Springtime and Aging, PR for Poets and Thinking about a Poet’s Choices

A little April tour of Seattle’s Japanese Gardens to start us off…I hope you’re not bored with my flowers yet!

PR for Poets and a Poet’s Choice

Well, the PR for Poets talk at Open Books went well, and there were so many interesting questions during the Q&A session…”How do I become a book reviewer?” “If I’ve been sick for six months after my book launch is it too late to promote the book?” “How does a chapbook compare to a book?” “What if I do all the things you’re supposed to do but your book still doesn’t sell?” All good questions that got me thinking about the life of a poet.

I thought about my own life…how did I start reviewing, and why? It was almost fifteen years ago now that I started reviewing, believe it or not. Why did I decide to do a chapbook in the beginning? I just was so excited to have my work out in the world – I think chapbooks are a beautiful art form (and great practice for what to do when your full-length book comes out.) What did I do when one of my books didn’t sell as much as I’d hoped? I did almost exactly the same things for all my books, with varying results. What happens when say, you have your book release date and you think you’re dying of cancer because at least three doctors have told you so and then you catch pneumonia the week before the book party? Yes, that happened with my last book, and looking back, it was a wonderful book party, so many friends and family there, on a beautiful day at a winery, and I barely had a voice, but I was glad I was there. I guess because I’m turning 45 this month and last year I thought I might not make it past 44 -I’m going to be personal for a second and say why I ended up finishing the PR for Poets book even when I had a bunch of bad health stuff going on in the background – why I wanted other poets to benefit from my experiences, to tell others how to make their lives as poets a little easier, though the life of a poet is sort of by definition never easy.  I hope the book does that – gives the readers a little bit about what I’ve learned, what my friends have taught me, what generous advice experts have offered.

What Makes You Happy, and a Poet’s Choices at Midlife

Anyway, today I was thinking about Mrs. Dalloway, The Hours, and Virginia Woolf’s health problems and life trajectory, and the sadness and isolation that often being a woman writer involves, being outside the mainstream. Social media can somehow both relieve the isolation and make everyone more lonely at the same time. I don’t have any kids, so I don’t have a legacy except that which I leave behind in books. I’m not miserable in exactly the way of the women of the Hours were – I appreciate my life, and I love (as you can tell) on the days I’m healthy enough to get out in the sunshine, among the flowers and deer and rabbits. I love sitting and reading in a quiet room on rainy days. My husband is a great support and makes a lot of my lately-difficult life easier than it could be. I am thankful for my friends and family, my support system, the artists and writers that have inspired me.

Sometimes my health problems can seem overwhelming – the time scheduling and attending all the medical appointments alone take up can be overwhelming – but I am happy this April to be seeing another spring, to see the little cherry tree I planted last year bloom, the tulips and daffodils show up in a garden that was pretty barren when we moved in. I got an award for my last book of poetry, Field Guide to the End of the World, which came in the mail yesterday (see below.) I’m happy to release this weird non-fiction PR for Poets book that hopefully helps some poets have an easier time than I did. I’m happy right now to be alive and able to go out a bit in the sun, to walk a little bit and watch the wildlife. I don’t know what my expectations of my life were when I was little, but I don’t know that I could have predicted how things turned out – but I know I don’t feel disappointed. I look forward to writing another book of poetry, even to sending out another book, and bringing that next book of poetry into the world. I feel scared of some aspects of my life – mortality and the scariness of the MS diagnosis and my liver tumors and etc – but I think writing has made my life better and happier, and I hope that poetry makes your life happier too, but if not, be sure to get outside and smell the..tulips. (Last pictures this post I promise!)

 

How Are You Celebrating Poetry Month? Free PR for Poets workshop tomorrow, Literary News, and More!

It’s raining sideways here today, but yesterday it was in the sixties and we had a bit of sunshine. I went out to photograph some of beginning magnolia and cherry blossoms because wind storms typically take all those petals and whoosh – they’re gone! I got some more April-appropriate pink highlights for tomorrow’s event, as you can see! Spring is definitely a good time for pink streaks!

