|
|
writenews.com
|
Monday, October 25th, 1999 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs October Issue of The Internet Writing Journal Now Online The latest issue of The Internet Writing Journal® (IWJ) is online now at http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/. This month's IWJ features interviews with #1 New York Times bestselling mystery novelist Sue Grafton, author of A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, and her latest Kinsey Millhone novel, O is for Outlaw (Henry Holt, 1999); bestselling novelist, Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster and four-time Shamus Award winner Lawrence Block, author of The Burglar in the Rye (Dutton, 1999) and Tanner on Ice (Signet, 1999), and former Senior Editor of OMNI and current Editor of Event Horizon: Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror webzine Ellen Datlow. Articles include: "Do It Yourself Music Publishing--Part V" by syndicated radio show host and CEO of CQK Music & Records, Mary Dawson, and "The Business of Writing: Minding the Details, " excerpted from the new 2000 Writers Market (Writer's Digest Books). This month's issue also features reviews of the latest books from IWJ's book reviewers including: Mystery: O is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton (Henry Holt, 1999), The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison (St. Martin's Press, 1999), Trouble Comes Back by Keith Snyder (Walker & Co., 1999) Fantasy/SF/Horror: Ancients of Days by Paul J. McAuley (Eos, 1999), The Stone and the Maiden by Dennis Jones (Eos, 1999) and Aramaya by Jane Routley (Eos, 1999); Romance: Heart of the Dove by Tracey Fobes (Sonnet, 1999) and Scottish Brides by Christina Dodd, Stephanie Laurens, Julia Quinn and Karen Ranney (Avon, 1999); Children's: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban By J.K. Rowling, Illustrated by Mary Grandpre (Scholastic, 1999), The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (HarperCollins, 1999)and Nightmare Hour by R.L. Stine (HarperCollins, 1999); Writing: Writing.com by Moira Allen (Allworth Press, 1999), The Screenwriter's Legal Guide by Stephen F. Breimer, Esq. (Allworth Press, 1999) and Writing in Flow by Susan K. Perry, Ph.D. (Writer's Digest Books, 1999). Gist TV Listings Creates Print Publication Gist Communications Inc. has announced plans to create and publish The Daily Gist -- a customizable print magazine to be delivered to homes and offices exclusively via the Internet. The new ad-supported magazine, which reverses the long-established order of the publishing process from "print and distribute" to "distribute and print," is scheduled to launch in late 1999. The Daily Gist, featuring personalized TV listings and related editorial content, will build on Gist TV's established distribution of customized listings to subscribers of Instant Delivery. Users visit the Hewlett-Packard's Instant Delivery site to choose the content they wish to receive and when they wish to receive it via their computer printer. "Traditional print entertainment guides will soon fade away because they can't compete in the areas of timeliness and customization," said Jonathan Greenberg, CEO of Gist Communications. "With deadlines a couple of weeks prior to their appearance in subscribers' homes, guides obtained through the mail, on newsstands or by newspaper delivery simply can't keep up with the dynamic world of hundreds of digital TV channels, where schedules will be changing daily and even hourly. Delivery of print guides over the Internet, on the other hand, allows for constant updates, resulting in increased accuracy and a far more useful product." Commenting on today's agreement, Mike Roberts, marketing manager for HP Instant Delivery, said: "HP is committed to finding truly innovative uses for the Internet and enhancing the Internet experience for consumers. We're pleased to partner with Gist in providing a unique, Internet publishing offering to our Instant Delivery users. The Daily Gist provides users added choice and convenience, supporting the growing shift to 'distribute and print' model." Ned Desmond named President and Editor of eCompany Unlimited Ned Desmond has been named President and Editor of a magazine and website to be launched by Fortune magazine in May 2000. The venture, with the working title eCompany Unlimited, will be based in Silicon Valley. The announcement was made by John Huey, Managing Editor of Fortune, and Jack Haire, President of The Fortune Group. "eCompany Unlimited will fill a unique niche in business journalism as both a magazine and a Website, providing an interactive guide to doing business in the Internet age," Huey said. "Ned Desmond is the perfect choice to lead this venture. He has been at the journalistic crossroads of business and technology for years, as a reporter, editor, and Internet executive." Desmond, 41, comes to eCompany Unlimited from Infoseek, where he was most recently Vice President of Centers and Content. He led the product teams that launched Infoseek Japan and more than a dozen new areas on the Infoseek site, including games, personal finance, computing, autos and health. Previously he was a senior writer at Fortune, covering both Silicon Valley and the Japanese economy. He also worked for 12 years at Time magazine, where among other positions he served as the Bureau Chief in New Delhi and Tokyo. "The Internet has changed business by introducing new efficiencies and opening new markets, by collapsing time and space, and by putting everyone in any kind of business in much closer contact with buyers and suppliers," Desmond said. "eCompany Unlimited will bring the great journalism and writing inspired by Fortune to bear on how this revolution is unfolding in the real world