[stylist] Request for advice

Tue Jan 21 16:46:27 UTC 2014

Donna, you have encounterd a possible bridge - by involving community 
organizations.  All professors, that I know, love to do projects that are 
community partnerships.  This way, I always got GRANTS to fund the 
projects!!!  I know this from BOTH ends, in PA. Not only did I teach at a PA 
college, I was ALSO on the board of a national arts organization, AND was on 
the speakers rostrum for the entire state of PA on humanities topics.  This 
is your KEY - you GET PAID for speaking through the budget that the profs. 
work on together with YOU, and submit to the STATE or NATIONAL 
organizations.  i spoke in various venues all over PA for a number of hears 
through the PA Humanities Council, and I served as an evaluator of grants 
with the PA Council on the Arts - both organizations fund grants and they 
LOVE to work with both the college and the individual or community 
organizations if the project is worthy. Yours certain would be.

Also, about books. Profs. get hundreds of dollars of free books annuelly - 
because we say we are looking at the book as a possible course requirement - 
the publisher wants you to select their books for your course as it will 
sell a lot of books over the years.  Plus, not only do we get the free books 
from the publishers, we ALL have a book budget - no matter the department 
you are working in - each prof has his/her own budget to use as they desire 
through their department.  Knowing this, I do consider it very rude that 
they would expect an individual to give them free books, knowing you have 
self published and it will come out of your pocket.

The other thing is that they have to understand a blind person has to pay 
someone else to bring them to the college, wait until you are finished 
there, and then drive you back home. Not only is it taking your entire day, 
it is involving another person's whole day. Who in their right mind would 
expect that two people would enjoy coming to speak to their class so much 
they will do it for free, and pay for all the gas and car expenses 
themselves? That is why I say it is insulting and inconsiderate.

Chris  is so right - I honestly believe you would be very lucky to sell even 
one book to students.  They are there because they are a captive audience. 
They have to be in class that day, and they will be graded on their oral 
participation as well as their attendance.  And, yes, he is right, the prof. 
loves to have someone come to do a talk as that is one day we don't have to 
be teaching and grading papers for that course.  I brought in speakers or 
people who did demos or presentations, but they were paid for it and usually 
I treated them to lunch or dinner that day, too.  We have a budget for doing 
that and nobody else tells you how to spend your budget on your course as 
long as it is reasonable and honest for that course.

I did not say any of that to you out of malice, but just from my many years 
of living the academic life. It is a wonderful life, and I miss it a lot at 
times. Yes, at age 70 I would still be in the classroom if sight loss had 
not visited me 7 years ago.  And, most profs are there will into their 70s 
because they love their life and their students.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: "'Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 10:43 AM
Subject: Re: [stylist] Request for advice

> Hi Lynda,
> Thank you for your input. You know the academic world from the inside, and
> your comment about there always being money available has given me ideas
> about how to throw the ball back into their court. The word you used was
> "insulting," and that has been the word banging around in the back of my
> brain. I do feel like it is an insult, and as a blind person I have had to
> struggle with not allowing obvious insults to side-track me. I don't feel
> like I'm nearly back to 100% after all that Rich and I have been through
> with his health over the past 7 months. I feel like I'm not as good at
> deflecting this sort of thing as I ought to be, knowing what I know.
>
> Also, you can't blame someone for trying to get something for nothing 
> (well,
> I guess you can, but let's just say I don't want to approach them with 
> that
> perspective). I'm thinking of suggesting they speak to other groups and
> approach the university with a joint project. Educators aren't the only
> professionals who encounter blind people in their careers. I will tell 
> them
> that we're over an hour away, and as a blind person I have to get someone 
> to
> drive me. I also thought I'd say something about the fact that I feel that
> it is important to do occasional presentations for free, but that due to 
> the
> expense of it, I limit those to small groups in our immediate area.
> Donna
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda 
> Lambert
> Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2014 6:38 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Request for advice
>
> 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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