I’m so excited for tomorrow’s PR for Poets workshop at Open Books (starts at 4:30! Come early to get your handout!) and bringing my first copies of the book to Open Books for sale. This book is unlike my other books for a lot of reasons – it’s the first time I’ve written a non-fiction book since my attempt at a memoir a couple of years ago and my actual technical book back in 2001. It’s been poetry, poetry, poetry all the time – which makes this book a little bit of an adventure for me. I hope it reaches its audience and empowers poets to take charge of their own creations in terms of how its marketed and promoted – so many times poets say, “But my publisher won’t…” (pay for a book tour, buy ads, send my book out for review” or “I don’t know how to…” (sell more books, put together a PR pitch letter, etc.) So I hope this will help people who feel that way! I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers – I’m still making notes to myself about how social media is rapidly change, for instance, and how reading habits are evolving.
Oh yes, and my box of books is here, so if you want a signed copy, you can contact me for one! I should have the order form page updated soon, but in the meantime, there are links to buy the book on Amazon and direct from Two Sylvias. And I’ll be doing a Twitter Q&A on all things PR and poetry related on April 15 (6 PM PST) as well as making an appearance at the Skagit Poetry Festival later on in May.

So, I’ve had an exciting April so far! My latest poetry manuscript was a runner-up for the Tupelo Dorset Prize, have gotten invited to four different out-of-state reading events, written five poems and worked on an AWP panel proposal. I have felt a little MS-y here at the beginning of the month (ache-y, tired, headachey, and a lot of tripping) but am hoping my energy ramps up with the spring! I’ve also set myself higher goals with my poetry submissions, trying either places I’ve never tried before or have been scared to try. I’ve been also thinking about the ways I can bring more positive energy to Facebook’s poetry community as well as here – there’s so much negativity everywhere these days that I want to contribute as much light as possible, which includes buying poetry chapbooks and books and subscribing to lit mags, but also I’m thinking of ways to lift the conversation. These are all goals. So what are you doing for yourself for poetry month?
I bought a copy of Jenn Givhan’s Girl with Death Mask and received a copy of Atticus Review’s print annual which has one of my fave poems from Field Guide to the End of the World that Atticus Review published early on – “Introduction to Spy Narrative with Love Story” (Pics with Sylvia below.) So some good reading to look forward to.

 

Happy National Poetry Month (and My Birthday Month,) More about PR for Poets and PR for Poets Events!

Welcome to April! It’s National Poetry Month, as well as my birthday month, and the month of the launch of PR for Poets! Here are some spring images for you…Cherry blossoms, a blue moon….

It’s also almost time for the launch of PR for Poets! My first event, a talk at Open Books this Sunday April 8 at 4:30, was written up in CityArts (at the bottom of the page, sure, but still there!):

http://www.cityartsmagazine.com/jinkx-monsoon-ufos-in-burien-tea-with-the-duwamish-a-new-lynn-shelton-film-weird-vulgar-theatre-first-thursday-and-the-all-new-art-walk-awards/

I hope to see some of you there!

I don’t have my copies yet (they’re supposed to be on their way here tomorrow) but people have reported getting their copies today! (Edit: They’re finally here today! Here’s a picture of Sylvia posing with a box of books!) In addition, I’ll be doing a live Twitter chat April 15 6 PM PST under the hashtag #PRforPoets to answer questions about all things PR for poetry-related.

I also got a copy of the San Diego Poetry Annual 2017-2018, which features a poem by me called “After Dark, Southern California.” Other contributors include Diane Wakowski and Marge Piercy, so exciting! Here’s a shot of Sylvia posing with the anthology, along with our new pink camellias and more cherry blossoms.

As for the beginning of April, it was nice to celebrate Easter with my little brother and his wife, watch the live new version of Jesus Christ Superstar (a thumbs up, though I will always keep a special place in my heart for the original), and I’ve already written two poems, so that’s a pretty good start to April. I’m hoping my physical energy can keep up with my enthusiasm this month – I’m hoping to see some friends, do a couple of events for PR for Poets, maybe send my new poetry book out a couple of times to potential publishers, and write/submit at a good pace – all without wiping myself out. I’m ready for the long days, the warmer weather, and the few flowers in my garden – daffodils and hyacinths, the tulips aren’t up yet. April does usually cheer me up, what with my birthday at the end of the month (keeping it low-key this year, a trip up to the tulip fields) and poetry in the air. It’s been a rough little stretch of time for me here in the last year and a half, but I’m hoping the journey will start easing up a bit the rest of the year.

