[stylist] BookShare and libraries

Sat Dec 29 22:26:19 UTC 2012

Hi Phyllis,
Thanks for the tip; I hadn't heard of Smashwords. 

As for the level of difficulty in using Create Space, here's where I am.
First, they have a lot of clear information on the site to teach you what is
necessary in terms of formatting and what your options are, but there is a
lot to digest. I ended up taking a lot of notes and copying a lot of info
from the site into files that I thought would make it easier to find. 

Basically, you need to get all of the formatting done in Word, and then you
either upload it to their PDF converter on the site (I'm just guessing
that's a mess) or you convert it to a real PDF yourself by using something
like Adobe's online PDF creator, which I think costs under $100 per year to
subscribe to. I wrote to Adobe about whether the converter tool itself was
accessible and whether it made an accessible PDF. It makes an accessible
PDF, which they proved to me by converting a document I sent them. They
couldn't really say if the tool itself is accessible, so I'd have to spend
the money to try it. 

Create Space gives you all of the specs for determining what the margins and
gutters need to be, depending on the number of pages. I was able to change
my standard document from 8.5" x 11" to the 6" x 9" format, which is the
size I chose from their extensive list. My husband likes 12 pt. Times New
Roman using the "at least" setting for line spacing in the paragraph dialog.
It didn't even make the page count higher, but it has just a little space
between the lines making it easier for sighted folks to read. I was also
able to insert blank pages, which they require at the beginning and end of
the book, and I set the numbers so the odd numbers are on the facing pages
-- the one on the right with the book open.

I changed it from aligned left to "justified," as they suggest, but therein
lies the first problem. I read something on the site that suggested that
when you change the alignment to justified, you may have to manually adjust
some of the lines to make them look right. I suspect my husband can deal
with that part of the process.

I tried to use one of their downloadable templates for title page, but
couldn't do it with Jaws. Similarly, I couldn't use Word's templates for
title page and contents; both Jaws and Word crash every time I try. That too
will probably be something my husband can do.

I had better luck with making sections and numbering pages, though you don't
get some of the feedback you need to clarify that the changes register. It
is possible though, using Jaws and Word 2010 to create different sections,
so they can have different attributes like the type of page numbering. For
instance, I want the text of the book to start on page 1, but I have
prefatory material, which I am using Roman numerals for. I could set the
place on the pages where the numbers appear, choose from a long list of
numeral types, Roman numerals, A,B,C and some with lines or stars before and
after the numbers. 

Theoretically, Word has an automatic contents generator, but I don't know
how it works and suspect it will be tedious at best. I think it requires
each chapter to be a separate section and possibly that you have to do
something special with the chapter title to get Word to recognize it. I
haven't yet, but I intend to make each chapter a separate section so I can
eliminate headers on the first page of each chapter.

I just wrote to Create Space member support to clarify something. They offer
copy editing, which I don't need, but it wasn't clear to me if they would
allow you to send them your normal old Word document and do  the formatting
and conversion for you. From what I read yesterday on Book Tango, the e-book
service -- they do offer that, but even if you had access to that file, I'm
sure it wouldn't be right for creating a print book.

Create Space offers a laundry list of options though, including cover
design. If you do the cover yourself, you need to get the whole thing laid
out using their specs and put that into a separate PDF. They give you the
information as to how to calculate the width of the spine and such.

Hope this hasn't made your head explode. *grin*
Donna

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of P. Campbell
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2012 3:21 PM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] BookShare and libraries

Smashwords is a good source for those wanting to do ebooks.  They pay a
respectable royalty, and the books are available for Kindle, Nook, Sony,
Apple products, and for the PC through text, rich text, and if one wants to
fool with it PDF.

Although I don't claim to have set the literary world on fire, my books have
done reasonably well.

I'd be interested in knowing how difficult it is to publish with Create
Space.  I've wondered how much sighted assistance is required.

