Project

Ines Plagemann

Everyone is talking about sustainability. But in the book industry, change is happening only slowly. How can we make book production more sustainable, and can an author influence this process?

Ines Plagemann is not only a fantasy author but also a student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning. Accordingly, she places great importance on producing her novels as sustainably as possible. To have a greater say in the process, she decided against the traditional publishing route through a publisher and opted for self-publishing.

After many months of work, during which she organized every step of the process all by herself, her urban fantasy young adult novel *Funkenfeder – Part 1 of the Vogelwandler Duology* was published in September 2021. Ines Plagemann fulfilled her dream of sustainable printing on recycled paper through crowdfunding and by commissioning a local print shop. The book was nominated for the German Seraph Fantasy Literature Prize in 2022.

Ines Plagemann is currently working on the sequel, “Schattenschwinge – Part 2 of the Vogelwandler Dilogy,” scheduled for release in late 2022, whose sustainable printing will once again be funded through a crowdfunding campaign.