Tom Petty - long seen as one of the great songwriters of American rock and roll, as well as one of the key standard bearers of integrity in the music business - will see the book "Conversations with Tom Petty" released this Fall by Omnibus Press. The book will precede the 30th anniversary of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' first album and will be the first chronicle to focus solely on the life and work of the man responsible for some of the most memorable rock anthems of our generation, including: "American Girl," "Breakdown," "Refugee," "The Waiting," "Don't Come Around Here No More," "I Won't Back Down," "Free Fallin'," "Runnin' Down a Dream," "You Don't Know How It Feels," "Mary Jane's Last Dance," and many others.

"Conversations with Tom Petty" was written by Paul Zollo who conducted a series of in-depth discussions over a six month period with Petty about his career, with special focus on his songwriting. The book will feature rare photographs and the conversations will be a Q-and-A-type format, essentially Petty "in his own words," representing a personal and unique perspective on his entire career.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are headlining one of this summer's hottest tours which kicks off June 7 in Fort Myers, FL. This is the band's first major North American tour in nearly three years and will see them playing some 40 dates through to early September. With many of the dates already sold out, the band, who has not released a new album since "The Last DJ" in 2002, are well on their way to selling some half-million concert tickets over the summer.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers have sold more than 50-million records world-wide, and were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Petty's work with the Heartbreakers, as well as his solo albums and those with the Traveling Wilburys, have been critically acclaimed the world over, earning him numerous Platinum-status awards as well as Grammys and other major awards.