Photo by Morgan Woodbury

My husband and I are huge fans of Colbert, and were happy to see that he was going to do some segment taping in Vancouver for mid-next-week’s show. These tapings were free to the public and organized in such a way that we got to Creekside Park, near Science World, pretty early (7:30 a.m.) to stand in line. Of course, around 8:30 a.m. or so, the organizers said “go!” and so we just ran with everyone else over the hill into the muddy but still frozen lawn of the park — but still got rather close to the stage.

The morning was cold but sunny and ripe with red-and-white Canadian colors waving through the crowd, a few people sitting in trees, and at least a couple folks with a kangaroo wearing boxing gloves — you know, typical stuff. We found Colbert’s personality with the audience fun and down-to-earth, and we had a great time that morning watching the workings of a show being filmed. On stage were a totem pole,  a big poster of Colbert with a torch, some skis, some hockey sticks, and a moose. You know, typical stuff! A brass band decked out in patriotic colors played some old tunes and some Queen. I’m pretty sure they were playing songs that you only remember one or two lines from. During those lines, the audience sang out too. Otherwise, we just danced and sang “bah boo bop” or mumbled.

In keeping with the press’s line of vision, here is a Goodreads list of books featured on the Colbert Report. Colbert has also written and contributed to quite a few books.

Spoiler for next week’s show (click Show below):

Show ▼

Photo by Morgan Woodbury

I ran across an interesting article from Boston.com, which briefly discusses the climatic warming changes around Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond. Global warming signs, including an invasive species known as purple loosestrife, have unsettled the historical nature writer’s homeland. It’s sad to think of it, considering that this author inspired so many humans in wanting to preserve and conserve. Now, a century and a half after his famous journal, are the results of people not abiding. Makes me think of The Dude not abiding, and that’s just sacrilegious.

Other links:

Celsias.com

NPR

BU Today

The first e-book for sale, The Little Big Town, is a children’s book that I wrote during college. Through the years, I’ve polished it and circulated it among the children of the family for their approval. I finally got this long-anticipated approval, and decided to launch the press with the book. While I do not intend to publish any more of my own stuff here, this book serves its purpose to memory, as our family lost its patriarch — my father — in February 2009, and in late January 2010 will cycle this loss with the birth of the first child of the new generation. My niece Katherine will deliver Adelaide Elizabeth any day now.

It is because of my father’s constant encouragement and praise that I dreamed of opening a small press, and then made that dream into a reality. It is also a dream that he did not get to fulfill himself, since he had many similar ideas but succumbed early to Parkinson’s Disease.

I will also donate 25% of the first 100 sales of The Little Big Town to Eco-Libris, which I believe is a great non-profit organization, dedicated to planting trees when books are read. MWP will eventually participate in this program when we start publishing paper titles.

On the practical side, I wanted to test out our online merchant system. Though I would like to also publish via Amazon, this “four dollar e-book” is an incentive to order directly from MWP. I will publish at Amazon after opening a U.S. bank account this weekend.

More updates on MWP: I currently am working with two clients, but am still looking for more editorial contracts. My inexpensive editing and proofreading rates are unbeatable, I think. And I will edit and proofread more than just books! I still plan for the revenue earned from editorial services to help fund the printing of paper titles and the software for doing my own JDF markup instead of out-sourcing it. I think by the end of the year, I will be more prepared to start work on my first paper title. I’ve been in touch with one of my favorite environmental novelists for a chapbook, and have other great plans for this year!

January 8, 2009

Now that the press has fully launched, I am quite excited to further process e-book opportunities, especially after seeing the newest Kindle recently. A friend got one for Christmas. I was surprised at how “not electronic” it looked, something more akin to a book page on the screen.

Moon Willow’s first e-book is up for sale on this site, but I’m also in the process of getting the book up at both Amazon and Goggle Books. I hadn’t realized that for Amazon, Canadian publishers need a U.S. bank account. We opened one today, but it won’t be ready until mid-week.

