Open Road Becomes Digital Publisher for the Award-Winning Online Destination, Kicking Off with The End of the World and How to Survive the End of the World
Open Road Integrated Media, a digital publisher and multimedia content company, and Discovery Communications announced today that they are forming a digital publishing partnership to create ebooks from HowStuffWorks, the award-winning digital destination that offers entertaining and educational explanations of how the world works. Open Road will digitally distribute and market a wide range of ebooks drawn from the website’s most popular content, starting with The End of the World, a book that explores doomsday prophecies and the demise of the world as we know it and How to Survive the End of the World — hilarious but practical tips to survive hair-raising apocalyptic scenarios. The titles will go on sale this December wherever ebooks are sold.
HowStuffWorks, through HowStuffWorks.com and its mobile applications, is the go-to resource for credible and easy-to-understand information and explanations for thousands of topics and is the home to engaging personalities that bring these topics to life through popular podcasts. HowStuffWorks has won numerous Webby awards, was among Time Magazine’s “25 Web Sites We Can’t Live Without” and has been named one of PC Magazine’s “Top 100 Web Sites” four times.
Philip Rappaport, Senior Editor at Open Road, said: “We are excited to have Discovery Communications join our publishing partners program. HowStuffWorks is filled with entertaining and insightful writing, and we look forward to working with them to share it with ebook readers.”
“This launch marks the start of a full range of ebooks that we are developing based on the HowStuffWorks brand and our popular podcasts,” added Conal Byrne, VP of Digital Media at Discovery Communications & GM of HowStuffWorks. “Discovery’s new partnership with Open Road allows us to fulfill a growing interest from our readers for our high-quality content where they want it.”
The End of the World draws upon the apocalyptic predictions, theories and evidence from modern scientists, Nostradamus, Biblical writers, laypeople claiming divine or alien inspiration. How to Survive the End of the World explores survival strategies in situations such as a viral pandemic that rids the world of human hosts but for a hearty, immune few, or a massive, catastrophic coronal mass ejection that sends a sun storm to render all electronics inert.
About Discovery Communications
Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world’s #1 nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.8 billion cumulative subscribers in 209 countries and territories. Discovery is dedicated to satisfying curiosity through 149 worldwide television networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery, as well as U.S. joint venture networks OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, The Hub and 3net, the first 24-hour 3D network. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools and owns and operates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including Revision3. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.
