Moon Willow Press's Summer Reading Program offers free ebooks every week!

Moon Willow Press, a small publishing company committed to helping sustain forests while celebrating the written word, which partners with Eco-Libris to plant trees for its published books, is running this summer a great Summer Reading Program.

This program, which will run until September 8, 2012 is designed to promote reading and tree-planting. All summer, every weekend, Moon Willow Press will be offering free e-books! Check back weekly.

Here are more details on the Summer Reading Program:

Free Kindle downloads every weekend: Smoke Ghosts and Other Outré Tales is our seventh freebie during our summer reading promotion and is free July 14-15 from Amazon Kindle. Click here for the full schedule of free downloads this summer.

Contest to win a *$50.00 Amazon gift card: When you buy any paperback title from Moon Willow Press between June 1 – September 8, you will automatically be entered into our Summer Reading Contest to win a $50.00 gift certificate to Amazon.com. The contest is open to all ages. How does it work?

*Amazon.ca – $50.00 (CAD) for Canadian residents or Amazon.com – $50.00 (USD) for all other countries

1. When you buy a paperback book from MWP between June 1 – September 8, Moon Willow Press will enter your name and contact details into a summer reading database.
2. For each Moon Willow Press paperback title you purchase, you will be entered into the contest drawing. The more reading of our books that you do, the better chance you have to win! (You can only win once!)
3. On September 8, Moon Willow Press will draw ten names from a random generator and contact the buyers.
4. Of those ten, we will ask for a statement not to exceed 500 words relating what books you read over the summer and how reading has changed your life. These statements must be emailed to us by the official end of summer: September 21, 2012, midnight Pacific time.
5. Moon Willow Press’s Mary, and others, will judge the ten responses. We will be judging responses by a combination of how many books you’ve read over the summer (please be honest and list each one!), grammatical accuracy, interesting thought process (can be humorous, motivational, etc.), and timeliness of your response. Responses received after midnight PDT will be discarded, and those entrants will be ineligible to win.
6. All final 10 entries will win a free Moon Willow Press annual membership.
7. The winner and response will be announced September 24th, and the gift card will be emailed to the winner on September 25.

Reduced Prices: All 2011 paperbacks have been reduced in price. Click our Book Catalog for more information.

Tree-planting initiative: A portion of all sales during this time will be donated to Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for each book you read.

For more information on Moon Willow Press visit their website at http://www.moonwillowpress.com

Past collaborations with Moon Willow Press:

Infernal Drums by Anthony Wright

Smoke Ghosts & Other Outré Tales, by Anthony Wright

The Little Big Town by Mary Woodbury

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting sustainable reading!

The Scandinavian publisher Whyte Tracks is partnering with Eco-Libris

We are happy to announce a new partnership with Whyte Tracks, an Independent English publisher in Scandinavia and currently produces fiction and non-fiction titles including sagas, creative spirituality, occult and esoteric publications. From now on, for every book Whyte Track is selling, a tree will be planted through Eco Libris!

Whyte Tracks is a publisher with a true commitment to sustainable reading and we are happy to partner with them and plant trees for the wonderful books they publish, such as The Dog's Tale, Scent of Summer Magnolia, The Vineyard of the Nietzschean Priest and many others.

Here's more on Whyte Tracks:

Whyte Track's philosophy is to produce vibrant and beautiful books as a heritage for future generations, presenting spiritual, pagan and cultural history tales from around the globe.

We opened our doors for business in 2009 and now we are ready to expand our operations to include Print on Demand and ebook services for the hobby-writer wanting a few copies to give to friends, for the serious author intending to wow the market, and we can offer a professional and efficient service to Corporations and Educational Institutions with specific publication

requirements. We can also provide print solutions and world wide distribution from our premises in Denmark.

You can visit their website at http://www.whytetracks.eu.com/ and also follow them on twitter and Facebook.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Working to green the book industry!

New e-book for our partner Moon Willow Press: Smoke Ghosts & Other Outré Tales by Anthony Wright

Moon Willow Press, a Canadian publisher that not only publish books sustainably, but also works to help other publishers to do the same and partners with Eco-Libris to plant trees for its published books, has just released a new book: Smoke Ghosts & Other Outré Tales, by Anthony Wright.