Launch for PR for Poets, Open Books Talk on PR for Poets on April 8, and Sylvia Plath Quotes

Launch for PR for Poets in Seattle and Online!

Well, the day is here! PR for Poets is officially available now on Amazon and Two Sylvias Press, and I’ll be hand-bringing the very first copies to Open Books on April 8!

Here it is on Amazon: PR For Poets: A Guidebook To Publicity And Marketing and for slightly less as a pre-order from Two Sylvias Press: PR For Poets: A Guidebook To Publicity And Marketing.

I’m really hoping this book will be of use to people and help poets who feel uncomfortable with book promotion or feel totally at a loss when launching their books. That’s really the goal of the book. I’m so thankful to the many experts who allowed me to put their advice and wisdom inside this book, including Sandra Beasley, Robert Lee Brewer, Marie Gauthier, Kelly Davio, and many others!

Open Books, April 8 at 4:30 PM – Jeannine Hall Gailey talks PR for Poets!

I’ve been a bit of a recluse lately, but the spring will be bringing me out into the open again! On April 8 at 4:30 PM (it’s a Sunday,) I’ll be giving a talk on the basics of PR for Poets, on topics from social media to web sites to readings and reviews! Come out, say hi, and get your copy – Open Books will be the very first brick-and-mortar bookstore to carry copies of the book! Plus, they’re always fun to visit.

Obligatory flower pictures here! Cherry Trees and One Apple Tree!

Glenn and I took a trip to UW’s famed quad full of cherry trees on a Tuesday (and it was still crowded,) and then I took some more pictures of Woodinville’s apple and cherry blossoms. Definitely feeling more like spring! I’m sooo ready for it!

Sylvia Plath quotes, Writers – Ego and Expectation

You know I’ve recently finished The Letters of Sylvia Plath Volume 1: 1940-1956 – all of over 1300 pages of it! I only do this kind of background reading on women writers I’m very interested in – Flannery and Sylvia were both on the list. And I talked a little about in my last post, but I wanted to give you some quotes I made notes on while I was reading it – either the quotes are ironic, funny, or display something about her expectations as a writer. These are mostly from her time living and studying in Cambridge, England. She loves her cookbooks, has definite opinions about her own writing compared to other women writers of her time and expected, like most of us, to get her first book of poetry published much sooner than it actually got published.

1956 in a letter to her brother, Warren: “Am hoping to get scattered poems published this spring & get together a book for a contest in June at which Richard Wilbur and 4 other poets whose style is congenial to mine will judge; won’t know till October, but am determined to publish a book of 33 poems within next year.” (Her first book of poems, Colossus and Other Poems, wasn’t published until 1960, three years before her death. Her Pulitzer-winning Collected Poems (1956-1963) wasn’t published until almost twenty years after her death, in the 1981! I bet she wouldn’t be surprised, but she would be irritated they waited that long!)

1956 in a letter to her mother: “When and if you have the chance, could you send over my Joy of Cooking? It’s the one book I really miss!” (Hilarious, right?)

1956, in a letter to her mother: “I know that within a year I shall publish a book of 33 poems which will hit the critics violently in some way or another; my voice is taking shape, coming strong; Ted says he’s never read poems by a woman like mine: they are strong and full and rich, not quailing and whining like Teasdale, or simple lyrics like Millay; they are working sweating heaving poems born out of the way words should be said.”

1956, in a letter to her mother: “I shall be one of the few women poets in the world who is fully a rejoicing woman, not a bitter or frustrated or warped man-imitator, which ruins most of them in the end. I am a woman, and glad of it, and any songs will be of fertility of the earth and the people in it through waste, sorrow and death. I shall be a woman singer, and Ted and I shall make a fine life together.” (None of this turned out to be true, unfortunately – she turned out to be the patron saint of frustrated women writers, and not remembered as a particular celebrator of female fertility. And her life with Ted, while described by many in different ways, was not quite as happy and starry as she anticipated at 25.)

