Friday, March 20, 2020

Foreigners in their own country Professor Ramos Blog

Foreigners in their own country Christine Sun Kim’s Tedtalk presentation introduces us to her world. A world without sound. She was born deaf and for some time, she felt excluded from the hearing world because of her deafness. She learned very early that everything she does makes noise, and because of this she became hyper aware of sound. Her self awareness of living in a hearing world makes every action a conscious thought to maintain hearing etiquette. Like not to scrap your utensils, don’t slam doors, don’t burp in public etc A world we don’t even give a second thought, because as hearing individuals this is the world we live in. In Kim’s Tedtalk, she presents to us not only inspiration in her art work but something hidden in-between the lines. The deaf community is a large and very over looked minority group that most hearing individuals simply don’t understand how to interact with, foreigners in their own country. Kim explains in the eyes of society, without a voice, y ou hold no social currency. So in order for her to be seen as an equal or to even be taken seriously by others in the art community, she needs to seek out interpreters that WILL see her as an equal and become her voice. Kim teaches us about deaf culture and encourages us to go out and learn more about the deaf community and its rich diversity. She encourages us that ASL isn’t just for the deaf, just like how music isn’t just for the hearing. This is still an issue that is very much present and dealt with poorly because the lack of education and understanding of deaf awareness. This is a truth most deaf individuals simply live with, for instance going to the movies is un-enjoyable because of outdated equipment and most theaters refuse to have separate show-times for movies to include subtitles. Going out to eat can be exhausting if the server doesn’t know how to interact with someone who is deaf, or worse interacting with a police officer who has never encountered someone who is deaf, the list goes on and on. The ASL sign for â€Å"hearing† is the same sign for â€Å"publicâ€Å". This is something I find disheartening because this implies the public isn’t for the deaf. I have two questions I want everyone to ask themselves, have you ever met someone who was deaf? And what could we do to help deaf individuals feel more included in today’s society as equals without taking away their culture.

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

What are the Standard Book Sizes in Publishing • Your Guide to Trim Sizes

What are the Standard Book Sizes in Publishing Your Guide to Trim Sizes What Are the Standard Book Sizes in Publishing? Glance at the nearest bookshelf. Have you noticed that books come in all shapes and sizes? Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t because publishers are out to obliterate the perfect symmetry of our bookshelves. The truth is that book sizes vary based on each individual book - and publishers determine these sizes based on economic, practical, and artistic factors.If you’re a self-publisher planning to produce physical copies of your book, you might be wondering if this should matter to you. The answer: yes. Your choice of book size will not only affect how you go about typesetting your manuscript  but your audience’s reading experience and your potential profit margin.In this post, we’ll take you through the standard book sizes in the industry, why they’re important, and what should be on your mind as you pick out the best trim size for your own book.What is trim size?â€Å"Trim size† is essentially the publishing term for â€Å"book size .† After each copy is printed and bound, the book is mechanically â€Å"trimmed† so that the size of every page is uniform. The trim size relates these dimensions, in Width x Height format.In the U.S., the trim size is denoted in inches; in Europe, it’s in millimeters. For future reference, we’ll be using the U.S. format and talking about U.S. book sizes in this post.Why does trim size matter?Asking why you should care about your book’s trim size is akin to asking, â€Å"Why do people make a big fuss over the iPhone’s shape?† You want a phone that’s sleek and a joy to grip - not an awkward clunker. In much the same way, you can boil the importance of trim size down to three things: reading experience, marketability, and cost.Trim size determines a book’s presentationIf you imagine your physical book as a house, then the trim size is its footprint. It bolts in the size of your â€Å"real estate,† and influences bot h the interior and exterior of your book. If your physical book is a house, then the trim size is its footprint In a nutshell, the trim size dictates your page count. The smaller your trim size, the more pages will be required for your content. It also impacts your book’s spine: the more pages in your book, the thicker its spine will be - and the more substantial it will appear on the bookshelf. Your choice of trim size will also assert a ripple effect on most aspects of your book’s interior. How many words will fit comfortably on a page? How wide can your margins go?When you’re typesetting your book, you’ll need to maneuver a number of ingredients on the page: everything from the baseline grid to the size of your font. The page trim size is one critical part of this complex balance - and the first you'll need to decide - that will create a beautiful book. For our review of four major print-on-demand services, check out this post.If you want to experiment with book sizes and the way they might impact your typesetting choices, the Reedsy Book Editor allows you to do so for free. The Editor also provides four popular trim sizes for formatting (4.25 x 6.87 in, 5 x 8 in, 5.5 x 8.5 in, 6 x 9 in).Having some real-life examples at your side, you should get a better sense of which trim size is best for your book. And if you find yourself truly struggling to pick between book sizes (particularly for those working on illustrated content or unique products that require the right paper and format), why not reach out to a professional book production manager for some advice? Their expertise in these matters is unmatched, and they’ll be able to polish your project - especially if you’re working on an image-dependent book that must appear professional on bookshelves.Trim sizes, with all their complicated, similar-sounding numbers can b e confusing - but they're worth wrapping your mind around if you keep the end product in sight: a beautiful book.