[Stylist] DLD Publishing?

[Miss Thea]

    I'm glad we're on the same page.
At heart, I'm a control freak, and if I could, I'd do it all myself. Smiles.
I find it beyond frustrating when I come up against something I can't do. 
Sometimes, I still spend my dwindling energies cussing about this aspect of 
my life, but I guess it keeps me humble.
I'm learning that cussing and banging my head against a brick wall doesn't 
make the obstacles go away, and I guess it's high time I learned this. I'm 
fifty-three years old, and have been blind from the womb.
Now, I'm also in a wheelchair, and have to deal with chronic pain.
My kids are in the States, where my late ex and I raised them. My daughter's 
in Portland, and my son, last I heard, was in California.
That's the only family I have.
It's weird how things turn out differently than you think they will.
In my forties, I had a family, a husband and two kids, and was living in a 
lovely house in Hawaii. A house which was all paid off.
Other than blindness, mental health, and a marriage that wasn't ideal, I 
thought I had it made.
The kids would eventually grow up. Rob and I could get therapy. (I was in 
therapy). And the house was a wonderful little bungalow on the island of 
Maui.
Rob and I enjoyed each other sometimes, especially after supper when we 
would routinely watch favorite movies.
Looking back, I was bloody complacent, and I thought young middle age had 
given me the right to be.
What would make my home life complete? A guide dog. So I went to GDB in my 
early forties, and four days before graduation, collapsed.
It was downhill from there. I came back to Maui without the dog. I started 
having pain. My hands stopped being able to do daily tasks, and I could no 
longer walk much.
The kids were in their teens, my marriage was in shambles, and an interloper 
came in between. Not a love affair. A friend came in as a guest, and took 
over.
He convinced my hubby that I was a manipulative mental case. Also, Rob's 
health was failing as well.
So here I am now, back in Canada, paying rent again, and it's almost as if 
Maui was a dream. If it weren't for the occasional messages from my 
daughter, I'd swear the whole thing had been a dream.
I'm not even sure why I'm telling you guys all this.
Anyway, I can still write, and Toronto has paratransit, for which I do not 
pay.
I have much to be thankful for, too. God's been good to me; no complaints 
there.
It's just that living in that house, all paid for, on Maui, I thought, This 
is it, my happy ending. This was also the time in my life when I thought I'd 
gleaned enough experience from life to be a writer.
Wrong. The experience I needed wasn't necessarily the complacent, 
comfortable place I was in. It was all the crap that came later.
Now, my ex is in Heaven, and my kids are starting their own lives.
And we're all broke. Isn't life weird?





Check back often.
http://www.dldbooks.com/thearamsay/
-----Original Message----- 
From: M. Taylor via Stylist
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2018 3:16 PM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List'
Cc: M. Taylor
Subject: Re: [Stylist] DLD Publishing?

Hello Thea,

No need to differ.  We're on the same page, here.

I completely agree that if one does not have access to vision/sighted
assistance, the crucial mechanics of self-publishing are not easily
accessible.

As I stated, I think solutions like DLD publishing are a fantastic option.

Were I to lose the remainder of my sight, I would definitely consider a
service like DLD Publishing.

I am proud of all of us, regardless of our particular methods, for embarking
on the creative writing journey, and seeing it through to the end.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: Miss Thea [mailto:thearamsay at rogers.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2018 11:57 AM
To: mktay at ucla.edu; Writers' Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Stylist] DLD Publishing?

    Hi, Mark.
I'm as blind as one can get--that is, I've never seen light, and couldn't
imagine it.
So I respectfully beg to differ about the convenience issue.
I couldn't have taken my own photos, nor do I have family and friends who
could have helped.
Money's tight in my world, too. Thankfully, Tellwell takes credit.
I'm on Disability, so it will take longer to pay that off.
Tellwell's prices are very high, and they're not into accessibility. But
they did a great job with my book, Lucy.
The cover image is, I hear, quite nice.
DLD Books did the cover for my short story Poo In The Face.
It cost me money I don't really have, and I have other conditions besides
total blindness which sap my energy because of pain.
All that to say this: I couldn't publish if I had to do it on my own, and
thank God for publishers and publishing services companies.

