Springing into Summer, Open Books, Japanese Garden, Spending $11,000 on Book PR, and Birthdays Coming Up

Song sparrow on azaleas

Springing into Early Summer, Open Books, and Japanese Garden

It seems we’ve moved from spring directly into summer, rain evaporating, temperatures rising. The tulip fields have bloomed and ended in what seemed like two weeks—cherry petals litter my lawn as lilacs bloom. It’s a topsy turvy gardener’s problem, because two weeks ago it was too cold to plant seeds and now we have to wear sunscreen when we go out to water.

This last week marked the 30th anniversary of Open Books, Seattle’s poetry-only bookstore, so we visited, picked up a few books, got to talk to Billie and Gabrielle and John (if you know, you know!) and after they closed, went to Seattle’s Japanese Garden to watch birds sing on top of flowers and observe summer flowers—azaleas, rhodoendrons and wisteria—taking over.

Towhee is singing

Spending $11,000 on Book PR – A Shock? Or Reality Bites?

Somehow, I happened upon a Substack post from an experienced PR/marketer who wrote her first novel and spent $11,000 promoting it. Is this number shocking to you? It probably shouldn’t be. The average book doesn’t sell that many copies, publishers aren’t picking up the bill for marketing the way they used to, and even people who do PR for a living are confused and troubled about what pays off and what doesn’t. (Online ads? Travel for readings? Swag?)

The reality of promoting a book—especially for a poet—is that often you spend much more than you’ll make back in sales and royalties, even if you’re smart about where to spend and where to save. I’m interested to see the results of her efforts—and she acknowledges, it’s often more the energy the author spends that makes a difference even more than the money she spends.

Also, side question—should I switch from my blog to Substack? I like the independence a blog gives me, but maybe Substacks are more modern.

Juvenile Goldfinch

Another Birthday and Making Changes

You may have noticed, with the return of nice weather, came the return of bird pictures to the blog. And the time has rolled around to my birthday once again. It always makes me introspective, and though I’m happy I’m getting another year on this earth (never guaranteed), the first four months of 2025 have been awfully challening, personally, financially, health-wise, and even poetry-wise. And that’s not mentioning politics or world news. It’s tough to feel like celebrating.

I did sign up for a class on essay writing and got some tickets to see Rebecca Solnit when she comes to Seattle. I’m also starting to meet with other writers again to talk about work. I’m trying to be pro-active, doing positive things with my money—choosing new charities, looking at (gulp) retirement accounts, and trying to bring in more with my writing—and trying to make new friends and build more community around me. I don’t want to ignore that I’m getting older and be too resistant to change to miss the signs that I should be doing something different.

In the meantime, I will try to pay attention to the singing bird next to me, the timing of the stars and flowers, and some of the gifts that aging brings.