[stylist] BookShare and libraries

Mon Dec 31 02:37:51 UTC 2012

Donna,
As for the kindle, I heard that yes some books have text to speech.
But there are navigation issues. Not only can the speech be shut off, but 
the menus do not talk.
Therefore a blind person has to have
help navigating to the book for reading.

So you are using Amazon to self publish it sounds like.
So then, will your books be in hard copy or e-books too?
Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Donna Hill
Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2012 2:02 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] BookShare and libraries

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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