[stylist] A Writer's Wormhole: - anyone used blurb.com?

[Lynda Lambert]

Yes, I have to have a book that will have many color photos in it for the 
art retrospective.
I am wondering if anyone here has done anything with

www.blurb.com

I see that the artist/writer has retained the copyright for the entire book, 
and that the layout and design was done by that companie's service.

The book that was done for my friend is just perfect - just what I want 
done.  I think I could get a grant to cover it as part of my exhibition at a 
museum.



Lynda




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 5:48 PM
Subject: Re: [stylist] A Writer's Wormhole: Novelist to 
Publisherin3EasyNervous Breakdowns


> Lynda,
> Sorry for giving you a headache. I should have never delved into the
> formatting and design issues, but I am hopelessly curious about whether
> things can be done with screen readers, for one thing, and I couldn't stop
> myself.
>
> If you still have a relationship with that editor, that would be the way 
> to
> go. I haven't heard of the site you mentioned, but it sounds interesting.
> Create Space will take the raw materials and do the same thing you had 
> done
> for your earlier book, but I think the cost for something with color
> pictures and more than ten images is higher than what I'm paying.
> Donna
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda 
> Lambert
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 3:42 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] A Writer's Wormhole: Novelist to Publisher
> in3EasyNervous Breakdowns
>
> Oh, Donna, your experiences give me a headache!
> I cannot even imagine doing this - you are amazing.
>
> I was beginning to think of doing a book project that would go in tandem
> with a major solo exhibition - in about five years.  The show would be a
> retrospective, and I have thought of doing a chronological show 
> catalogue -
> photos of my work, with commentaries - over a 40 year period of my work. 
> I
> saw one done by a friend, Fran Schantz, a painter. It was done by BLURB. 
> com
> and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this company. I did
> visit that site and it looks promising for my purposes.  I loved the book
> that my friend produced - a retrospective of his drawings and the art 
> works,
> with his writings about them. I loved the size of it most of all - it is 7
> inches x 7 inches - such a beautiful size for showing art works - so
> personal and the square format is exciting to me - very artsy. I know the
> book was written by an art critic, not by my friend.
>
> When my book, Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage was published by Kota'
> Press, I just sent them the pages of my poems, and pages of the drawings 
> for
> illustrations, and the editor there did all the work - I hold the 
> copyright
> to all my writings and art, and he holds the copyright to all the layout 
> and
> publishing of the book.
> This book was a part of my tenure project for my promotion at the 
> college -
> a six year project that involved writing the book;  establishing and
> supervision a national traveling art exhibition from coast to coast; and
> writing my tenure manuscript - a three part tenure project. It was very
> intensive - those 6 years - besides teaching full time, traveling a couple
> times a year taking students on trips for work/study; and doing 
> conferences
> and publishing other works through my conference presentations and 
> contacts.
>
> Looking back on it, I am delighted to be RETIRED these days.
>
> Lynda
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
> To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 3:08 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] A Writer's Wormhole: Novelist to Publisher in
> 3EasyNervous Breakdowns
>
>
>> Jackie,
>> I'm sorry to hear that my experiences are turning you off to
>> self-publishing. Publishers and agents who accept poetry are few and
>> far between, and many poets are going the self-publishing route. The
>> publishers are out there though, so just keept working on it.
>>
>> Your teacher is very wise. I wish I had stuck with Word 2003, but it
>> wasn't working right with my new computer. I'm still not sure what the
>> issue really was, but I switched to 2010.
>> Donna
>> One
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>> Jacqueline Williams
>> Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 12:35 PM
>> To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] A Writer's Wormhole: Novelist to Publisher in 3
>> EasyNervous Breakdowns
>>
>> Donna,
>> I love your title. Your article is well-written. Unfortunately, it
>> cured me of wanting to self-publish. I admire you for pursuing that