Having said that, if you're inclined to learn about the publishing business,
more power to you.
In the music biz, people who can write songs get paid more royalties than
people who sing them. I found that out after reading Respect, Aretha
Franklin's biography.
Plus, singers, especially back in the day, were fairly low on the music biz
totem pole.
So if you can control all aspects of your work, that's great.

As for me, my health and inclinations drive me in the direction of being a
damn good writer, specializing in the creation of stories that'll keep folks
up nights. I'll happily let someone else do the rest, even if I have to pay.
Thea



Check back often.
http://www.dldbooks.com/thearamsay/
-----Original Message-----
From: M. Taylor via Stylist
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2018 1:58 PM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List'
Cc: M. Taylor
Subject: Re: [Stylist] DLD Publishing?

Hello David,

Obviously I am not Thea but I did take a look at DLD Books.

You are quite correct in your conclusion.  DLD is not a book publisher, in
the sense that you mean, but rather, a publishing service.  DLD is quite
clear on what it does and does not do for its clients.

I can see how they would be a great alternative for someone who does not
want to be bogged down with the minutia of self-publishing mechanics. Make
no mistake, though, the process is self publishing.

One thing I like about what I read is that they will provide editing
services as well as cover art design.

Be that as it may, they do nothing that one cannot do on his/her own,
provided that she/he has the time and inclination to do so.

As for me, while I function as a totally blind person, using a Braille
display, Jaws, VoiceOver, etc, I also have just enough residual vision to be
able to use ZoomText, as well.

So, back in 2011, when I published That's the Way Love Goes, I went down to
the ocean, took a photo of a gorgeous southern California sunset, on my
beloved iPhone, and used it for the cover for the book.

I then purchased a batch of ISBN numbers, created Kindle and Create Space
accounts, and learned, painstakingly, or so it seemed at the time, (smile),
how to create and manage ePub documents.

Getting my work on the iBook store was much more complicated but I wanted to
do it because, back then, iBook was one of the few platforms where fellow
blind and low-vision readers could obtain my work.  Now, of course, the
Kindle app is accessible to us but back then, it was not.

Even though I had to jump through many, many more proverbial hoops to get
onto the iBook Store, I did it because it seemed wrong for a blind person to
publish a book without given other blind people the chance to read it.

For the Dream Factory, I knew exactly what kind of cover I wanted for the
book, even before I began writing it.  So, I hired a then out-of-work
graphics artist to create it for me.  It took her about two hours of her
time and I paid her $100 for her services.

For me, cost was everything.  I did not want to pay others for things I
could do myself.  Money has always been tight, in my world and even more so,
back then.  Also, I wanted to truly understand the publishing process so
that I would always be in control of my work.

To be honest, had I been totally blind, I'm not certain I would have taken
the route I took but situations are what they are, right?  (smile)

I think that if one can afford a service like DLD, it is a fantastic option
as long as one knows that he/she is paying for convenience, above all else.

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: Stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David Russell
via Stylist
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2018 9:47 AM
To: stylist
Cc: David Russell
Subject: [Stylist] DLD Publishing?

Thea and Others,

I will look at your link, but think you might be missing the point of my
question. Let me try again.

I understand DLD Book Publishing is not a publisher but a publishing service
are we in agreement there?

You choose as an author to have them put your title on the publishing sites
they offer: Amazon, CreateSpace (kind of the same) and SmashWords. I think
though Amazon and SmashWords are in competition.

Customers by your book from the publisher, not DLD, right?

Or they buy it from a brick and mortar or online venue, right?

I will view your link to try and answer my other questions. I realize what
they do, and am sure happy you directed me to consult them, thanks.

--
David Russell
david.sonofhashem at gmail.com
"chilah phanim" Make G-d smile!

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