Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Earth Day Campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book: Reason no. 24

We continue with our Earth Day campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book, where we share with you 41 reasons provided by readers in celebration of the upcoming 41st anniversary of Earth Day!

With more than 180,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea.. But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea.

So for 41 days until Earth Day, we publish here the 41 best replies we receive, one reply a day. All replies are gathered and presented on the Earth Day 2011 page.

Reason mo. 24:

Planting a tree in honor of the books we create is entirely a selfish decision. For such a small price, the payback for our Earth is enormous…not only do trees provide shade from the sun, a pleasant rustling of leaves in the wind, homes to bugs and birds and mammals, and at the end of their lives new resources for our paper needs, during their lives they provide us with the oxygen our very lives depend upon. As long as we keep producing excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, we depend on nature to right our wasteful ways, and it is our duty to help recreate the forests we have been destroying for centuries.- Penny Eifrig, Publisher, Eifrig Publishing

Thank you Penny for sharing with us your thoughts on planting trees for your books!

We want to mention again the great prizes we give away on this campaign, courtesy of our partners. Winners can choose their prize from a great list of gifts including audiobooks from Simon & Schuster Audio (such as The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova and Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama) and great books, like Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender, Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf, Menu Dating by Tristan Coopersmith and The Healthy Home by Dave Wentz and Dr. Myron Wentz. You can see the full list of the prizes on the campaign's page.

Every day we'll give further details on one of the prizes. Today we present you with the audiobook American Assassin by Vince Flynn:

American Assassin by Vince Flynn - #1 New York Times bestseling author Vince Flynn introduces the young Mitch Rapp on his first assignment, a mission of vengeance that made him a CIA superagent— and a terrorist's worst nightmare.

Two decades after the Cold War, CIA Operations Director Thomas Stansfield must prepare his people for the next conflict. The rise of Islamic terrorism is coming, and it needs to be met abroad before it reaches America's shores. Stansfield directs his protÉgÉe, Irene Kennedy, and his old colleague, Stan Hurley, to form a new group of clandestine operatives—men who do not exist—who will work outside the normal chain of command. Kennedy finds the ideal candidate in the wake of the Pan Am Lockerbie bombing terrorist attack. . . .

Among the thousands of family and friends grieving the victims is Mitch Rapp, a gifted college athlete, who wants only one thing: retribution. Six months of intense training prepare him to bring the war to the enemy's doorstep, and he does so with brutal efficiency, leaving a trail of bodies from Istanbul and across Europe, to Beirut. But there, the hunter becomes the hunted: the enemy has prepared a trap, and the American assassin will need every ounce of skill and cunning if he is to survive the warravaged city and its deadly terrorist factions.

If you want to participate in the campaign, we still have some spots available so please send us your reply, either by adding a comment here or sending it to info@ecolibris.net. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

People who follow Safari Books Online prefer using the iPad for e-reading

I just got some interesting information from Safari Books Online. According to a recent poll they conducted on their blog, eBook readers prefer to use the iPad for e-reading.

Safari Books Online asked participants to select the devices that they use to read eBooks and other online content, 40% of respondents selected the iPad. 691 votes were received, and the full results are included below.

What devices do you use to read eBooks and other online content?

iPad - 40%
Desktop/Laptop - 24%
Smartphone - 19%
Kindle - 13%
Nook - 2%
Other - 2%

These are interesting results because most surveys so far found that the Kindle is the most preferred e-reader. Here are two examples:

Kindle wins e-reader battle versus iPad: survey
- "Amazon’s Kindle scored strongly over Apple’s iPad as an e-reader, according to a survey by news navigator One News Page. In a survey of over 1000 US and UK users, almost two thirds preferred Kindle to iPad, though the users admitted the iPad was “more compelling” because of its multi-functionality." (Entertainment & Stars, Sept 2010)

Impact of the Apple iPad vs. the Amazon Kindle on the e-Reader Market - The Amazon Kindle (47%; down 15-pts) is hanging on to a rapidly diminishing lead over the Apple iPad (32%; up 16-pts) among current e-Reader owners. However, the iPad’s share of the overall market has doubled since the last time ChangeWave surveyed e-Reader owners in August." (InvestorPlace, Nov 2010)

The results of Safari are presenting the preferences of the people who follow Safari, which is an on-demand digital library that delivers expert content in both book and video form from the world’s leading authors in technology and business. Still, I wonder if it has also some further meaning, other than just saying that Safari's followers are big fans of Apple's iPad. Is the dominance of the Kindle as the preferred device for e-reading in danger? What do you think? I'll be happy to hear your thoughts.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Working to green the book industry!