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Turn Your Favorite Kid’s Book into an Audiobook

If you want to make a personalized audiobook for the kid in your life, StorySticker can help you with the transition.

Created by stkr.it, the tool will be unveiled at BEA next week. AppNewser has all the details:

StorySticker lets you do create audio recordings of yourself reading their favorite book so that they can listen to your voice at bedtime. The StorySticker audio book works through the combination of an app and a unique coded sticker that attaches to the inside of any children’s book. You can buy the stickers at a book retailer and paste it into your child’s book. Then you can download the free app and follow the prompts to record your reading. The recording is linked with the sticker and your child can hear your recording by scanning the StorySticker code or by selecting the book within the app.

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Thursday May 23: Real Talk about Life after Publication

These days, writers aren’t just writers: They’re social-media mavens, seasoned public speakers, and one-person publicity machines. And they still have to find time to write their books! Find out what life is like once you've landed that dream book contract in a free web chat with young-adult authors Elizabeth Norris (Unraveling and Unbreakable) and Brodi Ashton (Everneath and Everbound) — plus special guest Kristin Rens, editor at HarperCollins imprint Balzer + Bray. Thursday, May 23 at 7:00 p.m. ET. on Figment.com.

Rick Atkinson To Write American Revolution Trilogy

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Atkinson will publish a narrative history trilogy about the American Revolution with Henry Holt and Company.

The former Washington Post staff writer won the Pulitzer Prize for An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, part of his bestselling trilogy about World War II–a 15 year writing effort. 

 The American Revolution trilogy will begin with 1775 and 1776; volume two will cover 1777 to 1779 and volume three will cover 1780 to 1781. Macmillan editor at large John Sterling acquired and will edit the books. He has edited all of Atkinson’s books.

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How to Share Books & eBooks with Our Troops

As you celebrate Memorial Day this weekend, take some time to remember all our soldiers stationed overseas.

If you want to help these men and women far away from home, we’ve collected five different ways you can share books with our troops. For instance, E-Books for Troops will help you send an eReader to our troops overseas. Army Sgt. Andre Corbin explained at the site:

When soldiers deploy, they have a mandatory packing list of equipment/clothing which must be fitted into a rucksack and a duffel bag – and it takes good packing to get everything required stowed. Any personal items must fit into a backpack, that is basically a carry-on bag – not a lot of room. When you only have about 1.5 cubic feet of space to pack personal items to last a year (or at least until care packages start arriving), you have to be very judicious in what you decide to bring … For me, a voracious reader who is addicted to the written word and regularly devours several novels/books a week, having the room for only a few books – even paperbacks tightly packed – could be a very frustrating dilemma.

 

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‘Tiger Eyes’ Official Trailer Released

An official trailer for the Tiger Eyes film adaptation has been released. The trailer includes a first look at Willa Holland as Davey and Tatanka Means as Wolf.

We’ve embedded the video above–what do you think?

According to The Hollywood ReporterTiger Eyes will be the first time a Judy Blume title has been adapted into a feature film. Lawrence Blume, Judy’s son, directed this project. He worked on writing the screenplay with his mother.

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Shakespeare Apps Coming for Students

Simon & Schuster and Folger Shakespeare Library will release a set of interactive apps aimed at helping students explore the work of William Shakespeare.

AppNewser has more about the upcoming apps:

Coming this November, the joint effort will release app versions of HamletOthelloMacbethRomeo & Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They will continue to release plays thereafter until the entire collection is available. The app versions will include audio recordings, videos and photos, which are designed to help teach the texts. This includes audio performances produced at the Folger Theatre, as well as expert commentary from Shakespeare scholars. The apps will also have social networking reading tools on a private network so that teachers and students can take digital notes and share them with each other within the networked text.

If you are looking for un-interactive versions of these famous plays, follow the links below to download free copies of Shakespeare’s most popular works on Project Gutenberg.

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Soman Chainani’s The School for Good and Evil Acquired by Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures acquired the rights to Soman Chainani‘s The School for Good and Evil in a seven-figure deal.

The newly released novel is the first installment in epic fantasy trilogy published by HarperCollins.  Slated for three films, Jane Startz will produce and Chainani will write the script with Malia Scotch-MarmoDeadline Hollywood had the scoop:

Deadline revealed last Thursday that the Oz The Great And Powerful producer had partnered with Jane Startz Production to acquire movie rights to The School For Good And Evil. After a spirited auction, Universal Pictures won the property in a seven-figure deal for book and scriptwriting fees.

Most Searched Authors & Books on Google

This month, William Shakespeare is the most searched for author on Google and The Bible is the most searched for book. Below, we’ve posted the top ten most searched for authors on Google.

Google has started automatically updating monthly charts for the top trending books and the top trending authors on the search engine.  TNW has more about the new tool:

Today, Google releases a new and improved version of the product with new charts, updated monthly, of the most-searched people, places and things in more than 40 categories with the ability to filter by 11 countries. PR companies and their customers now have another metric to be highly aware of. Everything from business people through to cars are ranked for the world to see. Each category goes back to 2004.

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Katherine Boo Wins the 2013 Helen Bernstein Book Award

Journalist and author Katherine Boo has won the New York Public Library’s 2013 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Behind The Beautiful Forevers.

The $15,000 award goes to “journalists whose books have brought clarity and public attention to important issues, events, or policies.” Boo had this comment as she received the award:

Consistently, the recipients of this award make the argument through their work that you can’t just complain or accept that the American public don’t give a damn about genocide in Rwanda or ruined lives in the inner city … What this award symbolizes to me is that as a journalist working in the field, you have to report harder and work harder, until you make the American public give a damn. That’s what good writing with a capital ‘W’ is. Over the years, the Library has honored some bad-ass women, and has always honored hard-core, fierce reporting.

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CoverGirl to Release Hunger Games-Inspired Make-Up Line

CoverGirl has created a Hunger Games-inspired makeup line called the “Capitol Collection.”

Lionsgate struck a sponsorship deal for the Catching Fire adaptation with the cosmetics company. Paula Kupfer, the vice president of promotions and consumer products at Lionsgate explained in the release:

We are excited to announce COVERGIRL as the exclusive makeup partner for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The exquisite beauty and style in the world of the Capitol is a focal point of this film. Partnering with an innovative brand like COVERGIRL to create an additional layer of beauty storytelling and inspiration for the fans is new territory that we’re delighted to explore.

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How To Turn Your Twitter Page into a Book

Do you want to share your tweets with your grandchildren someday? Maybe you should make a book.

AppNewser has collected five different services that will turn your Twitter feed into a book. Check it out: 

Twournal: “Twournal allows you to create, buy and sell twitter books printed from your tweets. All Twournals have color covers, can include replies and photos from services such as Twitpic and Yfrog in color or black and white. You can choose a custom picture for your front cover. Select which tweets you want to start and end at. And you can add a dedication message to appear after your title.”

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