Plume Gets Professor's Virginia Tech Account

By Matthew Thornton -- Publishers Weekly, 4/30/2007 7:48:00 AM

In one of the first deals related to the Virginia Tech shootings, Plume’s Cherise Davis has bought world rights to Roland Lazenby’s April 16: Heartbreak in Blacksburg from agent Matthew Carnicelli. Lazenby, a journalism professor at Virginia Tech, will use the perspective of students on campus, in particular his own journalism students who helped supply the mainstream media with information via their student-run Web site planetblacksburg.com, to provide context for the events and describe the recovery and resilience of the campus community. Three of Lazenby’s students will co-author the book and a portion of the proceeds will be given to the victims’ fund at Virginia Tech and to support journalism education at the university. Plume will publish this summer.