At long last, I can share the news. The team behind Portfolio is launching a brand-new popular science imprint: Current.
See the whole press release below, and please do share with anyone who might be interested. If you like what Portfolio does with business books, you’re going to love what Current does with science.
In publishing, we often say that customers don’t pay any attention to imprints—maybe that’s true, maybe not. But authors, agents, and booksellers do. Portfolio’s sterling reputation makes my life as an editor much easier. The next challenge is to build Current to the point that it’s as synonymous with excellent publishing in its category as Portfolio is in business.
Naturally, Current will eventually have its own Web presence. In the meantime, we’ll share any Current-related news here on the Portfolio blog.
(Photo courtesy of Goddard Photo and Video blog.)
PENGUIN GROUP (USA) TO LAUNCH
A NEW SCIENCE IMPRINT CALLED CURRENT
First Current Titles to be Published in July and September 2010
New York, New York, March 10, 2010 … Susan Petersen Kennedy, President of Penguin Group (USA), announced today that the company is starting a new imprint for science books for general readers that will be called Current. Adrian Zackheim, the president and publisher of Penguin Group (USA)’s Portfolio and Sentinel imprints, is adding the same roles for Current, which will share the existing editorial, marketing and publicity staff of Portfolio and Sentinel.
“Our goal is to publish provocative, compelling books that explore the newest and most powerful ideas in a wide range of disciplines,” said Mr. Zackheim. “Once Current gets ramped up, we aim to publish in every subcategory from genetics to quantum physics to neuroscience. Our authors will be some of the foremost pioneers and experts in their respective fields.”
Mr. Zackheim anticipates that Current will grow to about five to eight new titles per year. “We plan to be very selective about good books that will work for a general audience. We’ve found that niche publishing has been very successful for Portfolio since 2001, and Sentinel since 2003. This is a logical next category to expand into.”
Current’s two debut titles are:
- The Youth Pill: Scientists at the Brink of an Anti-Aging Revolution, by David Stipp, July 2010
Stipp, a veteran science journalist, explores the battle against aging and the pioneers of the movement to extend lifespan for everyone. He takes readers behind the scenes and introduces us to the key players who are experimenting with the most promising cutting-edge research. This is an informative and provocative read that shows how a small group of determined scientists are closing in on drugs that will change the way we live forever. - The Man Who Lied to His Laptop: What Machines Teach Us About Human Relationships, by Clifford Nass, with Corina Yen, September 2010
Nass, a distinguished professor at Stanford, has discovered a set of rules for effective human relationships, drawn from an unlikely source: his study of our interactions with computers. His research shows that—although we might deny it—we treat computers and other devices like people: we empathize with them, argue with them, and form bonds with them. We even lie to them to protect their feelings. Nass offers fascinating insights on how people can have healthier relationships with one another.
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Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is the U.S. member of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children’s trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Viking, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Penguin Press, Riverhead Books, Dutton, Penguin Books, Berkley Books, Gotham Books, Portfolio, New American Library, Plume, Tarcher, Philomel, Grosset & Dunlap, Puffin, and Frederick Warne, among others. The Penguin Group (http://www.penguin.com) is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.
Contact:
Will Weisser
(212) 366-2613
Will.weisser@us.penguingroup.com
Marilyn Ducksworth
(212) 366-2564
marilyn.ducksworth@us.penguingroup.com
Dave Zimmer
(212) 366-2687
david.zimmer@us.penguingroup.com
{ 2 comments }
It is good that Penguin has decided that niche intellectual works have a due place on bookshelves.
However I hope that the list of writers are not all ‘distinguished’ experts in their fields. Better writers on science and its epistemological and ontological implications tend to come from the more broadly based polymath than the dedicated sometimes myopic ‘expert’.
I have years working in the areas of quantum theory, cosmology and the attendant philosophical implications – years that would have been impossible had I been a dedicated quantum theorist or some other.
I have produced work that is not mainstream (www.smashwords.com/profile/view/desgreene) but is what I fell the penguin new imprint is aiming at. Good luck to it.
Des–to be clear, Current will be publishing mainstream popular science for a general audience. Definitely room in the market for niche intellectual works and the philosophical implications of science from people other than distinguished experts, but not for us at this point.
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