This book is released as an e-book and available for sale on Amazon for Kindle owners and on Smashwords for the rest of the world. Although this book is not released as a paper book, Moon Willow Press will plant trees with Eco-Libris for this book, as part of its commitment to the environment and promoting sustainable reading.

Here's a description of the book:

Thirteen journeys transpire in Anthony Wright's new short-story collection, Smoke Ghosts & Other Outré Tales, which features tales from "The South Asia Suite" and "The Trail of My Dead". In this e-book, a collection of dark but humorous short stories, Anthony Wright weaves his past travels in Australia, South East Asia, Mexico, and Central America to create a lively pattern of outré tales, interlaced with the supernatural, in which the author's outsider philosophy is central to the thread of existence.

Sail down the river of time to the Borneo jungle and witness a filmmaker hoping to capture headhunters of lore. Travel to Manila to find yourself lonely beyond lonely, hot, and in need of a beer – and then meet one unique soul in the wheel of time. Find yourself in old cities, tropical climates, dreaming of ancient friends and death. Watch in horror as drowning waters rise in Bangkok, visit the monsoons and calderas of Australia, drift through the snapping perceptions of youth. Meet sages and fools. Float upon hot, dry winds scented by jacaranda and bougainvillea. Wake up to not remembering, and go to sleep under the stars. Explore your past and future on the fingertips of one drunk night in Belize City.

Smoke Ghosts is published by Moon Willow Press, a new small press in Port Moody, British Columbia. Moon Willow Press publishes books that explore science and nature, and prints only on forest-friendly fiber, hoping to help sustain the world's forests. MWP also donates a portion of sales to organizations that help to reforest ravaged woodlands and sustain natural arboreal ecosystems.

Anthony Wright was born in Melbourne, Australia, graduated in film production at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and was employed in various occupations and traveled through 20 countries before settling in Mexico City in 1993. He lived and worked as a journalist before returning to Melbourne in 2001, where he completed an education diploma at the University of Melbourne and began work as a teacher. He returned to Mexico City in 2008. His fiction, journalism, poetry and photography have been published in Australia, China, England, Mexico and the United States.

For more information on Moon Willow Press visit their website at http://www.moonwillowpress.com

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting sustainable reading!

Brighter Books is collaborating with Eco-Libris to plant a tree for every printed copy of their books!

We're happy to announce on a new partnership with Brighter Books, a new independent publishing house dedicated to bringing only the best books to life. A tree will be planted with Eco-Libris for every book published by Brighter Brains, starting with "The Guardian" by C.J. Gosling.

Brighter Books Publishing House was founded by Angela and Dean Jurgensen, a couple with a diverse background. Angela is a Brazilian artist, illustrator, writer and business owner, who grew up surrounded by fiction books, particularly the classics; Dean is a Canadian electronic engineer with a passion for learning new things, who spends most of his free time reading educational books. They have a positive outlook for the world, as long as everyone does their part to make the world a better place; Brighter Books Publishing House is their attempt to do their part.

Here is their mission statement:

At Brighter Books Publishing House, we believe books are alive, and they have the power to change people. Our mission is to make books that challenge and excite our readers; that feed their hungry minds; that expand their horizons and open up the doors to their imagination. We want our books to help make people better, to connect families and to help people grow.

We want to bridge the old with the new by going back to the reason books were first made, making only the highest quality literature and products. At the same time, we want to ensure we do our part to preserve the Earth for future generations, keeping it green and leaving the smallest footprint possible behind.

Brighter Books has already an upcoming list of wonderful books that will be published later on this year. As we mentioned, their first book is "The Guardian" by C.J. Gosling and it was released earlier this week. One tree will be planted with Eco-Libris for every printed copy of this great book, and already, 300 trees have been planted for its printed copies!

Here's more about "The Guardian":

A hidden world, known as the Shadowlands, threatens ours with darkness and magical violence. To protect both worlds, boundary lines were drawn. No one can cross from one to the other without risking open war.

