A new collection of poetry and prose of author Janice Winokur is going green with Eco-Libris!

We're happy to announce on a new collaboration with author and educator Janice Winokur on her first collection of poetry and prose, In the Light of an Alabama Rain: A Meditation. One tree will be planted with Eco-Libris for each copy of this book!

Here's more about In the Light of an Alabama Rain: A Meditation:

Containing a rich tapestry of insights and reflections, this highly readable collection of vignettes is both memoir and spiritual exploration.

The pieces in this book are drawn from Winokur’s journal, recorded in Alabama during the late 1980s. As the author was getting ready to discard some old papers recently, she began to read through her journal. According to Winokur, “I was surprised to find that a number of entries still felt true, even with the passage of years, and that together they seemed to compose a meditation.”

She assembled these entries and they became In the Light of an Alabama Rain: A Meditation. Readers who look for inspiration in stories and words will be lifted up by the glimpses of light discovered here in the smallest, and sometimes the darkest moments of life. A childhood memory, a parent’s decline, the absence of a loved one, and many other experiences, are probed by Winokur for their sparks of illumination.

Read from beginning to end, the book is a single, Spirit-filled love poem that embraces all of life, both the mundane and the profound.

The book retails for $12.95 and can be purchased at area bookstores. Orders can also be placed by contacting Simple Harvest Publications at:

PO Box 284
Grantham, NH 03753
E-mail: simpleharvest@comcast.net.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

And the winner in one of Justin Locke's books is...

We had a very interesting discussion here following Justin Locke's guest column "A New Business Model for the Book Publishing Business".

We got great feedbacks and we thank all the readers who added their comments on this blog, as well as other places on the web where this article was mentioned. And we have a winner!

The winner who was chosen by Justine Locke is Brooke, who wrote the following:

"The art world has a similar issue when it comes to resales at auctions. Europe resolved it by giving a portion of the profits to the artists, but ONLY at auctions, not private resales."

Congrats to Brooke, who won one of Justin Locke's books! She will be able to choose between Real Men Don't Rehearse, his very popular and laugh-out-loud musical memoir of his playing days with the Boston Pops (see the writeup in this month's International Musician Magazine) , and his new book, Principles of Applied Stupidity (How to get and Do More by Thinking and Knowing Less). Find out more about each book and his other publications and his professional speaking at www.justinlocke.com

We thank Justine Locke again for bringing up this important issue and we will keep you updated in the future in his efforts to establish a new model for the book business.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

www.ecolibris.net

A New Business Model for the Book Publishing Business

Eco-Libris is happy to host guest writers that present interesting and creative ideas that goes along with our mission to make reading more sustainable. Today we are happy to host author Justin Locke who writes about an issue that has many sides, including environmental and social ones - the lack of compensation of authors for re-use of their books and how it can be fixed.

We hope that not only you will enjoy this piece, but you'll also take part in the discussion we hope to generate following this post. If you need further incentive check out the giveaway at the bottom of the post :)

A New Business Model for the Book Publishing Business

by Justin Locke

The Internet has been viewed by many in the book business as merely a glorified sales brochure and order form, but this is "horseless carriage" thinking. The way it is being used by the major used book resellers (i.e., Amazon and Half.com) has fundamentally changed the environment of the book business, in very much in the same way that television and VCR's changed the movie business, and radio and recordings changed the music business.

For those of you who don't remember, when television came along, Hollywood viewed it entirely as a threat. The big movie studios nearly went broke, as up to then they only made money selling tickets in theaters. But after a while, they figured out how to do a new business model and take advantage of this new medium. Now, big Hollywood movies make most of their money, not from theatrical releases, but from television and DVD sales.

Something similar happened in the music business. Before recordings and radio, orchestras had a simple business model: if you wanted to hear a concert, you had to buy a ticket. But when recordings and radio came along, the musicians' union negotiated to put various fees in place so that musicians would get additional payments for "electronic transcriptions."

Composers of music have similar "re-use" payments structures under what is known as ASCAP. When an orchestra plays a piece that is under copyright, a payment is automatically made to the composer. Same thing if their music is played on the radio or TV. Every time you hear a golden oldie in an elevator, a little payment gets made to the owner of that original song. It might only be .2 cents, but it adds up in a hurry.

