Book-of-the-Month Club Offers Rare Stephen King Anthology

Business Wire, Sept 28, 2000

Business and Entertainment Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 28, 2000

Book-of-the-Month Club(R), a BOOKPSAN(R) book club, introduces SECRET WINDOWS: Essays and Fiction on the Craft of Writing by Stephen King, an exclusive Book-of-the-Month Club anthology of unpublished stories, hard-to-find nonfiction pieces, and little-known interviews, and articles. The book, a dual main selection, will be available to any new members who join the club online at www.bomc.com and current Book-of-the-Month Club members.

Intended as a companion to Stephen King's latest book, On Writing -- a dual main selection, SECRET WINDOWS captures King's mind in action, his personality, and values. Together, they comprise virtually the sum of the thoughts on writing of the dominant commercial force in American popular fiction for the past three decades. The book includes an introduction by Peter Straub that praises King's "startling immediacy...(He) seems to drift up from the page and wrap an arm over the reader's shoulders."

"On Writing made us realize that Stephen King isn't just a storyteller--he is a natural teacher and an original thinker--quirky, often subversive, but always esthetically and ethically serious," commented Arthur Goldwag, Book-of-the-Month Club Executive Editor.

SECRET WINDOWS offers a glimpse at the literary scribbles of 12 year-old Stephen King in "Rush Call" and "Jumper," a serialized story that prefigures the tension and violence of his horror novels. And in the salaciously titled "Great Hookers I Have Known," Stephen King recalls a funny misunderstanding with his son that leads to a lesson on writing. The book also includes the never-before published short suspense story "In the Deathroom." Established in 1926, Book-of-the-Month Club is world renowned for selecting the best new and classic books in a variety of categories from fiction to nonfiction to entertainment to self-help and much more. In-house editors choose the nearly 500 selections each year from more than 20,000 manuscripts submitted by publishers. This principle of independent editorial judgment has been Book-of-the-Month Club's hallmark for over seven decades. The club's influence has made it a force in American culture with far reaching effects on literary life.

BOOKSPAN is the premier direct marketer of general interest and specialty book clubs. With more than 8.5 million members, its book clubs include Book-of-the-Month Club(R), The Literary Guild(R), Quality Paperback Book Club(R), Doubleday Book Club(R), and more than 40 others. Created in March 2000, BOOKSPAN is a partnership between Doubleday Direct, Inc. (owned by Bertelsmann AG) and Book-of-the-Month Club Holdings LLC (owned by Time Warner).