Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

'Fang' Is a Book Character. And Even He Has a Blog
August 1, 2005

A blown knee, an injured ankle and a couch. What started as a chance encounter between a movie producer and a children's book author—both nursing injuries while at a brunch hosted by a mutual friend—has turned into a cross-media franchise to promote the recently published children's book "The Black Belt Club." The happenstance meeting led the people behind the book down a path with other savvy publishing companies engaging in a new wave of audience-building, sales-enhancing efforts that utilize multiple media. Michel Shane, co-president of Hand Picked Films Inc. in Los Angeles, had injured his knee while skiing. Dawn Barnes, karate-guru-turned-author, had injured her ankle.

Neil Young's "Greendale" Puts 'Green' Production to the Test
April 1, 2005

Legendary rock musician Neil Young who once sang "Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970s," on his classic apocalyptic album "After the Gold Rush" continues his environmental advocacy with his newly released book "greendale." From the content, which focuses on a tragic event that impacts three generations of an American family, to the production process, which relies on recycled paper and soy-based inks, the eco-friendly book is the latest manifestation of Young's "greendale" multimedia project. First an album, followed by a live stage tour and a feature film, "greendale" has now morphed into a companion book highlighting lyrics and stories behind

Will Your Sustainability Efforts Stack Up?
August 1, 2004

Most publishers are relatively tone deaf to adversarial activist campaigns. And so far, large, mainstream publishers have been only lukewarm in their response to voluntary multi-stakeholder collations like the Green Press Initiative/EPA Resource Conservation Challenge, which is calling on publishers to improve their ecological footprint. But, it will be increasingly difficult to ignore the growing number of institutional investors that are calling for big business to address the sustainability challenge. Socially responsible investment funds and indexes that employ sustainability performance ratings now represent in excess of $2 trillion in holdings. The influence of these funds is rising as they are rapidly moving from