We are thrilled to say that the cover of the book Horseshoe Crab: Biography of a Survivor was honored last night with an award from the Washington Book Publishers. The book, designed by our design arm, Sensical Design & Communication, was a winner in the annual Book Design and Effective Awards in the category Illustrated Cover, Commercial Publishers. We were competing with books from much larger publishers, including a number of our Washington museums, so it’s very exciting to be a winner.

This is the third time Sensical Design has been honored by the Washington Book Publishers, and the first time for Ruka Press. Special thanks to illustrator Leslie Prunty for her beautiful horseshoe crab painting.

Here are some upcoming events featuring Ruka Press authors.

Samuel Avery, author of The Pipeline and the Paradigm:

• May 7, 7:00 pm—Carmichael’s Bookstore, Louisville, KY
• May 9, 5:00 pm—Indy Reads Books, Indianapolis
• May 9, 7:00 pm—Bookmamas, Indianapolis
• May 21, 7:00 pm—Sierra Club, Clifton Center, Louisville, KY
• May 22, 7:00 pm—Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Lexington, KY
• May 23, 7:00 pm—Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Cincinnati

Katie Fallon, author of Cerulean Blues:

• May 4—Morgantown Migratory Bird Day, Coopers Rock State Forest, Morgantown, WV.
• May 8, 7:00 pm—Potomac Valley Audubon Society, Shepardstown, WV.
• May 10, 7:30 pm—Baird Ornithological Club, Reading, PA.
• May 17-19, 2013—Cape May Spring Migration Festival, Cape May, NJ
• May 22, 2013—Quittapahilla Audubon Society, Palmyra, PA

Joan Maloof, author of Among the Ancients:

• May 4—Flora Quest, OH.

In addition, Ruka Press will be exhibiting at the Capitol Hill Literary Bookfest, Sunday May 4 from 11:00 to 4:00. If you’re in the Eastern Market area, please stop in and say hello.

This weekend Samuel Avery made several appearances on local media in the Bay Area as part of his California tour. They’re a good introduction to the book and the subjects he discussed. We’ll link to other appearances soon.

• KRON 4 TV morning news: five-minute in-studio interview
• KGO-AM radio: The Pat Thurston Show, in-depth hour-long interview (right-click to download MP3 file

Today is the official on-sale date for our new Ruka Press book, The Pipeline and the Paradigm: Keystone XL, Tar Sands, and the Battle to Defuse the Carbon Bomb by Samuel Avery. We’ve been shipping website orders of the paperback for the last couple of weeks, but as of today the ebook editions are available from us or from other online booksellers. The book is also officially available today from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, other online sellers, and your local independent bookseller.

The official release of The Pipeline and the Paradigm is still two weeks away, but if you order now from our website it will ship immediately—and at a 25% discount, too! Ebook versions will go on sale on the official publication date, April 23.

As attention to the Keystone XL increases this spring and summer, this book is the best way to get up to speed on the controversy surrounding the pipeline, and to learn how this project has become a symbol of the larger climate change and environmental battles of our time. Read a sample chapter here.