Before going very far with publishing, the press’s mission is to establish editorial services clients in order to generate the overhead costs for printing books. I have two clients, and am working on a third. I still have plenty of time for more projects, however, and think my rates are very reasonable and affordable, compared to the much higher rates of other editors and proofreaders. I am undercutting average rates because I’m a new business and want to build relationships with clients — and offer new clients some incentive and a break.

I’m also scouting for my first real publishing adventures, a goal for late 2010 and early 2011. Currently I am accepting manuscripts for paper and e-book titles.

Moon Willow Press breaks out in the new year with a first e-book title, The Little Big Town, a children’s book. Because this title is my very first, and is mainly meant to test the waters of online merchant tools, this book is only $4.00 CDN, plus tax.

Follow young Julie Paris’s journey from her life-long home in Chicago to a small northern Wisconsin town on the banks of the Wolf River. Julie feels left out of an impoverished but soulful community, and, feeling vulnerable and alone, turns to the great outdoors for adventure. Here she learns about the Menominee history of the area and lets her imagination run wild. It isn’t long before the cold November snow — and an unforeseen friend — fall into her life.

2010 is Moon Willow Press’s first business year. I will begin marketing the editorial services side of the press, while accepting proposals and submissions for print titles. I plan to publish MWP’s first print title by 2011. I will have the great chance in the coming new year to meet with environmental authors at Fraser Riverkeeper’s new book club!

To everyone, a happy new year, and don’t forget to check out the first e-book!

HarperCollins Joins Ranks of Other Publishers Delaying E-books.

How does this fare with the growing popularity of e-readers?

“Every once in a while, a media business that appears to understand the digital reality quickly reverts under pressure and starts acting like a last-century business,” said James McQuivey, principal analyst for Consumer Media Technology at Forrester Research Inc. “If you give people digital content, they’ll actually consume more of it. But if you withhold it from them, you are motivating them to buy somebody else’s book, or to consider piracy, something which hasn’t yet hit the book industry but probably will next year.”

Moon Willow Press will experiment with its first e-book in early January. E-books, in the objective of our mission, are important for reducing carbon emissions. I’m not sure why other publishers don’t address this, but more are starting to.

The Last of the Wild Wolves

As I wrote last week, I was getting ready to go see Ian McAllister and Andrew Nikiforuk speak about the Enbridge pipeline proposal. It was a good presentation, and I would encourage all Canadians to get involved in understanding exactly what the pipeline project entails as far as “earth-destroying economy” plans. An important thing that Nikiforuk brought up is that Canada has no energy security or national policy, like nearly every other country does. Projects like Enbridge are not part of a country’s national discussion, despite the fact every Canadian should know the ins and outs.

My favorite part of this presentation, however, was McAllister’s short segment on the wild wolves of the Great Bear Rainforest. The elusive gray wolf populations along the coast vary from other wolves in that they get a large part of their diet from marine life, and even swim to offshore islands to find food.

The proposed Enbridge pipeline project may be more than just a pipe dream. It seems to be gaining ground. According to West Coast Environmental Law, “Enbridge says it’s close to signing oil industry deals for its pipeline & oil supertankers that could ruin BC’s coast & rivers. West Coast knows public opposition and significant legal and political risks could stop this project. Investors need to hear that opposition, and that’s where you come in! Send a letter to the oil companies using the link below. The deep public and First Nations opposition to oil tankers in BC is longstanding, and has contributed to stopping projects like this since the 1970s (when West Coast first started working on the issue!). There’s no reason why this time will be any different.”

James Hoggan’s site Desmogblog has some quick resources and more info on the pipeline project.

I would encourage anyone in Canada who can make it to come and see authors Andrew Nikiforuk and Ian McAllister discuss this project and the dangers of it. Their schedule is here (sent by Karen McAllister to me at my workplace). Since my husband and I are attending the presentation next Wednesday night, I will report more later.