Unfortunately, the traditional book selling establishment has at its core a 19^th century business model, one that is very similar to the music business before electricity. If you want to buy a book, you buy it new. That's where the money is made, period. There are no provisions for more payments down the road. Yes, Amazon's Kindle and other e-book deals are more or less doing what movies and music have done. But what is getting missed is the huge change in the used hard copy book business.

Here's the big thought: While books themselves are still made of paper, the WAY in which used books are sold and distributed has changed. Radically. It is as much of a change as television or radio.

Books are not electronic of course, but the way in which used books are now marketed on the internet has fundamentally changed, into its own new form of "electronic distribution." We need to recognize this, and change the way the business works to capture proper payments.

The used book market is different now because in the old typical traditional local used book store, the store might have a title you want and then again, they might not. So physical used books stores, while nice things to have on the block, are not a huge threat to new book sales, as they are not the place to buy "hot" or new books. You are limited to what they have in stock right now, which could be anything.

But now, virtually any book, even one that is recently published, is available "used" (at a lower price), on the internet. And when someone buys and reads a used book, the copyright owners of that book get zilch for that "re-use" of their intellectual property.

Pardon my vision here, but I think it's time that authors got the same deal as union musicians, composers, television actors, and screenwriters.

What I am proposing is a very simple system similar to the ASCAP model. If a copyrighted book is sold on line, the author (or their estates or whatever) should get some small payment for that "re-publication" (from the legal definition of the word "publish": "to make available for sale") of their work.

I don't know what that fee would be. I am hoping you, dear readers, can offer some insight and suggestions. Perhaps 15% of the sale price, or perhaps 25 cents, whichever is greater? Right now I am getting 100% of nothing, so I am open to suggestions.

In terms of execution and monitoring, I would think that ISBN numbers would make this a breeze to set up. Authors would also need to register, just like members of ASCAP. You would have to accrue a minimum of maybe $50 to get a payment (to save mailing checks for 25 cents).

All sorts of little details would need to get ironed out of course, but that's the concept. And I confess, I have no idea how one would set up a literary form of ASCAP. Federal legislation? I await your insight.

Note, I suspect that it might be a good idea to exempt non-internet on-site sales in bookstores. It's a tradition, it's too easy to cheat, and they don't make much dough anyway. Also the bookkeeping might prove onerous. Although with printed bar codes, maybe not.

Amazon charges $4 for shipping a book when most books only cost $2.50 to ship. Shouldn't some small piece of that remaining $1.50 go to the person who created the book? Composers and musicians and movie producers get re-use payments. How is it that musicians and B-movie moguls have shown themselves to be smarter than authors of books??

Also, from an environmental perspective, instead of publishers always being motivated to make past editions obsolete as much as possible, and always look for ways to sell new books and cut down more trees, authors and publishers would have economic incentive to encourage the purchase and "recycling" of used books, as it would become an added income stream. Updates to existing books could be sold on line. Not sure if this would be a meaningful carbon change, but it's worth looking into. As the cost of paper continues to go up, who knows, could be a huge paradigm shift.

I have a new page on my web site that invites people to start doing this on a voluntary basis. I call it my go-green publication partnership: http://justinlocke.com/gogreen.htm

Big picture: If this added payments system were to work with books the same way it has worked with movies, added income will encourage ever more creation of new products, instead of publishers and authors being squeezed at every turn. At last, readers will not have to choose between supporting their favorite authors and a cheaper deal. Everybody wins, and furthermore, it's the right thing to do.

(c) Justin Locke

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

Thank you for reading. We invite and encourage your comments. And we also have a giveaway!

Justin Locke is donating a copy of one of his books, and the the winner will get to choose between Real Men Don't Rehearse, his very popular and laugh-out-loud musical memoir of his playing days with the Boston Pops (see the writeup in this month's International Musician Magazine) , and his new book, Principles of Applied Stupidity (How to get and Do More by Thinking and Knowing Less). Find out more about each book and his other publications and his professional speaking at www.justinlocke.com

How do you get a chance to win this prize? please add a comment below with anything you have to say or comment on this issue. That's it!

Submissions are accepted until Thursday, February 26, 12PM EST. The winner will be chosen by Justin Locke and will be announced the following day.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

www.ecolibris.net

How short is long enough? let us know and get a chance to win "The White Road and Other Stories"

We are extending the deadline of the "The White Road and Other Stories" giveaway in 3 days until Friday, December 19 12 pm EST.