>> road, for I think the knowledge you gained is invaluable. I thank you
>> for sharing it.
>> When I am forced to get on my new computer with up-to-date software, I
>> will have a tremendous learning curve.
>> My poetry teacher has an archaic program of "Microsoft Publisher," and
>> has done a beautiful anthology of our class work. She will not touch
>> the new versions, saying they are total confusion, even though she has
>> updated everything else.
>> Jackie
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Donna
>> Hill
>> Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2013 4:09 PM
>> To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
>> Subject: [stylist] A Writer's Wormhole: Novelist to Publisher in 3
>> EasyNervous Breakdowns
>>
>> Hi Friends,
>>
>> The following is the text of my latest post. It ends with the standard
>> text I am including about screen reader access to Word Press's
>> comments form.
>> If
>> you would like to help me, I'd really appreciate it if you went to the
>> accessible form (the link is at the bottom of the article) and left a
>> comment. If you have to copy and paste it, make sure you get it all -- 
>> it ends with the number 3. Please feel free to comment here as well.
>>
>> Donna
>>
>>
>>
>> Block quote
>>
>> A Writer's Wormhole: from novelist to publisher in 3 Easy Nervous
>> Breakdowns
>>
>> by Donna W. Hill
>>
>> Published 3/23/13
>>
>> DonnaWHill.com/2013/03/23/writers-wormhole-novelist-to-publisher-3-eas
>> y-nerv
>> ous-breakdowns
>>
>>
>>
>> Graphic: Screech Owl in Wood Duck House by Rich Hill"
>>
>>
>>
>> Last week, a desperate quest for sanity compelled me to stand down
>> from my mind-numbing routine and ask "What on Earth has happened to
>> me?"  I was a writer. Somehow, however, I must have entered one of
>> those wormholes the physicists talk about. While it was a route to
>> another part of the universe where I need to go, it was a journey of
>> suffocating pressure.
>>
>>
>>
>> The Heart of Applebutter Hill: The Writing Process
>>
>>
>>
>> For years, I lived in Applebutter Hill, a fictional land with
>> portholes into mythical worlds where two shy teenagers travel in a
>> camouflaged airship dubbed the Cloud Scooper. Classrooms transform
>> into realistic representations of places like Westminster Abbey, and a
>> grumpy acorn inspires a song with the tag line, "Mighty oak trees are
>> nothing but little nuts who stood their ground." This world is not
>> entirely of my own making.
>> It is inhabited by the spirits of loved ones, friends and even enemies.
>>
>>
>>
>> My theory of writing is informed by my identity as a journalist. Get
>> the story and write it up; everything beyond the inquiry stage is
>> editing. For fiction, inquiry occurs in the imagination.
>>
>>
>>
>> Editing a Novel
>>
>>
>>
>> Once I had it down, I picked and fussed. I combed through the novel
>> for errors, phrases that could be tightened up, things that weren't
>> clear. I tried to make the dialog more realistic, the narrative
>> crisper. I rearranged paragraphs, sentences and even single words, in
>> a quest to present information in the perfect order for building and
>> sustaining suspense.
>>
>>
>>
>> I invited others to read my novel and give feedback. Fortunately, I
>> have people in my life who are willing to say something other than,
>> "Yeah, it's great. I liked it." I agonized over their comments, took
>> their advice and made changes. Ultimately, the manuscript cowered in
>> fear that I would move a comma, question an adjective or turn
>> something else into a contraction just to reduce the word count.
>>
>>
>>
>> Bringing a Book from Manuscript to Publication
>>
>>
>>
>> If I was distracted, forgetful or uninvolved in the everyday details
>> of life while writing and editing, it was nothing compared with the
>> next stage.
>> The
>> novel was done. Though I would love to continue writing, to delve into
>> my notes on a sequel or work on something else entirely, I restrained
> myself.
>> Nowadays, I am simply shepherding the work of my life through the
>> publication process.
>>
>>
>>
>> At first, it wasn't complicated. I researched agents, sent out queries
>> and tried not to despair of the emptiness that was my In Box. But, the
>> clock was ticking and my patience was wearing thin. I decided to
>> self-publish.
>>
>>
>>
>> What company should I go with? Create Space or Lulu, Smashwords or
>> Book Tango? What about the others? I made my choices (Create Space for
>> print and Kindle; Smashwords for the other eBook options). Did I
>> choose wisely? I have no idea. I suspect that any of the many options
>> would be workable. The wildcard is the author's willingness and
>> ability to press on with promotions.
>>
>>
>>
>> Choices, Choices, Choices!
>>
>>
>>
