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!