My Green Resolution for 2009 - Torpedo

2009 has just started and in celebration of the new year we start today a special project - "My Green Resolution for 2009".

Yes, this is resolutions time and many of these resolutions are related to the environment this year. We're talking about many people and businesses that are making a commitment to become more eco-friendly in 2009 and change in their lifestyle or in their business practices accordingly.

Want specifics? we were also curious to learn more about these resolutions, and decided to ask authors, publishers, bookstores and other partners we work with about their 2009 green resolutions. We also asked them to share with us any green wishes they have for the new year.

The result is a special project that will run throughout January on the blog and will present you with our partners' green resolutions for the new year. The first one we start with is Chris Flynn, the publisher of Falcon vs. Monkey, Falcon Wins, a Melbourne-based independent publishing company, which publishes Torpedo, a printed fiction quarterly.

Torpedo was praised by VICE UK as "A new quarterly compendium of short fiction and illustrated narrative storytelling coming out of Australia just seems a bit much. Don't those guys just shear sheep and moan about dingoes eating their babies all day before running people over after rolling out of the drive-thru 'bottle shop' with six crates of Tooheys New? Turns out: nope."

Torpedo is available exclusively through their site (that way they can give 50% of the very modest cover price to the contributors, who thus earn royalties for their work every quarter). And one tree is planted with Eco-Libris for each copy of Torpedo sold (the happy buyer will also receive Eco-Libris sticker).

Hello Chris. What is your green resolution for 2009?
My personal green resolution is to save water. The state of Victoria, where Melbourne is, has water reserves that are currently standing at 34% of capacity, and this is at the start of the summer. Individuals here use on average 139 litres per day and since I don't really want to live in a desert, I'm going to cut down on my shower time and buy a more efficient washing machine. Reserves have been getting lower every year and logging close to water catchement areas has not helped.

What's your green wish for 2009?
My green wish for 2009 is that the economies of first world nations become more oriented towards sustainability rather than consumption of resources. One can always hope..

Other greetings for the New Year?
I'd like to wish all the Eco-Libris supporters a healthy and green 2009 and hope that ever more publishers come on board to support the Eco-Libris drive towards sustainable publishing. Print is not dead - it just needs to become more aware of its impact!
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Any other plans for 2009 you would like to share with our readers?

I have somehow managed to muster a stellar line up of famous writers for Torpedo in 2009, so hopefully we will take off and be able to plant thousands of trees. I've got a few other tricks up my sleeve too, so watch this space (and by this space I mean this cyberspace, at falconvsmonkey.com. Shameless plug.)

Thanks, Chris!

You're welcome to keep following our blog this month as we'll have almost every day a new green pledge for 2009!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Volume Two of Torpedo is available now (with our stickers!)

We wrote few months ago on our collaboration with Falcon vs. Monkey, Falcon Wins, a Melbourne-based independent publishing company that is publishing Torpedo, a printed fiction quarterly, available exclusively through their site (that way they can give 50% of the very modest cover price to the contributors, who thus earn royalties for their work every quarter).

We want to update you that Volume Two of Torpedo has now been released and is available for purchase on falconvsmonkey.com. Like with volume One, also Volume Two of Torpedo will be balanced out with Eco-Libris: for every copy to be purchased, a new tree will be planted and the buyer will also receive Eco-Libris sticker.

The following genii are featured on Volume Two: Rod Hunt on cover duties; Kelly de Meyer & Ricky Butler on illustration detail; Paul O'Connell, Brian Hoang, Tom Larkey & Jeffrey Brown take care of graphic fiction; Aaron Gwyn, Jeff Goldberg, Josephine Rowe, Christian TeBordo, Tony D'Souza, Justin Taylor, Luke May, Jon Bauer, Yannick Murphy, Greg Ames, Holly Tavel & Ryan Crawford thrill you with fiction.

There will be several launches - one in Brooklyn, New York (date and venue tbc) and one in Melbourne on Saturday 5th July at the relaunch of the Federation Square Book Market (more details on the site shortly).

Volume Two sounds really great, so all of you fiction lovers are welcome to grab a copy and enjoy the fiction and graphic fiction works of all these talents!

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Torpedo is taking Eco-Libris Down Under

Australia is one of my favorite places around the world ever since I visited this beautiful country 14 years ago. That's why I was happy few weeks ago to get interviewed by Daz Chandler on Radio 2SER, a local radio sation in Sydney, and I'm even happier now on a new collaboration of Eco-Libris with a Melbourne-based publisher with the great name 'Falcon vs. Monkey, Falcon Wins'.

Falcon vs. Monkey, Falcon Wins is an independent publishing company, dedicated to supporting emerging writers and illustrators. It publishes Torpedo, a printed fiction quarterly, which is available exclusively through its site (that way the publisher can give 50% of the very modest cover price to the contributors, who thus earn royalties for their work every quarter).

Volume One of Torpedo is already available on the website and now Falcon vs. Monkey, Falcon Wins is collaborating with Eco-Libris to balance out each one of the copies sold on its website. Hence, for every copy of Torpedo that to be purchased, a new tree will be planted and the buyer will also receive Eco-Libris sticker.

Volume One features fiction from Jim Shepard, Aniruddha Bahal, Clancy Martin, Josephine Rowe, Jon Bauer, Amelia Walker, Ronnie Scott, Chris Flynn, Ruby Murray, Luke May, Neil Boyack and Bryce Wolfgang Joiner. Illustrations by Eirian Chapman, Pat Dalton & Tim Molloy. A wraparound cover by Chris Ede!

I asked Chris Flynn, who founded Falcon vs. Monkey, Falcon Wins last December what feedbacks he get on the new collaboration and here's his reply:

"The feedback has been good, ranging from disbelief to excitement. In fact we have sold quite a few copies based upon the Eco-Libris factor alone, particularly at the Artist's Market here where we have a stall. It's definitely added a dimension to Torpedo that pleases readers and I think the Eco-Libris star will definitely be in the ascendancy this year."

Thanks, Chris! And good luck with Torpedo. We're already waiting for Volume Two and for the other upcoming publications of Falcon vs. Monkey, Falcon Wins (is this a cool name or what?) - novels, short story collections, graphic novels & novella collections, all coming up in 2008 & 2009.

Cheers,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!