Reading Friday Evening at Tacoma’s King’s Books

Hope to see a few of my Tacoma friends there! Come on out in you’re nearby and say hello!
http://www.kingsbookstore.com/event/poetsjan

7 PM, Friday January 11th at King’s Bookstore

This monthly event features a Distinguished Writer followed by an Open Mic. This month features poet Jeannine Hall Gailey, the Poet Laureate of Redmond, WA. She is the author of Becoming the Villainess (2006) and She Returns to the Floating World (2011). She teaches part-time for National University’s MFA program and volunteers for Crab Creek Review. Following her is an Open Mic, open to all poets, sign-up is at 6:45 pm. Admission is free. The event occurs monthly the second Friday of every month at King’s Books. Sponsored by the Puget Sound Poetry Connection and the Tacoma Arts Commission.

A Sneak Peek at the Cover of my Next Book, Unexplained Fevers

This is a sneak peek of the cover of my upcoming third book, Unexplained Fevers. The art work is by Michaela Eaves. Let me know what you think! Would you buy this book?

Prepping for a third book – what are the steps these days again?

Hello, dear readers! Now that it is the new year, I have bought a new wall calender and am looking at planning out the next year, not just the Redmond Poet Laureate events, but now, planning for the launch of Unexplained Fevers from New Binary Press in the spring, and all the accompanying la-di-da.

So, what are the necessary steps to launch a book?

1. Plan a book tour. Yes, even if it’s just in and around your own city, you should probably do this six months in advance at least. I have to remember that some reading series and schools book up to a year in advance, so the time to start asking about readings is…right now.

2. Redo your web site – I try to redesign my web site around the themes of every book that I put out! Did you know that? So, besides redoing the theme, I want to the new site to make some new things (like buying books, booking a reading, signing up for editing services) easier, and I’m going to try to do it in WordPress, which seems really terrible-and-migraine-inducing for someone who has been using FrontPage and Blogger for, oh, seven or more years, but I think it’s time to make the switch. My sister-in-law Jen Gailey, a graphic designer, my artist friend Michaela Eaves, my little brother (who is starting his own web site business) Michael Duke Hall, and my kind techie husband Glenn are all conspiring to help me to do this, thankfully, because left to my own devices, I’m pretty sure my web site would end up looking very strange.

3. Planning some PR. Putting together a mailing list for book cards and a reviewer copy list. (Which, by the way, if you want to be on the reviewer list for Unexplained Fevers, leave a comment or e-mail me.) I’m also looking at using the PR services of YouDoPR, which makes it very easy for authors to do some basic PR services for themselves. What else? Blog tours, book giveaways? Facebook page for the book? I’m not sure what kind of promo is the most successful these days. Leave ideas in the comments! I’d love to know what you are doing, what you’ve done that was or wasn’t worth it, etc!

Poet Laureate Event on January 5, A New Review, and New Poems Up at Rose Red Review

Poet Laureate Event Alert – If you are looking to talk about multi-culturalism in poetry and discuss the language of science in poetry – look no further than Redmond Library tomorrow, Saturday January 5 at 3 PM, where I’ll be hosting a panel with guest poets Natasha K. Moni and Raul Sanchez. http://www.redmond.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=82418

A new review of She Returns to the Floating World is up at Poets Quarterly, written by Ann E. Michael. She did a really nice job of talking about the book. It’s always interesting to see which poems reviewers focus on and their take on the messages of the book. I learn something with every review! http://www.poetsquarterly.com/2013/01/she-returns-to-floating-world-by.html

Two new poems from my upcoming book, Unexplained Fevers, at Rose Red Review.
Rapunzel, After and Snow White Dreams by Jeannine Hall Gailey

In other news, over the break I managed to partially dislocate my first rib, sprain my knee, and get the flu. Today I had to go to an emergency physical therapy appointment so she could put the rib back. Which is super painful, but better than having that rib pressing on a nerve, which by the way, can literally make you see stars. Then I dressed up, went to Bellevue Art Museum, read poetry and taught a class, and now I’m home preparing for tomorrow’s event. No rest for the wicked? I feel that perhaps now I am due a time of strength and good health for the rest of January. Can you hear that, universe? I mean, I haven’t even seen The Hobbit yet!

Starting 2013 Off with a Little Poetry and Art

Happy 2013 All!
If you’d like to celebrate the new year with a little poetry and a little art, then I’d like to invite you out to Bellevue Art Museum on its free first friday, January 4.
You can listen to some of my recorded poems from She Returns to the Floating World along with information about the new Japanese art exhibits – follow the instructions here:
http://www.bellevuearts.org/exhibitions/featured.html

Check out this information about the whole Japanese celebration event on the 4th here:
http://www.bellevuearts.org/calendar/#search-by=featured-event&query=1/4/2013&title=Celebrating%20Japanese%20Traditions%20at%20BAM

The whole day’s schedule looks pretty cool. Besides my reading with art show by Michaela Eaves, there’s also manga lessons, a talk with one of the featured artists, and a bunch of cool stuff. Plus my book will be available at the gift shop!

January 4, 2013

Celebrating Japanese Traditions at BAM

11am to 7pm