Random House

Random House Publishing Group will relaunch its Loveswept imprint as a “digital-exclusive imprint,” reviving a romance line that originated at Bantam Books in the 1980s. Explore more than 900 titles from the original line at RomanceWiki.

The original Loveswept imprint featured early work by writers like Sandra Brown, Janet Evanovich and Tami Hoag. Random House will also revive the original tagline: “Love stories you’ll never forget by authors you’ll always remember.” The books will also be released in a trans-Atlantic partnership with Random House Group U.K.’s Transworld Publishers division.

Here’s more about the line: “The 2011 Loveswept publishing program will be a digital-exclusive imprint, comprised of original, newly written e-books, as well as beloved Ballantine Bantam Dell romances and classic Loveswept titles. The program launches with eight titles in August, and continues with one new e-only release monthly in the fall.”

Today Bertelsmann AG (Random House’s corporate parent) unveiled the acquisition of Seattle-based agency, Smashing Ideas. They did not disclose the terms of the deal.

The move will dramatically expand Random House’s digital resources. Smashing Ideas has produced scores of digital projects, including everything from Alice for the iPad to Sony Movie Channel to a SpongeBob game.

Here’s more from the release: “They serve a roster of prominent clients such as Mattel, Nickelodeon, PBS, Cartoon Network, and Disney. Last year alone, Smashing Ideas generated 500 million game plays and half a billion page views for its clients. Smashing Ideas added an ePublishing unit last year, coinciding with the arrival of tablet devices in the marketplace. Smashing Ideas will continue to operate independently out of their Seattle headquarters, as well as their U.K. office, primarily focusing on its current and future client businesses.”

To celebrate the release of Daniel H. Wilson‘s Robopocalypse, Doubleday has opened a video contest.

The Robopocalypse Video Contest features three cash prizes: $250 for second prize, $500 for first prize, and $750 for the grand prize. Readers have until May 13th to design a video inspired by the new novel.

Here’s more from the release: “Your video must be either 30 seconds or 60 seconds in duration and in one of these accepted formats: ‘MOV,’ ‘MP4,’ ‘WMV,’ ‘FLV,’ or ‘AVI.’ Your video must feature the book shot of Robopocalypse somewhere within. You can find everything that you need, including an excerpt of the book, images, directions on how to upload your video, complete rules and other resources at our Facebook page.”

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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan author Lisa See (pictured, via) has inked a two-book deal with Random House.

Her next novel, Dream of Joy, will be released on May 31st. The book continues the story of two characters introduced in Shanghai Girls, Pearl and May. Executive editor Bob Loomis negotiated the deal with Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency president Sandra Dijkstra.

See had this statement in the release: “I was a midlist writer with not much of a future when I first came to Random House. Bob Loomis pushed me to work deeper and harder. With his guidance and with the support of everyone at Random House, I’ve blossomed as a writer.”

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Random House imprints Crown Publishing Group (U.S.) and Chatto & Windus (U.K.) will join forces in a new fiction imprint named Hogarth. U.S. publisher Molly Stern and U.K. publishing director Clara Farmer will helm the imprint.

Some of the titles on Hogarth’s inaugural list in 2012 include: I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits, The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya, The Dead Do Not Improve by Jay Caspian Kang, and The Kissing List by Stephanie Reents. All Hogarth books will be available in both print and digital formats.

Here’s more from the press release: “The new imprint is named in honour of The Hogarth Press, founded by Virginia and Leonard Woolf in 1917 from their home … In the U.S., Hogarth will publish between eight and ten fiction titles each year. In the U.K., Hogarth will publish a smaller list of titles annually, comprising books that are also published by Hogarth in the U.S..”

Author Paulo Coelho greeted Random House Canada’s enthusiasm about the upcoming English edition of Aleph with a joke: “You should be. You are my publishers…”

Here’s more about the novel: “Coelho reveals how a grave crisis of faith caused him to go in search of a path of spiritual renewal and growth. In order to get close to God again, he decided to start over: to travel, to experiment, to reconnect with people and the world. Between March and July 2006, letting himself be guided by signs, he travelled to various continents – Europe, Africa and Asia – on a journey through time and space, through past and present, in search of himself.”

In 2010, Aleph was published in Turkey and Brazil; it topped the bestseller list in Brazil. The title will be released worldwide in September. In March, Coelho polled his blog readers for their opinion on three different covers for the English edition. (via Sarah Wendell)

Former White House press secretary Dana Perino (pictured) has been appointed editorial director of Crown Forum, the conservative books imprint at the Crown Publishing Group.

Perino served during George W. Bush‘s presidency. She also worked as communications strategist for Bush’s memoir, Decision Points, and former First Lady Laura Bush‘s book, Spoken From the Heart. She went on to become a contributor for Fox News.

Here’s more from the press release: “Ms. Perino will recommend, initiate, and submit exclusively to Crown Forum six to eight nonfiction book projects each year, to be written by conservative political or media personalities. Ms. Perino will also play an active role in devising and implementing the promotional campaigns for select Crown Forum publications. Ms. Perino will collaborate closely with Tina Constable, Senior Vice President, Crown Forum, and Sean Desmond, who has been promoted to Executive Editor, Crown Forum.”

Random House Children’s Books will publish seven Dr. Seuss stories into a hardcover compilation. Seuss published these stories in magazines during the early 1950′s, but this will be the first time they appear in a book.

The collection will feature the following tales: “The Bear, the Rabbit, and the Zinniga-Zanniga,” “Gustav the Goldfish,” “Tadd and Todd,” “Steak for Supper,” “The Bippolo Seed,” “The Strange Shirt Spot,” and “The Great Henry McBride.”

Publisher’s Weekly reports: ”Random enhanced the color palette of each story, and an introduction by Seuss scholar and collector Charles D. Cohen explains the significance of these seven stories, not only as lost treasures, but as transitional stories in Dr. Seuss’s career that marked the beginnings of his new philosophy about writing for children.”

Former vice president Al Gore (pictured, via) has signed with Random House to publish a not-yet-titled book on “the political, social and economic forces that are shaping what America and the world will become in ensuing decades.”

Executive editor Jon Meacham negotiated the deal with The Wylie Agency founder Andrew Wylie. The deal includes World English, German and Spanish languages, first serial, audio, and e-book publication rights. The publisher will release the book in 2012.

Gore gave this quote in the release: “I am delighted to be working with Jon Meacham and Random House on my next book. With this new work, I hope to help start a conversation about the large-scale drivers of change that are defining and shaping our future—from the rapid development and integration of radically new technologies to the planet-changing impact of the climate crisis, to poverty, globalization, and the democratization of knowledge accompanying the emergence of a ubiquitous Internet linking ever more intelligent devices.”

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Steve Jobs took a break from his medical leave this afternoon to introduce the iPad 2, a thinner, faster version of the popular tablet computer.

Jobs also revealed that Random House has joined the iBookstore, adding 17,000 titles to the digital bookseller. Random House announced this week they will follow the agency pricing model for digital books–a model that allows publishers to set the price of a book and keep pricing even across booksellers.

eBookNewser has all the details about the iPad 2. A few iPad 2 tidbits from the liveblog: “It will work with AT&T and Verizon. It will have 10 hours of battery life and be offered for the same price as existing iPad. $499-829 depending on size and plan.”