The daily photo from Malawi, Africa

Following our promise yesterday, we present here every day for a week a photo from Malawi, Africa our planting partner RIPPLE Africa has finished another successful planting season. About 1.5 million trees being planted on December and January!

Today our photo is of Fumbani Ripple Africa manager:


















We'll continue our celebration tomorrow with a new beautiful photo so stay tuned!

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

Photos are courtesy of RIPPLE Africa (www.rippleafrica.org)

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

RIPPLE Africa finished another successful planting season in Malawi, Africa

Our planting partner RIPPLE Africa has finished another successful planting season in Malawi, Africa with about 1.5 million trees being planted on December and January! Kudos to RIPPLE Africa!

RIPPLE Africa was established in 2003 by Geoff and Liz Furber from the UK. RIPPLE Africa is a non-profit organization involved with environmental projects, education and healthcare in Malawi, Africa. It works in cooperation with local chiefs - traditional authorities and the local communities, who take a major part in RIPPLE Africa’s various activities, including its planting operations.

Malawi is a poor country and 80% of its people live in rural areas. Wood is a necessary part of everyday life, and there is also tremendous pressure to clear forests for agriculture. Hence, trees in Malawi are being cut down at an alarming rate. An area of forest the size of a football pitch is cut down every 10 minutes. RIPPLE Africa’s tree planting project is centered in Nkhata Bay District, Malawi, Africa, an area of 4,000 square kilometers.

We also had a part in this planting season with 26,575 trees being planted on behalf of Eco-Libris' customers (check our first year's assessment for further details)! We hope to bring you soon an interview with Geoff Furber who will tell us more on the planting season and about RIPPLE Africa's work in Malawi.

In the meantime, we would like to celebrate this planting season with beautiful photos we received from RIPPLE Africa, and for one week we'll show you every day a new photo they've sent us. We'll have soon all the photos on our planting gallery and you can already see them all on our Facebook group (which of course you're welcome to join!)

The first photo we have here is of Catherine and team budding oranges.

You're welcome to visit RIPPLE Africa's website at www.rippleafrica.org.

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

An update from our planting partner SHI

Our planting partner Sustainable Harvest International (SHI) has released their update for February 2009 and it's a good opportunity to get updated in the wonderful work they're doing in Central America.

Founded in 1997 by Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Florence Reed, Sustainable Harvest International addresses the tropical deforestation crisis in Central America by providing farmers with sustainable alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture. SHI facilitates long-term collaboration among trained local agricultural staff, farmers and communities to implement sustainable land-use practices that alleviate poverty by restoring ecological stability. You can find the assessment of our first year of collaboration with SHI on this link.

So what you can find on the update?

Seed Loans Make An Impact -Testimony From The Field (Nicaragua): An interesting testimony of Alejandro Gutierrez of El Asentamiento, Kukra Hill in Nicaragua about his experience with SHI.

Here's a part of it: "Sustainable Harvest is not an organization that just gives over everything, but rather they teach mutual collaboration. They give us knowledge and we must put it into practice. They lend us grain but we return it so that it can serve other producers, like the loans of seeds and beans. Thank you for helping us so that we can have a little more."

First-Hand in the Field - SHI Board Chair, Tony Barrington, visits Panama:

Tony Barriganton reports on a visit that a group of SHI board members, spouses, friends and staff made to SHI's field program in Panama on January.

You can find there also links with details on SHI's Sustainable Chocolate Tour, Annie's Homegrown collaboration with SHI supporting village schools and more.

You can find February update on this link - http://sustainableharvest.org/mailings/2009/february/SHI_2009_02_Update.html

You're also invited to check out SHI's website, where you can find much more information (and great photos) on their work.

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

* Photo above: Some SHI Board members with Panamanian staff and program participants in January 2009 (courtesy of SHI)

And the winner of the Little Green Books' giveaway is...

Thank you for all the participants in our giveaway of Simon & Schuster's Little Green Books in our blog following our interview with Alison Inches, author of "I Can Save the Earth!".

We got many great comments about your kids' monsters, and the most popular one is no other than Elmo chosen by many of you. Our winning monster though was slightly different and very creative if I might add. So the winner in our giveaway is the reader sunflourchic, who wrote the following:

My daughter's favorite monster is the "Green Goofus." This is a monster that we made up when she was scared to sleep in her big girl bed. The Green Goofus is a funny little monster that sits by the door to make sure that only nice monsters come into play.

Congrats to the winner (and please send us your mailing address to info@ecolibris.net)! You will receive the 4 books published so far in the Little Green Books line: Little Panda, Little Monkey, I Can Save the Earth! and The Polar Bears' Home. Thanks again to all the participants who shared with us their favorite monster!

Update (3/9/09): Since we haven't heard from the original winner, the prize is going to Patricia who wrote the following: "We have TWO favorite monsters in this house. 1. Bernard from Where the Wild Things Are. He is the one with the human feet and yes, all the monsters have names! My son always thought it was so funny that a monster had feet just like him! 2. The Typhoonagator from Mercer Mayer's Little Monster Rhymes. My daughter loves to point out when it is windy and my son will always remind her that the Typhonnagator must be around-this always makes them laugh."

