HYPERION AND ABC FAMILY ANNOUNCE THE FIRST ENHANCED EBOOK BASED ON A TELEVISION SERIES, NOW AVAILABLE ON THE iBOOKSTORE
The Enhanced eBook Combines Video from ABC Family's Hit Series
"The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and Text from Hyperion's New Book
The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens in a Brand New Reading Experience
New York, NY - (July 29, 2010) - Hyperion and ABC Family announced today that The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens (Hyperion; $12.99) is now available as an enhanced eBook on the iBookstore, which is included in the free iBooks app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch (www.itunes.com/apps/ibooks). The first based on a television series on the iBookstore, this eBook is enhanced with video footage from Season One of ABC Family's top-rated hit television series, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," integrating complementary text and video to provide a cohesive story.
The video is viewable in a player box embedded inside the pages of The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens, interspersed throughout the eBook and seamlessly coordinates visual scenes from "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" with the corresponding passages in the diary recounted by Ashley Juergens, the younger sister on the television show. The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens enhanced eBook contains new revelations that will entertain and enlighten even the most avid fans who watch the show, and Ashley's journal provides a surprising and satisfying side to the story, as well as a great summer read.
Ellen Archer, President and Publisher of Hyperion said, "With the power of our Disney/ABC Television properties, we are able to create an innovative and seamless combined book and video experience for consumers. Video brings extraordinary dimension to the words on each page. This is a tremendous opportunity to take our most valuable assets at our company and build a product that truly offers a new way to read."
Naz Haider, Vice President Business, Management at ABC Family added, "We are thrilled to launch this enhanced eBook on the iBookstore and offer the fans of �Secret Life' an innovative new way to enjoy their favorite moments from the series while reading the book. ABC Family is always looking for new ways to reach our Millennial audience, and the relationship with Hyperion proved to be the perfect way to give �Secret Life' fans the ultimate experience on their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch."
The enhanced eBook is available for $12.99 on the iBookstore and features:
· Ten two-minute long video selections from Season One of ABC Family's "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"
· The full text of the book The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens in ePub format
· Video that reflects, and provides another perspective on the experiences Ashley writes about from her own particular point of view in her journal
This groundbreaking project was the result of a synergistic partnership between two divisions of the Disney/ABC Television Group (DATG): Hyperion, which provided the book and produced the ePub text format and ABC Family, which provided the video clips and permissions. Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) provided the technical storyboard. The launch of this enhanced eBook is the latest example of innovation from the Disney/ABC Television Group. DATG was the first to bring full episode video to the iTunes store, and just this past April DATG delivered ad-supported video to iPad via the acclaimed ABC Player App. The app has proven to be a tremendous success, with over 950,000 downloads and 5.5 million episodes started. Additionally, DATG has created an ABC News App that is also available from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore/ and has to date been downloaded more than 175,000 times.
"The Secret Life of the American Teenager" is ABC Family's top-rated hit series which focuses on the relationships between families and friends and how they deal with the unexpected teen pregnancy of 15-year-old Amy. Younger sister Ashley is the no-drama outsider, and despite her age (13 in the first season), she is in many ways more observant than Amy�and is independent beyond her years. The third season of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" is currently airing Monday nights at 8:00PM ET/PT on ABC Family. Online, you can visit www.ABCFamily.com/secretlife, follow the show via Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABCFsecretlife or download episodes on the iTunes store (www.iTunes.com) at www.itunes.com/secretlife.
The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens (Hyperion / June 15, 2010) is "written by" Ashley, who isn't afraid to call Amy out on her mistakes�or speak her mind on anything else. Sharp and funny, with a rebellious streak and a killer dry wit, Ashley is often the first to smell trouble in the Juergens household.
Hyperion, founded in 1991, publishes general-interest fiction and nonfiction hardcover, trade, and mass-market paperback books for adults, and includes the Voice, Miramax, ABC Daytime Press, and Hyperion eBooks and Audio imprints. Hyperion is the adult trade book publishing unit of the Disney/ABC-Television Group, which is part of The Walt Disney Company. For further information, please visit www.hyperionbooks.com.
Part of the Disney/ABC Television Group, ABC Family is distributed in over 98 million homes. ABC Family features programming reflecting today's families, entertaining and connecting with adults through relatable programming about today's relationships - told with a mix of diversity, dysfunction, passion, humor and heart. ABC Family's programming is a combination of network defining original series and original movies, quality acquired series and blockbuster theatricals. ABC Family is also the destination for annual Holiday events with "13 Nights of Halloween" and "25 Days of Christmas!" ABC Family. A New Kind of Family.
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