Friday, March 4, 2011

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!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Barnes & Noble Bankruptcy Index: The stock's price continues to go down

This week our B&N bankruptcy index is moving permanently to Thursday and will be published from now on on Thursdays. Just a short reminder - As Borders filed for bankruptcy, we look at Barnes & Noble, the nation's largest book chain to see if they will follow Borders and also go into bankruptcy and if so, when exactly.

To do it more analytically we launched few weeks ago a new B&N Bankruptcy Index, which is based on 10 parameters, which receive a grade between 1-10 (1 - worst grade, 10 - best grade). Hence we receive a 0-100 point index scale, which we divide into several ranges as follows:

90-100: B&N is in an excellent shape. Couldn't be better!

80-89: B&N is doing great. Bankruptcy is no longer a real threat.
70-79: B&N could do better and has to be cautious of bankruptcy.
60-69: B&N doesn't look too good and bankruptcy is becoming a more realistic threat.

50-59: Bankruptcy is a clear and present danger.
49 and less: Red alert! Bankruptcy is just around the corner and is likely to happen within a short time frame.


We will check the
B&N Bankruptcy Index every Thursday, updating each one of the parameters included in the index and will analyze the trend. You can follow the weekly changes in the index from the day it was launched on the Barnes and Noble Bankruptcy Index page on our website.

So here's our update for this week (in brackets is last week's grade):

1. Confidence of the stock market in B&N

This parameter will look at the performance of the B&N stock (symbol:
BKS) in the last week. The performance of B&N's stock is an indication of the confidence the market has in the ability of B&N to maintain a viable business.

So let's look at last week's figures:


2/23: $14.70
3/2: $13.20
Change: -10.2%


As you can see, B&N's stock continued to fall down last week with a decrease of 10.2% in the stock's price. Just for comparison, the S&P500 Index almost didn't change during this period (+0.1%) and Amazon fell in 2.6%. I guess this is a combination of both the discontent of the market of B&N's decision to suspend its dividend as well as
further backlash from Borders' bankruptcy, as Mark Riddix explains on Benzinga.com:

The recent bankruptcy of Borders (NYSE: BGP) has caused many investors to reevaluate their thoughts on companies in the retail books sector. Borders was forced to declare bankruptcy under a large mountain of debt, and now many investors are questioning whether or not similar companies like Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) can stay afloat. Can B&N survive where others have failed?

This week's grade for this parameter is also going down to: 6.5 (7)

2. What analysts say on B&N

Mark Riddix of New Horizons Financial Management was optimistic this week:

Overall, things are looking up at Barnes & Noble especially given that its main competitor, Borders, is on its last legs. Barnes & Noble has 25% of the e-book market and has its own reader to compete against the Kindle. Its online website continues to generate more revenue for the company, and ultimately, Barnes & Noble does not have to topple Amazon to be successful in the digital publishing industry. The company can generate sizable income and make for a high-quality investment by being the number two player in the industry and an alternative to the 800 pound gorilla that is Amazon.

No other comments or analysis were found. This week's grade stays the same: 7 (7)

3. New strategy to regain sales in the brick and mortar stores

Here's what we have so far: 1. More strategic space for the Nook 2. More toys, games and educational products. Shawn Graham shares on Fast Company what he found on his last visit at his local B&N store with regards to the second point:


Upon entering the store, the thing that I was most surprised by was the significant amount of retail space they are now dedicating to hobbies, games, and childhood learning which I'm guessing takes up approximately 350-500 square feet that was once populated by books. This new assortment diversifies their retail product offerings and also serves as an extension to the reading and play area for children already housed within many Barnes & Noble stores. Based on the prominently displayed LEGO products, it appears they are hoping to attract more kids which will equal more parents which will equal more retail spending--not to mention continuing to get kinds into their customer pipeline as early as possible.

Bottom line
: Just like Borders, B&N still doesn't have yet a clear and comprehensive strategy that will transform their brick and mortar stores from a liability back to an asset. This week's grade stays the same: 4 (4)

4. What B&N is saying about itself

Silence this week.. This week's grade for this parameter stays the same: 6 (6)

5. Steps B&N is taking
Nothing much here this week. Only the litigation settling with
Spring Design, which initiated legal action against Barnes & Noble in November 2009 in connection with Spring Design’s Alex eReader. Bottom line: Nothing to write home (or the investors about). This week's grade stays the same: 6 (6)

6. Competitors
This parameter will mainly look into Borders and how its problems affect B&N.
This week there are no big news on this end and the grade stays the same. 5.5 (5.5)

7. Financial strength

Last week Barnes & Noble published the results for the third quarter
. This week we had no updates. This week's grade stays the same: 7 (7)

8. Strength of the digital business

Last week Michael Wolf had an interesting idea on GigaOm - how about B&N extending its value proposition to digital publishing?. He explained:

But as I discuss in my weekly analysis at GigaOM Pro (subscription required), they must do more. Let’s face it, the total pie in books is going to shrink, and the long and unwieldy value-chain from writer to customer is going to collapse. Amazon knew this a long time ago, and that’s why they’ve been moving to disintermediate the publisher and the wholesaler in the e-book world by becoming, essentially, the entire value chain themselves.”

