Trying Not to Get Discouraged…
Okay, well, 2011 hasn’t quite shaped up to be a banner year so far…birds falling out of the sky, mass fish deaths, and a small girl, a young female congresswoman, and a judge were just shot out of the blue at a public appearance today. Plus I’m still on crutches thanks to my sprained ankle, and unable to eat much due to my food allergies (hello, rice and potato, I’m totally sick of you now!) which the doctors are still in the process of figuring out. By the way, an extreme elimination diet is a great way to lose weight in the new year!
I did send out a submission or two, but generally I’m feeling hesitant to ask for readings for my new book, and feeling somewhat weirdly reticent about sending out poems as well. Maybe it’s general overall life discouragement seeping into my poetry life.
In Seattle we’re experiencing a bizarre cold snap, with highs this week supposedly in the twenties, and snowfall called for on multiple days. I heard Georgia was getting snow too. So add weird weather into the things that seem inauspicious for the beginning of 2011…
Adam Deutsch has been blogging about the phenomenon of big poetry publishers asking for (mostly poor poets) people to fund them. I’ve been writing an article about working with micropresses as an alternative to sending checks of $25 and more to publisher contests where we get very little input back for the money, and we’re lucky to even see a copy of the winning book. Something seems imbalanced in the poetry world. Maybe I should send out a poet fundraiser letter back to these publishers, and tell them that in these hard times, if they want me to continue working as a poet, I’ll need a donation of $25 and up…and if they pledge more than $100, I’ll be happy to send them a copy of my first book! What do you think?
Jeannine Hall Gailey served as the second Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington and the author of Becoming the Villainess, She Returns to the Floating World, Unexplained Fevers, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, and winner of the Moon City Press Book Prize and SFPA’s Elgin Award, Field Guide to the End of the World. Her latest, Flare, Corona from BOA Editions, was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She’s also the author of PR for Poets, a Guidebook to Publicity and Marketing. Her work has been featured on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac, Verse Daily and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. Her poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poetry, and JAMA.
Peter
I agree: weird animal stuff going on, with birds falling out of the sky and more.
Good luck with the publishing ideas. E-books with amazon or elsewhere may be the way to go?
One bit of good news: looks like the Seahawks are winning today! 🙂
Lyle Daggett
Your idea for the poet fundraising letter made me laugh. You could send similar letters to literary organizations too, with categories of donations — Basic Donation, Sponsoring Donation, Sustaining Donation, etc., depending on the amount of money the literary organization donate to the poet. Organizations that donate at the highest level could receive (in addition to a copy of your first book), a personal reading by you of poems from the book and poems from your new manuscript-in-progress.
Jeannine
I know, Peter. Even the least scary conspiracy theories (Monsanto Corporation experiments? Switching of the magnetic poles?) seem pretty scary.
Publishing is certainly in flux these days. Especially poetry!
Go Seahawks!
Lyle: Funny! I like it!
Kristin
With your gloomy weather, start dreaming of the other end of the U.S.–come to Miami for the Book Fair in November! They always have lots of poets reading, some big names, some not. And you may not realize it, but you’ve got a fan base here who would come see you. We’d love to support book #2!
Sandy Longhorn
Hang in there! I laughed out loud about the fundraising letter. Thanks for that.
Elisa Gabbert
I’ve read several stories claiming that mass animal deaths of this sort are not at all uncommon — that one occurs somewhere on the order of every other day just in North America! But for some reason, the media is running with it right now as though it’s a sign of something.
Jeannine
Thanks Kristin! I’ll talk to my publisher about the Miami Book Fair – I think they go! It does sound nice and warm…
Glad you did, Sandy 🙂
Elisa – I studied these things back in my biology undergrad days, and usually there is a fairly normal explanation. Still, weird portents. Or maybe, like you said, the media likes things that seem like weird portents…
Jessie Carty
This cold weather is not making me a happy camper but I’m hoping being in warm campus classrooms instead of spending money on my own hear might turn into me finally finishing the first draft of my 2nd full length. I keep addict instead of the necessary taking away!