Respect the Work describes shortcuts taken by publishers who seek to profit from the creative work of others without demonstrating respect for the original creative endeavor. Respect the Work was written in the hopes that readers will identify - and avoid - poor quality productions, and choose to support publishers who produce quality editions that honor original authors. Books in the public domain, no longer protected by copyright, can be published, modified -- and given away for free or sold -- by anyone. Organizations like Project Gutenberg digitize public domain books and make them freely available in a variety of formats. Commercial publishers can reproduce the books and offer them for sale. Publishers tend to fall in one of two categories: publishers who produce the books with the minimum possible investment, and publishers who invest in producing a quality reproduction worthy of the original creative work. Readers who value the creative effort of authors to produce books worth reading can choose whether to support organizations that make the works available for free or publishers who demonstrate respect for original authors, and thereby demonstrate that they Respect the Work.

Originally published in 1915, The Corner Stone is a sweet, plainspoken story set in Kansas in the early 1900's. In it, we meet Edith Grannell, a young woman orphaned at an early age and abandoned to boarding school by her wealthy uncle, Samson Grannell. Edith's uncle is more interested in prosperity than family, but fortunes are changing for him and his neighbors. Grannell calls Edith back with a plot in mind to increase his acreage and his wealth. The author, Margaret Hill McCarter, has given us a character in Edith who is a strong, self-assured, independent young woman. We discover that Edith is compassionate and caring despite having received scarce compassion or affection from her only living relative, her uncle. On returning to her uncle's farm, Edith recalls being sent away as a child, and the goodbye kiss from her only friend growing up, Homer Helm. The tenderness of the recollection conveys the loneliness that was her life: "The memory of that good-bye kiss had been a sacred possession in the poverty of a loveless childhood." However, while she was away at boarding school, Homer, it would seem, has grown up to be something other than the kind-hearted boy she remembers. From there the story unfolds. At first encounter, it might seem surprising to find such a strong, independent female protagonist in a story of this era. However, considering the conditions of the time, and the life of the author, perhaps it should not be a surprise to find McCarter's protagonist to be a young woman of such strength. In addition to being a wife and homemaker, Margaret Hill McCarter was a successful author, having published numerous short stories, pamphlets, and books. She was also active in the community and in politics. McCarter had the distinction of being the first woman to speak at a national political convention, specifically, the Republican National Convention of 1920, two months before the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment acknowledging women's right to vote. As many casual students of history are aware, suffragette members of the militant National Woman's Party protested the Convention; what may be overlooked are the efforts of women like Margaret Hill McCarter who worked from within the system to help achieve the same goal. McCarter wrote of life in Kansas in the late 1800's and early 1900's with directness and fondness, providing modern readers an authentic, plainspoken view of American history in the years of settlement and homesteading following the Civil War. Her body of work -- the stories she wrote and her activities in the community and politics -- make publication of The Corner Stone an appropriate choice to be the first in the "Quiet Voices" series -- rediscovered works from historical authors whose voices may be newly appreciated by contemporary readers. This edition of The Corner Stone by Margaret Hill McCarter has been annotated to include: -- biographical information and historical context relating to the author; -- biographical information on the illustrator; -- a timeline of events relevant to the author's life and to events of the story; -- maps providing geographic setting and context, with references to online resources; and -- a brief introduction, summary and critique of the work.

A Month in Mongolia is a photographic travelogue and reminiscence of time spent in this fascinating country. For those who are contemplating travel of their own to Mongolia, A Month in Mongolia serves as companion to a guidebook such as the Lonely Planet guide for Mongolia and a detailed topographical map. Author Barbara Seiders has traveled around the world -- Paris, London, Geneva, Moscow, Vienna -- during her career working in defense and arms control. Among her favorite travels were trips that she took between 2008 and 2010 to the capital and countryside of Mongolia. She found the Mongolian people warm and welcoming, generous of spirit and hospitality. The capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, is an intriguing mixture of modern and ancient, and the countryside is vast and magnificent. In many ways, the land resembles the area around Denver, Colorado, where Seiders grew up, and even more so the Columbia valley of eastern Washington, where she currently resides. It was not surprising that in her trips to Mongolia, in many ways, she almost felt that she was coming home.