After the fire that killed Tavin’s mother, his grief-stricken father disappeared, abandoning him and his sister Moreanna. Tavin and Moreanna share a secret psychic connection. Sometimes, her presence is the only thing that keeps Tavin sane. When a mysterious sickness threatens Moreanna’s life, Tavin`s connection to his sister begins to fade. With the discovery of a magical universe through a hidden door in his grandfather`s attic, Tavin desperately hopes a cure may be within his grasp.

“No trespassing” becomes an easy rule to break.

The Guardian is an amazing page-turner; everyone will fall in love with the characters, and wonder what will happen in the sequel.

You can find "The Guardian" on Amazon and it's also available for purchase as an e-book. You're also welcome to follow Brighter Books on twitter and Facebook.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Working to green the book industry!

How an inspired publishing house is taking on the world with words

Aaspirations Publishing, a committed green publisher based in Canada, is collaborating with Eco-Libris for more than two years, planting with us over 10,000 trees to green up great books such as as "The Micro Meanies", "Where the Buttercups Grow", "Under the Desk" and "I Love to Be Me".

Last September, Aaspirations Publishing suffered the sudden and tragic loss of its founder and CEO, Anjali Sondhi, to Dengue fever while working in India. Now the publishing house is headed by her husband, Anil, who is determined to continuing the committed work of this unique publishing house.

The last newsletter of Inc. 500|5000 dedicated an interesting piece to Aaspirations Publishing and their work that I would like to share with you:

In an age when the book business can seem to be guarded, gilded, and, well, way too digital (admit it, an algorithm recommends more books to you than your friends do), here's an Inc. Community company committed to making book selling a community affair. With offices in New York, Toronto and Delhi, India, Aaspirations Publishing is looking to make the world a better place, one book at a time.

The company was founded based on the vision and passion of writer Anjali Sondhi, with the support of her husband Anil. After their daughter experienced the closed doors of many a publishing house in an effort to publish her children's book, the couple decided to open their own publishing house, one with a clear purpose at heart. Their mission? To support good works in the world through books—their authors, their consumers, and their lessons.

According to Anil, "Every book we publish has an important message for the world." And for each book, Aaspirations supports good works projects associated with that book topic that range from tree-planting to fundraising to children's education programs. For Aaspirations, each book becomes the inspiration and driver for change "for people in pain, for people who want to learn, for people in the world who need things". Aaspirations has a concentration on children's and teens' books, and thus supporting global literacy, learning and awareness seems like an appropriate purpose. They also consider themselves a "green" publishing house—they plant a tree for every children's book they print, and all their teen books are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

Sadly, Aaspirations recently suffered the sudden and tragic loss of their visionary founding CEO, Anjali Sondhi, to Dengue fever while working in India this September. In her memory, Anil says that Aaspirations is carrying on full throttle, growing the business toward the fulfillment of her dream under the guidance of her vision. Anil affirms fervently that her memory helps the Aaspirations team push harder toward its goal of making the world a better place—"her vision was that great, and this was her passion."

In the future, Aaspirations hopes to move on to Anjali's long-time goal of making movies based on the books that it publishes. The first one is due to be finished by the end of next year. The team at Aaspirations remains committed to growing the business to scale without losing sight of its challenging dual mission to succeed as a for-profit company and to make a positive impact in the world. Thus, it's a good thing that the folks at Aaspirations don't do anything in the publishing world by the book.

You can find more information on Aaspirations Publishing on their website at http://www.aaspirationspublishing.com/

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Three new books of Write Bloody Publishing are going green with Eco-Libris

We are happy to announce of three new books of Write Bloody Publishing that are going green with Eco-Libris. One tree will be planted for each printed copy of How to Seduce a White Boy in Ten Easy Steps by Laura Yes Yes, 38 Bar Blues by A.V. Avery and The Feature Room by Anis Mojgani.

As mentioned all of these books are published by Write Bloody Publishing, which is collaborating with Eco-Libris to plant trees for the books it publishes. We already worked with Write Bloody Publishing to plant a tree for every printed copy of the LAST TIME as WE ARE by Taylor Mali and Ceremony for the Choking Ghost by Karen Finneyfrock.

