Penguin Canada Launches Khaled Hosseini's 'And the Mountains Echoed'

Ten years after the publication of The Kite Runner and six years after A Thousand Splendid Suns, over 38 million copies of Khaled Hosseini's novels have been sold worldwide. Today, Penguin Canada releases the much-anticipated third novel from the beloved author, And the Mountains Echoed. Penguin will ship a record number of hardcopiesover 100,000and is marking the publication with an unprecedented Canadian marketing campaign.

"The Kite Runner was the book of the decade when it was published, and Khaled has delivered that same powerful connection with readers in And the Mountains Echoed," says Nicole Winstanley, President and Publisher of Penguin Canada. "This is the kind of book you want to talk about and share with others, and you'll think about it long after you've read the last page. It's a remarkable publishing event, and we've developed a campaign unlike any other to celebrate with Khaled's loyal fans and engage new ones."

In And the Mountains Echoed, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families love, wound, honour, betray, and sacrifice for one another, and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globefrom Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of TinosAnd the Mountains Echoed expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page.

Penguin Canada engaged the creative agency Dare to build a campaign for the novel that would deliver a unique experience for readers, and go beyond the traditional approach to marketing in the publishing industry. The result is The Echo Project (www.echoproject.ca), launching today. The page-by-page digital exploration of And the Mountains Echoed will be filled with 402 original and creative interpretationsone for each page in the noveldesigned and contributed by fans, booksellers, artists, authors, notable Canadians, and even Khaled himself. Rolling out over the next few months, the digital tapestry lets readers explore a stunning, thought-provoking interpretation of the novel that can be shared online and revisited as new content is added.

"Discoverability is always top of mind for us when marketing our bookshow we can help readers discover their next favourite read, and then how can we give them a reason to talk about it? In publishing we have the gift of wonderful content that people genuinely love and want to engage with, so at Penguin we're constantly challenging ourselves to think differently about how to share this content with readers," says Beth Lockley, Vice-President of Marketing and Publicity, Penguin Canada. "Engaging Dare as a partner has helped us to go beyond the bread-and-butter approach usually reserved for book marketing. We're creating a unique reader experience that our partners and retailers are excited about and will ultimately build word of mouth."

And the Mountains Echoed is on-sale today wherever books are sold. Penguin will host Khaled Hosseini in Toronto on May 27 for a day of media interviews and an on-stage conversation with Heather Reisman at Indigo Manulife at 7pm. A national advertising campaign kicks off this week.

About Penguin Canada

Penguin Group (www.penguin.com), one of the world's largest English-language trade book publishers, has established divisions and key market positions in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, China, South Africa, New Zealand, and Ireland. The Penguin Group is part of Pearson, the international media company.

Penguin Canada, founded in 1974, is one of Canada's pre-eminent trade publishers, publishing and distributing a wide range of imprints, including Allen Lane, Hamish Hamilton, Dutton, Gotham, Riverhead, Viking, G.P. Putnam's Sons, Plume and Berkley Books.

SOURCE Penguin Group (Canada)

Image with caption: "Khaled Hosseini's new novel "And the Mountains Echoed" is on-sale May 21, 2013 (CNW Group/Penguin Group (Canada))". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130521_C8186_PHOTO_EN_26887.jpg

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