Monday, July 26, 2010

Thriller Writers Launch New Collaborative Vook for iPad

Vook, the company that pioneered the integration of text and video into an innovative new mixed media experience, released its newest two-part vook series, "Watchlist," from New York Times best-selling authors Jeffrey Deaver and International Thriller Writers, Inc. (published by Vanguard Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group). The vook includes 34 chapters, each written by a different, well-known thriller writer, along with 26 original videos and a manuscript reading with award-winning actor Alfred Molina, and is indicative of the new possibilities in mixed-media digital publishing.

Based on the popular thriller of the same name and set across two parts, "The Chopin Manuscript" and "The Copper Bracelet," "Watchlist" recounts the adventures of Harold Middleton, an ex-U.S. military intelligence officer and is a collaboration of a who's who of the world's greatest thriller writers, including Lee Child, Joseph Finder, Lisa Scottoline, and Jeffrey Deaver, who conceived the characters and set the plots in motion. All participating authors contributed one chapter, each building off the previous section. Deaver brings the series full circle and wrote the first and last chapter of both parts. "Watchlist" seamlessly integrates 34 chapters with 26 corresponding videos shot by two-time Emmy nominee and filmmaker Greg Mocker and demonstrates the potential of new digital devices such as the iPad to revolutionize the way books are created and experienced.

A vook is a digital mixed-media form that blends video, text, images and social streams into a single, integrated experience. Vooks are available on the Web-based Vook Reader and also on-the-go as a unique mobile application for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch through the Apple iTunes App Store.

"Vanguard Press is proud to be the publisher of 'Watchlist,' a unique and innovative combination of two serial novels by major best-selling authors," said Roger Cooper, vice president and publisher of Vanguard Press. "We are tremendously pleased that a company as visionary and dynamic as Vook has provided their expertise in mixed media to develop an exciting new platform for this wonderful book."

"There are endless possibilities in digital publishing, and we're experimenting with many genres and production processes to empower writers and thought leaders to share content in new and innovative ways," said Brad Inman, CEO and founder of Vook. "Watchlist introduces a new type of vook, bringing together some of the best minds in the thriller genre to create a new type of collaborative fiction for anyone with an iPad or iPhone."

Since the company's formal launch in the fall of 2009, Vook has experienced impressive momentum, forming strategic publishing relationships with Simon & Schuster, HarperStudio, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. and Janklow & Nesbit Associates. The company recently published mixed-media titles by best-selling authors Deepak Chopra, Seth Godin and Anne Rice, as well as a retrospective about landmark rock band Guns N' Roses.

Both parts of "Watchlist" are available now for all Vook formats, including iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Please visit http://www.vook.com/ to get your copy today.

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