Write Bloody Publishing, which publishes and promotes great books of fiction, poetry and art every year, was started in 2004 by traveling poet and former paratrooper Derrick Brown. Write Bloody is a small press with a snappy look dedicated to quality literature. They have offices in LA, NYC and Murfreesboro, TN.

Here is some more information on the three new books:

How to Seduce a White Boy in Ten Easy Steps by Laura Yes Yes

Laura Yes Yes' sultry, wry first book, How to Seduce a White Boy in Ten Easy Steps, dazzles us with its bold exploration into the politics and metaphysics of identity. From fierce and funny sexual fantasias to cutting observations of interracial dynamics, her work asks us to fully consider what it is to be human in an age of fragmentation and double meanings. There are no easy answers here: the voice of the liberated woman rings clearly as a man-eater in one moment, and shudders under the weight of lost love in the next. Laura skillfully navigates the trauma of being Other while acknowledging the absurdity of our perceptions of race. With precise craft and breathtaking imagery, How to Seduce a White Boy blooms as a ferocious celebration of life.

38 Bar Blues by C.R. Avery

in Gomorrah? When you were still beardless,

and I would oil my hair in the lamp light before seeing

you, when we were young, and blushed with youth

like bruised fruit. Did we care then

what our neighbors did

in the dark?

When our first daughter was born

on the River Jordan, when our second

cracked her pink head from my body

like a promise, did we worry

what our friends might be

doing with their tongues?

What new crevices they found

to lick love into or strange flesh

to push pleasure from, when we

called them Sodomites then,

all we meant by it

was neighbor.

When the angels told us to run

from the city, I went with you,

but even the angels knew

that women always look back.

Let me describe for you, Lot,

what your city looked like burning

since you never turned around to see it.

Sulfur ran its sticky fingers over the skin

of our countrymen. It smelled like burning hair

and rancid eggs. I watched as our friends pulled

chunks of brimstone from their faces. Is any form

of loving this indecent?

Cover your eyes tight,

husband, until you see stars, convince

yourself you are looking at Heaven.

Because any man weak enough to hide his eyes while his neighbors

are punished for the way they love deserves a vengeful god.

I would say these things to you now, Lot,

but an ocean has dried itself on my tongue.

So instead I will stand here, while my body blows itself

grain by grain back over the Land of Canaan.

I will stand here

and I will watch you

run.

38 Bar Blues, is poetry loaded with bar stool musicality and brass knuckle living. Welcome to a clear glimpse into a motel 50 miles outside of town, a window into the life of a modern troubadour. C.R. Avery’s writing flows like a Tennessee Williams stage play, from haiku-size poems to longer erotic tales that sink the reader deeper into backstage smoke of Avery’s worlds. 38 Bar Blues is the perfectly crafted journal of a living legend. Enter the back-room of an old Italian cafe, where dirty-dirty politics, outlaw love, and outrageous beauty are all in the cards.

For a sneak-peek inside 38 Bar Blues click here!

The Feather Room by Anis Mojgani

Science, birds, Billy the Kid, and lots of feathers surround The Feather Room, Anis Mojgani's follow up to his Pushcart-nominated work, Over the Anvil We Stretch. In The Feather Room, Mojgani further explores storytelling in poetic form while traveling farther down the path of magic realism, endowing his tales with a greater sense of fantasy and brightness. The work recounts loss and heartbreak while discovering lightness and beauty on the other side. Throughout the book, Mojgani opens tree trunks to reveal chandeliers. He leads us through the rooms inside himself, using poems to part curtains and paint walls. He is lifting windows to let the fantasy indoors.

Here you can see the author reading one of his poems at the 2008 Austin SLAMOFF finals, at the Long Center for the Performing Arts.



All these books and other great books of Write Bloody Publishing are available at Write Bloody Publishing's store.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

Award finalist for Mind Body Spirit Children's Book published by our Aussie partner Pick-a-WooWoo!

We just got great news from our partner, the Australian publisher Pick-a-WooWoo, announcing that their book KC the Conscious Camel was a finalist in the Mind Body Spirit Category for Children - 2010 Best Books, USA Book News Awards.

