Thursday, February 26, 2009

New White Paper on Scientific Research into Fonts and Reading Disabilities

Dr. Paul Beidler, our General Editor, has just released an updated white paper on scientific research into fonts and reading disabilities. This brief paper describes some of the current research and conclusions on the importance of providing text in scientifically-developed fonts rather than simply enlarging conventionally typeset pages.

The paper is available here.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Guest book for library requests

We have added a guest book so that librarians can request titles or series of books from us. We look forward to hearing your ideas about what your large print and visually impaired patrons would like to read. The guest book is in the right column of this blog.

Friday, February 13, 2009

ASCLA Interface Stillness Speaks Banner Post (revised July 7, 2009)

Looking for the ReadHowYouWant special offers for ALA 2009?

Click here, and please ignore the out of date information below.

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Welcome, ASCLA InterFace subscribers! We are offering a selection of titles to you at a 40% discount. These include bestselling and important new titles, such as:



Stillness Speaks: Tolle, Eckhart, "This book, of course,
uses words which in the act of reading become thoughts
in your mind. But those are not ordinary thoughts -
repetitive, noisy, self-serving, clamoring for attention....
The thoughts within this book don't say, 'Look at me,' but
'Look beyond me.' Because the thoughts came out of
stillness, they have power - the power to take you back
into the same stillness from which they arose. That stillness
is also inner peace, and that stillness and peace is the
essence of your Being. It is the stillness that will save and
transform the world." -- From the Introduction by Eckhart
Tolle

Praise Song For The Day: (A Poem For Barack
Obama's Presidential Inauguration January 20,
2010), Alexander, Elizabeth, "Praise song for struggle,
praise song for the day." READ BY THE POET AT THE
INAUGURATION OF Barack Obama

The Anatomy of PEACE: (Resolving The Heart of
Conflict) by The Arbinger Institute. Arbinger's materials
educate people about the problem of self-deception, and
Arbinger's methodologies help people to overcome it. In
the words of an early reviewer of The Anatomy of Peace,
"Arbinger helps people to see in a different way-to see
problems differently, conflicts differently, challenges
differently, opportunities differently, each other
differently." To which another added, "I know of no tool
or way of thinking that contributes so masterfully to real,
lasting peace-in families, organizations, communities, and
nations."

There are also some practical books, such as:

How to Administer and Estate, Living with Alzheimer's and Something to Live for: Finding Your Way in the Second Half of Life.

Please click here for the complete list with discounts calculated for you.

Post-Midwinter Accessible Librarian--Praise Song for the Day in LP, Braille and DAISY

Midwinter Conference Report and Raffle Winners

We had a busy Midwinter Conference and were happy to meet librarians from across the country – everywhere from NYC to Fort Myers to Los Angeles. Over 1100 librarians had downloaded our free accessible editions of the Conference Guide via the ALA web site prior to the show, and many visited our booth to thank us for this service. If you missed getting your accessible edition of the conference program, you can still download from

http://www.ala.org/ala/conferencesevents/upcoming/midwinter/home.cfm


We raffled off three groups of our bestselling books: the top 10, the top 15 and the top 25. These top titles include Leadership and Self-Deception, Stillness Speaks and The Anatomy of Peace. They are all strong sellers in adult nonfiction. Look at our blog for a complete list. It's at

http://theaccessiblelibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/01/midwinter-2009-discounts-and-special.html


These titles are still on special at 40% discount through March 1, so don't miss ordering them for your library!

Third place winner, with the top 10 was Sue Sherif, of the Alaska State Library. Second place winner, with the top 15, was Shelley Ekeroth of the County of Los Angeles Public Library. First place winner was Dr. Teri Maggio, of Assumption Parish Library, in Napoleonville, LA. We will be shipping the books to the winners, shortly. Congratulations to all three! We are sure your patrons will enjoy these additions to your collections.

Braille and DAISY Shop Open with Praise Song
In celebration of Louis Braille’s 200th birthday, ReadHowYouWant has opened the doors to our online braille and DAISY bookshop at www.readhowyouwant.com/braille.

