<<return to Press Release archive

Kissena Park Press Reaches Major Milestone: Publishes Marathon By W. William Winokur

Publishers Weekly Taps Title Under "Big Expectations for Small Press Books"

NEW YORK - January 18, 2006 - Kissena Park Press, an imprint of cross-media development and production company Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc., cleared its first major hurdle in book publishing since its inception one year ago. Marathon by W. William Winokur reaches bookstore shelves this week. And if consumer interest is as strong as that of booksellers, advance readers and the media, it won't linger there for long.

The groundswell began in late November when Publishers Weekly tapped Marathon as one of six "Big Expectations for Small Press Books" for the winter season [11/28/2005]. But when Client Distribution Services (CDS) spotlighted the epic novel in its January 2006 Top 10 Recommended Books, sales to booksellers and wholesalers topped 9,000 on a 10,000 print run. Also, a review from Library Journal [to appear 2/1/06] indicating Marathon "could be a big hit," and recommending it for all libraries, is expected to fuel orders for the hardcover from libraries across the country.

Praise for Marathon has also come from political commentator Arianna Huffington, Titanic director James Cameron, Catch Me If You Can executive producer Michel Shane, Academy Award-winning actor Martin Landau and Horace Mann School Headmaster Tom Kelly, to name a few.

Publisher Jeff Gomez says, "For a first novel from a new literary publishing house to pull orders and advance reviews like this is remarkable. We're thrilled but not surprised at the response. Winokur's talent for bringing true stories to life on the page transcends many of the challenges usually encountered in a debut offering."

Based on the true story of Horace Mann School Professor Ion Theodore, Marathon by W. William Winokur follows Theodore's remarkable journey through the most catastrophic and triumphant events of the 20th century. At the heart of this novel is the mystery of how Theodore's life became entwined with that of Marianna Gardner, a disaffected New York City power broker who discovers his journals in a Greek monastery. Theodore was Winokur's teacher at the Horace Mann School in the 1970s.

Marathon was originally scheduled for publication in November 2005, but when film production companies began calling Starlight Runner about Marathon as well as Winokur's next book, The Third Miracle - scheduled for publication in 2007 by Kissena Park Press - Gomez delayed the book until January 16, 2006 to coordinate a stronger rollout.

A six-city author tour kicked off on January 17 in Santa Monica with a Barnes & Noble reading and book signing, to be followed by appearances in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Toronto and San Francisco. A major outreach to the Greek community is underway in order to highlight the book's message of the value of storytelling and its exploration of Greek heritage. Borders and Barnes & Noble are running front-of-store promotions, as well as co-op advertising.

The book is also now available online at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097685080X/qid=1137603412/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-3303624-5475105?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

And at Barnes & Noble:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=WM0hu0tC8b&isbn=097685080X&itm=1

The author's site is located at:

http://www.marathonthebook.com

Starlight Runner team members who participated in the production of Marathon include: Mark Pensavalle (production) Chrysoula Artemis (cover design), Scott Friedlander (layout), Fiona Hallowell (editing), Caitlin Burns (contributing editor), David Zeichner (production coordinator), Lana Ayers (proofing), and Two Red Shoes Design (jacket). Review copies and photos are available.

About Starlight Runner Entertainment

Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc. is a producer of feature films and highly successful franchises, specializing in developing new and established intellectual properties across multiple media platforms. Starlight Runner produces feature films, animation and shorts, packages books and comics, and develops video games for clients such as Scholastic Books, Hasbro, Mainframe Entertainment, Marvel Comics, Wizards of the Coast, the Walt Disney Company and Acclaim Entertainment. The company is also actively developing a slate of original animated and live-action feature films and television programs with New York, Los Angeles and Boston-based production partners. Starlight Runner is represented by Creative Artists Agency, the Robbins Office, and Peter Nichols of Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Goodman, Inc.

About Kissena Park Press

Kissena Park Press, http://www.kissenaparkpress.com, is a full-fledged trade book imprint of Starlight Runner Entertainment, Inc. providing a fertile environment for new, original properties, while honoring the industry's grand traditions. Citing Farrar, Strauss & Giroux and Knopf as models for the new house, Publisher Jeff Gomez and VP Production Mark S. Pensavalle are both passionate readers who spent their early teens venturing across the sprawling wilds of Kissena Park in working-class Flushing, Queens. The imprint's first book, Marathon by W. William Winokur, will be published in January 2006, with future releases spanning genres, educational books and children's books. National distribution is being handled by CDS, headquartered in New York with warehouses in Jackson, Tennessee.

Contact:
Mark Pensavalle
VP Production & Operations
Starlight Runner Entertainment
5 Union Square West, 4th floor
New York, NY 10003
ph (212) 337-0900
fx (212) 675-6121
Never Surrender!

previous: Disney Adventures Debuts "Team GoRizer"
next: Bullies Back Off!