Ready to Publish, but Seeking Help with Specifics
December 20, 2015 5:19 AM   Subscribe

I think I'm ready to publish some of my poems through one of two avenues, (still open to suggestions though), but I need some "what-would-you-do-in-my-shoes" type of advice about which step to take first. On the one hand, there is a great self-publishing resource offered through McNally Jackson Books' Espresso Book Machine that will print a limited run of actual books for me. On the other hand, I wonder if I can hedge my bets to get people to actually read my poems by trying to publish in a journal first.

Writing poetry has always been one of my favorite hobbies, and I'm very proud of the work that I'be produced over the last few years. As a wedding present, my wife has offered to pay the expenses for publishing some of my poems in one form or another. I'm really excited, and think I'm ready to take this step, if for nobody else but myself.

I would really love to do some readings, but my current area doesn't really hold those kinds of events.

I hold no illusions about making ANY money off of this. Instead, I would love nothing more than to give out some reasonably nice copies to people besides friends and family in the hope that even just one person reads and enjoys it. That said, I definitely wouldn't object if I could get as many people possible might find something in it.

Before my wife proposed this option, I was looking at trying to publish in some journals pretty seriously. It still seems like a good avenue that I'd like to pursue, but self-publishing in book form would disqualify me from a lot of these journals that require that the material hasn't been published anywhere previously.

What would you do? Sincere apologies for disjointedness or other abberations. I'm very sick today. Your experience and wisdom is always appreciated, MetaFriends!
posted by Krazor to Writing & Language (4 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I think that getting published in a journal would be a validating step toward a book. Friends and family generally can't or won't give the feedback helpful to growth. My advice would be to throw yourself into sending to as many journals as possible and see where it leads.
I am not a writer, published or otherwise.
posted by InkaLomax at 5:27 AM on December 20, 2015 [3 favorites]


Submit submit submit! Everywhere and anywhere that might be a tiny bit interested. How about you commit to doing this relentlessly for two years and then at the end take your wife up on the self-publishing option? Also, if you'd love to read, do it! You could travel to events, or just do it on the internet. Are you connected to other poets in your area and networks of writers online? Do that too.
posted by thetortoise at 5:34 AM on December 20, 2015 [5 favorites]


Best answer: I have a poem forthcoming in a literary journal (after many, many rejections) and a degree in creative writing, so I know a bit about this.

First of all, this depends very much on your goals. If you just want to hand books out to friends and family, self-publish. If you want to be taken seriously as a poet by the larger world, don't self-publish. If you want your book to appear in stores, don't even think about self-publishing, though it's possible a local bookstore will put your book out as a favor (I've had a discussion about this with a small bookstore owner, and she gets ridiculous numbers of requests to sell self-published books - she finally had to develop very strict rules about accepting local authors only and keeping their books for just a limited time. She just doesn't have the space and self-published books almost never sell. The media focuses on the very few success stories.). It doesn't sound as if you know a lot about the poetry world (I apologize if you do). Are you reading contemporary poetry as well as writing it? That's important. I'd also suggest reading the magazine "Poets and Writers" to educate yourself more about publication. I don't get the impression that you've taken any classes in creative writing, and you haven't said anything about getting other critical feedback on your poems. That can help enormously. I have attended numerous workshops and am in two writing groups where we critique each other's writing on a regular basis.

Other than that, I'd say go the journals route. It's possible you're just a great writer who will be published immediately, but don't count on it. For most people, it may take years of diligently sending things out to get one acceptance. And you really need to read any journals you're going to send to to see if they accept the kind of work you write. This is a nice little article from Buzzfeed about publishing in literary journals.

I don't want to discourage you - just to say that getting poetry published is a long-term project that requires a thick skin. Personally, I think it's worth the effort.
posted by FencingGal at 6:18 AM on December 20, 2015 [9 favorites]


CreateSpace (or IngramSpark). POD (print on demand) technology rocks. No need to buy umpteen copies until / unless they're ordered.

Do start advertising and marketing your book. Yesterday. I've published 20+ books and I still screw this part up.
posted by chrisinseoul at 10:12 PM on December 20, 2015


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