Mark; ALOY news today:
Monday December 13, 7:59 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Alloy.com Combines the Worlds of Publishing and New Media With On-line Cross Promotion of New Teen Book Series
Publisher Partners Team Up with Alloy Online to Promote New Best-Selling FEARLESS(TM) Book Series and Offer "Web-Only Exclusive" Content
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 1999-- Alloy Online, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALOY - news), a leading Internet destination for the 56 million teens in Generation Y, has partnered with Pocket Pulse, a teen book imprint of Simon and Schuster, and 17th Street Productions, the leading producers of books for teens, to offer a ground-breaking on-line cross promotion for the book series, FEARLESS(TM). The FEARLESS Web site at www.alloy.com is the first to successfully promote and provide original content based on a teenage book series.
``This partnership is helping Pocket Pulse expand its scope to the more than 10 million teens Alloy reaches each month through our Web site and our catalogue by offering an alternative to traditional book marketing and distribution,' said Matt Diamond, co-founder and CEO of Alloy Online.
The Alloy Online site (www.alloy.com) allows fans to experience the series through the eyes of Gaia Moore, the super-tough main character who was born without the fear gene. Teens can explore ``GAIA's LAPTOP,' read Gaia's e-mail, poetry and journal entries, download pictures, screensavers and desktop icons, chat with other FEARLESS fans, view sneak previews of the next book and take a virtual audio and video tour of Gaia's downtown Manhattan neighborhood. The site is updated regularly by a content and programming team from Alloy and 17th Street Productions.
``GAIA'S LAPTOP at Alloy.com is an integral element in our promotional campaign for FEARLESS,' notes Nancy Pines, Vice President and Publisher of Pocket Books for Young Readers. ``It's an extremely satisfying, ever-changing site packed with depth and breadth.'
The first book of the twelve book series by Francine Pascal, the creator of the best-selling teen series, Sweet Valley High©, first hit major book retailers on October 1, 1999. In an effort to build excitement for the series, Alloy Online began promoting the FEARLESS site in early September 1999. FEARLESS reached number one on the barnesandnoble.com Teens Top Ten List in November 1999, and has already been optioned for television by Columbia TriStar. The site has drawn rave reviews from teenagers and boosted book sales.
``The people at Alloy definitely have the inside track on teenage girls. The site they have developed anticipates everything a reader would want to know about the characters. ' said Francine Pascal, creator of the FEARLESS series. ``For me, the best part of the Fearless site at Alloy is that it allows me to maintain an ongoing dialogue with my fans through the message boards and e-mail.'
This marks one of the largest book publishing initiatives to effectively target the teen set via the Internet, and also offers the series with a direct online multimedia tie-in. ``We recognize the importance of reaching potential book buyers where they are and increasingly for teens this means going to the Internet,' comments co-president Leslie Morgenstein of 17th Street Productions. ``Alloy's online penetration of our market is unparalleled.'
In addition, Alloy.com has worked with Pocket Pulse and 17th Street Productions to execute an interactive sweepstakes tie-in promoted both in the book series and at the FEARLESS site at Alloy.com open to U.S. and Canadian citizens. FEARLESS sweepstakes include prizes such as a $1,000 Alloy shopping spree, an adventure trip and a hand-help PC. Details and registration information can be found at the Alloy Web site. Fans of the book series will also be able to purchase books at the site as new titles become available, and can order free copies of the 16-page full color FEARLESS magazine. Interested parties need to send an email to: PocketPulse@simonandschuster.com.
About Alloy Online
Alloy Online is a leading Web site and direct marketer providing community, content, commerce, and entertainment to Generation Y, one of the fastest growing segments of the Internet population. Its convergence media model which combines its .Web site, www.alloy.com, its Alloy Online e-zine and its catalog - has a total reach of more than 15 million individuals per month. Together, these components offer a unique blend of services through which teens can interact, share information and explore compelling and relevant content and shop for apparel, accessories, footwear, music, cosmetics and magazine subscriptions. For further information regarding Alloy Online, please visit the company's web site (www.alloy.com) and click on 'Investor Info' or call the investor information line at 877-ALLOY-IR.
About Francine Pascal
Francine Pascal is the creator of The World of Sweet Valley©, which has over 150 million copies in print. Also the creator of the Caitlin series, her other young adult books include My First Love and Other Disasters, Love and Beyond and Hold the Mayo!, and The Hand-Me-Down Kid. She also collaborated with her late husband, John Pascal, and her brother, Michael Stewart, on the highly successful and frequently revived musical, George M!. Pascal recently wrote a new book for Jerry Herman's and Michael Stewart's Mack and Mabel, which was presented at the Barrington Theater in Massachusetts this summer. The Goodspeed Theater is producing her new musical, Fastbreaks, based on Sweet Valley High characters next season. She is also the author of two adult novels. Pascal resides in New York City and the south of France.
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