If you haven't checked it out yet, please go to the book's tour post, where we hosted the author Tania Hershman last week - Tania is giving away one copy of her new book, and it already includes a tree planted for this copy with Eco-Libris.

So how do you get a chance to win this prize? just add a comment to the book tour's post (http://ecolibris.blogspot.com/2008/12/walking-white-road-with-tania-hershman.html) with an answer for the following question:

what do you prefer - short stories or flash fiction, and what's the best length for a short story? feel free to mention your favorites!

Tania will pick the comment she liked best and the winner will be announced on our blog on Sunday, Dec 21.

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

Walking The White Road with Tania Hershman on her virtual book tour (and a giveaway!)

We reported here on September about our collaboration with Tania Hershman, author of the new book "The White Road and Other Stories", published by UK's renowned Salt Publishing. This great collection of short stories is balanced out by Hershman by planting a tree with Eco-Libris for every copy printed.

Today we also have the pleasure to be part of her worldwide blog tour, organized by Salt Publishing. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the book and especially to get to know better the author behind it, so here we go.

Firstly, a little introduction of Tania Hershman:

Tania Hershman was born in London in 1970 and in 1994 moved to Jerusalem, Israel, where she now lives with her partner. "The White Road and Other Stories" is her first book.

Tania is a former science journalist and her award-winning short stories combine her two loves: fiction and science. Many of Tania’s stories, which have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in print and online, are inspired by articles from popular science magazines. In November 2007, she founded The Short Review, a unique website dedicated to reviewing short story collections.

For more on Tania's current projects, visit TaniaHershman.com.

Tania, congrats on your new book and welcome to Eco-Libris, which is your seventh stop on the virtual tour. How does it go so far? I know it's greener to go on a virtual tour but is it easier than going on an actual book tour?

Well, considering that this virtual tour covers Europe, Africa, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand, I am far less jet-lagged than I would be and not so sick of airline food! But it is pretty exhausting, answering so many questions about me, my writing, my thoughts on science, religion, literature, more topics than I imagine I would have covered on a “real” book tour. I don't normally talk about myself so much and I am spending hours contemplating my answers, which is an interesting thing to do, but not too often.

You are working with Eco-Libris to balance out the paper used for the book by planting trees. What brought you to go green with us?

Well, as you know, I wrote an article about Eco-Libris when I still worked as a journalist, and at that time I was hoping that one day I might publish a book myself. I love what you are doing, your ethos, and the way you are doing it. So when the book deal came through and I started to realise the my dream would involve the felling of a large number of trees (provided people actually bought the book!) I thought of you. My partner and I try and lead as green a lifestyle as we can, we compost, we recycle, we shun plastic bags (a particular passion of mine), and so this made sense to me.

As someone with a science background and a former science journalist, maybe you can help me figure this one out - how come we still make paper of trees? how come we found how to put a man on the moon but can't find another source for paper other than one of the most precious natural resources we got?

That's a great question and one I feel totally unqualified to answer, being more of a failed science student than a scientist. You are right, of course. Why can't we? Why can't we come up with a green alternative, one that looks and feels like paper, but can be manufactured without cutting down trees, and doesn't involve electricity, batteries, spare parts, noxious chemicals? Sorry, can't help you there. Israel is a wonderful source of innovation and all the people I met when I was writing about science and technology here believed that they could solve any problem – so why don't you put it to some of them?

How do you feel about e-books? do you think in 10-20 years they will rule the book market? do you plan to publish on electronic format?

Personally, I have never read an e-book and I find the idea of reading on screen unappealing. I love books. I have been in love with books since I was a child. I just love to hold them, to turn the pages, that for me is an essential part of the reading experience. But I know that for the kids of today, things are different, screens are part of their bodies, extra limbs, so perhaps they are the natural e-book consumers. Although I am not afraid that that books will vanish – television didn't kill radio, so I remain hopeful. My publishers, Salt, don't publish e-books, so that is not an option right now, but I am open to anything.

One eco-friendly option for book lovers is going to the public library. Do you do that? if so, how often?

I loved libraries as a child in London, my weekly trip with my Dad, the hushed atmosphere, the miles of free books, so much to read, a seemingly endless supply. Here in Jerusalem, things are a little different. I don't read for pleasure in Hebrew.

