"The Men Who Built America"

There is a series on the History Channel called "The Men Who Built America" about famous men who changed the American landscape as we know it: John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and J.P. Morgan. The show's summary explains, "These men created the American Dream and were the engine of capitalism as they transformed everything they touched in building the oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobile and finance industries..."

Cosimo carries several biographies and histories about all these great men, and others like them. If you're a fan of the History Channel and want to know more about these historical figures, check out our bookstore. You can read books by and about Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford,  John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and soon, J. P. Morgan. Read and learn about the history of America and the faces who made it.

Halloween is Coming! Check Out Our Collection of Creepy Crawly Cryptozoology Books!

Halloween is next Wednesday, but you don't need to wait a whole week to get spooked! Cosimo Author Loren Coleman is also a world-renowned cryptozoologist, and he offers a collection of books that will satisfy even the most skeptical minds. He has written introductions to classic books with an eye toward the strange, creepy, and the unknown. Check out titles on werewolves, dragons, mythical monsters, sea serpents, and giant birds.

As always, be sure to read Coleman's bestselling Bigfoot: The True Story of Apes in America, Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life (in preparation for the winter solstice), and Mothman and Other Curious Encounters. That way, after your trick-or-treating is finished and the parties have come to a close, you can curl up with a cup of hot chocolate and thoroughly frighten the night away.

Also, check out Loren Coleman's cryptozoology site Cryptomundo for the latest about Bigfoot. This week, the Patterson-Gimlin film turned 45 and there is breaking news about an upcoming Bigfoot film. Check out his website for more!

Happy Halloween!

Praise for Mystic Journey: Buy the Book Everyone's Talking About

Since its release, our title Mystic Journey has gotten quite the response from readers and reviewers. Author Robert Atkinson was interviewed by both the Portland Press Herald and Spiritual Media Blog about his background in spirituality and life stories. These discussions clarify his book and his purpose behind writing it, creating deeper meaning for the readers.

Additionally, Atkinson's book received several positive reviews around the 'net, including on the book's Amazon page, and from spirituality and book bloggers, such as Evolutionary_Mystic, Dad of Divas, and Book Bargains and Previews.

See what they have to say below, check out the full reviews for yourself, and pick up your own copy of Mystic Journey!

The book ... provides a magnificent template for the mystical traveler: knowing what is achievable through conscious effort; seeing in the oscillation of opposites the possibility of their union; recognizing that the respolution of such a procession of opposites in our lives is designed to move us closer to our Creator; and understanding that our deepest spiritual transformation comes about not through escape from the world but from work in the world, as service to humanity.

--Evolutionary_Mystic Post 

This book is deep, and makes anyone who reads this delve deeper within themselves to understand not only their own spirituality, but also one's own spiritual and conscious self. 

--Dad of Divas' Book Reviews

Thought-provoking and powerful, valuable reading for those searching for deeper meaning to life.

--Amazon Reader JDM

This book takes an interesting look at developing the whole person, body, mind, and spirit and how expressing our life stories can help us come to know who we really are and what our life's calling is. This is a thought-provoking and compelling read for those who are searching for the meaning of life.

--Allie B. from Book Bargains and Previews

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell's Institute of Noetic Sciences Celebrates 40 Year Anniversary

The Institute of Noetic Sciences, founded by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, known for bridging ancient wisdom and modern science to explore the web of our interconnection through education, community, and applications, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a number of events, including:

• A Phone Call with IONS CEO and President Steve Villano, Thursday, September 27, 2012
• The Great Initiation of the Q'ero Indians at EarthRise on IONS Campus, Tuesday, October 9, 2012
• A Board and Donor Weekend at EarthRise, Including a Public Proclamation Ceremony Bestowing the Key to the City of Petaluma, Friday, October 26 thru Sunday, October 28, 2012
• IONS 40th Celebration and Open House at EarthRise, Sunday, January 20, 2013
• IONS' 15th International Conference in Southern California, July 17–21, 2013

Edgar Mitchell is the author of Psychic Exploration, along with a number of experts on psychic phenomena and the paranormal.

