NEW YORK — Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian, Joyce Carol Oates and children’s author R.L. Stine are among those who will have e-books published around the world under a new imprint announced by HarperCollins. “We will publish each e-book with full editorial design, marketing and publicity support — we will not just digitize books and release them into cyberspace,” Jane Friedman, HarperCollins’ president and CEO, said in a statement this week. Starting with Gao’s novel “Soul Mountain,” 15 titles will be published this month and in March for release in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. Many of the books will have features unavailable in print form. For instance, Oates’ short story collection “Faithless” will include an interview with the author, and “Soul Mountain” will come with Gao’s Nobel acceptance speech.
A SMALLER BAZAAR
NEW YORK — Harper’s Bazaar has introduced a smaller version, which hits newsstands this week next to the regular March editions and contains all the same information. The mini-Bazaar measures 7 inches by 9 1/4 inches, which is about 30 percent smaller than the regular-size glossy. “People who are real fashion aficionados will probably buy both, and newer readers might just be attracted to the novelty,” editor-in-chief Katherine Betts said, acknowledging that slumping sales were one reason for the change. Betts said she got the idea last year from an Australian edition of Harper’s Bazaar and “loved it immediately. We wondered why no one is doing it in the U.S.”
`HARRY POTTER’ PREVIEW
LOS ANGELES — Warner Bros. has unveiled an Internet site featuring exclusive photos and news from the upcoming movie “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Details of the fantasy-adventure, from “Home Alone” director Chris Columbus, have remained under tight security during filming in the United Kingdom. The Web site, www.harrypotter.com, includes quizzes, games, production updates, trailers and movie clips as they become available, according to Warner Bros. The site links to various fan-managed Harry Potter Web pages, according to Kevin Tsujihara, executive vice president of Warner’s new media division. The film, based on the first of author J.K. Rowling’s best-selling children’s novels, stars 11-year-old Daniel Radcliffe as the child wizard and Richard Harris as his mentor, Professor Dumbledore. The movie is set for release in November.