Kudos to Pick-a-WooWoo! KC the CONSCIOUS CAMEL is a story of being conscious of your own emotions and of employing spirituality and personal power to be the best that you can be. It even shows the children how to do this through meditating.

Eco-Libris is collaborating with Pic-a-WooWoo to plant trees for most their recent titles. 625 trees for were planted for KC the Conscious Camel.

Here's some more information about the book:

When K.C.'s dear friend, Sticky the Pig, is ridiculed by the class bully, Ginger the Red Fox, for an unfortunate mud puddle incident, KC shares with Sticky the tools to owning an emotion and then moving beyond it. KC demonstrates the need for acting instead of reacting. Throughout the day, the precocious camel points out opportunities for he and his friends to tune in to their inner peace, joy, and unconditional love. KC shows them how to stay connected to these productive and positive emotions through meditation.

KC and his classmates ultimately demonstrate to their teacher and to each other that they are capable of complex spiritual evolution...and a harmonious day on the playground!

Author: Suzanne McRae
Illustrator: Alexander Mortimer

More information on other titles published by Pick-a-Woo Woo can be found on their website - http://www.pickawoowoo.com

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 7: Leap Books

We still have some time left before we begin with the Green Books Campaign on Wednesday, Nov 10, at 1:00 PM, and we continue to present some of the publishers that participate in the campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is Leap Books.

Leap Books is a fresh voice in fiction for teens and tweens. Our books take you on a journey into the unknown, into love, into discovery, into new worlds. So read them, and LEAP...

Leap Books is participating in the campaign with the following books (all printed on FSC-certified paper):

1. For the Love of Strangers by Jacqueline Horsfall will be reviewed on Melody's Reading Corner.

2. Freaksville by Kitty Keswick will be reviewed on Frenetic Reader.

3. Island Sting by Bonnie J. Doerr will be reviewed on Curling Up by the Fire.

4. I Was a Teenage Alien by Jane Greenhill will be reviewed on Book Reading Gals.

5. Under My Skin by Judith Graves will be reviewed on Cafe of Dreams.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
As the publisher of tween and teen books, Leap Books cares deeply about the audience we serve. We aim to produce books that encourage teens to read, enlarge their world, help them cope with life challenges, and provide pleasurable experiences. Because we care about teens, we want to ensure that they grow up in a clean, healthy world, one with plenty of trees and natural resources. Leap Books is committed not only to using eco-friendly paper, but to supporting environmental efforts in any way we can.

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
We are committed to using eco-friendly paper for all our books and materials. We also participate in programs to plant trees to replace the paper we use for our books because we believe it’s important to renew any resources we deplete.

Are there other ways you're going green?
Leap Books opened with the intention of being as green as possible. In addition to contributing to environmental efforts, we also publish books with green themes. The first title we published, Island Sting by Bonnie J. Doerr is an eco-mystery about saving the endangered Key deer from poachers. The main characters in the book form a “green-teen” environmental group, Keys Teens Care, which works to clean up pollution and go green. Each of Doerr’s books in the series deals with saving an endangered animal as well as an environmental clean-up project. We’ve been told that the book has sparked “green-teen” groups around the country.

Author Bonnie Doerr also reports on teen efforts to go green on her blog, Bonnie Blogs Green, and a portion of the proceeds from this book have been donated to environmental groups. Another book we’re publishing, Jacqueline Horsfall’s For the Love Strangers, has a strong theme of caring for the world around us. Jacqueline is also the author of Play Lightly on the Earth.

In addition to promoting the replanting of trees, Leap Books uses recycled products in our offices. Promotions and press releases are done via the Internet as often as possible. We do small print runs to prevent remaindering, provide free “Exclusive” reads on our website rather than printing them, offer pdfs of our book group discussion guides and curriculum materials, publish our catalog online, give reviewers the option of reading ARCs as e-books, and have begun offering some of our titles as e-books.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
Try to purchase books from publishers that use eco-friendly paper, are committed to recycling, and support environmental programs. Consider donating to companies that are replanting trees or saving rain forests. Also, if you can, think about purchasing e-books to save paper.

