Here we are at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. Sometime around the middle of the last century, when I was in grammar school, learning four-digit addition and subtraction, and the town I grew up in was celebrating its 100th anniversary, I became obsessed with what it was going to be like to live to the year 2000. I’m pretty sure I was (and am) not unique in my musings about what the world would be like “out there.” I had a keen interest in the goings-on of the Cold War, the space program—how could there not be life out there somewhere I thought, God and infinity—all from a child’s perspective. I had an even keener interest in books—with stories that transported me out there, back there, up there, almost anywhere away from the dull boring now. I didn’t have a name for it—I’d never met anyone who’d written or published a book—but I knew I wanted to grow up to do pretty much exactly what I do. Publish books to live by.

I love the internet. I love looking things up online. Just the other day I went looking for a quote I thought I remembered the gist of about seeing with new eyes. I found, "The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes,” attributed to Unknown, and I suspect said by many in slightly different ways.

I hope to be on that voyage of discovery for the rest of my life. And reading books is, for me, and I suspect you, if you’re reading this—even though it is on line—one of the primary ways I venture out into the middle of the now, looking with new eyes.

Here at Red Wheel/Weiser, llc, we publish books that we call “books to live by.” There are many of them, and whether they’re from old traditions or brand new thought, or a combination of both, we hope they provide ways of looking at the world with brand new eyes.

And now we’re celebrating a new website. Whether you’re a bookstore, a reader, a seeker, a journalist, a writer—or some combination of those—and you’re here, I’d like to invite you to explore this site.

• You’ll find Weiser Books, our oldest imprint, begun more than 50 years ago, by Donald Weiser, to unveil the esoteric secrets of the ages for post-war readers with big questions. Astrology, tarot, Western mystery tradition, occult, new age/new consciousness, received wisdom, 2012. And more.

• You’ll find Conari Press books—health, well-being, inspiration, 12-steps. Books that invite readers to live in the here and now. Beautiful gift books—inspiring photos and words to celebrate the glass half full, the life well-lived, the gratitude that can enrich our lives beyond measure.

• And you’ll find books from Hampton Roads Publishing, our new distribution client. Hampton publishes some authors whose names are well-known to spiritual seekers—Neale Donald Walsch, Eckhart Tolle, Lynn Grabhorn, among them. Hampton Roads has always been on the cutting edge for seekers. We’re more than pleased to showcase their books along with our own.

Books. Books. Books. You I’m really happy that I live in a time when we still have books—hardcover, paperback, audio, electronic—in all their forms. I watch my four-year-old grandson. He reads on the computer, solves word puzzles, and plays games. He also is highly attached to reading books everyday—to sounding out words, to busting the reader who might be tempted to skip a section, to stopping to talk about the story with whoever is reading to him.

Here’s to looking at books and what they bring into our lives with new eyes!

And welcome to our site.

Jan Johnson
Publisher, Red Wheel/Weiser Books/Conari Press