We publish books and save trees.
We live and work in a global community.
We love stories and celebrate storytellers.
We care deeply about our readers.
As a publisher, we refuse to exploit literature. One of the most beautiful developments of the post-modern world is the rise of the Internet as a means of communication, publication, and inspiration. Users across the world can access a vast and diversecollection of music, art, and literature with great ease and from the comfort of their own homes. Even more exciting is the role the Internet plays in sharing media on the personal level, through online communities and file-sharing (P2P) networks. An author publishing in this post-modern, digital environment will quickly find his or her works distributed throughout the globe, across virtual networks and on hard-drives everywhere.
While it is true that some media companies and industry associations are terrified at the thought of their creative content being distributed (for free!) across the Internet by users, listeners, and readers, we see this as an oppurtunity to further expose our (potential) readers to our books and authors. We offer a free electronic edition of nearly every book we publish, in the hopes that readers will share it with their friends and family. It makes little sense to us to “lock up” our books under restrictive and archaic copyright schemes; therefore, we encourage all our authors to release their works under liberal and open Creative Commons licenses. As the first publishing company in the world to fully embrace this approach to copyrighting, we hope that eventually other publishing houses – and other companies in the media industry – will follow suit. This “publishing revolution” of ours doesn’t just end with a new approach to copyright, however.
As a corporation, we are dedicated to environmentally sustainable practices. In our eyes, one of the biggest benefits of marketing electronically-published and -distributed books is the ecological impact (or lack thereof!) of a publishing plan which does not rely on paper. As nature enthusiasts, we have a love of the land that doesn’t disappear when we step into the office; why should we sacrifice forests to make books?
All of our books and products reflect our dedication to environmental sustainability and the responsible use of the Earth’s limited resources. Therefore, in addition to making editions of all our books available electronically, we guarantee that nearly all of our regular editions are printed on post-consumer recycled paper. Our goal is to ensure that as a publishing company we also encourage our readers (and authors) to act conscientiously as stewards of our shared natural resources.
As human beings, our dreams go beyond our books. We genuinely enjoy reading the books we publish, but we’re even more interested in the lives and stories behind those books. Our authors come from radically different walks of life and represent many diverse cultures and perspectives. We publish their books because we want to share those perspectives with the rest of the world – a world that is torn up by fear and misunderstanding. We hope that each book we publish will make a meaningful impact on the world, increasing our knowledge and mutual understanding bit by bit.
History has proven time and again that through publishing books, a community can successfully preserve its culture for posterity. When thoughts, ideas, values, and customs are put down on paper they are no longer bound to a single time and place but become available for world to read forever after. In fact, this might be called the essence of publishing: Every book shares with readers a glimpse at what once was, what now is, and what – eventually – could be. Our commitment to publishing, therefore, is also a commitment to preserving the ideas and values we love, so that they may be read and studied now and in the future.
This is the future of publishing. We didn’t start out trying to change the world of books (and beyond!) but we we sure are glad to give it our best shot. We are committed to making information and perspectives available – and as free as possible – to the world. We are committed to acting as responsible caretakers of our natural environment. We are committed to the people behind our books and to the communities around the world who use books to survive, grow, and learn. We may be the first publishing company to think along these lines but we know we won’t be the last – this is the future of publishing.
Welcome to our little “revolution.”
Want to join us?
