Chronicle’s New Promotion to Booksellers:It’s Got Cat Pictures, So We’re Happy

If you believe the Internet is the perfect medium to share photos of animals looking adorable with people all over the world, you’ve probably stumbled onto Stuff On My Cat, the blog that posts nothing but pictures of, that’s right, cats with things on top of them (see example at left). The premise was sufficiently high-concept to score a deal with Chronicle Books, and not just for a book—there’s also desk and wall calendars and a postcard set. And now, to get bookstores excited about all the merchandising possibilities, Chronicle has issued an open invitation to booksellers with cats to put stuff on them and send in the pics. Not only do the winners get all sorts of promotional goodies, the photos will end up in the 2008 calendar, and maybe even published in Publishers Weekly (the contest is currently being promoted by, among other means, ads in PW Daily).