Blind readers now have access to thousands of titles in braille, including bestsellers: Praise Song for the Day, the poem created for and read at Barack Obama’s inauguration by poet Elizabeth Alexander (Graywolf Press), The Power of Now and Stillness Speaks by Eckhart Tolle (New World Library), Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh (Parallax Press), and Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage for Dummies by Patricia Barry (Wiley). Children and young adults can find popular titles including, How to Take the GRRRR Out of Anger by Marjorie Lisovskis and Elizabeth Verdick (Free Spirit Publishing), Scratch Kitten Goes to Sea by Jessica Green (Little Hare), Extreme Habitats: Desert Survival by Jim Pipe (Weekly Reader), and A Doctor’s Busy Day by Nicole Boyd (Rosen Publishing). A large selection of literary classic titles is also available.

Through special arrangement with our new publisher partner, Graywolf Press, we are offering the Inauguration Poem, Praise Song for the Day, by Elizabeth Alexander, FREE in the braille and DAISY editions as well as allowing free downloads of printable PDF files. Libraries may purchase large print copies of the book at a 40% discount through the end of March. Click the link above for more information.

New Publishing Partners
RHYW is pleased to announce three new US publishing partners. The Mountaineers Books in Seattle, the nonprofit press established by the nearly 100-year-old Mountaineers Club. Today, with more than 500 titles in print, The Mountaineers Books is a leading publisher of quality outdoor books, including many award winners. Basic Health Publications in Laguna Beach, California, is the publisher of quality health titles including the bestselling, Healing Without Medication, and The Official Anti-Aging Revolution. The Permanent Press is committed to publishing works of social and literary merit, and their authors and titles have gained over 50 literary honors, including the American Book Award, Small Press Book Awards, and New American Writing Awards.


Publisher Profile: Parallax Press
RHYW spoke with Travis Masch, publisher of Parallax Press in Berkeley, California, Parallax is best known as the core publisher of Vietnamese Zen teacher and poet, Thich Nhat Hanh, whose book Being Peace has sold over 250,000 copies and has been translated into 12 languages. “As part of our mission we are committed to making our books accessible to everyone and preserving them for future generations,” says Masch. The full interview is here

http://www.readhowyouwant.com/pages_about/news.aspx?id=43

Save 40% on Large Print Bestsellers
We are continuing our Midwinter Conference special. All you have to do is order 10 or more books from among our top 25 bestsellers to get a 40% discount. If you order fewer than 10 of these, we will still double your normal discount so that you will get 20% off on this order.

These are new nonfiction bestsellers in large print. You cannot go wrong with them. Click this link for the complete list:

http://theaccessiblelibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/01/midwinter-2009-discounts-and-special.html


Thank you, again, for your interest in our work on behalf of visually impaired readers. Please feel free to contact me, personally, if I may be of any service.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

ReadHowYouWant Has Big Ambitions - 2/11/2009 8:35:00 AM - Publishers Weekly

ReadHowYouWant Has Big Ambitions - 2/11/2009 8:35:00 AM - Publishers Weekly

Here's a description of Tricia Roth's message at TOC.

New Marketing Agreement with ECPA

ECPA Enters Marketing Agreement with Read How You Want
Alternative Format Printing Opens New Market for Member Publishers

PHOENIX, AZ -- February 6, 2009 – Millions of people are not able to read their favorite books due to limited eyesight, medical conditions or learning disabilities. As the population ages, more and more people will be unable to read the text of the average book. The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) announces an agreement with Read How You Want (RHYW), a pioneering electronic publishing company based in Sydney, Australia. This agreement offers member publishers a chance to license their books in emerging and print-on demand formats for various reading needs.

Read How You Want provides customized book printing solutions in niche formats. RHYW takes the existing print-ready PDF version of any book and converts it to a wide variety of formats including DAISY text plus synchronized voice file, electronic Braille, EasyRead Large and Super Large print (for print on demand, customized books), as well as Kindle and other e-book formats. "RHYW " partners with publishers and converts their titles to standard e-book formats at very competetive rates. As part of that service they convert the titles to accessible formats for free, market the titles through their channels and provide a 50/50 net revenue stream to their publishing partners. For publishers not interested in e-book conversion services, RHYW will convert any book from PDF to the accessible formats at no charge, with an agreement to market and sell those formats for the publisher.

Especially for ECPA members, RHYW will create a separate page on its direct-to-consumer website dedicated to Christian titles. RHYW has a long-standing relationship with Amazon and will be able to increase the presence of these formats on this popular website.

