[bksvol-discuss] Re: Smash Words books
- From: Madeleine Linares <Madeleinel@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2012 16:53:26 +0000
Hi all,
Roger makes an excellent point: maintaining and updating a "safe" list of
publishers will be a never-ending and constantly-confusing task. As this point,
the "safe" list that was sent around is likely out-of-date and incorrect.
I've sent out a list of Pearson's imprints as a list of publishers that we
currently do not work will and likely will not work with anytime soon. If
anyone wants to scan a book but is worried about it being replaced by a
publisher, this list will be a great resource.
I'm trying to come up with the comprehensive list of publishers and their
imprints that we currently work with, but it is time consuming and I have a lot
on my plate at the moment. If anyone wants to add to that list, I can send what
we have so far. I have the list of publishers that Bookshare works with. This
list is on the website and updated regularly. The problem is with the imprints.
One publisher may have any number of imprints and it is often hard to find a
comprehensive list of those imprints without a lot of digging and research. I
apologize again that this is taking so long for me to get out to you all, but I
haven't forgotten about it! I just haven't had much time to work on it.
I hope this clarifies things about the "safe" list versus publishers we work
with already.
Best,
Madeleine
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 9:44 AM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Smash Words books
When that safe list got started it was a list of publishers that simply were
not on the unsafe list. It was Jamie in Michigan who started it for, I think,
her personal use and then a lot of people thought it would be useful to all of
us and so it became one of those various lists that we use. Everyone was asked
to report publishers that were not on the unsafe list so that they could be
added to the safe list. I can imagine that someone just came across that
publisher name and saw that it was not on the unsafe list and so reported it
without investigating what kind of books it actually publishes. I reported some
of them that way myself, but I don't think that Smash Words was one that I
reported. That is probably how it got on that list. As time went on there were
fewer and fewer reports to the safe list and I now think it can be allowed to
just die. Back when I was reporting publishers to be included on it myself I
was not thinking of this, but now that I do I think that the safe list is a
never ending project that has no real benefits. Like I said, think of how many
publishers there are in the world and think how small some of them are. A lot
of those small presses only publish one book. Oftentimes an author decides to
self publish and goes ahead and gets an ISBN and hires a printer and bindary
and has copies of the book printed up. In a case like that the author is likely
to make up a name to list on the copyright page as the publisher and then there
may be no more books ever published by that impromptu publisher again. Just how
many times has this happened and how many one book publishers are there out
there? Then there are other publishers that actually go into business with the
intention of being a legitimate publisher with a whole line of books, but fail
in the first one or two years. Just how many times has that happened? The point
is that there is no way that we are going to compile a complete list of
publishers that have not signed an agreement with Bookshare and so there is no
point in trying. All we need is the unsafe list. The trouble with that is that
publishers tend to have imprints that appear on the copyright page as the
publisher and we don't necessarily know what the parent company is. That means
that we need a list of not only the unsafe publishers, but we also need a list
of all of their imprints. Then if a publisher is not on the list we can assume
that it is a safe publisher. Now let me remind you that the word safe is only a
relative word in this context. You don't have to pay attention to the list at
all. It is simply a matter that if a publisher is on the so-called unsafe list
then they might supply a copy of the book you are working on and yours will be
replaced in the collection. The trouble is that we cannot predict which of
their books will be supplied and a lot of them will not. You might scan a book
from an unsafe publisher and it will never be replaced. You might scan a book
and it will be replaced sometime in the future. If that does not bother you and
you get gratification out of supplying a book until that unpredictable time in
the future so that Bookshare patrons can use it until that time then go ahead
and scan it. Bear in mind too that you could very well scan a book that is from
a safe publisher and then at some time in the future Bookshare may sign the
agreement with them and your work will be replaced anyway. So the words safe
and unsafe are not absolutes at all.
On 10/18/2012 12:25 AM, Dornetta wrote:
OK, my thought sort of. I thought it was "weird" for them to be on the list but
*shrug* who am I to question anything. *smile*
Netta
Anyway, thanks
"Just because you are blind does not mean you lack vision"-Stevie Wonder
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