We used to live a few doors from the British Council and they had a great English-language library, but budget cuts forced them to close, and I haven't found a replacement. But when we spent a year in the UK for me to do my MA in Creative Writing, we lived in Bristol and I spent a lot of time in all the city's libraries, and even set a story there. I wish there was somewhere here I could go to. But I must confess that I like to buy books and I like to own the books I love. It's a constant struggle.

If you don't mind, let's get a little personal - how does a life of a writer looks like? can you share with us a regular day in your life?

A regular day? Well, let me dispel some myths: I don't get up at 6am and write for four hours (friends of mine who are reading this will be laughing at that one). I don't have any goals such as writing 1000 words a day. I write short stories, some very very short stories, and that is completely different from working on a novel, a long-term project. Some of the stories of mine that I love best were written in 20 minutes. So for me the main thing is to clear room in my head to allow the creativity to come.

My issue right now is finding the space to work in; my partner and I both work from home and I don't have a study with a door I can shut. A writer without a room of her own! We have plans to renovate our cellar, in an environmentally-friendly way, I hope, which would be an ideal solution, right by the house but not in the house, so I can be alone with the voices in my head. When that happens, perhaps I will have more of a routine, but right now I go and sit in local cafes with my laptop, I work well with that kind of white noise, but it is expensive, and I tend to eat too much and over-caffeinate!

You were born in London and live now in Jerusalem. You mentioned in one of the interviews how you like the hectic life there. Do you see yourself living and writing anywhere else?

Did I say hectic? Actually, after London, Jerusalem feels like a village to me, it's a manageable size, I can go places on foot, friends live in walking distance, I have my favourite cafes, the food here is fantastic. I love living here, but I know that anyone outside Israel imagines that it is how they see it on the news, and, as you yourself know, it isn't like that. We get on with the everyday, and life here is very spontaneous, which I like.

In London you have to make plans months in advance. I don't know what I will feel like doing tonight, let alone in 3 months. So, no, I don't see myself living anywhere else, but I am open to fellowships and writing residences. I spent several weeks in France in November at a place that called itself a “writing retreat” but didn't live up to its name and ended up being more stressful than peaceful and creative.

Next year I hope to be going back to the heavenly Anam Cara retreat (http://anamcararetreat.com/) in Ireland where I can get a great deal done in just a week. So, yes, I love living here but I also like to leave every now and then, a change of scene is good stimulation for the senses. I should also mention that I have never written a story set in Jerusalem. That's just not what comes out. Perhaps you can't write about where you are. My stories are set in the UK, the US, Antarctica, and even in space – I don't feel too constrained by reality when I write!

I believe that short stories became very popular in Israel in the last 10-15 years. Are there any Israeli short story writers that influenced your writing?

I don't know about the popularity of short stories in Israel, but I have to say – unsurprisingly – that I am a huge fan of Etgar Keret's stories. They are wonderfully surreal, touching, moving, shocking. He is a huge inspiration to me. I haven't read them in Hebrew, though, much to my embarrassment.

Your book is written in English. Is there a special reason you chose to write in English and not in Hebrew? Do you see yourself publishing in the future in Hebrew?

My written Hebrew is about the same as a five-year-old's! Good enough reason?? I speak and understand Hebrew fluently but never had to write in Hebrew, as a journalist I reported for American and British journals. So no, I highly doubt I will pull a Samuel Beckett and write in a language that isn't my mother tongue. I love the English language, and am thankful that even after 15 years in Israel I haven't lost my language skills. I sometimes think that being bilingual allows me to be more flexible and playful with English, I don't know if there are other bilingual writers who feel like that.

You have a very impressive online presence with a blog that you write for almost every day - how do you find blogging? is it easier to blog than to write "regular" stories? do you find it enjoyable as well?

Blogging has become a lifeline for me, it sustains me in so many ways. Writing my blog - which focuses mostly on the writing life - and reading fellow writer/bloggers' blogs brings me community, a community I haven't found here in Israel, of English-speaking fiction writers. This community is warm, generous, open, supportive, interested, candid about the difficulties of writing, celebrating one another's achivievements and commiserating the rejections.

Blogging has become a very important part of my life, is a completely different type of process from writing short stories, but some of the aims are the same: I blog to connect with like-minded folk anywhere. I also blog to find out what I think: often, it isn't until my fingers are moving across the keyboard that I discover how I feel. This is also true of short story-writing for me, things come out that I had no idea were in me, and when someone reads a story of mine and tells me it touched them, there is no better feeling.