Also, some personal notes: She liked Elizabeth Bishop but not Auden (she described his poems as “grinding metal”), thought the New Yorker published a lot of trite poems about birds, took classes from CS Lewis, liked Tolkein, and thought Ted Hughes would make a great children’s book author whose work would be acquired by Disney. She studied a lot about Chaucer (obv. liked the Wife of Bath) and Paul’s letters (problematic in terms of his attitudes towards women and sex, she thought – and I agree!) Lots to think about. Still an inspiration. Though she disparages Edna Millay all over the place in these letters she had a lot in common with her – did you know Edna got famous for an early poem about suicide? And was notoriously egotistical and famously sexual? Kind of a mean person, sort of like Sylvia. I like both poets, although I’m pretty sure I would have been afraid to be friends with either.
It does make you think about the job of ego in the work of women writers. I was thinking about this is terms of Emily Dickinson too – even with lots of rejection, she kept at it. Without a pretty sizable ego, women writers in the twenties – or fifties – wouldn’t even have attempted to make a splash. Sylvia expected to be more successful than she was, which may have led to being disappointed at a more crushing level than if she’d tempered her expectations. On the other hand, who succeeds without having the expectation of succeeding? We must all retain some hope of this, even if we say we don’t. Otherwise…

Measuring Up and Marching Towards Spring

I’ve probably mentioned I’ve been reading Sylvia Plath’s newest collection of letters for a while now. I’m finally getting to the end of Volume I, which ends when Sylvia’s about 24 (on page 1300). By 24, Sylvia had already been a Fullbright scholar, had poems accepted by Poetry, The Atlantic, The Nation, had an internship at Mademoiselle and sold several short stories. Looking at her, I look at myself at 44 and think: how do I measure up? I mean, she didn’t publish many books while she was alive, and I have five, but I’ve had fourteen extra years on her already! I didn’t publish my first book until after age 30!  I still haven’t had acceptances at any of those magazines (and Mademoiselle is defunct.)

Now Sylvia Plath, along with a few other poets, remains one of the best poets of the past hundred years. You can watch her poetry get better in her letters over the years, from 15 to 21 to 24. Dating Ted Hughes, whatever kind of decision that was for her life-wise, was great for her poetry – she suddenly starts putting a lot of nature in her poems when she starts dating him, specific names of plants and animals, adopts the fierceness of the natural world as her own. (By the way, even before Ted, her preferences for boyfriends ran to the “handsome, healthy, big, brutish” variety – why the emphasis on “health” and what did she mean by that? Weird. So I don’t think she was going to ever end up with a nice guy type. She was also kind of a “mean girl.” Way meaner than me.

Who do I admire among today’s poets? It’s hard for me to say who the strongest/best poets are. I know which writers I admire and look up to, to aspire to be, so to speak (even though some of them might be younger than I am:) Louise Gluck, Dana Levin, Matthea Harvey, Kelly Link, Tracy K. Smith, Margaret Atwood. Beth Ann Fennelly, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Lucille Clifton (though the last two have sadly passed away now, they remain in my bag of poetry heroines.) Will I ever be as good as any of them? It feels like I don’t measure up. I need to work harder to shape my work to be the best it can be. That never really stops, years after my MA and years after my MFA, that desire to keep getting better, to keep tweaking.

Today is the first day of spring, which feels like it should be an upbeat poetry day.  I’m working on a couple of AWP panel ideas, and was just invited to be part of one. But I received a rejection for my latest book/collection in my e-mail box, and with the Sylvia stuff, just feeling a little discouraged. Plus, I have to get cancer tested again for my liver (MRI and blood work) – they do it every six months – and on top of the constant MS appointments, it’s a lot. Along with dental work, something I wish I could put off indefinitely! Thank goodness I’m finished up with Sylvia’s letters, and now I’m moving on to the latest essay collection by Zadie Smith!

But  I will post some pictures of local blooms! Spring seems to be a bit odd this year, with storms coming to the east coast and a forecast of snow (!!) here on Saturday. Our spring blossoms have arrived several weeks late this year, so my daffodils haven’t yet bloomed, our hyacinths and cherry blossoms just now peeking out. And some local peacocks!

Jeannine Hall Gailey

Jeannine Hall GaileyJeannine 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.

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