After the holiday break, we'll be re-launching knackbooks.com, the online home for Knack books, and introducing Nick Knack--the online face and voice of our DIY imprint. Not simply a pitchman for Knack--as Jared is for Subway, or the caveman for Geico--Nick will be more of a reality show participant, as he consults the Knack series instructions on how to build or repair whatever how-to challenges he's confronted with.

Nick will also serve as a versatile character. Coming soon, for instance, Nick will team up with Nora Knack, a la William Powell and Myrna Loy's "Thin Man" detective couple, to solve "The Mystery of the Best Drink Ever Made," promoting "Knack Bartending Basics." Here, Nick and Nora offer a holiday greeting to William S. Morris III, the chairman and CEO of Morris Communications, Globe's parent company.

"As the Globe Spins" visits Kit Laybourne, author of Mediapedia: Creative Tools and Techniques for Camera, Computer and Beyond:
 

In the last post, I mentioned my recent visit to Mediapedia author Kit Laybourne's NY apartment, where I videotaped Bret Kerr playing with his camera on Kit's balcony overlooking Central Park. Lest you think that's the only video we filmed there--oh, no. There's more. Much more.

For example, we also shot the first in a new video series I'm creating for Knack Books. This "show" will feature Nick Knack (yours truly) as he shares various step-by-step, do-it-yourself tips drawn from Knack Books. I like to think of Nick as GPP's entertaining answer to the Complete Idiots and Dummies guides--if severely mechanically challenged Nick can figure out how to get the job done quickly and easily, then so can you, dear reader, believe me. Without further ado, here's "How to Create a Perfect Slideshow":  
 

Last week, GPP designer Bret Kerr and I visited author Kit Laybourne in New York to shoot promotional video for his book, Mediapedia. Inspired by Kit's tips on creating panoramic photos, Bret stepped out on the balcony of Kit's amazing Central Park West apartment and took a series of pictures he stitched together to form a 180-degree view of the park:

It's no secret that times are tough for book publishers. A recent New York magazine article--darkly titled The End--notes that the publishing world is full of "prophets of doom, Cassandras in blazers and black dresses arguing at elegant lunches over What Is to Be Done." The demise of the book, we are to believe, is as imminent as it is inevitable. "Two, five years from now—who knows? Life moves fast in the waning era of print; publishing doesn’t."

But we at GPP are trying to remain positive amid all the gloom. No matter how bad the news in PW Daily may be, we are determined not to stare out windows, walk into walls, or cry through meetings any more now than we did back when the future was as bright as the sun and money in the bank was as safe as, well, money in the bank. 

That's why, to bolster our spirits, we invited author Kate Hanley to come talk to us about her new book, The Anywhere, Anytime Chill Guide. Written with "a dash of Zen and a large helping of humor," Kate's book features "77 simple strategies for serenity," and we asked her to share each strategy with us--twice:
 

HGTV design expert Libby Langdon boasts she can whip up a stylish solution to any design problem--no matter how small the room, or the budget. But what could she possibly do with a 9-foot-by-6-foot office cubicle that's so cluttered with trinkets and rubble that not even WALL-E would know where to start compacting? Well, when Libby stopped by the office the other day to discuss her forthcoming book, Libby Langdon's Small Space Solutions, I put her to the test. I steered her over to ace GPP designer Bret Kerr's cube and filmed her working her magic, eventually taming the beast that is--or should I say was--Bret's workspace:

We at GPP love our company's cover designs--and that's not just the marketing department talking. When final covers circulate, sales and editorial ooh and ahh appreciatively like first-time visitors to the Louvre, or the buffet at Bellagio. Even our HR director is crazy about our book jackets. The other day she was spotted at her desk stroking the cover of The Power of Purrs and cooing, "Aren't you a pretty one? Yes, you are! Mama has a little treat for you..." 

Anyway, it's no surprise that four of our talented designers were just selected as winners of the 2008 American Graphic Design Awards. Congratulations to Diana Nuhn, Georgiana Goodwin, Jane Sheppard, and Bret Kerr, who were chosen out of some 10,000 entries for Award Certificates of Excellence. Here are their winning covers:
 

Diana Nuhn, A Spring without Bees (Michael Schacker) and Jane Sheppard, The Boy in the Box (David Stout).
 

Georgiana Goodwin, the Woods Cop Mystery series (Joseph Heywood).
 

Bret Kerr, the Curiosities series (multiple authors).

This week, GPP authors Tom Kraeutler and Leslie Segrete unveiled the new online game that accompanies their book, My Home, My Money Pit.  Designed as a diagram of a house, the game involves clicking on rooms and answering true-or-false questions. I just played it and discovered, much to my surprise, that I may not be as clueless when it comes to home improvement as I feared.

For example, I know how to unclog a sink and hang a heavy painting (nail it to a stud). I know which way a ceiling fan spins. And not only do I know what the word “wainscoting” means, I know how to look up its proper spelling at an online dictionary. How long, then, before I’m out building a marble gazebo in my backyard, or helping my neighbor, Paul, install plumbing in his outhouse? Lisa LaPorta, move over!

Despite my newly discovered DIY I.Q., however, it appears that because I work at Globe Pequot, I’m not eligible to win any of the Money Pit game’s fine prizes, which include a $5,000 check towards your next home project, a utility trailer, five water softener systems, a tool shed, and all sorts of T-shirts and tote bags, as well as some 100 Gorilla Grade Monkey Hooks.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t win. The game is as easy as “Masonry fireplaces are among the most inefficient ways to heat your home. True or False?” 

Your "Money Pit Home Adventure" begins here.     

Over the past 30 years, Bill Berloni has trained countless animals—including cats and dogs, pigs and rats—to perform in Broadway productions and Hollywood films, starting with the original Sandy in the musical Annie in the late 70s. Incredibly, all the animals Berloni has worked with came from shelters.

In his book, Broadway Tails, Berloni recounts the stories of these “throw-away” animals who went on to become showbiz superstars. Recently, Berloni stopped by the GPP offices, where we got a chance to sit down and discuss his book, his career, and some of the fascinating furry creatures who've graced the Broadway stage (no, I'm not talking about George Wendt):

Bill Berloni will talk about Broadway Tails at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT, on October 16, at 7 PM.