John Wiley has signed a deal with the Learning Annex to create a series of books based on courses given at the Learning Annex's schools. "We see this as a good branded publishing opportunity," said Kathy Nebenhaus, v-p and executive publisher of Wiley's consumer group. Learning Annex president Bill Zanker said the agreement moves the company from seminars into other media. The first three books in what is planned as an ongoing series will be out this fall under the Learning Annex Presents line and will cover feng shui, wine and "uncluttering your space."
Ken Achity, who agented the deal, is working with Wiley and the Learning Annex instructors to translate the courses into book form. Nebenhaus said the goal is to create a line "that will take the easy learning approach" to a subject. According to Nebenhaus, the idea is to develop titles that "after an evening of reading, the person will be accomplished in that subject." All titles will be published in trade paperback.