Do you think that a blog/website is something that every author needs nowadays in both marketing terms and interaction with readers?

As a writer who is trying as hard as possible to market her first book, the blogsphere, Facebook, my websites are indispensable tools. I don't know what I would do without the Internet, I don't know how I would go about telling people about my book. I would have to do a book tour, I would have to be on the road, which, apart from anything else, would increase my carbon footprint, as well as taking so much time away from my writing.

The Internet has also, I think, opened up such a wealth of opportunities for short story writers, especially for those of us who write very very short stories or flash fiction. Submitting your stories electronically makes it easier to send them out, and being published online, while not the same as seeing your name on the printed page, means you can link to your work and perhaps find more readers, worldwide. There are new online literary magazines starting up on a daily basis, which is thrilling. Anyone who thinks the short story is floundering should have a quick look at what is going on online, they would be amazed. And some of it even pays!

What's going to be your next book about? is there any chance we'll see soon a collection of yours of short stories about global warming?

It's been done! On the website I founded to review short story collections, The Short Review (www.theshortreview.com), we reviewed Guy Dauncey's collection, Earth Future: Stories from a Sustainable World (http://www.theshortreview.com/reviews/GuyDaunceyEarthFuture.htm). Right now I am not in a hurry to publish a second book, I am focusing on marketing this collection, as well as getting back to my writing, much of which is flash fiction. I was recently shortlisted in a six-minute play competition with a play I adapted from one of the stories in my book. My play will be performed in London next year, so this is one new direction I am pursuing. I also have an idea for a film script – no environmental themes, though, I'm afraid.

Thank you so much for having me and for what you are doing for my book and for the planet!

Tania

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

Tania Hersman is giving away one copy of her new book!! This is a great prize, which includes a tree planted for this copy with Eco-Libris. How do you get a chance to win this prize? just add a comment below with an answer for the following question: what do you prefer - short stories or flash fiction, and what's the best length for a short story? feel free to mention your favorites!

Submissions are accepted until next Tuesday, December 16, 12PM EST. Tania will pick the comment she liked best and the winner will be announced on our blog the following day.

Next stop on the Walking the White Road Virtual Book Tour will be at Kelly Spitzer's blog on December 16th, 2008 for a slightly different type of “interview”.

Previous stops:

Chatting about science and fiction with the Keeper of the Snails

Discussing the beauty of short stories with Literary Minded

Talking about magical realism on Vanessa Gebbie’s News

Fiction and religion, a discussion at Sue Guiney: Me and Others

A few words about fiction that falls in between genres on Tim Jones’ Books in The Trees

On the couch talking about favourite authors at Eric Forbes' Good Books Guide

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

An interview with Bill Roth, author of the new book 'On Empty (Out of Time)'

Bill Roth is the author of the new and important book "On Empty (Out of Time)", which readers have described as "America's final "wake-up call"" and "A must read if you want freedom from high pump prices!".

We reviewed the book at the beginning of the month and I felt afterwards that this issue is way too important and requires an interview with the author to learn more about his views and thoughts on the energy issues we're facing.

Firstly here's a little background of the author (see also photo below): Bill Roth has a solid experience in the energy sector, with a career that included posts such as senior VP of marketing and sales with PG&E Energy Services and COO of Texaco Ovonics Hydrogen Solutions. Currently he is the President of NCCT, a San Francisco-based consulting firm helping businesses define and integrate Sustainability into their strategies, performance metrics, branding/marketing and business processes.. He is also Entrepreneur.com's Green Business Coach.

Bill Roth is also collaborating with Eco-Libris to plant a tree for every copy sold, and readers gets their copy with our sticker saying "One tree planted for this book".

And now to the interview:

Can you tell us what brought you to write "On Empty"? would you describe it as a theoretic book or more of 'renewable energy for dummies' kind of book?

People are not dumb. In fact my belief in people is what motivated me to write On Empty. I believe if people are supplied with Pricing Clarity that includes the “Systems” costs tied to consumption and if they have the freedom to choose among competing fuels/technologies then they will make the right decisions. And that is what we are seeing right now in America. The Green Economic Revolution portrayed in On Empty is a grass roots, people-led, movement.

You describe the book as a "call for action" for the American consumer. What’s the actions you would like to see immediately and do you really believe that the American consumer will act accordingly?

