Lorina Stephens's Blog, page 76

Espresso Expired?



Espresso at University of Waterloo
 Since first it was launched in 2007, I've been a staunch supporter of the vision of the Espresso Book Machine. That belief, however, begins to wane of late. Why? Well, there are a series of problems, most of them human, which seem to plague this remarkable technology. I will address those problems, both human and technical.

Initial cost investment. Cost would appear to be the major hurdle for this printer. At $97,500USD, this isn't an investment the average book retailer can easily consider. And while the Espresso may very well be worth every penny of that chunk of change, it's going to take a lot of book sales and a lot of profit, to make that investment worthwhile. Perhaps for that reason the majority of Espressos in existence have been purchased by universities and libraries where that kind of investment can be justified, whether profitable or not.
Training of staff. It would appear, at least from my own exposure to Espresso operators, there is usually only one person who is fully trained in, and knowledgeable about, the Espresso on site. If that person isn't available, the customer is usually met with a lot of embarrassed smiles, shuffling of feet, and a request to return when the Espresso guru is on shift. Given the immediacy of book buying habits, it's likely that sale will be lost.
EspressNet . I've experienced confusion on the part of trained Espresso operators when it comes to the EspressNet, that is, the distribution service offered in partnership with Lightning Source. If the publisher has opted into the full EspressNet distribution services, their books are available on all Espresso Book Machines internationally. Yet I have received phone calls and emails from Espresso-equipped booksellers, wishing to purchase our books, who haven't even bothered to first check the availability of our books on EspressNet. (It should be noted all Five Rivers books are available through that service.)
Operation of Espressos If staff aren't full-trained, or knowledgeable about papers and the printing process, it would appear Espresso operators are having difficulty producing acceptable quality books through the Espresso. Now, understand this problem doesn't have anything to do with the Espresso's capabilities. I have seen books produced on the Espresso that are as beautiful and enduring as anything we could have printed from any quality printer. However, if operators insist on using sub-standard papers, the quality of printing and the resulting book will remain unacceptable.
Circumvention of EspressNet. I've had some Espresso operators require the original files for setup of Five Rivers titles on their Espresso. Again, despite the fact our titles are available through EspressNet, operators seem unwilling to use the service, instead charging a publisher an additional setup fee in order for their books to be available and printed.
Lack of Sales. Despite aggressive marketing since Five Rivers first opted into the EspressNet agreement (May 2009), we have realized one and only one sale through the system. Given our healthy sales in digital and print books through other venues, this is a sorry performance. And I've heard similar complaints from other small publishers across North America. So, is the Espresso being used by all those universities and libraries (25 of 40 are in public institutions) to print academic books and course notes, rather than as a way to reach a broader reading audience and thereby increase sales revenues and reduce inventory?
Overall, the jury is still out about the viability and success of the Espresso. It's radical technology with a radical vision, and often these things take time for users and the general public to accept. Still, if the existing Espresso operators don't buy into that grand vision, then this technology will go the way of the Avro Arrow or the Edson.

Going Sideways with Gardening Book

This time last year we signed a publishing agreement with orphaned authors (part of the Key Porter meltdown) and well-known Canadian gardening gurus Patrick Lima and John Scanlan, to release an updated and revised version of their organic gardening book, aptly named The Organic Home Gardener.  



We just received the final manuscript late last week. Wow! There is a truckload of new information, recipes and sensible strategies for the home gardener interested in producing their own vegetables and fruits. Patrick and John take readers step-by-step through the engaging process of growing the best possible food -- from spring's first spinach, asparagus and salad greens, through the summer abundance of tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and all, and right into fall's harvest of squash, leeks, carrots and potatoes. Often, a small timely tip makes all the difference, and this dynamic team leaves nothing out.



Whether you tend a small city yard, a full-size country garden, or something in between, the instructive, easy to follow and often humorous advice will ensure you make the very best use of the space you have -- and you can't get any more local, seasonal and organic than food from your own yard.



This isn't your average gardening book. In fact, we decided to go completely sideways with the Organic Home Garden, presenting it in a 6 x 9 trade paperback format so it's easy to hold in the hand, without the pretension of masquerading as a coffee table book.



John's artwork is stunning, adding class and whimsy to the book. His illustrations are collage studies in black and white, mixing media in a fresh, new approach to gardening artwork. They are most definitely art. And yet the illustrations are also most definitely relevant.



The Organic Home Gardener, we're positive, won't get lost in that wall of glossy, expensive gardening books. It's going to stand out. And once you have it in your dirt-stained hands, as either print or digital book, we're sure you're going to find this the one gardening book that's referenced again and again.



Now in final editing, The Organic Home Gardener is scheduled for release late summer to early fall of 2011.

Shocking and Insightful Book from Nate Hendley

In the coming months we will be pleased to release Nate Hendley's shocking and insightful book on methamphetamine, Crystal Death.



Originally published by now defunct Altitude Publishing under the title of Crystal Meth, we decided to pick up the book when Nate offered it to us in 2009. Nate went back to the computer and completely revised, updated and reworked the book to reflect Canadian as well as American statistics, adding new interviews with addicts, case workers and health and law enforcement officials. The result of that is a book we feel very strongly about, one we'd suggest is required reading for parents, educators, adolescents and anyone dealing with the problems of substance abuse and its prevention.



The cover for Crystal Death are two images of user Theresa Baxter, who has allowed her photographs to be used in the interest of preventing other people from crawling into the dark cave of crystal meth. The image in the background is of Theresa in 2002 after an arrest for identity theft and fraud. The second was taken 3 1/2 years later.