Darwin Gillett, author of Noble Enterprise speaking in Brazil conference on "Profits & Social Values"

Darwin Gillett, author of Noble Enterprise: The Commonsense Guide to Uplifting People and Profits, will speak at conference in Brazil on October 2nd. The conference will be hosted by Fundaceo Dom Cabral, named one of the top ten business schools world-wide by Financial Times for the past three years running. Please check Mr. Gillett's press release, quoted below, for more information.

"While critics of Capitalism, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement, rail against business as a bastion of profit-hungry executives, with little regard for the masses let alone the environment, one Maine businessman has been espousing and documenting an approach for doing business that benefits both profits and social values. This approach helps companies succeed and contributes to a fiar and just society and to the environment." 

Cosimo co-sponsors Sustainable Styles Launch Party at Tesla Showroom in NY

Sustainable Styles, a new magazine venture from sustainable activist Pamela Peeters, held a launch party co-sponsored by Cosimo last Wednesday evening. Among the guests was Frans Verhagen, whose recent book, The Tierra Solution, was being raffled along with Nikola Tesla's autobiography My Inventions. The launch party was held at Tesla's namesake, the Tesla Motors Showroom, where guests were treated to a close-up look at one of the innovative electrical cars, inspired by the works and inventions of Nikola Tesla. 

If you're interested in learning more about Sustainable Styles and Pamela Peeters work, please visit their Facebook page or consider a donation to the magazine.

Danny Schechter on the Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street

Yesterday, September 17, was the anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. News outlets, such as Yahoo! News, noted that the turnout was underwhelming and that police nipped things in the bud almost immediately. Read Danny's take on the first anniversary of #OWS and catch his follow up in today's blog post. Of course, you can also check out his play-by-play of the movement during it's heyday in his book, Occupy: Dissecting Occupy Wall Street.

Dare to Care and The Espresso Book Machine at The American Book Center in Amsterdam

This Saturday and Sunday, Cosimo author Louis Bohtlingk is presenting his climate-conscious finance book, Dare to Care, at American Book Center locations in The Hague and Amsterdam in The Netherlands. In addition, he will be demonstrating the technology of the Espresso Book Machine.

Not only will this be an interesting presentation on the meaning of money in our economies from someone who has worked in finance and with money for years, but copies of Dare to Care will be printed locally at the event by the Espresso Book Machine for fans who want a signed copy.

Dare to Care is just one of thousands of Cosimo titles available on this innovative publishing machine, which is featured in bookstores around the world. In New York City, McNally Jackson in Soho houses its own machine, ready to print any book within the Espresso database at a moment's notice. This device as a fantastic alternative for bookstores who want to offer print-on-demand books, but don't want to carry a large stock, especially for stores in locations where not every single book is available or where online ordering is not always available or fast. For locations of all Espresso Book Machines around the world, click here.

New York Times on Keeping Nikola Tesla's Flame Bright

According to The New York Times, fans of inventor and writer Nikola Tesla are hosting fundraisers to create a museum featuring Tesla's inventions and life in his dilapidated laboratory, Wardenclyffe.

One such method of fundraising is producing a movie about Tesla, which would include the purchase of and subsequently feature the estate. Other plans include online fundraising and philanthropy, but all will contribute to the purchase of the museum, which will educate the public on the largely under-publicized man.

Fans or newcomers to Tesla's work can start with his autobiography, My Inventions, available in both paperback and hardcover. Additionally, you can read about his Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency, also in paperback and hardcover, and The Problem of Increasing Human Energy, an always-hot topic with the discussions of climate change.

Self-publishing is now "validated" by The New York Times

According to a recent article in The New York Times, self-publishing is no longer just about the vanity presses. Of course, we've known this for years, as a sort-of mashup between traditional publishing and typical POD publishers, which are largely self-publishing companies. More than half of the books published last year--somewhere between 150,000 to 200,000 out of 350,000 titles--were self-published. 

Much of this success (or rather, publicity) can be attributed to the Amazon self-publishing boom with CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing. The New York Times' attention can also probably be blamed on Fifty Shades of Grey, which as most people know, started out as a self-published, hastily doctored Twilight fanfiction. After mentioning two self-published books which did well ("Fifty Shades of Grey" and "The Fine Print of Self-Publishing," neither of which apparently warrant correct punctuation for book titles), the article gives the disappointing caveat that most self-published books will only ever sell between 50 and 100 copies, a dismal quantity at best.