The American consumer wants Energy Independence, they want lower pump/meter prices and they want a clean environment. They are also the world’s largest change-agent with $10 trillion of annual buying power. A key to America’s success is our system of empowering consumers by allowing them to buy “best of class” from the world’s entire inventory of goods and services. This is what must happen for America (and the world) to realize the benefits of moving from a carbon-based system to a sustainable system. And to achieve this empowerment requires two steps, Pricing Clarity at the pump/meter and removal of Barriers to Entry that now limit consumer access to sustainable solutions.

How did the U.S. got to this point where if I may quote you "we face recession and inflation as we borrow trillions of dollars to finance an energy system that we don't own, that keeps charging us higher prices and is placing our troops in harm's way"? whose fault is it - Washington? the oil companies? the American consumer? all of them?

This is a classic boiling frog situation. The story of the boiling frog is that if you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water it will jump out. If you put a frog in a pot of room temperature water and slowly bring it to a broil then the frog will die. America’s wealth allowed it to stay in the pot even as it became more and more unsustainable.

The fault is that our market system is not including in its prices at the pump and meter such societal costs as “Boots on the Ground” or Global Warming or deficit spending. And our market system has empowered legacy companies with advantages that preclude consumers from easily buying competitive alternatives. The changes that are required are systemic and their result will be a global mega-trend as dramatic in its impacts as the Information Age or Globalization.

You claim in your book that the alternative energy technologies that can benefit both our wallets and the environment are already there. So why we don't see greater use of these technologies?

Pricing and consumer access are the two elements to enabling any new technology. And achieving low pricing is tied to mass production. For example, flat-screen TVs in the United States used to be a luxury item only a few could afford. But with mass production flat-screen TVs have now achieved commodity-low prices that enable mass consumer purchasing. Enabling this move into mass production was open, global, sourcing where consumers have multiple supply-channels from which to shop and price compare.

So during the 21st Century’s first seven years flat-screen TVs have gone from cutting edge technology only a few could afford to a low priced commodity achieving approximately 50% household market penetration. This same path is open, but has yet to be realized, for sustainable technologies. Why, because carbon-based prices at the pump and meter do not include the societal costs now paid for through taxes and government financing. And because the supply chain to the consumer is blocked by legacy companies.

Which of the renewable energy alternative/s you see as the most promising one?

Here’s the absolute key point of On Empty. It doesn’t matter what I think are the best technologies or what someone in Washington DC thinks. If we introduce Pricing Clarity and remove Barriers to Entry then the consumer will answer this question. And when the American consumer figures this out with their $10 trillion of annual purchasing power we will have enabled the mass production of sustainability that will offer Energy Independence, lower pump/meter prices and a clean environment to the world.

Do you see the energy crisis you describe in the book mainly as an economic problem or a political one?

It is a systemic problem and it is global. Look, America in 1901 won the lottery when the Spindeltop oil well exploded into life in Texas. By the 1940’s our free market system enabled by Texas oil was supplying 75% of the world’s oil. The American free enterprise system engineered a carbon based world. Well, America now only has 3% of the world’s oil supply and we consume 25% of the world’s oil output.

Even worse, we now have China duplicating our unsustainable path of reliance upon oil and coal. The global system needs re-engineering into a sustainable system. And the great news is the same American enterprise system that enabled the Carbon Age has the consumer power to create a global Green Economic Revolution.

You write that this is a must read - why do you think this book is important and who do you hope will read it?

It is a must read because it explains to consumers, “us”, how we are the enabling driver in gaining Energy Independence, lower prices and a clean environment. America has tried and continues to try legislative, proscriptive, decision making. This is not what we do best. What America has is 300 million of the world’s best informed and wealthiest consumers who have driven every technology innovation the world now uses to global mass production.

The must read of this book is that the solution is empowering the American consumer, not legislation, not government investment in R&D, not tax credits or even global treaties. Just introduce Pricing Clarity and eliminate Barriers to Entry and get out of the way of the American consumer. They will do the rest of the hard lifting.

Do you hope that something will change in the way the government approach this issue after the upcoming elections in November? which one of the candidates is more preferable in terms of defining the right goals and taking action to achieve them?

