Record Footsteps in Publishing

Green E-Magazines

In keeping with the theme of Spring and Green Publishing

The Industry is changing from traditional book publishing to the electronic age. For better? For worse?  Same issue, different medium? I suppose sorting through garbage will always be an issue regardless of whether it is physical trash, a waste of paper on a tired theme book, or being bombed by cyberspace waves and material.

That reminds me, I haven't checked my email yet today. Habit to, I guess. Worth the time and space? ...well, spam is what it is...isn't it?

Blogs, E-zines, E-magazines...all contribute to saving paper. Are we being flooded? Of course we are. That's the way of people...but still, at least the positive side...our landfills aren't filling up with paper product.   

Are we impacting our environment and our lifestyle? Of course we are. Innocent use of resources for the advancement of man's purpose? Well...I suspect when trees first became paper, impact wasn't viewable at that time, either. Just something to think about when we consume in our day-to-day, eye and ear pluggin' in around the clock.

A great book find on the topic of changes in the publishing industry...and is it true?

Print Is Dead, by Jeff Gomez

Given Amazon's recent release of the Kindle ebook reader, the timing of Jeff Gomez's Print Is Dead couldn't be better.  Regardless of your beliefs about print vs. e-content, you need to read this book, especially if you're in the publishing business.  You might not agree with Jeff's opinions but I guarantee you he'll make you think about the industry...(read more on blog) http://jwikert.typepad.com/the_average_joe/2007/11/print-is-dead-b.html

       

So something to think about as a Publisher. Something to think about the next time as an author you self-publish your book and decide print options. Traditional soft or hardcover book printed on recycled paper? Maybe a book that has as much value reading the information from a computer screen than printing it out to read in hand?

One positive thought of how we can impact our environment as authors and publishers: since the #1 leading seller consistant over time is currently the "How To" book...could we learn "how to" in ways that don't also kill so many trees? Maybe design the book content more consise, to the point, the summary pages being more the "book"? Then transmit that as an e-book as the primary selling and distribution pathway? We're heading there but still a long way from it from my view the last time I went to a large book store...flooded with How Tos. 

So once again...maybe it all comes down to asking ourselves, as writers and publishers, What is the purpose of this book? Create the book for its purpose to society and contribution? That I hope always remains true. To create it as just another book to fill a landfill after a discounted book sale following a 6 week selling spree has attempted to capture market share? I hope we all find another way to recycle or not create that book in the first place.

Timber...sorry I thought I heard something in the woods.   

Since we all share the same planet,

Here's a great online find for home as well as industry news.

http://allgreen.com/site/

Have a Green thought-full day. Hug a tree. 

Jane Marla VerDow

Author: Jane Marla VerDow, Dear Daisy copyright ©2004; Independent Publishing: Rising Sparrow Press, est. 2003. Visit Author Website http://www.risingsparrowpress.com/  to learn more about author’s upcoming titles or for writing and self-publishing resources. Also find Hard to Find Resources on history, travel, rare/old book finds, and arts/literature. Enjoy following Blogs: http://www.storytellersandwriters.blogspot.com/  and http://lakeontarioshoreline.blogspot.com/

And the latest addition, http://www.recordfootsteps.typepad.com/ to explore Writer-Publishing topics.

Given Amazon's recent release of the Kindle ebook reader, the timing of Jeff Gomez's Print Is Dead couldn't be better.  Regardless of your beliefs about print vs. e-content, you need to read this book, especially if you're in the publishing business.  You might not agree with Jeff's opinions but I guarantee you he'll make you think about the industry...(read more on blog) http://jwikert.typepad.com/the_average_joe/2007/11/print-is-dead-b.html

       

Spring Almost

Sun tells me today Spring is right around the corner here in Upstate New York.

To celebrate I thought it a good time to share Green News of the Publishing Industry.

So from now until the official day, all blog entries will be dedicated to how the Publishing Industry is transitioning from killing trees to being Earth Friendly.

So let's start with something familiar. A book and author you may have heard of, at least once in 2007. What did Harry Potter and author, J.K. Rowling contribute to the Green Cause?

Enjoy the read.

