As writers, we of course want our work published. We dream of a spot on the New York Times Bestseller List and signing copies of our book with a gorgeously airbrushed photo of us on the back cover.
But when reality settles around us, I just want to publish a small collection of poetry. But there are definitely bogus publishers out there who want to sell us books rather than actually publish them; yes, I had one of my poems published by the International Library of Poetry through poetry.com last year and am still getting spam about buying books, medals, certificates, etc. I learned my lesson; it took only once.
But tonight someone called Utmost Christian started following me on Twitter, and I followed him back to his website which deals with quality Christian poetry. He has a great article on how to legitimately publish poems in journals and in book form. I highly recommend my poetry-writing friends to check out the Utmost Christian Writers website and especially the article on publishing poetry.
I have much revising of my own poetry that I drafted during NaPoWriMo, but most of that will have to wait until I have finished teaching my online Shakespeare Class at BraveWriter.com which will last all month.
But I will get back to my own writing. I will. In June, I sincerely hope. Oops, then I will have at least fifteen MLA research papers to grade for my Class Day courses. Okay, after June 12, our last day of homeschooling. I will work on revising my poems after school lets out.
I hope....
1 comment:
I read the article you linked to and I think it sounded like a great advertisment for the services of Utmost. They are right about one thing: mainstream publishing companies don't often publish new poets.
However, there are smaller indie companies that will, if you have a new and interesting voice. Also, if you scout around the internet you will see there is a thriving industry in self-publication of poetry.
Poets everywhere are selling hand-made chapbooks and, while not making oodles of money, are certainly gaining a small profit and a big reputation. It is working for me. I do still dream of one day having a "real" book published by a "real" publishing company - but this is my beginning, and I've taken the steps myself with faith in myself and God's guidance.
Self-publishing is a growing trend not only for poets but authors in all genres.
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