SustainPrint.com—the Web site for environmental sustainability in printing and publishing, co-produced by Book Business and Publishing Executive magazines––has announced a call for nominations for its second-annual SustainPrint.com Awards. The awards recognize four publishers each year for their achievements in environmental sustainability. The “Newcomer of the Year” awards are given to one book and one magazine publishing company that have recently implemented significant environmental sustainability policies. The “Longtime Leader” awards recognize one book and one magazine publishing company that have a history of environmentally conscious publishing practices. “We established the SustainPrint.com Awards because we believe that publishers who have taken steps to improve their environmental
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New York, NY, January 9, 2008 – Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today announced that the company is further strengthening its sustainable paper procurement practices by setting industry-leading goals to increase the percentage of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper and post-consumer waste (pcw) recycled paper it purchases. In consultation with the Rainforest Alliance, the Green Press Initiative and other environmental organizations, the company has set a five-year goal to increase its publication paper purchase of FSC-certified paper to 30 percent and its use of recycled paper to 25 percent, of which 75 percent will be post-consumer waste. The
Thoughts of major publishing houses such as Random House, Scholastic and Simon & Schuster are often accompanied by thoughts of high competition and rivalry; camaraderie, on the other hand, is not usually top of mind. However, today there is a challenge facing the industry that has united these and many other publishers into a unified front. That challenge: climate change, and the book publishing industry’s impact on it. The industry’s interest in facilitating change is growing. No doubt about it. Nearly 160 publishers have signed on to the industry’s “Treatise on Responsible Paper Use.” More small and mid-size publishers are joining the likes
The book publishing industry took another step forward in its ongoing efforts to lessen its environmental impact with the recent announcement that Simon & Schuster Inc. (www.SimonSays.com) has launched a major environmental initiative and paper policy. As a result of this new initiative, the New York-based publishing company will aim to increase the amount of recycled fiber in the paper used to manufacture its books. It follows in the footsteps of Random House Inc., which launched a similar initiative last year. For its books printed and bound in the United States, Simon & Schuster plans to increase from its current 10 percent to
1. Make “green” publishing company policy. That may sound daunting, but it can be done. Tyson Miller, director of the nonprofit Green Press Initiative (GPI), which helps publishers make informed environmental choices, suggests publishers make a commitment that demonstrates to printers, suppliers and mills that the market is shifting, and they will need to invest in developing new papers to meet the growing need. “Publisher commitments have been instrumental in the development of 24 new environmental sheets in North America within the last four years. The policy or commitment also serves to reinforce environmental responsibility as a priority in addition to creating cohesion within
“An Inconvenient Truth,” the 2006 documentary that focused on climate change, won more than just two Academy Awards—as it turns out, it also won over Thomas Nelson’s Michael S. Hyatt. Hyatt, the president and CEO of the largest Christian book publisher in the world, took the inspiration he gained from viewing the film and carried the message back to work with him. Last month, Thomas Nelson published an industry first—a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified “green” Bible, which contains paper made with 10-percent post-consumer recycled fiber. Some industry experts suggest that the publication of “The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Daily Bible” signifies a major
As Kermit the Frog used to say: “It’s not easy being green.” While the beloved puppet was referring to his skin color, the saying has been applied to being “green” in the environmental sense. And, not to make light of a serious situation regarding our environment, the saying has been relevant in book publishing for years—many publishers have “good intentions” (as Book Business columnist Gene Schwartz suggests in this month’s “Gene Therapy”), but they struggle to balance those good intentions with negative impacts on their bottom lines and/or their lack of know-how for making their intentions realities. But as Kermit’s outlook changes in the
When the “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” series decided to go global with its newest edition, “The Remarkable … Revealed,” the company took a chance by tweaking the typical foreign publishing model. Rather than licensing full publishing rights, as many publishers do, Ripley chose to handle printing and work directly with foreign distributors. “We’re finding that, with licensing, [foreign publishers] don’t [always] have the commitment we do,” says Norm Deska, executive vice president of intellectual property, Ripley Entertainment. “We’re looking to better establish our brand with a high-quality annual book, and the only way to do that was to do it ourselves.” Ripley, whose
The publication of the book publishing industry’s first recognized “green” Bible earlier this month by Thomas Nelson, the sixth-largest trade publisher in the United States, may suggest that a major shift in environmental thinking is underway in the publishing world. The publisher worked on the project with paper manufacturer Domtar as well as the Green Press Initiative (GPI), a nonprofit that has worked for the past five years to help the book industry conserve environmental resources. GPI Director Tyson Miller spoke with Book Business Extra about Thomas Nelson’s publication and how it fits into the “Treatise on Responsible Paper Use,” an industry-developed agreement that
An interview with CreateSpace Co-founder and Managing Director Dana LoPiccolo-Giles on her company’s new service Founded in 2002 as an on-demand distributor of DVDs, CustomFlixLabs Inc. was acquired by Amazon.com in 2005 and later added a CD on Demand service to its growing portfolio. Last month, the company experienced another growth spurt, announcing a new company name, CreateSpace, as well as the launch of a new Books on Demand service for self-publishing authors. The service allows authors to offer their works for sale through Amazon.com, the CreateSpace.com site and via their own free, customizable eStore without inventory, setup fees or minimum orders. CreateSpace manufactures on-demand
