Is my manuscript ‘inclusive’?

Is my manuscript ‘inclusive’? I was pretty proud of my picture book Spotty Dotty, released late in 2019, for two key reasons. One, it was my first independently published book, and two, because I was confident my ebook was inclusive.  After punching my e-pub file through the DAISY Consortium’s Ace desktop software1 to assess how well the file meets inclusivity standards, I received a report that detailed 37 catastrophic failures. Oh! That rather damning report and confidence knock did have a silver lining. The majority of failures would never have resulted had I made a few considerations for the final Continue Reading →

Why do we have to sell the idea of ‘inclusive’ publishing to traditional trade publishers?

Why do we have to sell the idea of ‘inclusive’ publishing to traditional trade publishers? We can nearly put tourists on the moon. We can build a skyscraper that reaches higher than 820metres, we can get scientists worldwide to work on a vaccine for Covid-19 but I can’t access my favourite picture book in an inclusive format?  What’s with that? In my opinion, the answer is money. Traditional trade publishers are running a business.  The Trade Picture Book industry is where I have a particular interest. Producing a picture book is an expensive exercise. The market for picture books is Continue Reading →

What is this ‘Inclusive Publishing’?

What is this ‘Inclusive Publishing’? I was at a school fundraising BBQ once and after placing my salad on the communal table I was drawn into a conversation by other mums critical of my salad (they just happened to be mums, don’t read any gender bias into that!). Ooh, apparently I had roasted my potatoes. Didn’t I know air-dried potatoes would have been better, plus I added an oil-based seasoning. Gosh, who knew that tossing rocket in an Evian deep-spring was the way to serve green leaves?  Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did I just hear right? Were we just arguing over Continue Reading →