Hello, friends,
This post is an update about getting copies in the US of A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual book and CD, which Julie Forest Middleton and I co-authored:
There are exactly ZERO completely new copies of A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual that are available legally and ethically in the US.
Julie has none left. Emerald Earth Publishing ceased trading some years back. Julie as co-author still had some copies left, which she was making available at a reduced price. I recently got a request from a congregation in the US to buy enough to host this in December -- about 12 books -- but Julie said all her stock is gone now.
There might be some new or like-new copies available through re-sellers such as A Libris. (Be warned, I've been told the ones available on amazon and Ebay are often scams.)
But if anyone, and I really do mean anyone, no matter how reputable or plausible, offers you a brand-new copy in the US, not a re-sold new copy or an otherwise pre-owned copy, it's a bootleg, and it's both illegal and unethical. (And neither I nor anyone who contributed to the book or CD would be getting paid. It would be stealing our work.)
As far as I know, Julie bought Emerald Earth's books and CDs and was the last person or business to have any completely new copies. She now has none left.
If she offers you a photocopy for cost plus postage -- which in her recent email to me, she said should be well under $10 for the photocopying -- that *might* be legal; I don't know enough to say, and I have advised her to get a legal consult. It should absolutely not cost you more than $10 per copy without postage; if it does cost more than that, I do know that's definitely not legal. Or ethical.
And if anyone offers you a re-print? Definitely not legal or ethical. It's out of print and the publisher is out of business, so no one can legally re-print it, *including me and Julie*.
I am not involved with selling photocopies or re-prints in the US, and I have not given permission to anyone to do so on my behalf.
Re-publishing it would be legal, with my permission and Julie's. However, Julie and I have not reached an agreement, much less signed any contracts, for anyone to re-publish it, including me.
Re-publishing:
As you know, I had been hoping to re-publish in 2022 for the 20th anniversary of the original release of the book and CD.
It's been hard knowing US stock has been getting lower and lower for several years without us making any progress on this. I get requests from individuals all the time for the book and CD, and I get requests every year from congregations in the US, especially Unitarian Universalist ones, for enough books for their groups to host this.
Re-publishing is very much something I am willing to do.
Since 2022, I've done more research around re-publishing AWSSR, and it has the potential to be really, really exciting to take this forward now, both in terms of practical publishing tech and in terms of revising and updating some of the problematic parts of the original.
(E-books! Print on demand in both the US and the UK as well as Europe! E-sheet music for tablets! Digital sound files! Commissioning Inuit artists!)
It's been very frustrating knowing the US stock is running out when Julie and I haven't made any headway on a re-publishing agreement.
I really hope that now that our backs are against the wall -- now that our two clearest choices seem to be let A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual die, or re-publish it, with updates -- that Julie and I will reach an agreement to re-publish.
I wish I could tell you how to get copies of the book and CD in the US in the meantime. I'm really sorry I can't.
(If you bought a copy of the CD and have lost it, get in touch; I might be able to help.)
I would very much appreciate it if you all would hold all of this in your spiritual care, whatever that looks like for you. Many thanks.
Blessings,
Stasa
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