June 18, 2008
Lisa Holton Announces New Venture, Teams with HarperCollins
From PW; Lynn Andriani 6/18/2008:
When Lisa Holton left her post as president of Scholastic Trade Publishing and Book Fairs in early fall 2007, she had the unprecedented experience of having managed the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows under her belt. She had solid know-how about launching major children’s series, having originated and overseen development of The 39 Clues, Scholastic’s much buzzed-about book and Web-based venture, which launches this September. She also had a specific plan of what she wanted to do next in her career, and this week, she announced what that plan was: Fourth Story Media, a “studio” that integrates books and the Internet to develop children’s properties. Holton’s first book publishing partner will be one of her former employers: HarperCollins.
June 18, 2008
Fourth Story Taps Happy Cog
From the Happy Cog website:
After managing the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and originating and overseeing development of The 39 Clues, Lisa Holton left her post as president of Scholastic and launched a new business. Publishing under the HarperCollins flagship imprint, Fourth Story Media will produce stories that span multiple formats, including books, websites, games, DVDs, audio downloads and social networks. Its first series is The Amanda Project, an interactive, collaborative fictional mystery for girls 12 to 24, told across multiple media. The project will launch at the end of this year and grow throughout 2009. Happy Cog is delighted to be part of Fourth Story’s creative team.
June 18, 2008
HarperCollins Plans Joint Venture for Mystery Series
Crain’s covers HarperCollins’ partnership with Fourth Story Media:
HarperCollins Publishers and 4th Story Media on Wednesday announced The Amanda Project, a co-produced multi-platform mystery series that will be written in part by its audience, girls ages 12 to 14. Starting this fall, the story will start as a Web-only production. It will feature a social Web site that will encourage readers to interact with the lead character, Amanda Valentino, and even become new characters in the mystery. The Amanda Project will involve several Web sites and feature a series of blogs that will tell the story as it unfolds.
June 18, 2008
Digital Fog & Forbes.com
Digital Fog reports on The Amanda Project release appearing on Forbes.com:
Forbes.com is reporting on a collaboration between 4th Story Media and HarperCollins in the creation of a multi-platform series:
4th Story Media and HarperCollins Publishers today announced their partnership in The Amanda Project, the first multi-platform series to be written in part by its audience, girls ages 12-14. 4th Story Media, which owns all rights for the property, will produce the content for The Amanda Project with a creative team including web design agency Happy Cog, young adult authors, artists and graphic designers. HarperCollins Publishers, which is a strategic partner in the venture and an investor, has acquired the rights to publish an eight-book The Amanda Project series worldwide.