of business. We will offer stories about the successes - and failures - at companies big and small as they come to terms with the e-commerce revolution." Desmond says the editorial mix of eCompany Unlimited will include stories on creating an e-business, profiles of companies and their leaders, reviews of the latest digital equipment and products, and Internet investment ideas. The magazine will debut in May 2000 with an average paid rate base of 200,000 and a cover price of $3.95. Rodale Takes Minority Stake in Mothernature.com Rodale has taken a minority equity position in MotherNature.com, an Internet retailer and information source for natural and healthy living products. The agreement makes MotherNature.com the exclusive VSM site with access to online content from health books published by Rodale. Rodale also has equity positions in Petsmart.com, where it provides the site content from Pets: part of the family magazines and book lines, and in Women.com, where it provides content from Prevention magazine and books and New Woman magazine. "Rodale's web strategy calls for us to develop innovative partnerships with companies that combine a proven record of success in their niche with an outstanding business plan for the future," says Pat Corpora, Managing Director of Rodale Interactive and President of Rodale Books. "MotherNature.com has quickly become one of the most-visited health sites on the Internet, offering consumers thousands of natural and healthy living products. The site also has extensive health information from a panel of health and medical professionals. They are a perfect e-commerce fit with Rodale's wealth of content on healthy, active living information. This is a perfect example of the alliance model we think will lead to success on the Web." The Rodale relationship will broaden MotherNature.com's content, offering users access to text from Rodale's collection of health books as well as selected columns from Prevention magazine. Visitors to MotherNature.com will be able to search the Web versions of Rodale books, as well as purchase the books on the MotherNature.com site. A search engine will show all of MotherNature.com's encyclopedia content, health journal articles and hyperlinks to Rodale books. The Fortune Group Relaunches Your Company Magazine as FSB Your Company magazine, published as a joint venture by Time Inc. and American Express Small Business services, changes its name to FSB: Fortune Small Business with the November issue. FSB will also make its newsstand debut in November, according to managing editor Hank Gilman and publisher Kathy Kayse. FSB is published eight times a year and will be distributed on newsstands at major airports in Chicago, New York and San Francisco, and at Barnes & Noble, Borders and Waldenbooks stores nationwide, with a newsstand price of $2.95. "We've been closely aligned with Fortune - the leader in magazine business journalism -- for the last two years, so our new name reflects more of what we are: a member of Time Inc.'s Fortune Group," Gilman says. "FSB will have 16 additional pages in each issue, allowing us to more fully cover the interests of our audience of small business owners." Online Magazine Launches Year-Long Look at Poverty The ravages of poverty and the real-life initiatives fighting against them will be the focus of a 12-part series in horizonMag.com, a monthly online magazine working to inspire young people, 18 to 30, to take interest and action in their communities. "Today's youth are passionate about getting involved and building their communities," Rey Ramsey, publisher of horizonMag.com, said. "horizon's look at poverty seeks to harness that energy and idealism toward one of the most serious issues facing this country -- an issue closer to each of us than we realize." The October issue of horizonMag.com launches the series with statistics on poverty and welfare reform, plus profiles of former Clinton administration official Peter Edelman, and youth activist Rev. Eugene Rivers, co-founder of Boston's Ten Point Coalition. Upcoming articles in the series will continue to illustrate the impact of poverty across a broad scope of cultures and communities, including foster children, people with disabilities, single fathers and Native Americans. Published by The Enterprise Foundation, horizonMag.com debuted in November 1997. Past issues of horizonMag.com have explored community involvement with hip-hop artist Lauryn Hill, actor Edward Norton, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Chicago Cubs' Sammy Sosa and Sen. John McCain. The Enterprise Foundation is a national nonprofit housing and community development organization, launched in 1982 by Jim and Patty Rouse. American Lawyer Media Launches Diversity Publishing Group American Lawyer Media, Inc. (ALM) has announced the formation of its Diversity Publishing Group, a new unit designed to create and support joint publishing and information ventures with associations, professional organizations and other entities which advocate and support diversity efforts within the legal and business community. Edna M. Messick has been named to head the group, whose first partner will be the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA). Under their agreement, ALM and MCCA will jointly publish and distribute Diversity and the Bar, a quarterly magazine of the association. In addition to association members, the publication will be distributed to all subscribers of ALM's Corporate Counsel magazine. Corporate Counsel reaches an estimated 188,000 readers in the legal departments of many of the nation's largest companies. The Diversity Publishing Group will also assume responsibility for current publishing activities related to the Minority Law Journal's annual National Directory