The Big Book Club will be taking authors to ‘some places they wouldn't otherwise go' as part of this year's Books Alive campaign, says Big Book Club spokesperson Fiona Lange.

Lange said the Big Book Club would be touring Books Alive ambassador Michael Robotham, as well as ‘14 to 16 other authors' across Australia.

‘It's all very exciting, it's both children's and adults so we'll have representation from the children's list too,' she told WBN. Lange said the plan was to partner authors where possible--‘a panel of crime authors, for example.'

While the ‘hero brand' is Books Alive, Lange said the tours will present a good opportunity to promote the Big Book Club brand also. ‘Strategically it certainly assists us in building a stronger relationship with the Australia Council and exposes the Big Book Club in places [it doesn't currently operate].'

The Big Book Club is working on launching in New South Wales in October and is in discussions to expand into the Northern Territory and ACT, but Lange says the Books Alive tours will be an opportunity to ‘show what we can do without rolling out the whole program.'

Lang says that tour details are still being finalised, and should be available in early July.

For more information on this year's Books Alive campaign, click here.

http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2008/06/08591/

This article from Thorpe Bowker's Weekly Book Newsletter and Media Extra is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: big book club, books alive