Riverhead/Freestyle Line Focuses on Urban Culture

Posted on June 11, 2004

Riverhead/Freestyle, a new line of fiction and nonfiction titles relating to urban culture, is being introduced by Riverhead Trade paperbacks. Co-Publisher Julie Grau has announced that the first book in the new line is Blinking Red Light. An urban thriller, Blinking Red Light was successfully self-published in the Philadelphia area where the author, Mister Mann Frisby, lives. The novel reflects the gritty reality, unpredictable violence, and colorful slang of the inner city.

"The incredible success of some of the self-published titles in this category indicates that there is a hungry -- and probably under-served -- readership for books that share the energy and themes of hip-hop culture. We see books that reflect this movement, both fiction and nonfiction, as an area of growth," Grau said. "We believe that the Riverhead identity is clearly defined, so by creating this line within the imprint, we can signal to the publishing industry and to consumers that we are branching out into new areas of the bookstore."

Upcoming Riverhead/Freestyle titles include: The Wu-Tang Manual, an illustrated guide to the cosmology of the legendary hip-hop group The Wu-Tang Clan, by the Wu-Tang Clan; and two books of self-empowerment from Tariq "K- Flex" Nasheed, a former hustler and self-proclaimed "hip-hop dating guru," The Art of Mackin' and The Mack Within.

Riverhead Books is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Julie Grau and Celina Spiegel, two of the imprint's founding editors, are now Vice President and Publisher of Riverhead Books.



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