Celebrating 20 Years of Berkley Prime Crime, Plus a Giveaway

Note: The winner of this giveaway is Janie M. Congratulations to Janie and thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway.

When it comes to cozy murder mysteries, one of the first publishers I think of is Berkley Prime Crime. They have such a vast array of wonderful authors and intriguing books to keep a reader delighted 24/7.

Well, this year marks Berkley Prime Crime’s 20th anniversary and they are excited to say the least. To help spread the celebration, they are offering a special 20th anniversary Berkley Prime Crime tote bag filled with 5 of their cozies as a giveaway to a lucky visitor to Thoughts in Progress. Please see the end of the post for more details.

Here the celebration announcement from Berkley.

NEW YORK, NY – March 1, 2014 – Twenty years ago, in March 1994, Berkley Books introduced Berkley Prime Crime, a mass market mystery imprint that included five launch authors. This year, Berkley celebrates the 20th anniversary of Prime Crime with special author events and promotional giveaways.

In its first year, Berkley Prime Crime (BPC) published approximately forty titles, all mass market. In 2013, the imprint published 150 titles, including mass market originals, trade paperbacks, and hardcovers. Every year, BPC launches approximately 25-30 new series, including several house-owned franchises that editors have developed from idea to execution. In the past year, BPC debuted sixteen titles on the New York Times Bestsellers List (printed and extended lists combined), which comes out to more than one per month!

“When we launched Berkley Prime Crime in March 1994 I believed that the audience for the traditional or ‘cozy’ mystery was still largely underserved and untapped. Twenty years later I can say without reservation that this has proven to be correct and that Berkley Prime Crime has succeeded beyond my wildest expectations,” said Natalee Rosenstein, Vice President and Senior Executive Editor of Berkley.  

This spring Berkley Prime Crime is hosting two events at mystery bookstores that have supported Berkley Prime Crime over the years. On March 13, Julie Hyzy, Miranda James, and Rebecca Hale will be at Murder by the Book in Houston, Texas. On March 25 the Poisoned Pen in Phoenix will host Margaret Coel, Carolyn Hart, Earlene Fowler, and Avery Aames.

Throughout the remainder of 2014, more events and promotional giveaways are planned, in addition to Berkley Prime Crime’s annual presence at mystery conventions BoucherCon and Malice Domestic.  

You can find out more about Berkley Prime Crime titles and authors at The Crime Scene, our cozy mystery Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thecrimescenebooks. 

About Penguin Group (USA)
Penguin Group (USA) LLC is one of the leading U.S. adult and children’s trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Viking, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Penguin Press, Riverhead Books, Dutton, Penguin Books, Berkley Books, Gotham Books, Portfolio, New American Library, Plume, Tarcher, Philomel, Grosset & Dunlap, Puffin, and Frederick Warne, among others. The Penguin Group (www.penguin.com) is a Penguin Random House company.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

This giveaway is for a special 20th anniversary Berkley Prime Crime tote bag filled with 5 of their cozies. The cozies included in the tote will be a mystery, but all will be Berkley Prime Crime titles.

To enter this giveaway, just answer the question below in the comments. Be sure to include a valid email address with your comment, if one is not available in your profile. “Do you have a favorite Berkley Prime Crime author, book or series (or many more than one)?”

If you wish not to be entered in the contest, just say ‘Not entering’ and then comment all you’d like. I don’t want to discourage someone from commenting just because they don’t want to enter the contest.

The deadline for entering the contest will be 8 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, March 12. The winner will be selected by Random.Org and I will notify the winner by email with the subject line ‘Thoughts in Progress Berkley Anniversary.’ The winner will have 72 hours to respond to the email with their mailing information or to notify me they’ve already won the book elsewhere. If there isn’t a response in 72 hours, a new winner will be selected.

BTW if you’d like extra entries in the giveaway, tweet about the giveaway (return and share the link), share it on Facebook (return and share the link) and pin it on Pinterest (return and share the link). For each entry you leave, you get an extra chance in the giveaway.

Thanks so much for dropping by and spending a bit of time with us. Remember, answer the following question for a chance to win a special 20th anniversary Berkley Prime Crime tote bag filled with 5 of their cozies, “Do you have a favorite Berkley Prime Crime author, book or series (or many more than one)?”