Jane Marla VerDow

July 20, 2007

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Dubbed the Greenest Book in Publishing History

The final installment in the Harry Potter series will be the greenest book in publishing history according to Markets Initiative, an environmental group focusing on paper.  Five years of work by Markets Initiative and the Rainforest Alliance is putting tangible environmental solutions into the hands of Harry Potter fans in 16 countries.

For the initial printing of 12 million copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the United States, publisher Scholastic has committed to making sure 65% of the 16,700 tons of paper used is FSC-certified, which means the paper comes from forestlands that are managed in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

Totaling nearly 22 million pounds, this is the largest purchase of FSC-certified paper...(read more)

http://www.sustainableisgood.com/blog/2007/07/harry-potter-an.html

The final installment in the Harry Potter series will be the greenest book in publishing history according to Markets Initiative, an environmental group focusing on paper.  Five years of work by Markets Initiative and the Rainforest Alliance is putting tangible environmental solutions into the hands of Harry Potter fans in 16 countries.

For the initial printing of 12 million copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the United States, publisher Scholastic has committed to making sure 65% of the 16,700 tons of paper used is FSC-certified, which means the paper comes from forestlands that are managed in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

Totaling nearly 22 million pounds, this is the largest purchase of FSC-certified paper...(read more)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Dubbed the Greenest Book in Publishing History

The final installment in the Harry Potter series will be the greenest book in publishing history according to Markets Initiative, an environmental group focusing on paper.  Five years of work by Markets Initiative and the Rainforest Alliance is putting tangible environmental solutions into the hands of Harry Potter fans in 16 countries.

For the initial printing of 12 million copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the United States, publisher Scholastic has committed to making sure 65% of the 16,700 tons of paper used is FSC-certified, which means the paper comes from forestlands that are managed in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

Totaling nearly 22 million pounds, this is the largest purchase of FSC-certified paper...(read more)

Dr. Seuss

Children's literature has a special place in my heart.

I love to read updates and to share Publishing News on old time favorites and comebacks.

Enjoy!!! 

Jane Marla VerDow

The Cat in the Cat, Horton Hears a Who!, Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop and other Dr. Seuss classics are going digital, thanks to a partnership between Dr. Seuss Enterprises and kidthing, a new content distribution platform. Digital versions of the books—with extras such as voiceovers, sound effects and music—will roll out on kidthing.com starting in March, along with digital games based on the characters.

To read more of this article by Karen Raugust -- Publishers Weekly, 2/27/2008

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6535701.html?rssid=192

Survey: Ever wanted to write a book?

This is a link to a survey written by Jane Marla VerDow conducted/results collected by Survey Monkey.

BE SURE TO SAVE OR LINK THIS BLOG TO YOUR FAVORITES BEFORE TAKING THE SURVEY. YOU WILL NOT BE REDIRECTED HERE AT THE END OF THE SURVEY.    

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=qUvIJ3GjujtwslK19TRKMw_3d_3d">Click

Publishing Stats 2003

The year Rising Sparrow Press was established :

2003: 10,877 new publishers registered for International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) in 2003, an increase of 226 (2.1 percent) over 2002.
--R.R. Bowker, May 27, 2004.

2003. 173,000 new titles and new editions were published.
New titles from the largest trade houses increased 2.4 percent, to 22,914, while total output from university presses declined by 2.2 percent, to 12,003.
--R.R. Bowker, May 27, 2004.
So, 80% of the titles came from the small or self-publishers.

2002: The five large New York publishers accounted for 45% of the market (made 45% of the sales-money.) They grossed $4.1 billion.
Publishers Weekly, June 16, 2003.
http://www.PublishersWeekly.com
So 55% of the sales (income) are made by the small/self-publishers.

As Dear Daisy was being printed February 2004,copyright June 2004, and Rising Sparrow Press published and released to the market (June 2004):

2004: 1,879,000 books are in-print (currently available).
http://www.bowker.com/products/print.htm

2004: 2.8 million books in print.
--R.R. Bowker as reported in The Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2004.

A new book is published every 30 seconds.

--Rosemary Goring in The Herald, October 11, 2004.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/25577-print.shtml

And Dear Daisy was one of them.