of Minority Attorneys. "This new relationship with ALM will furnish our young and growing association with access to the most effective and widespread information distribution network in the legal industry," said Lloyd Johnson, executive director of the MCCA. "Our mission is to provide continuing advocacy for expanding the diversity of corporate law departments and the firms who serve them; our work with ALM will help us extend communication and dialogue on this important topic." Creative Planet Raises $25 Million Creative Planet, a network of business-to-business websites for content creation professionals, has announced that it has secured an additional $25 million in equity financing. The financing round led by C.C. Entertainment Partners (C.C.E.P.), a strategic partner of Chase Capital Partners, includes WaterView Partners, SunAmerica Ventures, Ares Management, and individual investor Michael Fuchs. "This commitment made by our new partners will greatly accelerate our roll-out of additional vertical sites and the deployment of key business-to-business functionality," said Allen DeBevoise, Creative Planet's chairman and chief executive officer. "Creative Planet will move one giant step closer to reaching its ultimate goal -- to provide creative content professionals with the most enriching and useful business resources available on the Web." Currently, Creative Planet operates seven websites for creative content professionals, including VFXPro.com, EditorsNet.com, DesignInMotion.com, MediaTechnology.com, CinematographyWorld.com, TVIndustry.com and DirectorsWorld.com. Visitors to the websites may obtain information and daily news about their field, build relationships with fellow professionals, search job postings, and learn the latest on media technology. Fidget.com Launches Email Newsletter Directory Fidget.com has announced the launch of its eNewsletter directory. The directory provides a list of categories that allows visitors to drill down to eNewsletters in specific areas of interest. "From sports and entertainment to business and finance, Fidget.com helps you stop surfing and lets the information wave come to you," noted Sharon Gillenwater, President and Chief Fidgeter. "Study after study shows that email is overwhelmingly the most popular online activity, and there's a definite trend among forward-thinking businesses to create colorful, graphics-rich eNewsletters that arrive in an emailbox looking just like a Web page. Research shows that the movement is definitely toward having the information that's of interest to individuals arrive -- targeted and tailor-made -- right in their e-mailboxes." Former AOL 'Cooking Lady' Joins Ucook.Com ucook.com has announced that E.B. Waters, former host of the America Online (AOL) Cooking Club, has joined ucook.com. Waters will bring her experience in building an interactive online community for people interested in cooking to ucook.com. At ucook.com, Waters, the pioneer for community-building on the Web, will host chats that include notable chefs and cookbook authors. The first chat will take place on Tuesday, October 26, at 8 PM EST, with Christina Pirello, author of Cooking the Whole Foods Way and Cook Your Way to the Life you Want, which will be released Nov. 15. Five copies of the new book will be given away during the chat session. Braiden Rex-Johnson, author of the Pike Place Market Cookbook, and That's Fresh! Seasonal Recipes for Young Cooks, will be joining Waters for a chat Nov. 2 at 8:00 p.m. EST. "ucook.com has created the ideal solution for people seeking cooking information, tips and recipes on the Internet," says Waters. "ucook.com's dynamic recipe search capabilities outshine anything else available on the Web. On the same site, visitors can read meaningful editorial content on cooking and the food industry. Adding chat room and community features with the ucook club completes ucook.com's offering to all people who wonder what to make for dinner. I look forward to our relationship and building a strong community on ucook.com." GrandparentWorld.com Launches Website grand-parents.com, LLC has announced the launch of GrandparentWorld.com, a new website developed by grandparents specifically for grandparents. GrandparentWorld.com delivers ways for grandparents to stay connected with their grandchildren, including free email accounts, relevant links and information on shopping, travel, health, finance and grandkid trends. "It's a high-tech way to nurture an age-old bond," said Donald A. Harmon, grandfather of five and co-founder of GrandparentWorld.com with his daughter Kristine A. George. "As a grandparent myself, I know the value of that bond. It means the world. And the Internet provides amazing access to information and communication for both the young and the young at heart." Around the Web AltaVista Takes on Yahoo with New Portal Reuters Amazon.com Sues, Media Snicker The Industry Standard At 30, Can PBS Thrive on Challenge? AP Dobb's Black Hole NY Post EB Transformed into Free Web Reference Portal PublishersWeekly Excite to buy BlueMountain for $780M Media Central Hollywood Dot-Com Calls It Quits The Industry Standard It's Not Whodunit, but How-Do-You-Do-It? PublishersWeekly `Jurassic Park' Author To Get Box Office Percentage For Next Film BookWire Local News Explosion Salon Media Person: Cyberpols Amok MediaWeek New-media Survey Shows TV Trailing CBS Marketwatch Papers Shouldn't Cede Judgement to Other Media Arizona Central Product Reviews From Anyone With an Opinion NY Times The Net Loves Old Media Time Click here to return to the homepage of The Write NewsTM Click here to subscribe to our free weekly email newsletter.  www.writenews.com Copyright © 1997-2007 by Writers Write, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
