Carlo DeVito, who moved from Running Press to Penguin in March, has named his new division Chamberlain Bros. and has announced the release of the unit's first four titles.
The new titles will appear as part of Chamberlain's Express Paperbacks instant book series; the lead title, The Dirty Bomb by Gilbert King, was released last week, and a second title from King, The Most Dangerous Man in the World, will appear later this month. Set for May is The Angel of Death, while 101 Secrets I Learned from 'The Apprentice' will be out in July. All Express titles will be trade paperbacks and be priced from $9.95 to $12.95. The books will carry the Chamberlain Bros. name on the spine. DeVito said he will publish eight to 10 Express books this year and plans to do about one a month in 2005 plus an occasional hardcover.
The Chamberlain line of book-plus products will appear under the Roadside Attractions imprint, and the company is in the process of developing a new logo, DeVito said. Roadside will cover such subjects as cooking, humor, history, and arts and crafts, and its first four titles are due out next winter. The third leg of Chamberlain will be hardcover books that focus on a range of subjects including history, true crime, science, sports and gift books. Some titles will come packaged with CDs, software or DVDs.
DeVito expects to publish a total of approximately 35 Chamberlain titles next year. Since arriving at Penguin he has hired three editors and two designers and expects to add a few more staff members shortly.
