[stylist] A New Member

Thu Dec 25 17:36:32 UTC 2008

Judy:

Hey, I would love to read your book!  I'm curious what you are thinking of
as your options for publishing it.

Yes, I read in Braille.  I learned Braille when I was seven.  Although I was
not even legally blind then and did not keep reading Braille on my own, this
early exposure must've made picking it up again at thirteen a most smooth
experience for me.

As for grants, what I was referring to are individual grant for artists that
arts organizations and state arts programs confer to the winners from a pool
of applicants in various categories.  Most often, the grants come with
virtually no strings attached, and you can just say it helps you to take
time off from work to focus on your project.  In other words, you can buy
food with it, pay the rent, pay off debts, buy a nice winter coat to replace
your old rags, whatever.  Some use it for travel, to stay in a Spanish villa
for a month, or to pay for registration at a conference or workshop.  Some
use the money to buy new computers and supplies.  Minnesota happens to be
the state with the second highest number of grants and value in dollars for
individual artists.  The first is New York.  But most states should have at
least two grants you could apply for: The state's council, board, whatever
for the arts and the local chapter of VSA arts.

Fellowships are similar but tend to mean a lot more money.  Grants range
from one to ten thousand dollars.  Fellowships are a full year's income,
ranging from twenty five grand to two hundred fifty--the latter is at the
very top, the MacArthur "Genius" fellowships that pay half a million dollars
for two-year fellowships.  Those are given to bestselling authors or winners
of the Pulitzer Prize.  Thus, grants are usually for what they call
"emerging" writers, those who have published from zero to two books.  Then
the lower rungs of the fellowship world are for those beginning to establish
their reputations after three books.

Anyway, that's what I was talking about.  Now, for the type of grant you are
thinking about, I am no expert.  However, I've done work in nonprofit
fundraising, and most healthy nonprofit organizations get eighty percent of
their raised funds from private donations, fifteen percent from grants, and
five from corporate donations or sponsorships.  You can tell right off that
an organization is misguided or in bad shape if most of its money are from
grants.  So if you want to set up a new program, I would advise that you
look into fundraising instead of grants.  Further, it would be wise to set
up a foundation or trust account, so that the donations you get won't
vaporize.  What's the point of working hard to get donations only to blow
them away almost instantly?  The motto is also that you are not raising
funds, but friends.  Make friends, maintain friendships above all, and the
money will come naturally.  Send thank-you notes, add them on the mailing
list for the newsletter, organize an annual event geared specifically for
your cause's supporters and friends.  Contract with someone with a
certificate from the Association of Professional Fundraisers.  Those people
know what they're doing.

Just some thoughts!

John

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Judith Bron
Sent: Thursday, December 25, 2008 9:57 AM
To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] A New Member

Welcome John!  I'm assuming that you do most of your work in braille.  I am 
getting ready to find a publisher for muy first book, "Lethal Disclosure". 
Lori is helping me in this pursuit.  I'm also working at our local 
Independent Living Center as a mentor.  My supervisor, Peter Groos and I are

also looking for grants to start a program for the newly physically 
handicapped.  Peter suffered irreversible spinal cord damage in an 
automobile accident and is paralyzed from the waist down.  You mentioned 
that you have a background in receiving grants for worthwhile projects.  Can

you share your wisdom on getting grants?  Thanks and happy holidays!  Judith

Bron
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Lee Clark" <johnlee at clarktouch.com>
To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 11:27 PM
Subject: [stylist] A New Member

> Hello!
>
> I recently subscribed to this list, on the suggestion of Lori Stayer.  I
> would have liked to lurk for a while before introducing myself, but so far
> the list has been awfully quiet, too quiet even for someone who is deaf. 
> So
> I am going to dip my toes in here.
>
> To introduce myself briefly: My name is John Lee Clark, and I am a native 
> of
> St. Paul, Minnesota.  I was born deaf to an all-deaf family and so 
> American
> Sign Language is my first language.  I gradually became blind in early
> adolescence, just as my father did and my younger brother did.  After
> graduating from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf--on the other 
> bank
> of a former river across from where the Minnesota State Academy for the
> Blind is--I studied briefly at Gallaudet but jumped up in love, not fell,
> with Adrean, a deaf girl from North Carolina.  We got married fast and 
> moved
> to Minnesota.  We've been married for ten years now and have three sons.
> Currently, I am the head of a new service that provides accommodations for
> deafblind people using video relay service.
>
> As for my literary pursuits, my wife and I ran for six years a small press
> devoted to signing community literature both in English and ASL.  But it
> could not support our family, so we've had to turn to other sources of
> income.  I've published many essays, but it's through my poetry that I've
> won the most recognition--awards, grants, fellowships, all that. 
> Recently,
> my chapbook of poems, Suddenly Slow, came out from Handtype Press.  I've
> also done some independent scholarship on the literature of the deaf and
> deafblind communities.  In March, Gallaudet University Press will come out
> with Deaf American Poetry, which I edited and which is the first 
> definitive
> text of its kind, covering nearly two centuries of poetry by Deaf 
> Americans.
> I am nearly done with anther anthology, this time of writings by deafblind
> people all over the world and since 1820.
>
> This should suffice for now!  I would love to learn about who's on this
> list, so please do introduce yourself.
>
> Thanks!
>
> John
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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