Litquake Events Take on the Changing Publishing Industry and Sustainability

By Rainforest Action Network

The publishing world is rapidly changing as technology influences where, when, and how an author goes about getting published. San Francisco’s very own Litquake extravaganza delves into this further and works to help authors navigate the new terrain. Two events directly relate to our Rainforest Free Paper Campaign and are worth blogging, talking, and tweeting about.

Event: Off the Richter Scale: AltPub

  • Title: Who Needs a Publisher?
  • Location: Variety Preview Room Theater, 582 Market St
  • Date/Time: Oct 3rd, 1-2PM

This discussion analyzes the current publishing framework and questions whether authors really need to go through one of the big six publishers to gain notoriety. Thanks to on-demand and social publishing, small publishers, and e-books there are a variety of effective alternatives. Our opinion? Options are great! Some of the large publishers are buying paper from APP & APRIL, companies that are clearing and converting Indonesia’s rainforests to monoculture plantations to make cheap paper. While the AltPub event offers authors advice on how to achieve literary success, we want authors to publish through environmentally friendly distribution channels – whether they be one of the big six publishers, on-demand publishing, or anything else. For more on our work, check out our report at www.ran.org/bookreport.

Event: Enviro-Lit Panel:

  • Title: The Sustainable Solution to the Economy
  • Location: Beach Chalet, 1000 Great Hwy
  • Date/Time: Oct 3 6:30PM-7:30PM

Not only is technology acting as a publishing game-changer, but climate change is as well. This discussion is worth being part of, as expert panelists address this issue head-on. What economic repercussions will we face if we ignore these environmental issues? How will this affect our government and what power do individuals have to make an impact? With environmental reporter and editor of Bay Area Report for The NY Times, Felicity Barringer moderating this event, it is sure to be worthwhile.

October 3rd is shaping up to be a pretty informative and inspiring day. These issues covered at Litquake speak directly to the overarching goals of our Rainforest Free Paper Campaign and we thank Litquake for being so environmentally and socially responsible!