Writing...

[Simple Torture]

I would say that "self-publishing" these days can also include things like blogs or serial online works, and I think there's less and less of a stigma there every day; but I still get the sense that self-publishing isn't "cool," but then again it depends on the field. If I were to self-publish some of my academic work, I would most certainly be laughed at. But I've gotten a little bit out of touch with other literary fields lately, so I'm not really the best judge there, I guess.

[epilogue]

What you're saying makes sense, though. I know that stigma is still a very real fear for me. Regardless of what editors and publishers say. I feel like they HAVE to say that, to a degree. But it takes jobs away from them, so they can't be thrilled about it.

I've still never self-published because I'm afraid of what it could do to any future career. But it's nice to hear from those that have experience with it.

So, thanks.

[Dscans]

Last day of my creative writing class and I miss it already. The professor, whom I greatly enjoyed, is teaching a class on writing for publication next semester and asked if I will be in it. I'm thinking about it. Of course, I just interviewed for a job at UMass and should I get that I'll be taking courses there.

Oh, academia. Crazy workload, unsatisfying pay, and yet, it's hard to beat free tuition.

[Simple Torture]

Last day of my creative writing class and I miss it already. The professor, whom I greatly enjoyed, is teaching a class on writing for publication next semester and asked if I will be in it. I'm thinking about it. Of course, I just interviewed for a job at UMass and should I get that I'll be taking courses there.

Oh, academia. Crazy workload, unsatisfying pay, and yet, it's hard to beat free tuition.

I don't think we've ever chatted about this: where are you in your studies exactly? And what's this job at UMass? (And congratulations!)

[Dscans]

Last day of my creative writing class and I miss it already. The professor, whom I greatly enjoyed, is teaching a class on writing for publication next semester and asked if I will be in it. I'm thinking about it. Of course, I just interviewed for a job at UMass and should I get that I'll be taking courses there.

Oh, academia. Crazy workload, unsatisfying pay, and yet, it's hard to beat free tuition.

I don't think we've ever chatted about this: where are you in your studies exactly? And what's this job at UMass? (And congratulations!)

It's a master of education. The curriculum is pretty open, allowing me to take a number of 500 courses in the humanities to fill the elective requirements. My long term goal is to be a guidance counselor. Even though I'll need another degree for that, having an extra degree will bump me up a pay grade. UMass actually has the school guidance masters which is why I applied. It's a marketing position in the college of humanities and fine arts, which is basically what I do now at a smaller college.
But I just love writing. Part of me wonders that if I get the UMass job, I'll start looking at the MFA program.

[harmless]

The publisher of my 2011 chapbook today announced that they were no longer publishing poetry collections. A lot of my friends have been dropped.

But the good news is that my second chapbook will be out this month.

[Harry Lime]

I always hated the adage, "Write what you know". As if that held the key to everything.

[nyquillyn]

But the good news is that my second chapbook will be out this month.

[harmless]

So guys, my second chapbook/pamphlet/short collection just became available today. It is called 'Lever Arch':

http://www.knivesforksandspoonspress.co ... rarch.html

[Kevin Davis]

It's full of pros if you're just doing it for fun; that is, if your goal is so that your friends can pick up a copy for cheap, then it's relatively easy (the toughest part is formatting your document correctly). Unless something miraculous happens, it's not a solid source of income or anything. Also keep in mind that if you plan on doing serious work down the road (meaning getting an agent, finding a publisher, getting a book deal, or even if you're looking to submit to journals and magazines), anything you self-publish probably won't get looked at.

Sure, sure. Thanks.

Do you see any shift in that, though? I was at a writing conference today and they tried to skip around the topic, but several editors mentioned self published works. And it seemed to me the stigma is slowly disappearing. And that it can actually serve as a platform for writers.

That hasn't been your experience, I take it?

I self-published my book, and I think it was the best decision I could have possibly made. I courted agents for about six months and was given a lot of nice feedback but ultimately told that the book didn't have a clear-cut audience, which is pretty much their in-road for selling it to publishers. The conclusion I ultimately came to was that I could sit around and try to find and agent, then wait another however long for the agent to find a publisher, then wait another however long for the book to actually be published, all of which might never happen, or I could learn how to do it myself and just make it happen. One of my life goals was to have a book published in my name. Now I have one. Fuck the stigmas--decide for yourself if it's more important to have your work out there in the world for people to experience (and possibly be deeply affected by), or to have the distant "respect" of some asshole who may never even hold your book in his hands. Chances are no one whose opinion you have any business caring about will take exception to your self-publishing; most of them will be impressed that you managed to finish a book at all.

I'm glad I took the time to court those agents in the beginning, because now there's really no reason to regret taking it the self-publishing route. I'm happy I got my book out there into the world while I was still excited about it, while the thrill of having written it was still new to me, rather than 3-4 years down the line when I had moved onto something new, and having my heart be in that instead. I've torn my book apart by now and have come up with an endless list of things I would change about it, and there's a good chance that, had I gone the agent-to-publisher route, even if I got picked up right away, the book wouldn't even be out yet.

Life is too short to sit around waiting for other people to tell you that your work is worth their time. If it was worth yours, get it out there however you can--chances are it will be worth someone else's time too, even if not on the massive scale you'd envisioned. I think it's worthwhile and educational to pursue representation (thankfully, a lot of books are sold on pitches so you can query agents while you're still writing it), but if you're getting tired of the routine (and it gets really tiresome), self-publishing is a wonderful plan B. Simple Torture is right that the formatting is a nightmare, though--there was about a week when I was prepared to pursue legal action against Microsoft for how much distress Word 2010 was causing me.

Lastly, I just had an essay published in this local literary magazine:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bluffs-l ... 6409789546
You can get copies for $5 by messaging them (I think, I'm not sure how they work it all out). Most of the issue is a lot of dark poetry that I don't understand, my essay about the squirrels in my yard is definitely the sore thumb of the bunch, but it's a cool endeavor.

Really lastly, congrats to Mark on his new pamphlet!

[Kevin Davis]

This was the article that made me decide to self-publish.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10 ... d-to-know/

[oasisfan35]

This was the article that made me decide to self-publish.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10 ... d-to-know/

Thanks for the read, solid information.

[WtOB?]

Cool!

[epilogue]

294 pages (61,000 + words) into my first novel. Still surprises me.

[oasisfan35]

294 pages (61,000 + words) into my first novel. Still surprises me.

That isn't many words per page...

I kid of course, good job. Can you give a dust-jacket blurb?

[epilogue]

294 pages (61,000 + words) into my first novel. Still surprises me.

That isn't many words per page...

I kid of course, good job. Can you give a dust-jacket blurb?

A good amount of dialogue. Title page included in overall count. I'm also starting each new chapter half way down each page. Double spacing. Courier New. 12 point font. And sure!

[harmless]

Guys, I've been asked to speak for a few minutes on poetry and activism as part of an event at Yoko Ono's 'Meltdown' at London's Southbank Centre. After a few Googles, this is looking like a bigger deal than I originally thought. It's gone on my motherfucking CV, anyway.

[Kevin Davis]

Congrats, Mark.

[harmless]

Congrats, Mark.

Cheers

[epilogue]

Guys, I've been asked to speak for a few minutes on poetry and activism as part of an event at Yoko Ono's 'Meltdown' at London's Southbank Centre. After a few Googles, this is looking like a bigger deal than I originally thought. It's gone on my motherfucking CV, anyway.