Thank you Leap Books for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Green Books Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp. You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 6: HOPS Press

less than 48 hours have left to the Green Books Campaign and we continue to present some of the publishers that participate in the campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is HOPS Press.

HOPS Press, LLC publishes six books and six videos by author, builder, wilderness survival instructor, and conservationist, Thomas J. Elpel, providing practical hands-on skills to restore our connection with nature.

Two of Elpel’s books are included in thee campaign. Participating in Nature (to be reviewed on raganella) is a book of wilderness survival skills, enabling the reader to discover nature through the process of using it to meet the basic needs for shelter, fire, water, and food. Living Homes (to be reviewed on Beth's Book Reviews) provides nuts-and-bolts construction advice for building high-efficiency homes on a shoestring budget. Both books are printed on 100% recycled paper.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
With my background as a wilderness survival instructor, I am accustomed to getting by with scarce resources. In wilderness survival, one simply cannot afford the luxury of waste. I’ve applied that survival mentality to life at home and work as well, building high quality houses out of scavenged materials, paying cash to avoid paying interest on a mortgage, and installing solar panels to zero-out our electric bill.

I am shocked every time I drive by the community dumpster and see all the valuable resources that have been discarded. As a country, we are burying our wealth in landfills, and it is not remotely sustainable. Most of my books are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper to help close the loop on waste. It is pretty exciting to hold a new product that was made without harvesting new resources.

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
I ask our printer for 100% post-consumer recycled paper stock, if available. If 100% post-consumer recycled paper is not available, I’ll take the best we can get for the job.

Are there other ways you're going green?
I wear many different hats over the course of a year, and one of my favorite activities is teaching wilderness survival skills to public school kids. I take the local junior high kids out camping for three days and two nights every year, teaching them skill such as: how to start fires by rubbing sticks together, how to make their own plates, bowls, and utensils, how to cook a stir-fry dinner with hot rocks in a bark pan, how to stay warm and dry without a sleeping bag or a tent, and so forth, as documented in my newest video, Classroom in the Woods: Primitive Skills for Public Schools.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
Support publishers that print on 100% recycled paper. Enjoy a good read, then pass the book along to a friend or library to get the most use out of it.

Thank you HOPS Press for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp .You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 5: Five Mile Press

6 days are left to the Green Books Campaign and we continue to present some of the publishers that participate in the campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is Five Mile Press.

The Five Mile Press is an Australian publisher specialising in children’s books, adult non-fiction, Australiana and stationery lines. Founded in 1991, the company quickly became known for its high quality, innovative product and has been building on that reputation ever since. The Five Mile Press is one of the strongest children’s mass-market publishers in Australia. Today, The Five Mile Press publishes in excess of 200 new books each year and sells to countries all around the world.

Many of their popular children’s books, including those by leading artists such as Shirley Barber, Trace Moroney and Robyn Johnson are published in many foreign languages as well as English language editions. We currently publish books in over 27 foreign languages supplied to over 30 different language markets. In addition to this, when world rights to a title are licensed for a particular language, another 20 or so countries are added to our distribution list.

Five Mile Press is participating in the campaign with the following books (all printed on recycled paper):

1. Ranger in Danger: Diablo's Doom by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds will be reviewed on 4 the LOVE of BOOKS.

2. Ranger in Danger: Erik's Enigma by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds will be reviewed on LitLad.

3. Ranger in Danger: Hernando's Labyrinth by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds will be reviewed on BabyMac.

4. Ranger in Danger: King Cobra's Curse by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds will be reviewed on Jennifer Howard's blog.

5. Ranger in Danger: Rapscallion's Revenge by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds will be reviewed on Reading Upside Down.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
Like everyone around the world, we are trying to do our best to conserve our resources and in the publishing industry we are very conscious of the large amount of paper we use. If we use eco-friendly paper, then we are at least doing our best to conserve the forests and ecosystems around the world for the future generations.

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
All the paper we use comes from sustainable forests. We decided to print the Ranger in Danger series on recycled paper with the McPhersons Printing Group in Australia because they are ISO 9001 Environmental accredited, and they also have a number of environmental initiatives that support the printing of their books.