Many authors who self-publish might not care, having published the book for various reasons. Often authors don't care about getting their book to a wide audience, but just about getting the book out at all. Of course, many (most) might just be overly-optimistic. As one self-published author whose book got bought by a big house put it, "The biggest thing you have against you in trying to sell your book is that people don't know about it." 

This is true, and not limited to self-publishing. Other articles have been coming out about how difficult it is to get books noticed by the public, through online and traditional marketing methods. But publishers have contacts in the business, and that's why publishing through other methods can be beneficial. Though we publish books through print-on-demand technology, a much more cost effective method than large print runs, we market our books using both traditional and online methods. This can be a great help to authors who don't know where to start. Of course, the author is always the most effective marketer, especially of non-fiction books, since they ideally have an audience and platform already built up and can reach them most easily. Basically, as the article states, it's nothing revolutionary to get people to notice your work, but it does take a lot of effort.

The point is, The New York Times has finally gotten around to noticing that people are self-publishing. That it can be a good choice for some authors, but that many won't make it. That it's hard work. Welcome to the 21st century.

"As the World Burns: Can an Integrated Monetary System Save Us?" - Review of The Tierra Solution

Ethan Goffman, associate editor of the open-access journal for sustainable solutions, Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy, has written a thought-provoking review of Frans Verhagen's The Tierra Solution. You can read the original review, along with some enlightening articles about sustainability, here, but see what he has to say below.

Climate change requires an integrated global approach. Solutions cannot be isolated by borders, nor from our economic and social systems. Big thinking is needed. One recent book that thinks big is The Tierra Solution by sustainability sociologist Frans Verhagen, President of the International Institute of Monetary Transformation. The book recommends a global currency called the Tierra based on carbon. Given the severe challenge of climate change, such sweeping proposals are needed to create a larger vision and stimulate discussion. And clearly, a major shift in our monetary system is needed for a stable, sustainable planet. Still, the book is simplistic in its claims for a singular solution and understates the huge political challenges.

The Tierra would abandon our current floating currency, in which dollars, euros, renminbi, pesos, and other currency fluctuate relative to one another, oftentimes wildly so. While such volatility is economically stressful, Verhagen points out that the gold standard, the classical stable unit of currency, suffers from the artificial nature of gold, which itself ebbs and flows in price. As an international currency based on carbon, the Tierra would be both comprehensive and stable. It would also be tied to the environment, encouraging responsible behavior globally. As Verhagen explains, “[T]he proximity of a nation’s decarbonization level to the [Tierra] standard would determine the...value of its currency.”

Alas, the book leaves a hole as to how a transition to such a standard would take place. It does, however, describe a more complete system of which the Tierra is only one part, albeit the central one. Controlled by a global monetary institution, the Tierra would be a credit-based currency integrated with an exchange of wealthy countries’ ecological debts and poorer countries’ financial debt, and working alongside a carbon tax.

Read the rest of the review on the Sustainability blog, here. And don't forget to leave a comment here or there with your own thoughts on the issue!

Left at East Gates's Peter Robbins on Truth Out Radio

Last Friday evening, author Peter Robbins did an interview with Richard Dolan of "Truth Out Radio" about the Rendlesham Forest incident, Britain's most well-known UFO occurrence and the subject of Robbins's book with Larry Warren, Left at East Gate. To listen to the whole three-hour show and the two-hour talk with Peter, check out the Truth Out Radio Archives. The newest shows are at the bottom. In addition, you can watch Peter's recent talk on the subject at Phoenix Mufon on July21st, below, for background information.

“Occupy Wall Street succeeded in making the issue of the 99% versus the 1% big news,” says Schechter in Tehran Times

Danny Schechter, the News Dissector, and author of Occupy: Dissecting Occupy Wall Street, has been interviewed by the Iranian Tehran Times, covering multiple issues. From the role of the media in covering the Middle East, to their role in the run up to the wars in Iraq and  Afghanistan, to the White House and Wikileaks, and much more. Schecher is also frank in his views of Occupy Wall Street; yes, "it succeeded in making the issue of the 99% versus the 1 % big news in a media dominated culture" and no, "it hasn't succeeded in making change." You can read the complete interview online. If you're interested in reading more of Danny's ideas on Occupy and the media, check out his new books, Blogothon: Reflections and Revelations from the News Dissector, and Occupy, now also available as a NookBook.