>> Create Space has several options for every aspect of the process. For
>> the interior design, for instance, you can upload a print-ready PDF or
>> use their online Interior Reviewer, which does the conversion for you
>> - both are free.
>> The trick is that you need to, at the very least, make a properly
>> formatted .doc, .docx or .rtf.
>>
>>
>>
>> You can also pay them $379 to design the interior for you. I think I
>> truly entered the wormhole, when I realized that Create Space's
>> discounts on promo copies don't kick in until you order 5,000. Yeah,
>> that's "five thousand."
>> The savings on multiple copies is on shipping only. $379 buys a lot of
>> promotional copies.
>>
>>
>>
>> The Novel's Interior Design
>>
>>
>>
>> I decided to design my novel's interior myself. Are you raising an
>> eyebrow?
>> Well, get the other one up there; it's a crazier idea than it seems.
>>
>>
>>
>> Formatting your book starts with choosing a trim size. 6" x 9" is the
>> most popular and the one I chose. Create Space provides guidelines on
>> margins and gutters, and a trip around Word's Page Set-up dialog turns
>> your manuscript into something resembling a book.
>>
>>
>>
>> Then there's Styles. If you're the average Word user, just throw
>> everything you think you know about formatting out the window; it may
>> look great for printing a manuscript, but that's not how it's done.
>> The pros use Styles, not local formatting. A Style is a collection of
>> choices about font and paragraph attributes and parameters (such as
>> what Style the following paragraph should be) bundled together and
>> given a name.
>>
>>
>>
>> Time for more reading. Being the prudent sort, I practiced on new
>> documents.
>> I congratulated myself on how quickly I was getting the hang of it.
>> Somehow,
>> however, I lost a measure of cynicism and forgot everything I had come
>> to expect from Microsoft. I was, therefore, shocked to learn that Word
>> 2010 doesn't automatically make these new Styles available to other
> documents.
>> They need to be imported. Also, unlike Word 2007, the Developer Tab is
>> not on the ribbon.
>>
>>
>>
>> Book Design: Formatting Problems & Headaches
>>
>>
>>
>> The problems really started when I tried to import Styles. Since I am
>> blind, I use text-to-speech software to access the computer and the
>> internet.
>> Wonderful as this is, it has some drawbacks. Chief among them is that
>> software and website developers are a baffling combination of
>> uninformed and uninterested, when it comes to adding the 1s and 0s
>> that allow screen readers to communicate with their products.
>>
>>
>>
>> Running up against some of these stumbling blocks sent me over the
>> edge. I was so close! While hovering over my computer in a state of
>> paralysis, I realized what I should have known all along - I am not,
>> nor do I want to be a professional book designer. My novel deserves
>> better. I conceded defeat.
>> I
>> soothed my ego by assuring myself that I had - in over a hundred hours
>> that I will never get back - at least learned enough about the topic
>> to be somewhat conversant in it. I then threw in the towel, ran up a
>> white flag and spent $397.
>>
>>
>>
>> Accessibility Issues for People Using Screen Readers
>>
>>
>>
>> Screen reader users, there are significant issues with Word Press's
>> "Leave a Reply" form - which is labeled on this site "So, What Do You
>> Think?" Even if you access the edit fields and fill them out, the
>> "Submit" button doesn't work most of the time. I have advised Word
>> Press of this issue.
>>
>>
>>
>> Meanwhile, here's a "temporary" solution. Every page and post has a
>> link labeled "Accessible Comment Form for Screen Reader Users." It is
>> accessible, but does not link directly to the automated comments
>> system. It will be sent to me, however, and I will forward it to Word
>> Press to post on your behalf.
>> The URL is:
>>
>> donnawhill.com/accessible-comment-form-for-screen-reader-users-3
>>
>> Block quote end
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -- The Heart of Applebutter Hill, a novel on a mission:
>> DonnaWHill.com
>>
>> Read Donna's articles on Suite 101:
>> http://suite101 <http://suite101.com/donna-w-hill> .com/donna-w-hill
>>
>> Connect with Donna on
>> Twitter:
>> www.twitter.com/dewhill
>> LinkedIn:
>> www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
>> FaceBook:
>> www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill
>>
>> Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
>> cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
>>
>> Apple I-Tunes
>> phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244
>> 374
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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