Are Books Obsolete?

Some highlights with commentary in italics.

A rough economy, changing reading habits, and a planet in peril are forcing book publishers to retool the way they do business.

And self-publishers as well — how has the economy changed your publishing strategy?

…

Although you may have watched your house value decline and your rainy-day fund dry up, there is still the sweet experience of crawling into the pages of a really good book. Reading is one of the best—and cheapest—sources of comfort, entertainment, and escape around.

But the industry that produced that book carries a story of its own. As with every business in these recession-challenged times, economic, environmental, and technological forces are requiring publishers to come up with new ways of packaging ideas and launching them into the world.

Generally, the book publishing industry is affected after the music and movie industries… and changes more slowly than other industries. During times of rapid change, those that change too early or too late are often left out.

…

“Up until very recently, we would ask, ‘What does a publishing company look like in 10 years?’” says Mark Tauber, senior vice president and publisher of HarperOne, which publishes titles on religion, self-help, and spirituality. “That’s still a good question, but it’s more like, ‘What does it look like next year?’”

Or next month? The rate of change seems to be increasing rapidly!

…

MANY PUBLISHERS—and readers—hope that it looks much greener. The environmental impact of each step of the mass book-making process packs a wallop—from the harvesting of trees to the production of pulp and paper, printing, and then schlepping those books to stores and mailboxes across the country. Consider also that a huge number of books eventually end up in landfills, where they decompose and help produce a troublesome greenhouse gas called methane. Overall, the entire industry emits 12.4 million metric tons of carbon each year, according to the Green Press Initiative (GPI), a nonprofit that helps publishers develop more environmentally responsible practices. That’s 8.85 pounds per book.

Bethany Press, the printer behind BelieversPress, was one of the first to sign the Green Press Initiative.

…

But a green-focused cadre of book industry leaders hopes to change many of those practices—and save about 5 million trees every year in the process. Roughly 220 of them have developed and signed the “Book Industry Treatise on Responsible Paper,” a GPI initiative, whose goals include protecting endangered forests, preventing illegal logging, increasing the industry’s use of recycled paper, and supporting human rights—including fair wages and working conditions for laborers involved in producing books overseas. They also want to see an increase in the use of paper that is certified by groups such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which works to create forestry practices that are responsible and sustainable. And this seal of approval isn’t just for industry insiders—President Ba­rack Obama’s 1 million inaugural invitations were printed on FSC-certified paper.

But the most environmentally friendly step publishers can take is to use more recycled paper in their books. Dwight Baker, president of Baker Publishing Group, a Christian publishing house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and an early member of the GPI, had been looking for recycled paper to use in Baker’s books for years. He credits John DePree, president and CEO of Bethany Press Inter­national—Baker’s printer—with ultimately finding a paper that worked.

Now virtually all the company’s nonfiction books are printed on post-consumer waste paper. Making the switch costs more, but only because more publishers and paper buyers—and readers—haven’t increased the demand for it.

Did you know that BelieversPress is one of the few self-publishing options that allows you to use recycled paper in your book? We also recycle the waste left over after producing your book.

Limiting your print runs (and reprinting more often to meet demand) is another way to cut down on waste.

…

But what if publishers produced more books that didn’t require paper at all? Wouldn’t it solve a bundle of environmental problems if we did away with printed books altogether? With increasing Internet access and a number of electronic readers on the market, such as Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader, plus the ability to read books online and—coming soon—via cell phones, Black­berrys, or iPhones, it’s a logical question. As the prices come down and the perks of digital reading grow—download extra ma­terial in seconds, get confusing words defined in a heartbeat, and read anywhere, anytime—publishers are having to retool the ways they conceptualize, produce, market, sell, and distribute their material to meet a small but growing demand.

We’ll be announcing e-book conversion services soon. Have a book to convert today? Contact us to discuss your options

…

Still, it’s easy to overestimate the difference technology will make in the publishing industry, and easy to underestimate the time it will take for these transitions to occur on a big scale. “We’re adding our content to Kindle as aggressively as any publisher,” says Baker. “But last month Kindle sales amounted to less than 1 percent of our total revenue. Is it going to grow? Yes. Is it going to displace some print somewhere? Yes, by all means. Is this going to solve the problem on resource management? No. It would be hopelessly naïve to wait for that to occur. E-books will grow but they’re not going to displace massive quantities of print. It’s usually a both/and, not an either/or.”

Kindle is one of the larger eBook markets. Though the cost to convert is small, the profits can be smaller yet if your market has not yet embraced eBooks. Amazon’s recent announcement of a Kindle App for iPhone has greatly increased the market.

And although paperless books are much less harmful to the environment, the components of electronic readers, cell phones, iPhones, and other reading gadgets still carry social, economic, and environmental impacts of their own. Kindle’s $359 price tag may come down, but that’s still a steep price for most people, and it’s not hard to imagine broken or outdated e-readers lying alongside cell phones in landfills all over the world.

eWaste tends to end up in poorer third world countries (Africa and China) where workers are exposed to unsafe working conditions. eReaders require disassembly to recycle certain parts, versus books which are more easily more completely recycled.

For now, the printed book is far from obsolete, though its story will continue to evolve—hopefully in physical forms and processes that are far greener. The digital revolution brings a host of new ways to enjoy a book, and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about: good, fresh ideas and new ways of looking at the world. Whether it’s on paper or onscreen, good books will always comfort, delight, and sustain us—especially during the bad times.

Source: Are Books Obsolete? from Sojourners Magazine

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Nick Ciske

Nick Ciske is the co-founder of Believers Press and has been developing web sites in various capacities for over ten years. After a five year stint at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association he ended up at Bethany Press International. Now a book geek, he helps Christians publish their books by creating new publishing solutions and partnerships.

