Stephen King's Cell: Ringing Up Readers Nationwide

Publisher Scribner Teams with Flytxt for Unique Mobile Campaign

Starting today, mobile phone users and Stephen King fans can take advantage of an exciting and innovative marketing campaign designed to allow King's publisher, Scribner, to interact with a targeted audience for King's new book, Cell (January 24, 2006) Teaming up with mobile marketing provider Flytxt, Scribner has developed an exclusive text message mobile marketing program that, through phone, interactive online, and print advertising will provide supplemental content that allows Stephen King fans to expand their experience of Cell beyond the printed page.

The campaign highlights include:

* January 18: Mobile phone users nationwide (ages 18-54) will be notified via text message of the chance to join the Stephen King VIP Club.

* January 19: Scribner begins a series of animated, interactive ads on Yahoo! directing viewers to cellthebook.com, the opportunity to join the Stephen King VIP Club, and to pass along content rich emails to friends.

* January 24, publication day: VIP Club members receive a voice message from Stephen King himself, followed by weekly text messages promoting trivia, sweepstakes, polls, and more.

* Exclusive premium content (talk-tones of Stephen King, wallpaper of various stage dust jackets of Cell) will be available for sale at cellthebook.com, creating incremental income for the publisher and the author.

* Membership in the VIP Club will also be available via email and the internet to allow access to readers without mobile phones. All of the features of the club will be accessible to non-mobile users.

* VIP members will also get an exclusive first listen to a monologue by Stephen King, which will later be part of a podcast featuring Cell and made available to the general public through the SimonSays podcast and other outlets.

* Cell will also be promoted via major advertising in national newspapers and magazines, and through a first serial excerpt in Entertainment Weekly (the first time the magazine has serialized fiction). All advertising will direct consumers to the company's cellthebook.com website.

"When Stephen delivered the manuscript for Cell, it cried out for a campaign utilizing mobile phones," said Scribner Executive Vice President and Publisher Susan Moldow. "Our cellthebook.com campaign is a natural marriage of content and marketing that highlights an author already well-known for pushing the envelope, and allowing us to communicate with readers in a way that is fun and technologically appropriate for the subject."

"There are 195 million mobile phone owners in America, with more than half of them employing text messaging, said Sue Fleming, Vice President and Director of Marketing for the Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Division. "This is an important emerging market for publishers, and we are happy to team up with Flytxt to reach a targeted audience and create new revenue streams based on our content as well as broaden the audience for Cell experience for Stephen King fans."

"We're thrilled to be working with Scribner and Simon & Schuster to take this positive step towards extending the Stephen King brand through the mobile channel, forging an exciting and interactive relationship between the author and his audience, added Jonathan Hum, Account Director at Flytxt. "It's great to be involved with a company that understands how mobile can be used effectively as a brand-building tool and to enhance the Cell experience for Stephen King fans."

About Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Simon & Schuster, a part of the CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Online, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at http://www.simonsays.com/

About Flytxt

Flytxt(R), the world's leading mobile marketing services provider, serves a broad client base globally across the media, entertainment, FMCG, retail, leisure and carrier sectors. Flytxt's customers include Target, Time Inc, Time Warner Book Group, Harper Collins, Hachette Filipacchi, Hearst Magazines, Pepsi, Cingular, T-Mobile, Vodaphone, EMAP, and Orange, who is currently leveraging an award-winning Flytxt campaign for its "Orange Wednesdays" cinema mobile couponing program. Flytxt was ranked 12th in the Sunday Times Tech Track 2004, and the company has twice been named to the Tornado Insider's TOP 100 European companies list. Incorporated in 2000, Flytxt is headquartered in London, UK, and has offices in Seattle, Washington, Tampa, Florida, and New York City. For more information, visit http://www.flytxt.com/.

NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2006 /PRNewswire/ --