NEWS RELEASE: "Net" Series Launched
Derek Baker
RANDOM HOUSE ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING
AND MICHAEL WOLFF & COMPANY
TO LAUNCH MAJOR NEW INFORMATION HIGHWAY SERIES
NEW YORK -- Moving to seize the lead in the coverage of the
information highway, Random House Electronic Publishing and New
York-based book producer Michael Wolff & Company, Inc. will
introduce a new book every other month focusing on the content and
uses of America's fastest growing medium. Upcoming topics in the
series include games, chat, personal finance, and technology news
and support.
The accelerated publishing schedule for the series, among the most
aggressive in the book industry, is geared to stay current with
the new ways in which 30 million consumers are using the Internet,
commercial services like AOL and CompuServe, and hundreds of
regional BBSs--collectively known as "the Net."
The Net Books series, a co-publishing agreement between Random
House Electronic Publishing, a division of Random House, Inc., and
Michael Wolff & Company, a leading creator of digital publishing
products, is one of the largest computer-related book deals by any
trade publisher. The series follows on the success of the best-
selling book, Net Guide, which was created by Michael Wolff &
Company and published by Random House Electronic Publishing last
January.
"This publishing program is designed to directly meet the market's
changing demands," said Kenzi Sugihara, Vice President and
Publisher of Random House Reference and Electronic Publishing.
"The medium and the market are growing so fast that traditional
book schedules cannot keep up with user interests and information
needs."
Titles currently scheduled in the Net Books series include:
* Net Games, a guide to the thousands of games that can be played
online, to be published this September
* Net Chat, a map of salons and meeting places in Cyberspace, to
be published in November
* Net Money, a handbook for using online personal finance
resources, to appear in time for tax season in January
* Net Tech, a directory of computer help and information sources,
to arrive in bookstores in March
The explosion in online-related books--creating a new publishing
category since the beginning of the year--has largely been fueled
by titles that focus on the technical aspects of the medium. The
Net Books series departs from this emphasis and focuses
exclusively on content--the services, entertainment, and
information resources that millions of consumers can easily
access.
"This publishing program reflects our strong commitment to this
new medium," said Alberto Vitale, Chairman, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Random House, Inc. "We believe that the
online world may well offer consumer growth rates not seen since
the early days of television. What's more, we believe that by
focusing on content, this new computer book category will have
tremendous appeal for a mass-market audience."
Michael Wolff, President of MW&Co., commented: "As millions of new
users tune in, they want to know 'what's on' and 'how do I find
it.' Online communication used to be about source code and UNIX
commands; now its about playing games, paying taxes, and forming
personal relationships."
Extensive research by MW&Co.--including a survey of more than
3,000 Net users--has shown that games, chat, personal finance, and
technology are the fastest growing areas of interest on the Net.
Over half of those surveyed indicated these areas are among their
primary online activities.
The series is being produced by a ten-member team of Net-savvy
reporters at Michael Wolff & Company, which is known for creating
books and magazines that present complex information in a user-
friendly way, and has become one of the key forces in charting the
information highway.
The company recently announced that the best-selling book, Net
Guide, will debut as a monthly magazine in November, covering the
personalities, events, and places on the information highway. The
company has also launched an online service called Your Personal
Network (YPN), that will provide a point-and-click navigational
front end to the Net.
"We are delighted by our collaboration with Michael Wolff, a
company that has led the way in showing users that the online
world is about service and entertainment," said Sugihara.
CONTACT:
At Random House:
Alison Biggert, Publicity Manager
74261...@compuserve.com
At Michael Wolff & Company:
Derek Baker, Communications Director
de...@ypn.com
Christopher Horymski
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>RANDOM HOUSE ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING
>AND MICHAEL WOLFF & COMPANY
>TO LAUNCH MAJOR NEW INFORMATION HIGHWAY SERIES
>
>* Net Games, a guide to the thousands of games that can be played
>online, to be published this September
>
>* Net Chat, a map of salons and meeting places in Cyberspace, to
>be published in November
>
>* Net Money, a handbook for using online personal finance
>resources, to appear in time for tax season in January
>
>* Net Tech, a directory of computer help and information sources,
>to arrive in bookstores in March
* Net Spam, a how-to manual for making the global bulletin board
"Usenet" more like television, just in time for Christmas.
>CONTACT:
>At Random House:
>Alison Biggert, Publicity Manager
>74261...@compuserve.com
>
>At Michael Wolff & Company:
>Derek Baker, Communications Director
>de...@ypn.com
"By 1996 we want to be *the* Internet access provider."
--Steve Case
Report all obscene mail to your potsmaster.
Architect of Sleep
>In article <derek-060...@netguide.dialup.access.net>, de...@ypn.com (Derek Baker) says:
>>
>>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>
>>RANDOM HOUSE ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING
>>AND MICHAEL WOLFF & COMPANY
>>TO LAUNCH MAJOR NEW INFORMATION HIGHWAY SERIES
>> Titles currently scheduled in the Net Books series include:
>>
>
>* Net Spam, a how-to manual for making the global bulletin board
>"Usenet" more like television, just in time for Christmas.
>
I thought C&S had the rights to that one..? ;-)
-Robert
--
-----> mush...@netcom.com <-----
"It was relatively fast, and a moron could operate it - two big pluses in the
online world." -- Boardwatch, Nov 93