[stylist] BookShare and libraries
Donna Hill
penatwork at epix.net
Sat Dec 29 23:44:47 UTC 2012
Julie,
Thanks and the same to you. I think there are a lot of blind people who
would be interested in how self-training works. I'm wondering if you intend
to do presentations for groups of guide dog users, such as NFB's NAGDU.
I will be marketing my book to schools and colleges as supplemental reading
to promote inclusivity. It's essentially fiction in the service of social
justice. I have a bunch of pre publication reviews from
education/rehabilitation professionals, and I was just asked to come to the
U of Scranton to talk to their education majors about the project in
February. This will be in advance of publication, so I see it as a way to
get back into doing presentations, which I've been away from for a bit.
I think I will get more money from live appearances than book sales, but
that may be because I got more money from school assemblies years ago than
from sales of my recordings. My two big hurdles at this point (beyond the
formatting issues) are trying to figure out how I'll sign autographs and
reading aloud. I'm not a good Braille reader, and I've had no experience --
well, I did read a Braille childrens book aloud to a second grade class once
for National Reading Month, but that was years ago. I'm working on Brailling
and then memorizing some select passages, but the autograph thing is still a
mystery to me. I used to write, and I think that, if I had something like a
signature guide that had several lines, I could do OK, but I really don't
look forward to it.
Donna
-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J.
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2012 6:06 PM
To: Writer's Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [stylist] BookShare and libraries
Donna,
I mean training a guide dog from scratch. I hadn't thought of checking out
options for publishing it in Braille. That is an excellent idea!
Thank you!
also I didn't mean that you had given up. You have thought through your
goals for the book and have formulated a plan. I've read about some authors
who give their books away for various reasons. I don't think that's giving
up either. It's doing what is right for you. I don't think success means
making a boatload of money. We all define success a little bit differently.
Whatever your goals for success are, I wish you all the best.
On 12/29/2012 4:44 PM, Donna Hill wrote:
> Julie,
> We all have to do what feels right. You are correct about most of the
> published authors not making any real money either, and I can see how
> people might think of doing what I'm doing as giving up before you
> really give it a try. I was still planning to promote it for sale to
> blind readers, and I'm glad to hear there's an app to read Kindle on Apple
products.
> Perhaps, I'll just wait a little longer than I had anticipated before
> getting it in the libraries.
>
> BTW, when you say "owner training" your guide dog, do you mean the
> training after you get a dog from a foundation, or do you mean
> training a dog to be a guide dog completely from scratch? In either
> case, have you considered contacting the National Braille Press to see
> about having them publish a Braille version? They sell the books,
> though I don't know how it works for authors.
> Donna
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J.
> Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2012 3:39 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] BookShare and libraries
>
> Donna,
>
> I appreciate your thoughts. I understand wanting to get your book out
> to as many people as possible and being comfortable with sacrificing
> payment in order to do that.
>
> I guess I'm not quite in that same place. Yes, I'd like people to
> read my book, that's a huge reason I wrote it. I'm not willing to
> sacrifice the potential to earn something from the sale of the book
though.
>
> I'm supportive of programs like libraries and BookShare. I use both
> NLS and my local library, although I have not used BookShare. I think
> they are an important resource to all people. However I do also
> purchase books. I have purchased many ebooks, many more audio books
> and when I can't find a book in any other format I will purchase the
> print and scan it. I think the main factor for me is whether or not I
> am willing to wait for the library to get the book I want. For
> example the final Wheel of Time volume is coming out on the 8th. I
> expect the library will make it available, they have all the other books
in the series.
> However I want to read it along with the other fans when it is first
> released. I intend to purchase the Audible book. I see it as a way
> to support my favorite authors and to get the books I want when they
> are released.
>
> I am aware of the issues with the Kindle hand held book reader.
> However it is possible to read Kindle books on a nonKindle device.
> There is a free ap for the Apple i devices which allows a person to
> play Kindle books on an iPad, iPhone or other similar device. I don't
> think that I'm excluding blind people from reading by making my book
> available through Kindle, especially since it will also be available in
other formats.
>
> You are correct that most self published authors make nothing from
> their books. I don't see that as a reason to give up before I've even
> tried though. I'd also venture a guess that most authors that go the
> traditional publisher route also fail. Most people who submit
> manuscripts for publication will get nowhere. That doesn't stop them
> from continueing to try. I think self publishing is the same way.
> You have to keep trying and trying and trying until it works. I think
> many writers fail to make money from their books because they give up too
soon.
>
> And I have to say thank you again. Your comments helped me more than
> I realized to clarify my own thoughts on this topic. I thought I was
> a lot more undecided, but reading back through what I wrote, I think
> I've sorted out where I'm at with this issue and how I want to proceed.
>
> Julie
>
>
>
> On 12/29/2012 1:02 PM, Donna Hill wrote:
>> 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
>>
>>
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