Random House announced today they will publish a series of
books based on their successful web site, THE LURKER FILES
<http://www.randomhouse.com/lurkerfiles>. "This may be the
first time a web site has been spun off into a book series,"
said Mark Dazzo, Director of Market Development for Random
House.
THE LURKER FILES is an interactive "cyberserial" written by
best-selling author Scott Ciencin. The story is set at
fictional Wintervale University, where The Lurker holds forth
in a campus chat room called "The Ratskellar." Visitors to
the site can participate in the chat room and their comments
may turn up in future episodes. Each story is divided into
15-20 episodes posted twice weekly.
Random House launched THE LURKER FILES in April and traffic
has steadily grown to 20,000 page views per week. "The site
is popular with the 15-25 age bracket," said Dazzo, who
expects a surge in readership when schools come back into
session later this year. Due to the high level of response,
Random House will publish the first two LURKER FILES books
this fall.
We hope you'll consider reviewing THE LURKER FILES -- one of
the most successful sites by any book publisher online. For
more information or an interview with the staff, please reply
to this e-mail or contact Kelly Grunther, Random House
Director of Public Relations, (212) 940-7723, e-mail
<kgrunther@randomhouse.com>.