Display Contest Offers Chance to Win Visit by Khaled Hosseini

In anticipation of Khaled Hosseini’s new novel, And the Mountains Echoed, coming in May, Riverhead Books is challenging booksellers to create attractive displays that highlight Hosseini and his work.  The store judged to have the best display will win a speaking event with the author in the fall.

“Booksellers have really embraced Khaled Hosseini and his novels The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns,” said Craig Burke, vice president and marketing director of Riverhead Books. “As excitement builds for the May 21 release of And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled’s third book, the display contest is a fun way to involve bookstores in our promotional efforts.”

To participate, booksellers are asked to e-mail a photo of their display featuring The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and a promotion for And the Mountains Echoed to Penguin’s Ashley Fisher-Tranese, with the subject “Khaled Hosseini Bookseller Photo Contest.” From photos submitted between February 15 and April 15, Riverhead Books will select five finalists based on the creativity, originality, and design of the display. Visitors to Khaled Hosseini’s Facebook page will vote for the winner, and Riverhead will announce the winning bookstore on May 10.

And the Mountains Echoed is a multi-generational tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers. Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following the characters and the ramifications of their lives, choices, and loves around the globe — from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos — the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page.

The fall event at the winning store will follow the model of summer tour stops for And the Mountains Echoed, with Hosseini speaking to the crowd, taking questions, and signing copies of his books for readers.

Full contest details are available here, and booksellers are encouraged to visit the Khaled Hosseini Bookseller Resource Center for inspiration.