A new international trailer has been released for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie.

We’ve embedded the video above–what do you think? It offers fans a sneak peek at major events in the story and glimpses of the Shadowhunters world. In 2014, Cassandra Clare will release the sixth and final installment in her popular young adult series, City of Heavenly Fire.

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Struggling to find the perfect word for your next sentence? Try the Power Thesaurus–a crowdsourced tool for finding the best synonym or antonym.

You can also rate suggested words with a thumbs up or a thumbs down, helping other writers find the best word. You can even follow this link to add synonyms for a particular word. Check it out:

Power Thesaurus is a fast, convenient and comprehensive dictionary based on similarity of meaning. It helps when the most appropriate alternative words have to be found ASAP. Users enjoy easy-to-follow look & feel, yet with powerful assisting tools. It’s a constantly growing and improving synonym finder with the collective power of its visitors and editorial team!

Will the kids in your life read more than eight books this summer? They can get a free book through Barnes & Noble’s Summer Reading program.

Kids can download the free Summer Reading Journal (PDF link) and fill it up as they read eight books this summer. They can bring the filled-up journal to a Barnes & Noble and pick out a book from the store’s special Reading Journal list. Here’s more about the process:

1. Read any eight books this summer and record them in this Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Imagination’s Destination  Journal. Be sure to let us know to whom you would recommend each book, and why. 2. Bring your completed journal to a Barnes & Noble store  between May 21st and September 3rd, 2013. 3. Choose your FREE reading adventure from the book list featured on the back of the journal.

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This week, HarperCollins is hiring a marketing manager, while Kirkus Media needs a book translator. Quirk Books is seeking a cookbook designer, and St. Martin’s Press is on the hunt for a senior marketing manager. Get the scoop on these openings and more below, and find additional just-posted gigs on Mediabistro.

• Marketing Manager HarperCollins (New York, NY)
• Book Translator Kirkus Media (New York, NY)
• Cookbook Designer Quirk Books (Philadelphia, PA)
• Senior Marketing Manager St. Martin’s Press (New York, NY)
• Conference and Events Manager Palgrave Macmillan (New York, NY)

Find more great publishing jobs on the GalleyCat job board. Looking to hire? Tap into our network of talented GalleyCat pros and post a risk-free job listing. For real-time openings and employment news, follow @MBJobPost.

During a HuffPost Live interview, LeVar Burton revealed that his favorite children’s books are Mary Hoffman‘s Amazing Grace and Derek Munson‘s Enemy Pie.

Watch an excerpt from the interview in the video embedded above. Burton discovered these books while he hosted the Reading Rainbow TV series.

For Burton, working “on that show has enriched my life in so many immeasurable ways.” What was your favorite Reading Rainbow book?

On this encore edition of the Morning Media Menu, one filmmaker outlined his unique promotional efforts to introduce the world to Branded (the film is now streaming on Netflix).

We caught up with filmmaker Jamie Bradshaw to talk about building the campaign for his mind-bending movie. Bradshaw explained how he used San Diego Comic-Con, potato chips, QR codes and movie trailers to introduce readers to his first film. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

We are actually getting a really great response [to QR codes]. A lot of people are feeling empowered to use them. We are using more of them than I think anybody has ever used before (that’s what they’re saying to us). There are a hundred QR codes embedded throughout the trailers and the poster for the film. And they are all live and take you to different subversive content that is all part of the labyrinthine universe of this story.

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Publisher Quirk Books worked with the digital storytelling app Tapestry to create an interactive version of the publisher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars book.

AppNewser has the scoop:

This is the first time that the user generated storytelling app has partnered with a publisher. As part of the partnership, Quirk Books is contributing 5 stories to Tapestry’s 2.0 relaunch including a William Shakespeare Star Wars mashup written by Ian Doescher. Reading on the Tapestry app is not like reading on your run-of-the-mill eReader apps. The app lets users both create and read stories. Readers are encouraged to take the time to take it all in, as it is designed for readers to move the story forward but as the website explains, ”There’s no going back, so take your time—that’s the whole point.”

As you can see by the sobering First Book infographic embedded above, out of 3,600 books for kids, only 3.3 percent focused on the lives of African Americans and 1.5 percent focused on Latinos.

At this year’s Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI), the literacy nonprofit First Book pledged to fight these glaring statistics. The group unveiled a two-year plan to help thousands of young readers. The push began in March In March 2013, First Book bought “$1 million worth of culturally-diverse content” from Harper Collins and Lee & Low Books. Here’s more about the initiative, from the release:

As part of its CGI commitment, over the next two years, First Book will: Add another 30,000 Title I classrooms and community programs to its network, giving them permanent, ongoing access to First Book’s resources. Provide matching grants resulting in 600,000 culturally-relevant books and resources to kids in need. Create 9,000 collections (50 books each), featuring a wide array of culturally diverse titles. Conduct a landmark assessment of educators in underserved communities to determine exactly what resources they need most. Convene authors, illustrators, and other leaders to inform new content selection and inspire new and diverse artists to approach publishers with their work.

Did you love The Dark Crystal movie as a kid? You could win a contract to write the first book in a new YA series based on the late Jim Henson‘s beloved fantasy film. “All professional and aspiring professional writers” are eligible to participate.

The Jim Henson Company and Penguin Young Readers Group’s Grosset & Dunlap imprint have teamed up for the online Dark Crystal Author Quest contest. You can submit your entry between October 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2013. Check it out:

This new Dark Crystal novel will be a prequel story set at the time of the Gelfling Gathering, between the Second Great Conjunction and the creation of the Wall of Destiny. We will be placing all known lore from this era on DarkCrystal.com, the definitive home of The Dark Crystal. There you will find all the knowledge available for you to shape and build your story—and all we ask is that you share your stories with us … Your submission should be an original story set in the era outlined above. The final novel will be upwards of 50,000 words, but please send in 7,500-10,000 words that represent the story you would tell in a full-length Dark Crystal novel. It can either be the first chapters, final chapters, a collection of middle chapters, or a short piece that would form the inspiration for a novel-length story.

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Members of The Rock Bottom Remainders, the rock band composed of bestselling authors, are answering questions on Reddit today.

Authors Stephen King, Scott Turow, Mitch Albom, Amy Tan and more are part of Hard Listening, a new book about the band.

One Reddit reader asked: “Since you all are writers, do you have a hard time choosing who is going to write the lyrics for your songs?” and received some funny responses.

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