FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bit o’ Lit in the News; Fifth Issue Launch
July 18, 2008 - Bit o’ Lit is proud to feature five new titles in its July 28 issue.
Titles include:
The Wrecking Crew by Thomas Frank, author of the bestselling What’s the Matter with Kansas?; Sammy’s House by Kristin Gore, bestselling comedic author and daughter of the former Vice President; The Turnaround by George Pelecanos, bestselling crime novelist and Emmy-nominated writer for The Wire; My Wicked Enemy a fantastic romance by Carolyn Jewel, and Won’t Get Fooled Again: A Voter's Guide to Seeing Through the Lies, Getting Past the Propaganda and Choosing the Best Leaders by Joseph Boyett.
In the News:
Bit o’ Lit has been all over the news the past couple of weeks. The wave began with a Washington Post article by Laura Yao which appeared on the front page of the Style section on July 1. This led to an interview about Bit o' Lit on NPR the following Saturday. After the local and national coverage, other news outlets jumped on the band wagon, including another local DC freebie The City Paper, on Publisher’s Lunch, on The Book Maven blog by Bethanne Patrick on PW, Mark Sarvas’s Blog the Elegant Variation, and so on. Needless to say, it seems like word has been getting out about our little publication.
Our publisher, Shannon MacDonald, also wrote up an article describing the origination of Bit o' Lit, which appeared on M.J. Rose's blog Buzz Balls & Hype.
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Bit o’ Lit Launches Fourth Issue, Revamps Distribution Strategy
June 25, 2008 - Bit o’ Lit is proud to feature three great titles in its June 23 issue, including The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, Seal Woman by Solveig Eggerz, and Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam. The issue also features “beach life” cover art by Ellen Cornett, who created the first and second issue covers. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle already hit the bestseller list in early June, propelled by fantastic reviews and serious promotion by Amazon.com.
Distribution:
Bit o’ Lit is revamping its distribution in time for its July 14 issue. Bit o’ Lit will cut the size of printings from its current level of 20,000 to 16,000. At the same time Bit o’ Lit will increase distribution spots from approximately 50 to 70, by adding wire racks and table displays in select downtown bookstores and shops. Bit o’ Lit remains committed to constantly improving our printing and distribution options in order to provide the best value to our business partners.
Survey Winners:
Bit o’ Lit is also pleased to announce the survey winners from the past three issues. For our premiere issue Sheri Nelson of Laurel, MD selected Rubicon by Lawrence Alexander. For the second, Laura DiSciullo of Washington, DC chose Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones, and for the third issue, Arnold Blair of Springfield, VA chose Executive Privilege by Phillip Margolin. Congratulations to our winners! Our winners have had their names and choices posted on the front page of the website.
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For more information, to request a brochure and sample of the magazine, or to visit us online, see www.bit-o-lit.com or email us at contact@bit-o-lit.com.
Bit o’ Lit Launches Premier Issue; Preps for Second
May 12, 2008 - Bit o’ Lit launched in Washington, DC on Monday, generating great excitement among DC’s book lovers. Hawkers handed out copies to commuters at downtown Metro stations on Monday and Tuesday. Commuters were also able to pick up copies from distribution boxes, located at approximately fifty locations in downtown Washington, DC and Arlington, VA.
Readers were very impressed with the new concept. One reader commented: “This could work well for me, since I would love to find new books to read, but have trouble actually picking one based solely on reviews. “ Another reader emailed in, “Well-done. Well-done, indeed. We need a non-digital, easy-to-hold, PAPER nugget of wisdom.”
Two of the author’s featured in the most recent issue were on tour this week. Matt Taibbi author of The Great Derangement appeared at Politics and Prose, May 8, and Gene Healy author of The Cult of the Presidency also appeared at Politics and Prose on May 10. There was high attendance at both events. While no formal survey was taken, a few of the attendees mentioned that they’d heard about the books from Bit o’ Lit.
Upcoming titles for Bit o’ Lit second issue due out May 19 include works of fiction such as the prize-winning New Zealand book, Mr. Pip by Lloyd Jones, a young-adult choice The Death of Jayson Porter by Jaime Adoff, and the first book by well-known lit-blogger Mark Sarvas, Harry, Revised. Non-fiction books include a Holocaust memoir from Jean Bernard Priestblock 25487: a Memoir of Dachua, and Fergus Bordewich’s new historical work, Washington: the Making of the American Capitol.
Bit o’ Lit Featured in PW Daily
April 4, 2008 — Bit o' Lit was introduced to the publishing industry in article entitled, "DC Commuters to Get Free Book Excerpts." Check it out:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6548051.html?nid=2286&source=link&rid=998847892&
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bit o’ Lit Announces Launch of Premier Issue
Washington, D.C., March 17, 2008 — Bit o’ Lit will launch in Washington, D.C. on May 5, 2008. Short for a “bit of literature,” Bit o’ Lit is a free commuter magazine featuring book excerpts and associated features. Bit o’ Lit offers publishers a unique and innovative way to introduce books to the general public by providing readers with a selection of excerpts when they are most likely to read them: on their evening subway ride home.
An Innovation in Book Marketing
Bit o’ Lit addresses a major challenge facing publishers. Other media, such as movies or television shows, have previews which draw in interested viewers. Books have many sources of editorial review, but lack any preview mechanism to introduce them to the public. By giving readers a selection of fiction and non-fiction excerpts for their evening commute home, Bit o’ Lit gives readers the opportunity to judge books’ quality firsthand. Readers are handed the magazine for their commute, when they are free from television, video games, and other distractions. Thus, Bit o’ Lit offers publishers an inventive solution for reaching the reading public.
Bit o’ Lit is also a local marketing campaign. We give special preference to books by local authors and authors who plant to visit D.C. as part of their book tour. We will publish the dates and times of their upcoming interviews and books signings in our “Book News” section.
A New Kind of Magazine
The magazine will initially print 20,000 digest-sized copies, available to readers every other Monday evening. Readers can either grab a copy from a hawker handing out copies at a downtown Metro subway stop or they can pick up copies from Bit o’ Lit boxes and racks at select subway, bus, and bookstore locations.
Each issue features four or five excerpts. The magazine will include books that are tailored to the urban D.C. market. This includes mass-market fiction, literary fiction, political and socio-cultural non-fiction. In addition to book excerpts and “Book News,” Bit o’ Lit will contain “Lit to Flick,” reviews of movies based on books; “Word Wit,” a word-of-the day and word search feature; and “Obit” a short bio of a historic author. Additional content and articles will be featured regularly on our website.
For more information, to request a brochure and mock-up of the magazine, or to visit us online, see www.bit-o-lit.com or email us at contact@bit-o-lit.com.
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