Incidentally, I’ve been reading Ian McAllister’s two books on the Great Bear Rainforest (see my Amazon recommendations), and can’t quite describe the awe I feel at his and his wife Karen’s breathtaking photography and descriptions of one of the last great temperate rainforests on earth.

“Publishers are among the worst environmental offenders; the only disagreement is on what the best solution might be,” according to Daily Finance. An article about Kindle at Quill and Quire goes into this in some detail, noting importantly Cleantech’s study, which says that the e-readers overall have been in a niche market of about a million, but now have projected sales up to nearly 14.4 million by 2012.

The report indicates that, on average, the carbon emitted in the lifecycle of a Kindle is fully offset after the first year of use.

The report, authored by Emma Ritch, states: “Any additional years of use result in net carbon savings, equivalent to an average of 168 kg of CO₂ per year (the emissions produced in the manufacture and distribution of 22.5 books).”

In the United States, Amazon currently holds a 45 percent market share of e-reader devices, with one main competitor Sony trailing at 30 percent.

The Cleantech Group forecasts that e-readers purchased from 2009 to 2012 could prevent 5.3 billion kg of carbon dioxide in 2012, or 9.9 billion kg during the four-year time period.

I am getting very excited to officially launch Moon Willow Press on January 1, 2010.  Here are some things to look forward to next year:

• A revamped website with the new logo
• Online merchant tools
• First e-book title
• Book submission guidelines
• Membership opportunities as the press grows, including book prizes, “$4.00 e-books”, drawings in which the winner will receive trees planted in his or her name, private blog area access to member writers, and much more

Today was International Climate Change Day, and I just got back from a booth at the Eco-Fair near Science World, Vancouver, BC — part of the worldwide rallies today that included over 150 nations and thousands of organizations. Thousands of Canadians joined together on the partially closed Cambie Street Bridge to watch a banner drop, the banner having been made by students, volunteers, and others, and then they paraded to Science World. Most of the afternoon I talked with visitors at the Fraser Riverkeeper booth, explaining anything from this past summer’s sockeye salmon collapse to how the Fraser River and its marine life will be affected by warming. It was good to see people out there, anxious to learn, concerned about their river. I just want to say that all the organizers, including 350.org and Bridge to a Cool Planet, were wonderful. Bridge to a Cool Planet people were there to set up and take down tents, and volunteer in many other ways. Thanks to Paul and his crew.

One of the people I talked with today wanted to know how we get the word out to those confused about climate change. Rallies are great for showing politicians actual numbers when supporting certain causes, but we do preach to the choir at times, and more needs to be done. I have been reading Climate Cover-up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming, by local Vancouverites James Hoggan and Richard Littlemore. This book is a concise read for understanding why the public, once not that confused about how the planet was changing, is now being fed so many spoons it’s really hard to decide who is right when you think you trust a certain news source.

Scientific data support global warming and the fact that more carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere now than has been in the past several million years of warming and cooling. On the other hand, some public relations firms for large industries that will be hurt by reduction of carbon emissions are spinning data and speaking untruths, thus confusing the issue. It is important to get everyone on the same boat, and follow facts, not twists of facts. Both sides of the issue, when it comes down to the working class, are concerned about the exact same things: We want our children, and their children to live in a wonderful world, on a good planet.

Humans are not apart from the planet; we are included in the food chain and need healthy water, air, and land to survive. The integrity of our planet depends on reducing our carbon emissions, by learning to live differently and finding renewable, healthier sources of energy. To completely understand what needs to be done, we must all do our own research, feed ourselves, and read scientific, peer-reviewed journals instead of relying on varying levels of biased media to feed us. We have to get it right. Causes based on scientific data, which is best reported and trusted in reviewed journals, do not have a secret agenda, though solutions may be worked on to fix things. Causes based on findings outside scientific journals might indeed be reporting the truth, but often times are not due to agendas that in the end have to do with profit; in this case, free yourself from someone else’s agenda!