Posted in Being Green (Creation Stewardship), Printing, Uncategorized, eBooks

No Responses to “Are Books Obsolete?”

1. Nick Ciske says:

   May 5, 2009 at 10:55 am

   Some highlights with commentary in italics.

   A rough economy, changing reading habits, and a planet in peril are forcing book publishers to retool the way they do business.

   And self-publishers as well — how has the economy changed your publishing strategy?

   …

   Although you may have watched your house value decline and your rainy-day fund dry up, there is still the sweet experience of crawling into the pages of a really good book. Reading is one of the best—and cheapest—sources of comfort, entertainment, and escape around.

   But the industry that produced that book carries a story of its own. As with every business in these recession-challenged times, economic, environmental, and technological forces are requiring publishers to come up with new ways of packaging ideas and launching them into the world.

   Generally, the book publishing industry is affected after the music and movie industries… and changes more slowly than other industries. During times of rapid change, those that change too early or too late are often left out.

   …

   “Up until very recently, we would ask, ‘What does a publishing company look like in 10 years?’” says Mark Tauber, senior vice president and publisher of HarperOne, which publishes titles on religion, self-help, and spirituality. “That’s still a good question, but it’s more like, ‘What does it look like next year?’”

   Or next month? The rate of change seems to be increasing rapidly!

   …

   MANY PUBLISHERS—and readers—hope that it looks much greener. The environmental impact of each step of the mass book-making process packs a wallop—from the harvesting of trees to the production of pulp and paper, printing, and then schlepping those books to stores and mailboxes across the country. Consider also that a huge number of books eventually end up in landfills, where they decompose and help produce a troublesome greenhouse gas called methane. Overall, the entire industry emits 12.4 million metric tons of carbon each year, according to the Green Press Initiative (GPI), a nonprofit that helps publishers develop more environmentally responsible practices. That’s 8.85 pounds per book.

   Bethany Press, the printer behind BelieversPress, was one of the first to sign the Green Press Initiative.

   …

   But a green-focused cadre of book industry leaders hopes to change many of those practices—and save about 5 million trees every year in the process. Roughly 220 of them have developed and signed the “Book Industry Treatise on Responsible Paper,” a GPI initiative, whose goals include protecting endangered forests, preventing illegal logging, increasing the industry’s use of recycled paper, and supporting human rights—including fair wages and working conditions for laborers involved in producing books overseas. They also want to see an increase in the use of paper that is certified by groups such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which works to create forestry practices that are responsible and sustainable. And this seal of approval isn’t just for industry insiders—President Ba­rack Obama’s 1 million inaugural invitations were printed on FSC-certified paper.

   But the most environmentally friendly step publishers can take is to use more recycled paper in their books. Dwight Baker, president of Baker Publishing Group, a Christian publishing house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and an early member of the GPI, had been looking for recycled paper to use in Baker’s books for years. He credits John DePree, president and CEO of Bethany Press Inter­national—Baker’s printer—with ultimately finding a paper that worked.

   Now virtually all the company’s nonfiction books are printed on post-consumer waste paper. Making the switch costs more, but only because more publishers and paper buyers—and readers—haven’t increased the demand for it.

   Did you know that BelieversPress is one of the few self-publishing options that allows you to use recycled paper in your book? We also recycle the waste left over after producing your book.

   Limiting your print runs (and reprinting more often to meet demand) is another way to cut down on waste.
   

   …

   But what if publishers produced more books that didn’t require paper at all? Wouldn’t it solve a bundle of environmental problems if we did away with printed books altogether? With increasing Internet access and a number of electronic readers on the market, such as Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader, plus the ability to read books online and—coming soon—via cell phones, Black­berrys, or iPhones, it’s a logical question. As the prices come down and the perks of digital reading grow—download extra ma­terial in seconds, get confusing words defined in a heartbeat, and read anywhere, anytime—publishers are having to retool the ways they conceptualize, produce, market, sell, and distribute their material to meet a small but growing demand.

   We’ll be announcing e-book conversion services soon. Have a book to convert today? Contact us to discuss your options

   …

   Still, it’s easy to overestimate the difference technology will make in the publishing industry, and easy to underestimate the time it will take for these transitions to occur on a big scale. “We’re adding our content to Kindle as aggressively as any publisher,” says Baker. “But last month Kindle sales amounted to less than 1 percent of our total revenue. Is it going to grow? Yes. Is it going to displace some print somewhere? Yes, by all means. Is this going to solve the problem on resource management? No. It would be hopelessly naïve to wait for that to occur. E-books will grow but they’re not going to displace massive quantities of print. It’s usually a both/and, not an either/or.”

   Kindle is one of the larger eBook markets. Though the cost to convert is small, the profits can be smaller yet if your market has not yet embraced eBooks. Amazon’s recent announcement of a Kindle App for iPhone has greatly increased the market.
   

   And although paperless books are much less harmful to the environment, the components of electronic readers, cell phones, iPhones, and other reading gadgets still carry social, economic, and environmental impacts of their own. Kindle’s $359 price tag may come down, but that’s still a steep price for most people, and it’s not hard to imagine broken or outdated e-readers lying alongside cell phones in landfills all over the world.

   eWaste tends to end up in poorer third world countries (Africa and China) where workers are exposed to unsafe working conditions. eReaders require disassembly to recycle certain parts, versus books which are more easily more completely recycled.

   For now, the printed book is far from obsolete, though its story will continue to evolve—hopefully in physical forms and processes that are far greener. The digital revolution brings a host of new ways to enjoy a book, and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s about: good, fresh ideas and new ways of looking at the world. Whether it’s on paper or onscreen, good books will always comfort, delight, and sustain us—especially during the bad times.

   Source: Are Books Obsolete? from Sojourners Magazine