The decision to print on recycled paper came at the request of one of the authors, Sean Willmore, who is the director of the conservation organization The Thin Green Line. The Thin Green Line Foundation’s mission is to share the stories of park rangers from around the world and in doing so support conservations projects, and the families of rangers killed, whilst protecting wildlife in their selfless fight for conservation globally. Sean felt very strongly that recycled paper was the way to go for this series, and we agreed.

Are there other ways you're going green? We all try in our various ways. We car pool, we recycle, we turn off lights and use natural light whenever we can, and we limit our water use within the office. We have a large water tank that supplies water for our toilets and gardens. Our production department is always looking for ways to make our company more green.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
Look out for the FSC, recycled logo or sustainable information on the cover or imprint of the book so you can sure that all the paper has been sourced from environmentally friendly organizations. Look for quality when you are buying books – this usually means the publisher cares about their products, and therefore about the environment. At The Five Mile Press we are very aware of quality and publish to the highest and most environmentally friendly production standards.

Thank you Five Mile Press for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp .You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 4: McArthur and Co.

One week to the Green Books Campaign and we continue to present some of the publishers that participate in the campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is McArthur & Co..

McArthur & Company is a Canadian-owned and operated publisher and distributor of quality Canadian and international fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, based in Toronto. Founded in 1998, the company has had 70 bestsellers, 25 of them #1 bestsellers. Our authors have been shortlisted for 21 Canadian awards and have won 7 of them, including the Governor General's Award for Fiction in 2009 for Kate Pullinger's The Mistress of Nothing.

McArthur and Co. is participating in the campaign with the following books (all printed on FSC-certified paper):

1. The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger will be reviewed on Elizabeth Baines

2. Sounding Line by Anne DeGrace will be reviewed at CHOCOLATE REALITY

3. The Find by Kathy Page will be reviewed on she reads and reads

4. Beauty: Pure + Simple by Kristen Ma will be reviewed on Aisle B

5. Worldshift 2012: Making Green Business, New Politics, and Higher Consciousness Work Together by Dr. Ervin Laszlo will be reviewed on The Ontario Ecotourism Society.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
As a Canadian publisher, it's very important for us to protect Canada's forest resources. By selecting paper that's been certified by FSC, we are reducing the negative effect our industry has on ancient forests, and ensuring that our paper comes from responsibly managed forests and recycled sources.

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
McArthur & Company strives to print as many of our books as possible on eco-friendly paper. We always consider eco-friendly paper for any book we print.

Are there other ways you're going green?
We try to reduce the amount of paper we print in our office, whether it's emails or manuscripts. Many of us have ereaders that allow us to read manuscripts. Our editorial team is moving toward more on-screen editing and proofreading. This significantly reduces the number of times a book is printed throughout the production process.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
In-store, look for an FSC logo on the book or for a statement about the publishers' paper policy, usually found on the back cover of a book or on the copyright page. Online, chapters.indigo.ca displays an FSC logo for books that have been certified.

Thank you McArthur & Co. for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp .You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 3: Loving Healing Press

We're continuing today to present you with some of the publishers that participate in the Green Books Campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is Loving Healing Press.

About the publisher: Since 2005, Loving Healing Press has been redefining what is possible for healing mind and spirit. Our books provide breakthrough results in personal growth, transformation, self-help, disabilities, and trauma recovery.

Our product line includes books by social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals who have demonstrated outstanding achievements with their methods.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
We believe that taking responsibility for the products they produce is the best thing businesses can do to help create a greener planet. In any manufacturing process, for example publishing, the key place to start monitoring is your source of raw materials. Are the raw materials harvested in sustainable ways? Do they use post-consumer waste? Is there a clear trail of accountability and certification? These are three questions that responsible consumers can ask of any 21st century enterprise, regardless of the company's stated or unstated ecological goals.

From my own personal view, I really abhor waste of the Earth's natural resources so as a publisher I make sure "Do you have eco-friendly paper" is the first question we ask to printers who bid our projects. Paper is one of the few resources which can be produced in easily sustainable ways so we owe it to our readers to make sure that we've done the best we can to produce an eco-friendly product - starting with the raw materials!

