[stylist] Request for advice

Tue Jan 21 17:13:32 UTC 2014

I appreciated Lynda's perspective as well. I work on a campus as an outside
contractor... there always seems to be money, though it might float from
department to department. I also think you can't blame anyone for looking
for a free presentation, as long as they aren't holding your love for
blindness awareness as randsome.

Brad

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Donna Hill
Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2014 9:44 AM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
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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