Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Book Industry is Going Green

Green seemed to be the color for the recent BookExpo America. There were workshops on the subject, including the keynote address.

According to Tyson Miller of the nonprofit Green Press Initiative,
The production of one book results in 8.85 pounds of carbon emissions ...

Business Week reports:
And with 25% of all books failing to sell, and being returned from retailers to publishers, the increased use of recycled paper could make a difference. Already publishers have raised their use of recycled paper, from 2.5% of paper used in 2004 to 13% in 2007. As a short-term goal, publishers supporting the initiative are aiming for 30%. This would result in a savings of a billion tons of greenhouse gases ...

Some publishers have started distributing their seasonal catalogs via email instead of print. Some are even offering e-galleys to reviewers.
A pilot program is under way with 500 forthcoming books from publishers Bloomsbury USA, Hachette Book Group, Sourcebooks, and St. Martin's Press. Any reviewer invited to join by one of the publishers can go to Net Galley's Web site, indicate the galleys desired, and download them.


Green is good. But are we ready for it?

One way to help the environment, even if you don’t have an e-reader, is to find out about an author and his/her writing before you buy their book. So come back tomorrow and hear from Doug M. Cummings. He’s answering questions, telling us about his writing, and sharing his experience. And giving away a t-shirt. It’s not green, but it is cool.

2 comments:

  1. I believe the book industry has been tending toward green for several years now--with the advent of pod printing as well as e-books. The problem is that so many of us have a problem with that change that even major author's organizations such as Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime aren't behind it. But the rest of industrialized America realized back in the 80's when we were all paying homage to the Japanese system of inventory that this was a huge cost cutter. Go figure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It appears that POD and ebooks are going to bring about big changes in the publishing industry. And change can be scary.

    But like it or not, it seems almost inevitable!

    ReplyDelete

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