“Read How You Want is reaching a growing market segment,” says Michael Covington, Information & Education Director for ECPA. “This new agreement means that an ECPA publisher can bring their books to this new market immediately at no additional cost. It’s a win for the consumer and the publisher.” For more information this incredible opportunity, visit RHYW’s website at http://www.readhowyouwant.com/pages_about/publishers.aspx

Read How You Want founder Christopher Stephen started the company in 2005 after working closely with his sister who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. “It was heartbreaking to see her lose her ability to read because of her problems with eye tracking,” says Stephen. “We want to serve her and the millions like her around the world, providing quality books with life-changing and encouraging messages.”

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade organization, comprised of nearly 200 member companies worldwide, representing a combined revenue of nearly $2 billion. Founded in 1974, ECPA is dedicated to serving the Christian publishing industry through equipping its members through cutting-edge technology, meaningful data, dynamic educational opportunity and unprecedented access to markets.

New Publisher Announcement: Permanent Press and Planet Press partner with ReadHowYouWant

The Permanent Press has loaded 23 titles to the ReadHowYouWant production pipeline, with an additional batch of 20+ to follow by March.

Our second new publisher is Planet Press; they have loaded three timely financial titles to RHYW in the month of February.

A connection to both of these publishers was made at the Frankfurt Book Fair.



http://www.thepermanentpress.com/index.ihtml

Begun in 1978 by Martin and Judith Shepard, The Permanent Press committed itself to publishing works of social and literary merit and has, over the years, gained a reputation as one of the finest independent presses in America.

Since our inception, individual authors and titles have gained over 50 literary honors, including the American Book Award, Small Press Book Awards, New American Writing Awards, and the Colorado Book Award. They have also been National Book Award, Edgar Award, and Hammett Prize finalists. We've published Halldor Laxness, a 1955 Nobel Prize winner, and have 12 novels in print from Berry Fleming, who, in 1990, was a Nobel Prize nominee.

From current Permanent Press newsletter:


Efrem Sigel's novel, The Disappearance (scheduled for release this month, about the catastrophic effect on a marriage when a couple's 14 year old son goes missing) has already skyrocketed through sales at Amazon.com, though books will only arrive from our printer on February 3, Over this first weekend in February, its been listed among the top 700 to 800 books being sold; a rare occurence. The advance reviews have been spectacular, including one in the February 9 issue of People. Similar extraordinary reviews have come in for our March release, The History of Now, written by Daniel Klein, whose non-fitction Plato and a Platypus Walked Into a Bar was on Best Seller lists for much of 2007 and 2008. The same holds true for Ivan Goldman's The Barfighter, due in April. Rather than repeat things, I invite you to click on our website and see all of these rave reviews.



PLANET PRESS


Christine Thompson-Wells has been writing about money and how to use it for the last ten years.

Christine's books include writing for adults and children about managing money. The adult books are: '39 Steps & 39 Days to Debt Recovery,' and 'Making Cash Flow,'
'What's in it for me - Money Psychology'
is due out in 2009 and more to come.

For the children, there is the Will Jones' series, these include: ' Will Jones' Space Adventures & The Money Formula,' 'Will Jones' Space Adventures & The Zadrilian Queen' and due out in 2009, 'Will Jones' Space Adventures & The Children of the Black Sun,' there are six books in the Will Jones' series.

Christine maintains, 'there is an urgency about money education, the world is rapidly changing and we are heading into a cashless society, the notes and coins that we use today will not be available to our children in possibly twenty years - they will be faced with working through a paper statement and plastic cards to buy their goods and services. This cashless society will put some people at a major disadvantage.'


Both publishers have plans under way for a series of simultaneous releases.


May the London Book Fair be as fruitful as Frankfurt for ReadHowYouWant.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

ReadHowYouWant.com Proudly Publishes the Inaugural Poem, Praise Song for the Day

ReadHowYouWant.com - Download Audio, Braille, eFormat and Print Samples

ReadHowYouWant, in partnership with Graywolf Press, has published accessible editions of the Inaugural Poem by Elizabeth Alexander. You can download a free PDF of the poem, or order it in print at our web store. You can also download free braille and DAISY editions.