<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Ask Umbra on paperback writers]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Orng Crush http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/ Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:46:29 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/1 Amen.  Popular literature is so important to keeping our nation literate, even if many intellectuals think it is "garbage."

]]> Amen.  Popular literature is so important to keeping our nation literate, even if many intellectuals think it is "garbage."

]]> Comment #2 by Islandia http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/ Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:21:02 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/2 Here in Brooklyn, NY we're not allowed to recycle books. I have sometimes gone to the trouble of actually tearing out all the pages of books I was throwing out in order to recycle the paper!

]]> Here in Brooklyn, NY we're not allowed to recycle books. I have sometimes gone to the trouble of actually tearing out all the pages of books I was throwing out in order to recycle the paper!

]]> Comment #3 by CarlyBee http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/ Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:04:54 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/3 While switching to recycled paper is nice, to be honest, the real waste within the publishing industry is due to extremely antiquated business models, wherein they purposefully over-produce books, over-ship them, and then at the end of the first few months of sales, when the expected top-seller has made it way from the New Books table to to bargain table out front of Borders, the store then sends back all the unwanted copies (save a few which go into the fiction stacks) and gets a refund from the book publisher. Can you imagine this happening in any other industry?

All of those books then get remaindered (their covers are torn off) and some get resold on black markets (though I've never actually seen a book with a fake cover, only read the warning about them in book flaps), but most just end up in warehouses. Even if they do get recycled... what of the carbon footprint their circular journey has taken? No wonder profits are dwindling.

All of this serves as a bigger argument for more On-Demand publishing and the Kindle and other non-conventional ways of delivering those juicy (or vapid, depending on your taste) tales... and none of this really puts the blame on the author, only the medium their stories get sold as. The day will come when you can walk into a book-store and order a book off a screen and watch as a the machine prints you a single copy of that book, an actual bound BOOK book instantly. One printed on recycled paper, one that hasn't had to be schlepped in diesel trucks across the country, one that won't be remaindered, because you ordered exactly how many copies you needed... obviously this is still a ways out, but it's cool to know someone has been thinking of a way to fix the book business problem (and it's a big problem).


]]> While switching to recycled paper is nice, to be honest, the real waste within the publishing industry is due to extremely antiquated business models, wherein they purposefully over-produce books, over-ship them, and then at the end of the first few months of sales, when the expected top-seller has made it way from the New Books table to to bargain table out front of Borders, the store then sends back all the unwanted copies (save a few which go into the fiction stacks) and gets a refund from the book publisher. Can you imagine this happening in any other industry?

All of those books then get remaindered (their covers are torn off) and some get resold on black markets (though I've never actually seen a book with a fake cover, only read the warning about them in book flaps), but most just end up in warehouses. Even if they do get recycled... what of the carbon footprint their circular journey has taken? No wonder profits are dwindling.

All of this serves as a bigger argument for more On-Demand publishing and the Kindle and other non-conventional ways of delivering those juicy (or vapid, depending on your taste) tales... and none of this really puts the blame on the author, only the medium their stories get sold as. The day will come when you can walk into a book-store and order a book off a screen and watch as a the machine prints you a single copy of that book, an actual bound BOOK book instantly. One printed on recycled paper, one that hasn't had to be schlepped in diesel trucks across the country, one that won't be remaindered, because you ordered exactly how many copies you needed... obviously this is still a ways out, but it's cool to know someone has been thinking of a way to fix the book business problem (and it's a big problem).


]]> Comment #4 by bailsout http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/ Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:20:03 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/4 There are some appropriate ways for the philanthropists to donate. Let's stop donating to children's health but instead, to the reduction of child production. If we sterilized ourselves to the edge of extinction, would we be missed?  Yes, like the sound that a falling tree makes in a tropical forest with no one to acknowledge. More healthy children means a less healthy ecosystem. When  will we realize the price that it costs to civilze?

]]> There are some appropriate ways for the philanthropists to donate. Let's stop donating to children's health but instead, to the reduction of child production. If we sterilized ourselves to the edge of extinction, would we be missed?  Yes, like the sound that a falling tree makes in a tropical forest with no one to acknowledge. More healthy children means a less healthy ecosystem. When  will we realize the price that it costs to civilze?

]]> Comment #5 by rjnagle http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/ Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:40:07 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/5 Umbra, this is a great article (as usual).  By some coincidence, I was working on an article on the same subject! (with ample  credit given to your own articles).