The American political system is truly a marvel in the history of mankind. We now have two candidates who say Global Warming is real and we must solve it. That is a remarkable shift in just four years. I have compared their platforms and they are almost identical. Why? Because to get elected in America you have to “find that middle ground” which most American’s call “common sense.” So the good news is we have two candidates who see the problem and want to solve it. The other special aspect of Presidential history is that our Presidents have the opportunity to rise to the occasion.

Our heroes are Washington, Lincoln and the Roosevelts who inherited crisis and rose to the occasion with actions most pundits never anticipated. Whoever the next President is, this is their opportunity. They have the opportunity to move pass the lobbying by our legacy companies and enable America’s consumers to lead the world into a sustainable system.

How do you estimate the current financial crisis will influence the creation of the green economy you describe in your book? can it delay plans and investments in alternative energy?

America is at its best in a crisis. We have hit the debt wall, including the debt financing of our reliance upon imported oil. And while most American’s don’t understand all the confusing stuff being pumped out of Washington D.C. we understand the price at our gasoline pump. And that is telling us we need to find something other than gasoline to run our cars. And the increasing price at the meter is telling us we need to re-engineer our homes/offices/factories to be more energy efficient and possibly buy a renewable technology like solar.

On Empty’s chapter on BIG ANSWERS outlines the magnitude of change required to achieve sustainability. And it outlines the huge rewards for doing so. If America does rise to this challenge then in eight years we can build a sustainable and very healthy economy offering highly attractive green-collar jobs.

Are you optimistic? if the answer is yes - what's your secret? how do you do it?

I am hugely optimistic because the technology solutions are now available. That’s a major change from 1974 when OPEC enacted the oil embargo and our cars ran off of carburetors. The only thing standing between us and sustainability is Pricing Clarity at the pump/meter and removal of Barriers to Entry. And these changes will be implemented because the American consumer will demand it.

And to-date nothing has ever stopped the American consumer from buying what they want. The only issue is will our next President read On Empty and “get it” or will our country have to learn it the hard way by experiencing increasing pain at the pump/meter and from having Boots on the Ground protecting someone else’s oil field and from a financial melt-down because we can’t afford a carbon-based economy.

Do you want to add any message to our readers?

While On Empty has an American message the implementation path is, and must be, global. The American message is based upon the unique purchasing power of the American consumer and their ability to propel global change. But America is a free society that will buy solutions from anyone in the world (especially if Barriers to Entry are removed). The message of achieving Pricing Clarity and removal of Barriers to Entry is as critical to America as it is to Asia, or Europe or the Middle East. America is the consumer engine for a global Green Economic Revolution that will achieve sustainability offering the world lower prices and a cleaner environment.

On Empty's website - http://www.onemptyroth.com/

A review of the book - http://ecolibris.blogspot.com/2008/09/on-empty-by-bill-roth-mondays-green.html

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

Are we out of time? Author Bill Roth is answering in a new book and collaborating with Eco-Libris!

Eco-Libris is happy to announce a new collaboration with Bill Roth, author of 'On Empty (Out of Time)'.

Bill Roth is working with Eco-Libris to green up this new green-themed book. A tree will be planted for every copy sold of the book. Buyers will also receive our sticker with their book, saying "One tree planted for this book".

We're very excited to work on this important book, which readers have described as "America's final "wake-up call"" and "A must read if you want freedom from high pump prices!". As it looks like we are running out of time with regards to the current energy sources we use and the prompt need in high , it's definitely an important book.

So what is this book all about? Here is the description of it:

On Empty (out of Time) graphically details the threat of economic and environmental disaster tied to our unsustainable addiction to fossil fuels. It proposes fresh ideas for implementing a Man on the Moon national commitment for deploying American-owned sustainable technologies that will achieve lower pump/meter prices, solve Global Warming and eliminate the need for Boots on the Ground protecting other people's oil fields. And it outlines how the American consumer, a $10 trillion a year buying force, can be empowered to vote with their pocket books for changes that their political votes have yet to achieve.

About the author: Bill Roth is Entrepreneur.com’s Green Business Coach with a regular column and he is President of NCCT (http://www.cleantechgrowth.com).

The book is already available (though the first edition was sold out!) and can be purchased at Amzon.com, http://www.onemptroth.com, http://www.cleantechgrowth.com, and on Lafayette Book Store.

If you're curious to learn more, you can read a chapter in the book right here on this link - http://onemptyroth.com/images/docs/Sample_Chapter_On_Empty_Out_of_Time.pdf. We will also review the book very soon, so stay tuned.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!