the five authors will work with Avon's editors to review the 10 chapters with the highest fan vote total. Every author will give an "Author Pick Award" to one chapter, which will bring added visibility to these outstanding submissions during the final voting round.

Author Eloisa James believes that AvonFanLit is indicative of a sea-change in how romance fans are networking with authors in this new, more tech-savvy era. "It speaks to a fundamental change in the way readers are interacting with literature," she says. "One of the profound changes spurred by the Internet has been a breaking down of walls between reader and writer. It's wonderful that Avon is sponsoring this event to bring us all even closer together."

Grand Prizes:

One Grand Prize Popular Vote winner, picked in a random drawing on the final day of the online event, will win a "Day with Avon," including a meeting with an editor and visits with the Avon art and marketing/publicity departments. (Estimated value: $5000)

One Grand Prize/Editorial Pick winner will be awarded a 12-month development deal with Fox Television Studios (FTVS) and a one-time development fee of $5,000. Angela Shapiro-Mathes, president of Fox TV Studios, said, "Last May we were thrilled to announce that Fox TV Studios would serve as the entertainment studio for HarperCollins, so we're delighted now to offer a development deal as the grand prize for the AvonFanLit contest. FTVS is focused on identifying and fostering new talent, wherever it exists. Today, that includes the growing realm of web-based user-generated content, which often comes from the most dedicated, passionate consumers. We look forward to working with the winner!"

One randomly-drawn grand prize winner will receive a $1000 Saks Fifth Avenue gift card, redeemable at saks.com, Saks Fifth Avenue stores and Off 5th stores.

Weekly Prizes:

Winners of the weekly "popular" vote can win Saks Fifth Avenue gift cards, complete signed sets of the most recent Avon author panelists' novels; inclusion of their chapter in the AvonFanLit e-book; one-year subscriptions to "Romantic Times Book Reviews" magazine, plus a unique weekly surprise gift. These individual offerings include framed, limited-edition cover art, signed by author and artist; signed book covers from the AvonFanLit author panelists, matted and framed; a trip to the "Romantic Times" Convention in Houston (April 2007), including three hotel nights; any 20 books (winner's pick) from http://www.harpercollins.com/; inclusion in Avon's monthly advance review (not- yet-published) copy list for six months. Other prizes include $25 Borders gift cards and a collection of Avon titles releasing August through October 2006.

The contest commences on August 23, 2006, and will terminate at 11:59 p.m. on October 27, 2006. No purchase is necessary. The contest is open to U.S. legal residents, age 21 and older. Void outside the U.S. or wherever prohibited or restricted by law. Visit http://www.harpercollins.com/ or http://www.avonfanlit.com/ for additional details or rules.

In October 2006 HarperCollins and FanLib will once again join forces on an online teen contest, HarperTeen FanLit "Your Words. Everybody's Story." The event will initiate the upcoming launch, in January 2007, of the HarperTeen imprint, home of the most exciting teen publishing happening anywhere. HarperTeen FanLit will invite young adult fans to collaborate on the creation of an original story, and is designed to speak to girls ages 13 to 17 years. The author panel will consist of three bestselling author judges from the HarperTeen imprint. Authors will review submissions and provide writing tips and comments, in addition to rating entries.

HarperCollins is one of the leading English-language publishers in the world and is a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE:NWS)(NYSE:NWS.A); . Headquartered in New York, the company has publishing groups in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Its publishing groups include the HarperCollins General Books Group, HarperCollins Children's Books Group, Zondervan, HarperCollins UK, HarperCollins Canada, HarperCollins Australia/New Zealand and HarperCollins India. You can visit HarperCollins Publishers on the Internet at http://www.harpercollins.com/.

Media Contacts: Pamela Spengler-Jaffee, 212.207.7495, pam.jaffee@harpercollins.com (for Avon) or Todd Beck, 310.689.7363, todd@beckmedia.com (for FanLib).

Source: Avon Books

CONTACT: Pamela Spengler-Jaffee, +1-212-207-7495,
pam.jaffee@harpercollins.com, for Avon Books; or Todd Beck, +1-310-689-7363,
todd@beckmedia.com, for FanLib

Web site: http://www.harpercollins.com/
http://www.avonfanlit.com/
http://www.saks.com/
http://www.fanlib.com/

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