Kristin Billerbeck's debut novel, What a Girl Wants, has been optioned as a film to Grammy-winning recording artist Rebecca St. James, who is poised to produce and star in the leading role.

When successful patent attorney Ashley Stockingdale realizes that despite "having it all" on paper, she is 31 and single, she turns the tables on the dating game to comedic and surprising results. What a Girl Wants paints an all-too-realistic picture of a single girl's search for being content with who she is, with or without a man.

Elizabeth Beckwith Pens Edgy Parenting Guide

The first and most important step in the "Guilt and Manipulation" philosophy is the source from which all other steps derive: This is where you establish the basic principle that, "We do things a certain way, and everyone else is an asshole."

In actress and comedienne Elizabeth Beckwith's hilarious and irreverent spoof of a parenting guide, How to Raise the Perfect Child Through Guilt and Manipulation, she bridges the gap between funny childhood memoirs, such as David Sedaris' Naked, and edgy self-help manuals like The Three Martini Playdate.

HarperCollins will publish How to Raise the Perfect Child Through Guilt and Manipulation.

Legendary Voyage Memorialized as Film

Award-winning journalist Peter Stevens' The Voyage of the Catalpa has been optioned for a film by legendary producers James Flynn and Morgan O'Sullivan of Braveheart and Tudors fame.

The Voyage of the Catalpa brings to life Captain George Anthony's risky sail across international waters to Australia, where he rescued from hellish imprisonment the group of British-soldiers-turned-Irish-rebels named "The Fremantle Six". The successful escape and hostility the vulnerable Catalpa overcame both from the British Royal Navy and furious seas has made Anthony's historical voyage legendary.

Dare to Have Hot Sex

America's favorite seduction expert, Laura Corn, is back with a spicy new book of suggestions for the bedroom. In 101 Sexy Dares, Laura embarks on her mission to inspire couples to break out of their comfort zones. 101 suggestions are labeled "for her eyes only" or "for his eyes only" and sealed in envelopes bound into the book, which includes techniques, ingredients and dares that challenge the reader to surprise his or her partner with mischievous and sexy tricks. The follow up, Passport to Pleasure, will feature a year's worth of seductions inspired by the world's best sex.

Laura Corn is the author of the bestselling 101 Nights of Grrreat Sex and 101 Nights of Grrreat Romance. Her "Have Hotter Sex/Ask Laura Corn" column appears on iVillage.com, which receives more than 17 million unique visitors each month.

What the Future Holds

Robert Shapiro's Futurecast: How a Sole Superpower, Populations and Globalization Will Change the Way You Live and Work was recently added to the list of "Books That Drive the Debate" by the National Chamber Foundation, a non-profit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The prestigious list represents a selection of 10 books written by business leaders, policy experts and leading think tanks that NCF recommends industry leaders read to better understand public policy changes.

In Futurecast, Shapiro offers predictions for major shifts in our lives over the next dozen years. Shapiro believes that four major forces - globalization, demographics, politics and the status of energy sources as influenced by the environment's shift - will shape the rise and fall of nations.

Nominations for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year

Kim Thiboldeaux, Mitch Golant and Katina Jones' The Total Cancer Wellness Guide has been nominated for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year in the Health category. Organized into four sections that span the cancer-management process from diagnosis through the unpredictable future, this guide covers everything people with cancer and their families need to know about being active participants in their own long-term plan for well-being.

General Joseph P. Franklin's Building Leaders the West Point Way was also nominated in the Business and Economics category. More than just another leadership checklist, Building Leaders the West Point Way teaches the profound and timeless principles instilled at America's foremost leadership institute.

Winners of this prestigious award will be announced at the Los Angeles Book Expo in late May.

Laura Vaccaro Seeger Sweeps the Globe

Children everywhere just can't get enough of Laura Vaccaro Seeger's innovative picture books. Her Caldecott Honor Children's book, First the Egg, was recently licensed to a slew of foreign publishers, including the British rights to Frances Lincoln; the Chinese rights to Taiwan Mac Educational Co.; the French language rights to Kaleidoscope; the Korean rights to Mirae Media and Books; and the Hebrew language rights to Kinneret.

Seeger's bestseller Dog and Bear: Two Friends, Three Stories and its sequel Dog and Bear: Two's Company have also been acquired for Japanese language rights by Crayonhouse Co. Additionally, her book of opposites, Black? White! Day? Night!, was licensed for French language rights to Kaleidoscope.

