With the advent of publish-on-demand printing companies that make self-publishing accessible and somewhat affordable for the writer, a lot of hopeful, prospective poets are self-publishing as never before. Should you?
Sure, some famous writers have self-published at one time or another and have success stories of which one can only dream, while some wind up with little sales and wasted time. In which category are you?
First, you have to know if your work is any good. By that, I don't mean you ought to go with what your Granny and old Aunt Faye tell you. They're family. They have to love you. Instead, it is wiser to gauge one's skill by what objective, experienced writers and/or editors say. This is not meant to discourage anyone from self-publishing, but rather offer them guidelines so that writers have a clear-cut goal in mind when they show their work.
Here is a general good rule to go by: first get forty poems published in high quality publications, and then think about self-publishing. By high quality publications, I'm not referring to most online poetry publications. Yes, there are high quality online sites, but they are few and far between. Most are not worth the bandwidth they suck up, and it is very, very easy for just about anyone to get "published" in these sites, most of which are run by wannabe writers themselves. Instead, concentrate on getting work accepted in solid publications. I'll explore a little more about what constitutes a solid publication later in the week.
Once you have those forty published poems together, you can look into self-publishing a chapbook. Typically, however, by the time a poet gets forty solid publication credits, a publisher will approach YOU with a deal. If that doesn't happen, though, you have the option of getting a collection together yourself and going forward with a soft-cover, simple book, otherwise known as a chapbook. A chapbook is often inexpensively put together, and it's a new poet's way of introducing him/herself to readers and publishers alike.
There are reasons for sticking with the forty poem rule: One, if the book is too large, no one is going to read it. Only well known poets can sell a bigger, weightier tome, because readers will buy what they're familiar with and like. A new poet has no such clout. Also, a smaller book is more affordable for you, the poet and self-publisher, to put together. Don't forget, you have mailing costs, self-promotion costs, and a host of hidden expenses in this package. Best to go simply at first.
Secondly, readers will most likely remember at least ONE of these poems from the journals in which you've published. That means they're more likely to actually buy and read the book.
Thirdly, a tree is going to die for your book. It's best to make sure what's being printed on those pages are proven worthy of the effort. If these poems have been published before, they've passed a test of sorts.
To those who think they are the exception, let me tell you a little story. A blogger I once knew came to me for advice on self-publishing. She had the idea of putting together one chapbook because she had a lot of commenters who left gushing, complimentary responses on her blog. She also had the misfortune of having her poems rejected by every publisher who ever saw her work, but for a novice who temporarily ran a site that existed for a mere two issues. In other words, not a viable publishing credit.
Anyway, this writer borne by the remarks left on her blog, and promises from readers to buy anything she published, decided to shun my advice to be patient and work at her craft, and instead decided to publish not one, but TWO full-length books. The first book sold two copies - she bought one, and her mother the other. The second book sold only one. Her mother decided to opt out the second time around.
This writer was very discouraged and decided to give up writing altogether. Had she been patient, she might have learned to be a decent writer and been partway towards her goal of stacking up solid publishing credits. Instead, she has completely given up.
Goals worth attaining are goals worth working for. If it comes fast and easy, usually it's not worth having.
So next time, we'll explore what constitutes worthwhile publishing credits, and how to get them.