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

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

3 reading recommendations for Presidents Day

Tomorrow is Presidents Day and it's holiday for many people who will enjoy the long weekend. This is also a great opportunity to get to read something and especially things you put aside waiting for some free time..

I just had that with three articles that waited for me and I wanted to share with you and recommend them for tomorrow (or any other given day..). We got here two articles on green issues and one about books, and all of them are really interesting, so you're welcome to check it all!

Praise the Lord and Green the Roof / Joseph Huff-Hannon (New York Times, February 1, 2009)

A story about an order of Episcopal nuns who are building what will be the first "eco-convent" in New York City. This is a great example of how religion and ecology goes hand in hand, nurturing each other. Here's a part of the article that refers to this issue:

Then, about 10 years ago, the sisters began to discuss a mission to care for the environment. They may embrace environmental concerns more tightly than do many other religious orders, but it is their religion, they say, that was their bridge to a green life.

“We began talking more deeply amongst ourselves about how spirituality and ecology are linked, how we could more fully appreciate that the universe is a creation of God,” Sister Faith Margaret said, speaking in the hallways near the front door, which is lined on both sides with ferns, philodendron and other plants. “Some days I get up in the morning when the trees are about to pop, and I think, ‘How did God decide all of this?’ ”

Original URL

If you don't have a subscription to the NYT, you can find a copy of the article on this link.

Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature / Chris Jackson/Getty (Time, January 21, 2009)

How technology is changing the book market? this interesting article (thanks to Publishing Talk for the link) is analyzing the current trends in the publishing industry and tries to envision the future of this industry, where digital content and self publishing will make it a whole lot different from what we know today.

Here's a little look at the future from the article:

Not that Old Publishing will disappear--for now, at least, it's certainly the best way for authors to get the money and status they need to survive--but it will live on in a radically altered, symbiotic form as the small, pointy peak of a mighty pyramid. If readers want to pay for the old-school premium package, they can get their literature the old-fashioned way: carefully selected and edited, and presented in a bespoke, art-directed paper package. But below that there will be a vast continuum of other options: quickie print-on-demand editions and electronic editions for digital devices, with a corresponding hierarchy of professional and amateur editorial selectiveness.

The article is available at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1873122,00.html

In Beverage Industry, Sustainability Sells / Bill Roth (Entrepreneur.com, February 4, 2009)

Bill Roth (who is also collaborating with Eco-Libris) writes on the green trends in the beverage industry and where you can find green entrepreneurial opportunities there. Here's one of my favorite parts in this article about green coffees, which benefits both the coffee growers and the environment:

Here's why I have such hope for the green economic revolution: The sales for these green coffees are exploding.Rainforest Alliance Certifiedcoffee had average sales growth of 106 percent each year from 2003 through 2006. In 2007, more than 91 million pounds of Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee was sold worldwide. In the U.S., these coffees are sold by Mars Drinks, Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, Pom Wonderful and Caribou Coffee, and can be found in more than 50,000 supermarkets, convenience stores, cafes, restaurants, hotels and corporate offices worldwide.

The article can be found at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29016166

Enjoy!
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Announcing the winners of "I Can Save The Earth Sweepstakes"

We are big fans of Simon & Schuster's Little Green Books. This is a great line of eco-friendly children's books and we had the pleasure of partnering with Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing in an educational contest in celebration of the first new books in this line that were published last fall.

And now we have the WINNERS!

I Can Save The Earth Sweepstakes, asked children to tell us how you’re helping to save the environment and provided them with an opportunity to share their personal green stories and ideas. We got wonderful replies and we wish to thank all the kids who took part in the contest.

And it's not only for kids! If you look for inspiration and you want to feel a little bit more optimistic about the future, go ahead and read the letters of Lillie (age 7) of Arizona, Madison (age 7) of Connecticut, and Owen (age 6) of Florida, who are the winners of the contest. Congrats to all of you!

You can find their stories at http://www.simonlittlegreen.com/downloads/LGB_Sweepstakes_Winners_Small.pdf

The winners won a selection of Little Green Books and trees will be planted in their name with Eco-Libris.

This is also a good opportunity to update you that Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing launched last month www.SimonLittleGreen.com, their updated website devoted to our Little Green and Big Green Help titles. The site includes a family-friendly blog, interactive games, earth-friendly downloadable activities, green tips (including tips of Eco-Libris), a green glossary, a partner page and more!

Thanks again to Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing and all the kids that took part in the contest. We hope many kids and especially adults will be inspired from your enthusiasm and determination to make our world a better place.

More relevant links:

An interview with Alison Inches, the author of "I Can Save the Earth"

Review of 'Little Monkey' and 'Little Panda'

An interview with Lara Bergen, the author of 'The Polar Bears' Home'

I CAN SAVE THE EARTH! contest web page

On Eco-Libris website: http://www.ecolibris.net/littlegreenbooks.asp


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