B&N should do the same, and do it quick. Sure, like Amazon, it launched its own self-pub platform in PubIt!, and it tinkered around with a few imprints on the print side for some time. But in the collapsing world of books, it’s every man for himself, and its time for B&N to accelerate its push into becoming a digital publisher.

Definitely an interesting idea. I wonder if B&N are considering it.. Other than that we didn't find any updates and this week's grade stays the same: 8 (8)

9. Sense of urgency
It looks like B&N still think they have time and are not worried at all, or at least not worried enough to begin doing something (again, we don't believe more toys and extra room for the Nook is a winning strategy) with their brick and mortar stores. If we can learn something from the Borders' case, it's how fast things go bad when your reach a certain tipping point of financial distress or distrust of your stakeholders (consumers or publishers for example). This week's grade stays the same: 5.5 (5.5)

10. General feeling
This parameter will be an indication of our impression of all the materials read and analyzed for this index. Our feeling this week, after B&N's quarterly report is not too good. This week we're still more worried as the collapsing stock's price is making the possibility of bankruptcy much more realistic to many who thought this option is not on the table
. This week's grade stays the same: 6 (6)

This week's Barnes & Noble Bankruptcy Index: 61.5 points (62)

As you can see, this week's index is set at 61.5 points, which translates into the scale of 60-69: B&N
doesn't look too good and bankruptcy is becoming a more realistic threat. Definitely not a good place to be at and too close to the red alert zone. Too close. Yet it looks like B&N is still not in immediate trouble. See you next Thursday.

To view the weekly changes in the index visit Barnes and Noble Bankruptcy Index on our website.

You can find more resources on the future of bookstores on our website at www.ecolibris.net/bookstores_future.asp

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Working to green the book industry!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Why plant a tree for your book? We'll give you 41 reasons in a special Earth Day Campaign

Earth Day is fast approaching (April 22) and this year we are celebrating the 41th Earth Day with a special campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book.

With more than 180,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea..

But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea, and so for 41 days, starting on March 13 and ending on April 22, Earth Day, we'll publish on our blog 41 of the best answers we'll get, one reply every day!

The campaign will begin in 11 days and if you would like to share with us your reply to our question, please send it to info@ecolibris.net.

We have great prizes to all the readers whose replies we'll publish, including a $25 gift card for Strand Bookstore, audiobooks from Simon & Schuster Audio (such as The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner, American Assassin by Vince Flynn and Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama) and great books, like Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender, books from the Little Green Books series, Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf, The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard and many more! You can see the full list of the prizes on the campaign's page.

The campaign will begin in only 12 days so stay tuned!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Raz Godelnik is interviewed on Living on Earth on how green are ebooks

Last Friday I was interviewed on the radio show Living on Earth about the subject of how green are e-books.

You can find both the transcript and the audio file of the interview, which can be downloaded in mp3 format, on Living on Earth's website.

Here's their introduction for the interview: Last year, sales of electronic readers skyrocketed in the U.S. As Raz Godelnik, CEO of Eco-Libris, tells host Bruce Gellerman, e-readers don’t use any paper, but they still have a significant carbon footprint. For some readers, traditional books are the greener option.

Living on Earth is a great show and you're invited to listen to it - it is the weekly environmental news and information program distributed by Public Radio International. Every week approximately 300 Public Radio stations broadcast Living on Earth's news, features, interviews and commentary on a broad range of ecological issues.

More resources on the ebooks vs. paper books environmental debate can be found on our website at http://www.ecolibris.net/ebooks.asp.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Monday, February 28, 2011

Why HarperCollins decision to limit their ebook lending will not help their ebook sales

HarperCollins announced last week that new titles licensed from library ebook vendors will be able to circulate only 26 times before the license expires. This is the first time a publisher is restricting the use of e-books in libraries - so far, as the NYT explained yesterday, libraries that have paid for the privilege of making a publisher’s e-books available for borrowing have typically been granted the right to lend an e-book an unlimited number of times. What it means for many libraries.

HarperCollins explained in a statement they " believe this change balances the value libraries get from our titles with the need to protect our authors and ensure a presence in public libraries and the communities they serve for years to come."

HarperCollins clearly wants to limit sure ebook lending so it won't jeopardize its ebook sales, but are they taking the right step? At least from a business point of view, I believe the answer is No.

HarperCollins are definitely right that it's much easier to borrow an ebook than a paper book - you don't even have to go to the library. Many times you can just go to your library's website and get the requested ebook in a minute or two without leaving your chair for a second. This convenience is observed by HarperCollins as a threat to their ebook business - if it's so easy, wouldn't a growing number of people choose to do it instead of buying the ebook?