Hilary Swank to Produce Falling Out of Fashion as a Film

Hilary Swank and producer Molly Smith have launched the shingle 2S Films and inked a two-year, first-look pact with the Warner Bros. affiliate Alcon Entertainment. The banner is putting together its debut slate, which includes a project based on Karen Yampolsky's novel, Falling Out of Fashion, which may be a potential starring vehicle for Swank. Falling Out of Fashion centers on a woman who leaves a Georgia hippie commune for New York City with dreams of becoming a magazine editor.

Detective's Story Graces the Small Screen

Detective, the story of undercover cop Kathy Burke's career written by Burke and Neal Hirschfeld, has been optioned by Sony Television and Larkin-Goldstein Productions. During her 23 years on the New York City police force, Burke became the most highly decorated female detective in the 160-year history of the department. Michael Larkin and Michael Goldstein intend to produce Detective as a television series. The pilot for the series will be written by Sharon Lee Watson, supervising producer for The Unit.

Largo's Inventive Reference Titles Sell Globally

Michael Largo's Final Exits recently celebrated its fifth international sale. Foreign rights for the book have been sold to Italy, Japan, the Czech Republic, Korea and Greece. The follow up, The Portable Obituary, has also been placed in Brazil and Denmark.

His trio of books addressing the art of the famous demise was recently concluded with Genius and Heroin: Creativity and Reckless Abandon Through the Ages, an archive of the self-destructive lives and deaths of the extremely gifted from all arenas, including actors, politicians, athletes, scientists, musicians and military leaders.

Final Exits was awarded the 2006 Bram Stoker Award in the category "Superior Achievement in Nonfiction".

Shapiro's Predictions Are a Global Affair

Futurecast: How a Sole Superpower, Populations and Globalization Will Change the Way You Live and Work has been licensed to ten countries and counting, including Portugal, Russia, China, Brazil, Spain, Japan, the UK, Korea and Taiwan. In his groundbreaking book, the former Undersecretary of Commerce and Bill Clinton's principal economic advisor, Robert Shapiro, offers predictions for major shifts in our lives over the next dozen years. Futurecast was published by St. Martin's Press in the U.S.

Wellness Guide Improves Quality of Life

Kim Thiboldeaux’s The Total Cancer Wellness Guide has already been awarded a National Best Book of 2007 award in the category of Health, as presented by USABookNews.

Kim is a national spokesperson for The Wellness Community, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free education to people affected by cancer. In The Total Cancer Wellness Guide, co-written with Mitch Golant and Katina Jones, Kim offers a comprehensive look at a long-term plan for well-being catered to cancer patients and their families. The Total Cancer Wellness Guide compassionately addresses the physical, emotional, social, and practical needs of today's cancer patients and survivors. Kim’s advice will help to prepare readers for wellness that can follow throughout the rest of their lives.

And the Winner Is…

Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s latest title, First the Egg, has been awarded a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year, and received a starred review in the September issue of Kirkus Reviews, in which it is called, “Another perfectly pitched triumph from an emerging master of the concept book.” It also received a starred review in the Nov/Dec 2007 issue of The Horn Book, claiming, “The best picture books create a world in themselves, and this tour de force is one of them.”

Seeger’s recent decorated picture book, Dog & Bear won the 2007 Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Excellence in children’s literature.  It was also named one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Children’s Picture Books of the Year for 2007.

Laura’s book of opposites, Black? White! Day? Night! was recently named one of "A Baker's Dozen: The Best Children's Books for Family Literacy from 2007" by the Pennsylvania Center for the Book. 

The Portable Obituary Named Book Club Pick

Bookspan will offer Michael Largo's The Portable Obituary as an alternate selection in the Quality Paperback Book Club and Book of the Month Club/Smart Reader's Rewards. The book will also appear as a listing in Mystery Guild and Doubleday Book Club.

The Alchemyst Makes Thirty-Three International Sales

Michael Scott's The Alchemyst has recently celebrated its thirty-third international sale. Foreign rights for the book have been sold, among others, to Portugal, Brazil, Greece, Spain, Germany, Japan, Israel, France, China and England. The book continues to appear on bestseller lists around the world.

More Good News for The Alchemyst

Amazon.com decided that 12 months is too long to wait to announce the Best Books of 2007, so they have expanded their informal "Best Books of the Year... So Far" list to four categories with ten books in each. Michael Scott's The Alchemyst has been selected as 1 of 10 in the Children and Teen category.

Eric Haney Makes Teen Age 2007 List

Inside Delta Force by Eric Haney has been selected for inclusion on the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age 2007 List. Now in its 78th year of publication, the Teen Age List selects the best of the previous year's publishing for teenagers.