The 2000’s: Tune in. Turn on. Know the facts.

E-book future is getting interesting, and we could see some changes soon as Google and other corporations ramp up their ideas on digital book sales and distribution. As a startup business, I’m excited to see what happens with e-books, since the product is a sustainable one that is still needing better technology to really boost it. I’m looking forward to selling e-books, the first few already in the works for 2010.

Regardless of whether Google’s projects such as Google Editions or Google Book Search take off is yet to be seen, but for small publishers, which are on the rise along with the e-book industry, the future looks good. According to UK’s The Independent:

The e-book industry is gathering steam. Many are predicting that 2010 will be “the year of the e-reader” and the number of devices hitting the market is increasing, with Barnes & Noble, the US bookseller, launching a device next week. Amazon announced this month that it would be shipping its popular Kindle device outside the US for the first time, and it faces competition from the Sony Reader, iRex and Interead’s Cool-er device. There is also the spectre of the much-rumoured Apple “tablet” hanging over the market, which is expected some time next year.

Huffington Post recently opened a Books Section. Arianna Huffington wrote:

Give me a book — hardback, paperback, eBook — and I’m all set. I used to worry, especially on long-distance flights, about not having lugged enough books with me, but my Kindle has solved that dilemma. The only problem is that I love underlining books as I read them, and though the Kindle lets you mark things, you can’t just collect your underlined passages and print them (help a girl out, Amazon!).

This section is lively and fresh! The articles cover what’s hot (and not) as well as what is sustainable in today’s book market. This leads me to believe that the implementation of Moon Willow Press has come along at just the right time. Corporate book publishers are downsizing, and small, independent publishers are on the rise. This gives me much hope.

I’d like to give a heads-up and a thumbs-up to Michael Rothenberg’s and David Meltzer’s ROCKPILE.

ROCKPILE is a collaboration between David Meltzer — poet, musician, essayist, and more — and Michael Rothenberg of Big Bridge Press. David and Michael will journey through eight cities in the U.S. to perform poetry and prose, composed while on the road, with local musicians and artists in each city. ROCKPILE will serve to educate and preserve as well as to create a history of collaboration. It will help to reinforce the tradition of the troubadour of all generations, central to the cultural upheaval and identity politics that reawakened poets, artists, musicians, and songwriters in the mid-1960s through the 1970s. The project will end with a final multimedia performance in San Francisco.

Big Bridge Press announces the publication of CHOOSE (Big Bridge Press, 2009) by Michael Rothenberg: a compact and intense book for the open road and those who travel it. The book will be available at the ROCKPILE performances or by ordering it from Big Bridge Press, Box 870, Guerneville, CA 95446. Checks payable to Big Bridge Press. $15.00 includes postage for shipping. ISBN: 978-1-878471-08-6; 84 pp: wide format for easy reading and lack of compromise on length of line dance and breath. E-mail Michael for information.

Moon Willow Press plans to do what it can to following green press initiatives when choosing paper and printers for publishing, but there are other ways to curb fiber waste as well. For example, you can recycle books or check into different paper types and book sharing concepts. When Moon Willow Press begins its first book projects in 2010, the press will participate in tree-planting, book sharing, library donation, and other programs. We will also use only FSC-certified fiber and on-demand printers as well as build e-books to be sold online at our site or via distributors.

The Invisible Mountain: Magic envelopes a Uruguayan girl. Carolina De Robertis follows the Latin American tradition of magical realism in her first novel, The Invisible Mountain. Like other Latin authors Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende, she has a “mystical method of storytelling.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer says:

The multigenerational scope of the story seems at times unwieldy. Nonetheless, De Robertis has created a vivid new landscape, both internal and external, and provided the reader with a glimpse of the country of her ancestry, a land haunted by a mountain that is not really a mountain.