Chelsea Green Publishing Partners With KSE

For Immediate Release: January 22, 2010

Chelsea Green Publishing Partners with Strategic Communications Firm

Sees grassroots organizing as the future of small publishing

White River Jct./Montpelier Vt. (January 22, 2010) — Vermont-based Chelsea Green Publishing said today it would promote its books and authors in new ways to align with emerging trends in publishing.

The firm announced an innovative partnership with Kimbell Sherman Ellis, LLP (KSE), a strategic communications firm with offices in Montpelier, VT, Cambridge, MA and Washington, D.C.

The goal of the partnership is to redesign the way books are publicized and sold in the digital era.

“Publishing is changing – fast,” said Margo Baldwin, President and Publisher of Chelsea Green. “With the death of traditional book reviews and the simultaneous expansion of a sense of community in different arenas, we aim to provide more than just books. Our authors are experts in their field and sought after commentators. We increasingly work with authors to promote their content on a variety of platforms and that includes the web, blogs and video. KSE also brings us campaign tools that help build communities around book projects.”

KSE most recently managed campaign communications for the first-in-the-nation successful legislative same-sex marriage campaign in Vermont in 2009.

“KSE has always looked for new and innovative ways to get the job done. We’re really excited about this partnership because it allows us to be on the forefront of a world that is changing daily,” said KSE Partner Kevin Ellis. “We want to take what we do best and apply it to publishing.”

Together with the staff at Chelsea Green, KSE will design an integrated communications plan pulling from grassroots politics, marketing and public relations backgrounds. The plan will use Chelsea Green’s unique position and history within distinct communities, from sustainability to politics to agriculture combined with KSE’s approach to old and new media to reshape how content, an “author expert” and their book make an impact on the world.

“As new media grows, it is critical that we develop author-specific campaigns within a digital strategy that evolves with the changing landscape. We intend to create a new model of informing people about our books and authors and we intend to use the latest digital tools to do it,” said Baldwin.

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About Chelsea Green

For 25 years, Chelsea Green has been the publishing leader for books on the politics and practice of sustainable living. We are a founding member of the Green Press Initiative and have been printing books on recycled paper since 1985, when our first list of books appeared. We lead the industry both in terms of content—foundational books on renewable energy, green building, organic agriculture, eco-cuisine, and ethical business—and in terms of environmental practice, printing 95 percent of our books on recycled paper with a minimum 30 percent post-consumer waste and aiming for 100 percent whenever possible. This approach is a perfect example of what is called a “triple bottom line” practice, one that benefits people, planet, and profit, and the emerging new model for sustainable business in the 21st century.