New Book Release & Cosimo Book of the Month from Life Stories Expert Robert Atkinson

This month we'd like to announce a new title and our August Book of the Month, Mystic Journey: Getting to the Heart of Your Soul's Story, by Robert Atkinson. Mystic Journey is the exploration of who we are at our core and why we are deeply connected to all others on earth. Atkinson, an internationally recognized authority in helping people tell their life stories, explains how universal motifs, archetypes, and patterns tie us all together and emerge time and time again in individuals' life stories, to create one story that establishes who we are during life. Atkinson uses his extensive background in human development and religious studies to show how traditional archetypes and motifs, such as the hero story, shape our daily lives and develop within our own personal stories.

Mystic Journey explores life's greatest adventure, discovering who we are at our core by living consciously, as described in the world's oldest wisdom traditions. We all must explore the path of our soul, uncovering who we are in this life in order to determine who we will be in the next life (i.e. heaven, the great beyond, the afterlife, death). Atkinson uses a multi-faith approach to explain and describe the lifelong process of soul-making, leading to a personal and collective transformation. each chapter of Mystic Journey ends with an exercise to help readers tell their personal story, and each chapter explains not only the process of soul-making, but also how each individual's story connects to that of the whole.

Mystic Journey is an ideal book for those searching for inner peace, spiritual awareness, or who simply want to write down their story for others to read. Mystic Journey guides readers to use their life stories to solidify their identities, live with an eternal perspective in mind, and reclaim a common spiritual heritage. You can read the press release, along with praise and purchasing information, here. The book also received fantastic reviews from The New Maine Times book review and The Publishing Guru. Jean Houston, author of A Mythic Life and The Search for the Beloved, says of Mystic Journey, "In this exquisite exploration of the spiritual craft of soul-making, Robert Atkinson illumines the journey as well as the art and discipline that leads to spiritual transformation. To read this magnificent study is to remember our original birthright and commit again to following the path that leads us home to who and what we really are."

Robert Atkinson is the author of eight books, including several on personal storytelling. He is a professor of human development and religious studies, and the director of the Life Story Center at the University of Southern Maine.  He can be found online at www.RobertAtkinson.net, where you can read his tour schedule, find out more about the book, read Atkinson's blog, connect with him personally,and read a sample of the book. He also has an interactive blog, Remembering Who We Are, featuring 50 ways to tell your soul's story.

Modern Review of a Classic Victorian War Manual

We have some exciting news! In this month's issue of Survival  from The International Institute for Strategic Studies, David Betz has reviewed Small Wars: Their Principles and Practice, by Charles Callwell, one of our Cosimo Classics titles. The August to September volume of Survival is all about global politics and strategy, and Small Wars fits in perfectly.

From the American war in Vietnam to the Russian war in Afghanistan, the British occupation of Northern Ireland to the American occupation of Iraq, "small wars"--which include guerrilla warfare and other asymmetrical combat--have been a constant in the geopolitical arena of the post-WWII globe. But it was a contingency before the World Wars that demanded advanced preparation in the areas of strategy, logistics, and other military concerns. In the classic 1896 Small Wars, Anglo-Irish military writer Major General Sir Charles Callwell (1859-1928) drew on his service in the British army to create the first modern guide to the "small war." From the causes of small wars, which impacts how they will be fought, to the characteristics of guerrilla warfare to nitty-gritty details on the best tactics to employ over various terrain, it is a gripping instruction manual for deploying the "boldness and vigour" required to win a small war.

Betz's article is a frank and detailed review that merges past with present, that reviews which parts of Callwell's Small Wars are applicable in this day and age, and which are absolutely not. Both are a fascinating read, especially for those interested in both ancient and modern warfare. You can check out an excerpt of Betz's article here, or you can order this month's issue in print or for your iPad. Either way, you won't be disappointed.