The answer is probably Yes, but the problem of HaperCollins is that they can't stop it by limiting the number of times libraries can loan their ebooks.

Why? Because libraries are not the only ones lending ebooks. With both the Nook and the Kindle providing the option to borrow and lend ebooks for two weeks, we see a growing number of websites that provide convenient platform for readers to exchange ebooks. Today you have websites such as BookLending.com, Books for My Kindle, Books for My Nook and eBookFling.com (not operating yet), where you can borrow and lend ebooks easily and for free.

Now, I'm not sure if HarperCollins' restrictions will apply also to individual lending, but even if this is the case, with a growing number of exchange platforms and users, these restrictions will become meaningless. You can stop tens of thousands of libraries, but you can't stop millions of ebook readers that would like to borrow and lend books to each other.

The bottom line is that HarperCollins not only made libraries rightfully angry, but to my opinion also made a poor decision from a business point of view. If they want to increase their ebook sales, they need to look for real creative marketing ideas and forget about limiting the lending options of their ebooks.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Our website is down due to a technical problem..

As you may have already noticed, our website is down at the moment. We apologize for that and are working hard to get it back up again as soon as we can.

If you have any questions please contact us at
info@ecolibris.net.


Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Friday, February 25, 2011

Green book of the week - Unleash Your Full Potential by James Rick

Today we review a great book that is dealing with a common problem - wasting resources. But this time it's not about mother nature, but our own human resources. Still, just like with our relationship with mother nature, author James Rick wants us to make the most of the resources we have and in his unique book he shows us how it can be done.

Our book is:


Unleash Your Full Potential
: The Secret For Revealing Your Hidden Power

Author
: James Rick

At the age of 4 James had a knack for entrepreneurship, selling finger paintings in the drive way, of their small Florida home. His best (and only) customer was his mother who bought them all. His first profitable business would open up a year later in the form of a lemonade stand near their home, which raked in $5 a day.

Fast forward some years later, James Rick Stinson was awarded Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Southern Utah Chamber of Commerce in 2001, for starting his first major venture with less than $1,000 at the age of 17. By age 18 he had gotten into as much as $30,000 in credit card and personal debt but somehow managed to get out of it. Over the next 3 years he grew that business to half a million dollars in sales and expanded to build an office in Noida, India where he lived and worked for 3 months before returning to the US. James learned the hard way that you can’t do it all yourself. He had been the top sales person at his company and when he stopped selling to focus on building out the office, things took a turn for the worse. He ended up closing the business a few months later due to losses. “It crashed and burned but I was still alive”.

Undeterred and excited after getting his first taste of Asia, James started his second major enterprise a call center outsourcing business in Manila, Philippines, where he would live and work for the next five years. He was interviewed by Fox News Business for his role in outsourcing, starting his company Global Sky in the Philippines at the age of 20, and growing it to more than 200 employees, and $2 million in revenue annually.

Publisher: Full Potential

Published on:
February 2010

What this book is about?
"Unleash Your Full Potential" is the newest book in the "Full Potential" book series, which is the product of James Rick's quest to take thousands of hours of research and distill it into clear, concise, immediately useful information. What began as a desire to have more good days than bad days, and a curiosity about dreams and meditation, evolved into thousands of hours of research and experimentation in the areas of personal development, philosophy, biology, physics, psychology, evolution, religion and spirituality, naturally altered states of consciousness, entrepreneurship, economics, and politics. The broad scope of James' experience and study gives him a unique perspective not usually found in other forms of literature or presentation.

What we think about it?

If I thought couple of years ago when I read A Theory of Everything by Ken Wilber that Wilber is pushing the envelope as far as it can be pushed, James Rick proved me in his book that I was wrong. Just like Wilber, Rick explored, learned and experimented almost every area that could provide him with wisdom on life and this book is summarizing this journey, providing the reader with mind-opening insights in a relatively simple language on the most complicated issues we're dealing (or actually not really dealing) with as human beings.

Still, this is not your regular 'self-help' book. Far from it. It definitely doesn't provide you with fish and actually more than it teaches you how to fish, it makes you conscious of how good you can fish. To me, this book is about a journey, where instead of looking a lost tribe or exploring terra incognita, we are joining expedition searching for our lost potential.

Why is it so important? Rick explains that "power is the ability to , do, and have whatever experience we choose". This increased number of options would eventually enable us to choose "experiences that are more enjoyable than others". Wouldn't we like to have only enjoyable experiences or "navigate reality with greater ease" as Rick offers us to dob? Of course we do, which is why this journey of exploration is so important.

This exploration guided by Rick is full of theoretical as well as practical information to manage your resources (time, energy, knowledge, connections and wealth) effectively. It took me sometime to read this book as I found myself stopping many times to think and digest Rick's insights, but it definitely worth every minute. So if you're interested in unleashing your full potential maximizing your own resources, I have a feeling you will enjoy this book.

Disclosure: Rick James is the founder and CEO of Global Sky that partners with Eco-Libris. We received a copy of this book from the author.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!