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
Since 2008, we have shifted 100% of our publishing output to use eco-friendly paper. That is specifically, paper that is high in post-consumer waste, using materials harvested from sustainable forestry, and that has a clear chain of accountability.

Are there other ways you're going green?
Paper is only the first step to publishing in a green way. Specifically, we leverage Print-On-Demand technology to make sure we never overproduce and waste raw materials. Also, the POD technology insures that books most often go from the factory to the bookstore without a long, useless detour to faraway warehouses. Additionally, POD means that books will arrive in pristine condition and won't suffer damage from a long shelf-life from typical warehouse storage problems like humidity, water damage, and pests.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
Well, my authors may not like this because there are no royalties, but you always have the option of "re-use". In terms of books, this means purchasing a used copy instead of a new copy. A used book which no one wants is simply a wasted resource and re-use is an order of magnitude less impactful on the environment than recycling so give that book to a friend when you're done with it!

If you can't find a used copy, go local! Ask your local bookseller a couple miles down the road if they have the book before clicking your mouse and having a book sent 2,500 miles to your doorstep. It's a challenge to buy local, but you can do it if you try.

Loving Healing Press is participating in the campaign (under 3 imprints: Marvelous Spirit Press, Modern History Press and Loving Healing Press) with the following books:

1. AD/HD SUCCESS!: Solutions for Boosting Self-Esteem / The Diary Method for Ages 7-17 by Kelin Bellak-Adams will be reviewed on Books and Needlepoint

2. Alphabet Meditations for Teachers: Everday Wisdom for Educators by Nancy Oelklaus will be reviewed on Dolce Bellezza

3. Authors Access: 30 Success Secrets for Authors and Publishers by Watson, Tichelaar, and Volkman will be reviewed on JPB Lighting

4. Because all is not lost: Verse on Grief by Sweta Vikram will be reviewed on Kelly [Former] France Blog

5. Billy Had To Move: A Foster Care Story by Teresa Coyne will be reviewed on Write for a Reader

6. Confessions of a Trauma Junkie: My Life as a Nurse Paramedic by Sherry Jones Mayo will be reviewed on Minding Spot

7. Ferdinand Uses The Potty: An Empowering Toilet Training Tale by Jason Tcuker will be reviewed by Leslie Loves Veggies

8. Got An Angry kid?: Parenting Spike, A Seriously Difficult Child by Andrew Gibson will be reviewed on Confessions of an Overworked Mom

9. How to Unbreak Your Health, 2nd Ed: The Complete Guide to Complementary & Alternative Therapies by Alan Smith will be reviewed on Amused By Books

10. Mental Illness and Your Town: 37 Ways for Communities to Help and Heal by Larry Hayes will be reviewed on AndiLit.com

11. Mindfulness and The Art of Choice, 2nd Edition: Transform Your Life by Karen Sherman will be reviewed on Joy and Wonder

12. More Than A Memory: Reflections of Viet Nam by Victor Volkman will be reviewed on Violet Cursh

13. Surviving a House Full of Whispers by Sharon Wallace will be reviewed on Go Green Nation

14. Tales of Addiction and Inspiration for Recovery: Twenty True Stories from the Soul by Barbara Sinor will be reviewed on P.S. I Love Books

15. Taming Marital Arguments: Breaking Out of the T.R.A.P. by Robert Rugel will be reviewed on Book Nook Club.

16. The "Oh, MY" in Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy: How to Prepare Your Child for Surgery by Laurie Zelnger will be reviewed on A Sea of Books

17. The Blue Fairy and other tales of transcendence by Ernest Dempsey will be reviewed on Hawaii Book Blog

18. The Evolutionary Glitch: Rise Above the Root of Your Problems by Albert Garoli will be reviewed on Island Girl Reads

19. The Sitting Swing: Finding the Wisdom to Know the Difference by Irene Watson will be reviewed on RYCJs (OEBooks) Reviews

20. The True Nature of Tarot: Your Path to Personal Empowerment by Diane Wing will be reviewed on Readaholic

21. Turtle Dolphin Dreams: a metaphysical tale by Marian Volkman will be reviewed on The 24/7 Mom

Thank you Loving Healing Press for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp .You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!