Crystal Death is now in the final stages of editing, and scheduled for release in the spring of 2011.

Five Rivers Signs Debut Author, Shermin Kruse

We're very pleased to announce we've signed another debut author, Shermin Kruse, and acquired the publishing rights to her novel, Butterfly Stitching.



The novel is an honest, at times heart-breaking, window into the world of Samira, an Iranian woman caught in the contradictory and eventually revolutionary world of 1979 Tehran. Ultimately a very female novel, we feel very strongly this story will resonate not only with women on a global scale, but people who struggle daily for balance and sanity in an often radical and repressive world.



Shermin brings with her a global experience that has taken her from modelling to the law offices of Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg where she practices complex commercial litigation, representing large corporations such as Louis Vuitton, Moet Hennessy, Fendi, and First Industrial Realty Trust.



In addition to her law practice, Sher is the co-founder and Vice President of Pasfarda Arts and Cultural Exchange. "PACE" is a new human rights organization dedicated to the exchange of arts and culture between Iran and the United States, with the mission of promoting understanding and thereby peace between the two nations. Sher is a citizen of Iran, Canada and the United States. She was born in Iran and is fluent in Farsi.



In addition to her commitment to PACE and her full time legal practice, Sher works with a number of non-profit entities on a pro-bono basis in both civil and criminal cases, has received an award for her pro-bono efforts by Illinois Legal Aid Online, and serves on several non-profit boards. She is a recognized advocate of gender equality rights, and participated in a global symposium on gender equality held in Zurich in July, 2007. She is also a painter, photographer, and writer, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Fine Arts in Writing from the School of the Art Institute.



Education

The School of the Art Institute, Masters in Fine Arts candidate, 2012
University of Michigan Law School, J.D., cum laude, 2002
University of Toronto, B.S., honors degree in philosophy and psychology, 1999
Activities and Honors

Director of the Lincoln Park Community Shelter, September, 2002-present
Co-founder and director of PACE, October 2008 – present
Columnist for the Chicago Lawyer Magazine, May 2008 – present.
Member of the Corporate Partner Retention Committee for the National Association of Women Business Owners, 2008
Editor of and contributor to Dicta, the Michigan Law School Literary journal, 2001
Associate Editor, Michigan Journal of Law Reform, 2001
Butterfly Stitching is slated for release early 2012.

Images from Word on the Street



Talented brother and sister, Nate and Alicia Hendley at Five Rivers' booth at WOTS this past Sunday.




Alicia Hendley signing copies of her fabulous debut novel, A Subtle Thing.


Toronto's Word on the Street

A day to recuperate and organize my thoughts about Five Rivers' experience this year at Toronto's Word on the Street. In a word: fabulous!



Last year we had a booth in the Fringe Beat section, nestled amid philosophers of morality and inarticulate sword-masters, of foul-mouthed publishers of twisted dystopia, and hawkers of a better life. We crammed ourselves into a microscopic space of five feet. But it was a start, and we put out the word we're here, and hopefully here for a long time. We sold two books.



This year we were in the publisher's section, right at the intersection of Hoskin Avenue and Queen's Park Crescent West. We doubled our footprint. And increased sales by 310%. But more importantly, we launched Alicia's Hendley's debut novel, A Subtle Thing, and had a book signing by Nate Hendley for his two new books, Al Capone: Chicago's King of Crime, and Motivate to Create: a guide for writers. We sold out of the Al Capone book, and very nearly sold out of the writer's guide and Alicia's novel.



We met lots of great people, made new contacts and acquaintances, renewed old ones. We discussed the state of the book and book publishing. We expounded on the discipline of a writer's life. We laughed at our own foibles and commiserated about shared difficulties. We celebrated with our fellow Canadians a love of literature and the vibrancy of our multi-cultural society. And in the end we packed our goods and our gear and made the long trek back to Neustadt and a bucolic countryside, idiot grins in place and burgeoning plans for next year.



My thanks to both Nate and Alicia Hendley for taking part in a fabulous day. My thanks to all the people who stopped by the booth.



We'll see you next year, hopefully in a larger space yet, and with even more new titles.



P.S. We  hope to have some pictures posted over the next few days. You have no idea how many people came to Alicia's launch!

Book Trailer, A Subtle Thing

The prologue of Alicia Hendley's novel, A Subtle Thing, as a book trailer.

Call for Submissions

Five Rivers Chapmanry is an independent micro-publisher of fiction and non-fiction, giving voice to new and established Canadian authors. Five Rivers is committed to bringing publishing back to uncompromising personal editors where it belongs, rather than focus-group marketing. We publish real books by real authors for real readers.

 We employ print-on-demand technologies as part of responsible management of environmental and financial resources: by printing only the books required, rather t...

Five Rivers at Word on the Street

Five Rivers will be at Toronto's Word on the Street again this year, Sunday, September 26, 2010, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.



This year we're in the publisher's section, Booth 327, right at the corner of Hoskin Avenue and Queen's Park Crescent West, across from an Information Booth, an ATM kiosk and the World's Food Market.



The highlight of our day will be the launch of Alicia Hendley's debut novel, A Subtle Thing. Alicia will be on hand to answer questions and sign copies from 1:00 to 3:0...

The Darwinism of Books

It has become almost a tired argument the past three years that print books will suffer extinction. Pundits far wiser than I have expostulated that in this world of immediate gratification and three second attention, of rampant consumerism and the rule of the mob, that books -- real, paper-filled and cover bound books -- will see a demise in favour of digital information and literature.



Certainly that prediction is not without precedent. Just look at what happened to the music industry. I kn...