Happy Writing,
Phyllis

Hi Julie,
First of all, congratulations on completing your book! As a fellow writer, I
have also had to ponder this thorny issue. My novel is essentially done
(except some formatting). My working premise has been that, since I spent a
couple of decades  working on the book  and since the facts show that very
few self-published writers even make $100 on their books, the idea of making
money from sales of the book itself seems rather unrealistic. For that
reason, and because my novel  has a blind teenage heroin, something in short
supply for blind girls, I intend to make my book available on Bookshare, as
well as Learning Ally, as soon as possible after it comes out in print.
Also, I feel that I have personally benefited from NLS, for instance, when I
could have purchased audio copies of books, which is a loss to the writers.
Accepting the reality of my own loss as a writer with regard to sales to
blind people seems fitting to me. I also have had the impression that some
blind writers who marketed their work to fellow blind people ended up
disappointed in their sales, either because they expected more support than
their sales indicated or because they didn't accurately assess the market.
Nonetheless, I'm sure that some blind people wish to purchase their books
and will choose to purchase rather than borrow books written by fellow blind
people. I'm not trying to suggest that you change your mind, just sharing a
different perspective.
I'm using Amazon's Create Space, and most  of their print on demand options
also make it available for the Kindle. As for Kindle being accessible ...
You're correct about the writer having the option to shut off the
text-to-speech option, but that isn't the only issue. Amazon recently came
up with yet another attempt to make the Kindle more accessible in response
to the NFB's protest of their efforts (the Whispercast program) to get
Kindle books into public schools. If you aren't aware of this issue, any
organization like schools and libraries, receiving federal funding must not
employ new technology which is inaccessible to blind students. According to
the last press release from the NFB that I read on this issue, which was
earlier this month, the latest incarnation of Kindle still has serious
navigation issues. The ways you can navigate in a book (by page, paragraph,
sentence, word, letter etc.) are still rather limited. If memory serves, you
can't go by anything less than a sentence, which prohibits students from
checking spelling. Also, I don't think it allows place markers. I'm not sure
if they fixed the flaws which involve downloading the books or not, but for
many years, a blind person needed help getting the books, navigating to the
book  and activating the text-to-speech Option. All of this was way after
the technology already existed to put blind readers on an even footing with
their sighted peers.
Apple and Google books do a much better job . One of my friends uses some
sort of Apple e-book reader and loves it.
That said, there are other options for getting e-books published, such as
Book Tango, which claims to optimize their e-books for all of the major
e-book readers. I can't recommend it yet, because I am just starting to
investigate it. There is also Blio, which is supposed to be accessible,
which I also have to look into.
As I understand it, any Bookshare member can scan any book, for which they
receive credits toward their subscription fee.  I don't believe it's
necessary for the books to have reached a certain level of popularity.
HTH,
Donna
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J.
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2012 6:40 PM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: [stylist] BookShare and libraries Hello all!
I'm just about finished writing my book.  It's been two and a half years and
finally the end is in sight.  I'll have to have a party or something!LOL
Anyway I was planning on self publishing it through Kindle, SmashWords, i
Books and other similar ebook vendors.  I was corresponding with a blind
friend who is interested in reading the book.  she asked if it would be
available through BookShare, because Kindle isn't accessible.
Firstly, my understanding is that Kindle books are accessible through the
Kindle for PC software or the ap for i devices as long as the author has
made the book text to speech  enabled.  Is this correct?
Secondly do you think services like BookShare are a disadvantage to authors?
I'm very torn on this.  On the one hand I want blind people to have access
to my books, but on the other hand I'd like to make some
money from the sale of my book.    The topic of the book is the process
of owner training my current guide dog.  I'm anticipating that a large
portion of my readers will be blind.  If most of my readers get their copy
through BookShare it will have a huge impact on my sales.  The price of the
book will be less than $10, so should be affordable to most.
I'd love to hear thoughts on this topic.  I'm still deciding how to proceed
and I'd love your input.
Julie
_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://www.writers-division.net/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/penatwork%40epix.net
_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://www.writers-division.net/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/pcampbell16%40verizon.n
et

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://www.writers-division.net/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/penatwork%40epix.net