Interview with Marie Gauthier on Poetry and Marketing, Plus a Few Extra Things

I’m happy today to feature Marie Gauthier in today’s Summer Interview Feature. Marie Gauthier is the author of the chapbook, Hunger All Inside (Finishing Line Press, 2009). She works for Tupelo Press and co-curates the Collected Poets Series.

Her Publications: A View from the Potholes <http://mariegauthier.wordpress.com> & Hunger All Inside <http://mariegauthier.wordpress.com/ihunger-all-insidei/>

Jeannine Hall Gailey: Dear Marie, as well as being an accomplished poet, you have curated a reading series, worked in a bookstore, and currently work as the Director of Sales and Marketing at Tupelo Press. What do you think you’ve learned as a poet from these experiences?

Marie Gauthier: How very difficult it can be to sell a book of poetry. At full price. To strangers. You can’t take poor sales to heart. But all things being equal (quality of the work etc), I’ve noted that the poets whose books sell regularly tend to be active members of some sort of poetry community. Translation: poets who take joy in all aspects of poetry, who are interested in other poets and other poems beyond their own, who seek out ways to be involved. Theirs is not a passive love of poetry.

JHG: What do you think the average poet could stand to learn about marketing their own work? What are the top mistakes you’ve seen people make in trying to get their poetry chapbooks and books more attention?

MG: We all know the over-marketers, the ones who try too hard, whose every post on Facebook and Twitter is “me me me” and “my book.” They think they’re doing the right thing, getting the word out, but all they’re really doing is fatiguing their friends and would-be audience into hiding or ignoring their posts. Instead of building relationships and creating conversations, they’re using social media as billboards. Everyone expects a certain amount of self-promotion — and I welcome learning what’s going on with my friends and their work, what I can do to support them — but there’s a balance you need to find. As in most things in life, you should be giving as much, if not more, than you receive.

But there’s also the opposite mistake, too: being too shy to promote yourself at all. I understand that. It’s so much easier to promote other poets because your own ego and feelings aren’t involved, you can simply give yourself over to your love of that poet’s work. But you’re publishing a book! That’s awesome! People want to know about it, and it’s up to you to step up and spread the word. And don’t spend all your review copy capital by giving away free copies to family and friends. Give them a cut rate if you like, but allow them to acknowledge the hard work you’ve put into your art by paying you, or your publisher, for it.

JHG: I noticed Tupelo takes some unique approaches to marketing, like study guides for books to help attract college faculty to teach books. What have you found to be most effective, outside of the usual PR-kit-and-review-copy blitz?

MG: Well, I have to say that review copies are still really important. Reviews can be long in coming, but attention builds on itself, one review leads to another as more readers find your work. So you should be judicious and realistic, but still send as many review copies as you can. And every poet should have their own PR kit and keep an updated list of local media — don’t forget about the local media.

You have to take the long view. Poetry sales and prose sales are different animals. A poetry book doesn’t “age” on the bookstore (virtual or actual) shelf at the same accelerated pace as a prose book. I don’t think I’m an especially innovative marketer, but we try to make use of all the available avenues in a welcoming and friendly manner. Consistency is important. We send out newsletters and such to our e-subscriber list, but some of our poets have their own e-mailing lists and send out their own publicity. These always result in sales bumps.

The internet has made marketing easy, low-cost, and prevalent, so it’s the personal touch that matters. Don’t be a mass-marketer.

JHG: Any trends in poetry sales you’d like to talk about? Any new things we should be aware of as we send out our manuscripts?

MG: As I said, I think the personal approach is important. So when you think about readings, think about salons. Book parties. Sometimes people can be intimidated by the idea of a poetry reading, but will attend something less formal and more their idea of fun.

As for the second part of your question, I wish. Like the rest of the world, I have a full-length manuscript that I’m sending out very selectively. But like all submissions, there are no easy ins; it’s all about matching the right work with the right home. Nothing new there.

JHG: How about you? Do you have any new plans or work you want to share?

MG: Thanks for asking, and thank you for the interview; this was fun. I hope folks glean something of use from it.

I have high hopes for my MS, which is still under consideration at a couple spots, and poems are forthcoming in Cave Wall, The Common, and Other Poetry. New work is slow in coming at the moment, but I’ve tentatively started a new series dealing with the recent death of my mother. Hence the slow in coming. As Joan Didion noted in The Year of Magical Thinking, the bereft have a horror of self-pity.

Thanks, Jeannine!

JHG: Thanks to you Marie!