[stylist] Request for advice

[Lynda Lambert]

Donna,
As a retired tenured faculty member of a private college, I can tell you 
there is always a budget for any speakers we bring to campus.  This is hard 
to believe they would ask you to come for FREE, give of your time, give them 
a free book, and expect a blind person to get there on their own initiative 
with no offer of payment at all.  It just does not "fit" with anything I 
have ever known as a professor.

This reminds me of a call I had a little while back asking me to come to a 
conference and be a speaker - nearly 1/2 way across PA, with no offer of any 
compensation nor even a room for the night. Do you think I even returned 
that call?  NOT!
That is my take on what they proposed to you. I think it is insulting, at 
the least.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2014 3:34 PM
Subject: [stylist] Request for advice


> Hi Friends,
> As most of you know, I have been trying to promote my new novel The Heart 
> of
> Applebutter Hill. I recently had an article in the Wilkes-Barre
> Times-Leader, and I used the occasion to contact professors in that area 
> in
> education departments and those heading up disability services 
> departments.
> I told them about the article, the book and the recommendations it has
> received from professionals in education, rehabilitation and the arts as a
> classroom resource for diversity-inclusivity and anti-bullying 
> initiatives.
> I offered them a free copy of an electronic version of the book (I have 7
> e-book versions, which covers about everything including reading it on a
> computer).
>
> My question is how to handle a response I received today. It's from a
> married couple, both of whom are Ph.D.s and on the faculty of a university
> in Wilkes-Barre. They don't use e-readers, and didn't address the
> possibility of using their computer to read it.
>
> Block quote
> Thank you for your e-mail. I would love a copy of your book, but I would
> like a print version.  I don't use a kindle or e-reader of any kind. We 
> have
> a Forum Series at (name of university) and would like you to present if 
> you
> are available sometime in the fall between 4 and 6 PM Mon.-Thurs.
>
> You could talk about your book and even have a book signing and/or, you
> might discuss your experiences in education and inclusion. Unfortunately, 
> we
> do not have a budget, so we cannot offer you an honorarium, but we do hope
> that you will agree to speak anyway.
> Block quote end
>
> They go on to invite me to call them and give their home and work numbers.
>
> Here's the situation. E-books are free for me to give away; print books 
> are
> not. At my author price and shipping, it costs about what Amazon charges. 
> At
> this point, I have been restricting give-aways of the print copies to the
> press, contest entries, online give-aways (like GoodReads), for the people
> who either critiqued the book prior to publication and those who wrote
> recommendations. I also am giving some to local community leaders to help
> generate local interest, and I have set some aside for Learning Ally and 
> our
> state NLS and so forth.
>
> So, they want me to send them a book and also to show up and do a program
> for nothing other than the possibility of selling a few books. This is an
> hour each way. Rich has been ill for 7 months and has severe (and possibly
> unreversable) nerve damage in his arms and legs.
>
> If I were to go anyway, I would have to hire a driver; the person would 
> have
> to set aside about 4 hours of their time in addition to the milage. The 
> last
> time I did something similar, one professor promised me a letter of
> recommendation. That was last February. I also never got the advance 
> release
> copy back. The school liked it enough to make a Power Point display that
> they showed at some meeting, but for whatever reason that promise was 
> never
> kept.
>
> There's no way I'm going over there without even a token honorarium; even 
> if
> I found a free ride, Rich would kill me on general principles. *grin* If I
> send them a book, then I'm letting the door open for others to request 
> print
> copies. I could suggest that they ask their school's library to order one
> from Baker and Taylor and borrow it.
>
> So, what do you think? How should I handle this?
> Thanks,
> Donna
>
> -- The Heart of Applebutter Hill - a novel on a mission:
>
> http://DonnaWHill.com <http://donnawhill.com/>
>
>
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