50 books you must read... books that define the decades of the 20th century

The Promotion

The Guardian Newspaper are to launch a Books promotion on 21st April 2007 with an 8 page special supplement to the newspaper sponsored by Pilsner Urquell, in conjunction with the B.M.S.

It follows the style of the '50 books - film adaptations' promotion run last May and will feature a review of each of 50 especially selected titles, with commissioned editorial features based around the premise of 'groundbreaking' books which defined the various decades of the 20th Century. The 50 books were selected by a judging panel of Guardian editorial staff, independent retailers and BMS executives.

The newspaper and the website GuardianUnlimited will undertake 2 public polls to discover the readers views. The first will be to define the book of each decade, and then the book which most defines the 20th Century as a whole.

The results of the polls will be announced at the Hay Festival on the 2nd June. There will also be a debate and editorial coverage around the ground-breaking book published so far this decade which most likely defines the 21st Century. This coverage will also include Sky TV, Books Show. They are the new Media partner for the Hay Festival and may feature it in the run-up.

All books will be stickered by publishers, but, both official posters, stickers and run-on printed special supplements will also be made available free of charge to any retailer wishing to support the promotion. Online retailers can support the promotion and accept public votes alongside www.GuardianUnlimited.co.uk

• Selected titles are embargoed to the media until 21st April.
• The supplement will run in the Guardian on April 21st.
• Point-of-sales material will be sent to retailers during w/b 23rd April.
• The promotional period is between 23rd April & 9th June.

As last year, there will be a supporting publicity & promotional campaign to coincide with the on-screen coverage. Point of sale will be made available to all retailers & libraries wishing to support it free of charge: please contact alastair@agile-ideas.com.

For more details please email:
Alastair Giles - alastair@agile-ideas.com
Jo Henry - johenry@publishingnews.co.uk