Book Sense & The History Channel Team to Promote Lincoln

December 08, 2005

Book Sense and The History Channel have once again partnered to create an exciting promotion full of materials and ideas to help booksellers create displays in conjunction with a special History Channel presentation. The documentary Lincoln, premiering on The History Channel on Monday, January 16, explores a little-known side of the 16th president, who suffered suicidal urges and called himself "the loneliest man in the world."

In-store materials include a counter easel; a top hat-shaped jar to collect Lincolns -- pennies and five-dollar bills, of course; bookmarks that feature a reading list; and a printed Lincoln bibliography, which highlights Lincoln's Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk (Houghton Mifflin) and Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (S&S). Booksellers are receiving the Lincoln promotion materials in the December Red Box mailing.

The History Channel's presentation of Lincoln, produced by Academy Award-winning producer Vikram Jayanti, will include dramatic recreations of milestone events in Lincoln's life, snippets of his greatest public speeches, examinations of key personal relationships (including his close friendship with Joshua Speed), and a portrayal of his assassination. The entire documentary is based on information from new and backlist titles and features interviews with several authors, including Gore Vidal (Lincoln: A Novel, Vintage); Jean H. Baker (Mary Todd Lincoln, W. W. Norton); and Jan Morris (Lincoln: A Foreigner's Quest, Da Capo). The documentary will air at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT.

In addition to providing bibliographic information, materials in the December Red Box will address the subject of Lincoln's depression -- offering booksellers an opportunity to create a display or hold an event focused on mental health issues, which can be coordinated with community mental health organizations. Money collected in the top hat collection jar may be donated to local organizations. The History Channel has also partnered with the National Mental Health Association in connection with Lincoln.

Questions about The History Channel promotion should be addressed to Associate Director of Book Sense Marketing Meg Smith at meg@booksense.com.

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