Disney

On October 12, 2010, join fellow demigods and go back to Camp Half-Blood with the most-anticipated new series of the season, The Heroes of Olympus, by bestselling author Rick Riordan.

The Disney Book Group (DBG) is releasing the new edition of Rick Riordan’s Camp Half-Blood series with a new book called The Lost Hero, which comes out on October 12th.

The Lost Hero will be available simultaneously in hardcover, audiobook and eBook formats. Currently eBook teaser chapters of The Lost Hero are available and so far there have been more than 10,000 downloads.

To promote the release, Disney will be hosting a live webcast of the book launch party online. On October 12th, at 7pm ET, fans can virtually attend the party through a dedicated website at www.heroesofolympus.com. The site also includes tips on how to host your own The Lost Hero party.

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Disney is embracing the $8.99 price point for its eBooks. In an interview on AppModo.com, Yves Saada, VP of Digital Media at Disney Publishing Worldwide, talked about pricing and the future of digital publishing.

From the interview, “The $8.99 point is the average price of books we’ve found in the iBookstore, which kind of makes sense for our own books. That price also includes a 1-month subscription for our web based content (DisneyDigitalBooks.com).”

Disney also has plans to make eBooks more interactive. Saada said that Disney Publishing’s mission is, “to create books for children that offer an enjoyable reading experience and use a natural and fun interface on an emerging new platform. The ability to use a natural interface with your fingers is an awesome opportunity for us to add other features as well, such as color painting, drawing, and more.”

Disney has reading games that incorporate karaoke and a coloring book feature in which kids can email colored in documents to friends and family.