Publishing Industry Gets Greener

A local publisher has found that the e-book craze is also having a big impact on the environment.  The Wild Rose Press started in 2006.  Rhonda Penders and a friend thought it would be fun.   
"We started it as a hobby, it was something fun to do,"  Penders says.  They now have 45 employees and 1,200 romance titles from 600 authors.  Penders is able to run the business from her Adams Basin home.  That's because almost everything she does, is done online.  "It took off just exploded, people loved what we created." 

What she created is quite different from many other publishing companies.   The publishing industry as a whole is one of the world's worst polluters.  In 2008, the U.S. book and newspaper industry harvested 125 million trees.   "A lot of books end up in the landfill.  You might read it and donate it somewhere, or you might just toss it.  A lot of people throw them out," Penders adds. 

She says e-readers are changing all of that.  "We don't have to have warehouses full of books anymore.  It's all on the computer," says Penders.  Although she says some people are still resistant to the idea of reading on a screen.   "In 2006 when we started, people were very skeptical of e-books," she says.   But most are coming around to the idea.  Her company does print some books, but only if someone requests one.  "Our full length novels which are 65,000 words or more go to print.  But it's print on demand which means you want to buy the book we print the book". 

That cuts down on the cost, and on the waste.  For more information on Wild Rose Press, click here.