My main beef is with governmental climate change reports. They are big cumbersome things; most people would prefer to see the information on a webpage.

 

 

]]> Umbra, this is a great article (as usual).  By some coincidence, I was working on an article on the same subject! (with ample  credit given to your own articles).

My main beef is with governmental climate change reports. They are big cumbersome things; most people would prefer to see the information on a webpage.

 

 

]]> Comment #6 by Raffizack http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/ Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:44:46 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/6 Bookcrossing is an excellent way to keep books moving and prevent them to get dusty in shelfes. After registering a copy of a book at http://www.bookcrossing.com it's set free to find a new reader and maybe rise the karma of the previous reader. You don't think it works? It does, some 750.000 bookcrossers all over the world registered over 5.5 million books since April 2001. Make the whole world a library and see You at bookcrossing... Raffizack

]]> Bookcrossing is an excellent way to keep books moving and prevent them to get dusty in shelfes. After registering a copy of a book at http://www.bookcrossing.com it's set free to find a new reader and maybe rise the karma of the previous reader. You don't think it works? It does, some 750.000 bookcrossers all over the world registered over 5.5 million books since April 2001. Make the whole world a library and see You at bookcrossing... Raffizack

]]> Comment #7 by kobie03 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/ Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:13:32 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/7 you can recycle books. Check out bookcrossing.com. you register a book get an BCID bookcrossong ID number write  it in the book on a label you can print from bookcrossing, leave it in a public place for someone to pick up and your book goes travelling to new readers. I've read books that have been travelling 4-6 years to new readers. I've recycled hundreds of books this way and have fun doing it.

]]> you can recycle books. Check out bookcrossing.com. you register a book get an BCID bookcrossong ID number write  it in the book on a label you can print from bookcrossing, leave it in a public place for someone to pick up and your book goes travelling to new readers. I've read books that have been travelling 4-6 years to new readers. I've recycled hundreds of books this way and have fun doing it.

]]> Comment #8 by Raffizack http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/ Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:37:33 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/8 Hey fellow crosser!

Thanks for mentioning bookcrossing a second time, this great thing couldn't mentioned as often as it should be :-)

]]> Hey fellow crosser!

Thanks for mentioning bookcrossing a second time, this great thing couldn't mentioned as often as it should be :-)

]]> Comment #9 by jessicainny http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/ Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:39:09 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/9 I'll continue to read paperbacks in good old fashioned book form (as opposed to e-books) so long as there are services like paperbackswap.com that allow users to exchange read books.  I'm able to find all sorts of amazing books that way -- even vegan cookbooks! -- while ensuring my once-read castoffs get a new life.

]]> I'll continue to read paperbacks in good old fashioned book form (as opposed to e-books) so long as there are services like paperbackswap.com that allow users to exchange read books.  I'm able to find all sorts of amazing books that way -- even vegan cookbooks! -- while ensuring my once-read castoffs get a new life.

]]> Comment #10 by raz http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/ Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:43:00 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-08-ask-umbra-paperback-writers/10 Regarding the carbon footprint of the book industry - I'm not familiar with Carnegie Mellon EIO-LCA database you mentioned, but according to the 'Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry', which was published on March 2008 by The Green Press Initiative (GPI) and The Book Industry Study Group (BISG). the industry's carbon footprint of 12.4 million metric tons or 8.85 lbs. of carbon dioxide per a book (2006 figures).

Also, this report found out that the source of the paper is responsilbe for the biggest part of the industry's carbon footprint - forest and forest harvest impacts are responsible for 62.7% share of total carbon emissions. Second is paper production at the mills with 22.4% share.

You can read more on this report at http://www.ecolibris.net/book_industry_footprint.asp

]]> Regarding the carbon footprint of the book industry - I'm not familiar with Carnegie Mellon EIO-LCA database you mentioned, but according to the 'Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry', which was published on March 2008 by The Green Press Initiative (GPI) and The Book Industry Study Group (BISG). the industry's carbon footprint of 12.4 million metric tons or 8.85 lbs. of carbon dioxide per a book (2006 figures).

Also, this report found out that the source of the paper is responsilbe for the biggest part of the industry's carbon footprint - forest and forest harvest impacts are responsible for 62.7% share of total carbon emissions. Second is paper production at the mills with 22.4% share.

You can read more on this report at http://www.ecolibris.net/book_industry_footprint.asp

]]>