Library of Congress Cataloging Number: 2004091496
Ver Dow, Jane Marla
Dear Daisy : a novel / Jane Marla Ver Dow
First Printing June 2004
Hardcover 384 pages
ISBN 1-932878-03-3

Stats cited were made available by leader of the Industry, Dan Poynter/Para Publishing (www.parapublishing.com). Honor credit source: http://BookStatistics.com

Author: Jane Marla VerDow, Dear Daisy copyright ©2004; Independent Publishing: Rising Sparrow Press, est. 2003.

Visit Author Website http://www.risingsparrowpress.com/  to learn more about author’s upcoming titles or for writing and self-publishing resources. Also find Hard to Find Resources on history, travel, rare/old book finds, and arts/literature.

Where do books come from?

insight  from Author Jane Marla VerDow 

My heart mission and each vision confirmed that I would write Dear Daisy in Early American style.

So this is where I started. 
A writer with a vision and a dream.                                                         

How absurd this dream of mine when measured against logic.    

Me, an author? I didn't even like to read and as a child reading was the last thing you would have found me doing on a summer day or  even on a winter's day with drifts of snow barricading my exit.

Days became years. The dream wouldn't fade. In fact, the dream became more detailed, words formed beyond thoughts, and in the end even textures became significant.

Early American style to me meant time periods of language, styles  of speech, even speeds of speech patterns reflecting the characters. Bookbinding translated into hardcover and grain. A book that I could dream then write would have to be not simply something to read but more importantly, at least to me, something I could hold.   

My dream then?   

To write a book.

Then the publisher was born...there was something pioneering, adventurous, even daring about writing words and finding the path for those words to travel.

So now here I am, writing and finding that pathway.

My dream now?

That someone two hundred years from now will find a copy of my work and it will still hold meaning.

Daisy and Dr King

On this day on honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Rising Sparrow Press and Author, Jane Marla VerDow remembers...Daisy

And by her presence she taught in Dr. King's positive peace army for human dignity and rightful place as one of God's children...   

http://www.storytellersandwriters.blogspot.com/

Dear Daisy

So this is where my story began way back when...Springtime, it was
then began again in the Autumn of the year, 1999 when memories were first written as words...then pages...to print
another beginning, a publishing company, founded in the Winter of 2003 by the author to recreate the feel and texture of a book that may have been carried by the author or her friend in a year like 1959 or 1964.
starting a storyteller, later years a writer, I, to be an author, the day...Ash Wednesday, 2004, drove pages to printer, BookMasters, Mansfield Ohio...and then I, the publisher made final edits and approvals...
then I, the child...waited...

...like so many days of childhood on those late days of June I had waited for my friend, Daisy to arrive. How fitting that I would wait for the official copyright date to reflect this shared history...and for my first publishing path footsteps to honor our friendship. Together in heart we will forever share the pathway...of 

Dear Daisy, the first born of Rising Sparrow Press.

To Read in more detail the Early Footsteps   http://www.storytellersandwriters.blogspot.com/

Order Direct from Rising Sparrow Press
Library of Congress Cataloging Number: 2004091496
Ver Dow, Jane Marla
Dear Daisy : a novel / Jane Marla Ver Dow
First Printing June 2004
Hardcover 384 pages
ISBN 1-932878-03-3
1. Spiritual -- Nonfiction. I. Title.$ 27.95

For more details See Book Announcement at Rising Sparrow Press
http://www.risingsparrowpress.com/announce.htm

Jane Marla VerDow, Author

Rising Sparrow Press assists you to write, collect and restore the yesterdays and today.

Create the legacy others will treasure tomorrow...

Day One

Recording the Footsteps of Author, Jane Marla VerDow and Independent Publishing.

Rising Sparrow Press, established 2003 in the spirit and tradition of Early American Literature.

Independent Publishing of Hardcover Books, e-Books, and a Children's Series.

Author: Jane Marla VerDow, Dear Daisy copyright ©2004; Independent Publishing: Rising Sparrow Press, est. 2003.

Visit Author Website http://www.risingsparrowpress.com/  to learn more about author’s upcoming titles or for writing and self-publishing resources. Also find Hard to Find Resources on history, travel, rare/old book finds, and arts/literature. Enjoy following Blogs: http://www.storytellersandwriters.blogspot.com/  and http://lakeontarioshoreline.blogspot.com/

And the latest addition, http://www.recordfootsteps.typepad.com/ to explore Writer-Publishing topics.