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User	cuddledumplin | 2005-03-08 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Cool, I submitted a couple of poems a few weeks ago, but it’ll be May before I know anything (to the Binnacle’s Ultra Short competition). I’m going to submit some more to some other markets. I miss seeing my work in print. Congratulations, Dave.

User	Sandburg | 2005-02-14 |
Subject	Link
Message	Here is a link to the winter issue of Contemporary Rhyme. My poem, Power Supply was selected for inclusion. That’s exciting, but if you read the bios of the other writer’s, it’s mind blowing to be in their company. http://www.yellowbat.com/contemporary_rhyme.html

User	cuddledumplin | 2005-02-02 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Not that I expected to win it. I’m going to apply again though. It’s free.

User	cuddledumplin | 2005-02-02 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I haven’t submitted anything in over a year other than to the Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship. I must not have won that because I haven’t heard anything, and the winner was supposed to have been notified by the end of January.

User	Sandburg | 2005-02-01 |
Subject	Acceptance Letter
Message	Today I thought I was getting another rejection note but it was an acceptance letter along with a proof. I’m even getting paid $5. My poem, Power Supply, will be included in the next issue of Contemporary Rhyme. It will be available online, so I’ll publish a link when it’s out.

User	cuddledumplin | 2005-01-30 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Geez, he IS an idiot. Anyone who publishes words should know that Sandburg is dead.

User	Sandburg | 2005-01-29 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I had three poems (in three different issues) and a two page article published in a monthly called BlueRoot, which covers arts, music, etc in a three county area near me. The funniest thing was, the first time the editor didn’t read my bio, just looked at my e mail address, and well, he published the first poem under the name Carl Sandburg. (sandburgcarl@hotmail.com) Later he saw my real name and asked, and when I told him Carl Sandburg had died in 1967 I think he felt like a total idiot. But he still published more of my work, under my real name!

User	cuddledumplin | 2005-01-29 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I haven’t been published since last year (and only once last year), and that was in a magazine for an English honor society. I got three copies for pavement. I need to try to get back into the groove and publish something.

User	Sandburg | 2005-01-29 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Well if any of the work I have circulating gets accepted for inclusion in any magazine, no matter how obscure, I’ll be sure to let everyone on this site know!

User	cuddledumplin | 2005-01-29 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I know a bit about literary journals and magazines, and some are as respected as the New Yorker. Perhaps they’re not as well known. I’ve never made more than $50 from a submission, but I’ve never expected to make money from writing. Even a lot of people who have made the New Yorker have day jobs. Even if I get paid in copies, I have something to give my granny to show her friends and the satisfaction that someone liked my work enough to publish it. I know why you did it, but I was just saying that it isn’t the only alternative to poetry.com et al.

User	cuddledumplin | 2005-01-29 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Publish a book either way is what I meant to say.

User	cuddledumplin | 2005-01-29 |
Subject	untitled
Message	There have been a couple of successes in the realm of self-publishing (Rod McKuen’s Listen to the Warm, for instance), and even Whitman self-published, but I don’t think it’s for me either. I’d prefer the "prestige" of a traditional publisher. However, now, you can make your own ebook or even just print a book via desktop publishing. I think you need to try to publish some things before you publish either way. It’s valuable experience. I even have a scrapbook of rejection letters. That helped me learn where to submit, and I even got a few nice, personal responses from editors (That’s considered a compliment) telling me how to improve, suggesting other markets, or saying my work is good, but their magazine or journal publishes work different from mine. I think it helps to know how the business works in case you ever want to publish something the traditional way. You’d also have something to put in your cover letter.

User	girlinthephoto | 2005-01-27 |
Subject	untitled
Message	i dont think self publishing is a good idea. it doesnt give you the credibility you need if you really want to make a serious career out of it. there are a lot of small chapbook publishers out there who are willing to publish new authors... the author has to make an effort to market the book.. but the actual printing/distribution costs should be the responsibility of the publisher. i would never go with self publishing.

User	magnicat | 2005-01-26 |
Subject	untitled
Message	i am very interested in the self-publishing thing, as a friend of mine and i published our own book of poetry and photographs (my poetry/her photographs) way back in 1990. it was quite an exciting thing to do, actually. we were even able to have some sold at neighborhodd bookstores. i would love to do another one. thanks, Dave, for the information, and i look forward to getting a copy of yours!

User	Sandburg | 2005-01-26 |
Subject	Web Page Up
Message	Anyone who wants a blow by blow of how to publish your own book, poems, recipes, whatever, I’ve put a simple web page up. It’s simple text, I borrowed space on a friend’s server. http://raymondhardware.bizland.com/publish.html

User	Sandburg | 2005-01-26 |
Subject	untitled
Message	I should have added that I have had some of my poems published in a regional arts monthly here in Michigan. Because they don’t pay in cash, I never really considered it. Then I found out that even the bigger journals don’t pay much, if anything. From what I can see, if a major publisher did offer me a book deal, there would be no advance, and I wouldn’t earn royalties until sales covered initial production costs. They would offer to sell me copies to sell my friends for 30% off list or so. It would come back to about the same equation, unless something happened that I became known nationally. Call me a realist or a pessimist, to use the music analogy, I don’t see very many making that "big time" as poets. I hear tons of tallented musicians that are never going to get a contract with a major label either.

User	Mister Fizzle | 2005-01-26 |
Subject	untitled
Message	your right Dave. Walt Whitman slef published Leaves Of Grass before it got ultra famous and pretty much jumpstarted his career. Also slef publishing is very much akin to indie musicians releasing Lp’s and Ep’s on a underground local and regional level to build a fan base. A core of devoted listeners (or readers in this case) if you will. So with that in mind, a chap book that you can sell at poetry readings and open mics makes alot more since than just shooting in the dark at various magazines. I think that Dave, has the right of it by doing both to be honest with you. Anyway thats the opinion of an indie musician turned poet. peace, mister fizzle

User	Sandburg | 2005-01-25 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Amy, I am currently submitting work to literary magazines and hope to see some published this year. That is like building a resume in the field, "I’ve had my work published in "blah" and "blah". But unless you hit the New Yorker, the Paris Review, or Poetry Magazine, few will recognize what you’ve done, besides other poets. Sometimes I wonder if we are all just writing for each other. To get to your direct question, I had over a dozen people, including some online, who kept asking me to let them know when I had a book, so I published one. It won’t make much money, but most literary journals only pay in contributor’s copies, or perhaps $5 or $10 each anyway. My venture shouldn’t lose any money, and that is what I wanted, to put my work in people’s hands, people who will read it, without it costing me money. I’m not sure what I hate more about the publishing scams, that the authors are fleeced of thier money, or that the poems sit unread on shelves, printed in books no one buys. Have you a book you would trade? For me, that would be worth much more than money.

User	cuddledumplin | 2005-01-24 |
Subject	untitled
Message	Why not just go the route of getting some poems published in literary magazines, and then try to get a book published the old fashioned way? I have nothing against self-publishing. I just wanted to let people know there are more alternatives.