Amy King on the state of poetry, the place of small presses

In a recent Huffington Post interview, Amy King pointed out the value of small presses in allowing authors to focus more on their own integrity than on what might sell well:  "If you have the freedom to publish online or through a small press and reach a good number of people, you will likely feel more comfortable writing exactly what you want. If a small press accepts even the outré or controversial work you do, you'll feel less pressured to conform to what a big publisher might deign to shill in the local B&N. In short, alternative means of publication=creative freedom, the mother's milk of experimental and progressive writing."

Read the full interview here:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/travis-nichols/the-poetry-feminaissance_b_607561.html

No Free Lunch

Free Lunch is no more. Ron Offen's unique and noteworthy poetry journal quietly retired with the Fall issue (#42), due to the editor's health issues. Free Lunch was one of the small bright stars here in the midwest sky, and I was lucky enough to get a sampling of Ron Offen's very detailed feeback on some of my (rejected!) submissions over the last few issues. His comments were fair, detailed, and insightful, and it is a rare and encouraging thing to find an editor who has the time and grace to commit to such feedback. Best wishes to Ron Offen for better health, and thanks for his many gifts to writers.

Read more here: http://www.poetsfreelunch.org/index.htm
and here: http://chicagopoetry.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1304&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

See you there!

Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid, in the St. Louis West End neighborhood...

http://leftbankbooks.indiebound.com/event/rebecca-ellis-and-gaye-gampbell-peterson

Why a small press?

Why am I doing this? The opposing twin of this question is, Why are you sending your work to Cherry Pie for possible publication, instead of to someplace else?

It's never simple. Kate Gale, co-founder of Red Hen Press in Los Angeles, does a good job of explaining what a small press is -- the 'why' of it.

Cherry Pie on Poets and Writers

Cherry Pie, logo and all, is on the front page of the latest Poets & Writers email announcement! Clicking on the cherry pie logo will take you to the Small Presses database which P&W hosts -- here also is a link to that database, where you may look up Cherry Pie, or browse at will for other small presses -- http://www.pw.org/small_presses?apage=*

Blog link: Poet with a day job

I'm adding a new blog to the links here: Poet With a Day Job. This is Melissa Fondakowski’s blog, and it's the nicely organized and updated lists of poetry contests and residencies that makes the site a stand-out. Also do check the "Published Work Awards" -- if you have published a book or chapbook, and there is an award you might qualify for (especially one worth $$$), do let your publisher know. We don't always think of such things, and appreciate the information.

Landing on both feet: Stacey Lynn Brown

I have watched from afar (well, not too far -- Brown lives and works about 5 miles from Cherry Pie Press) the unfolding of Stacey Lynn Brown's battle with small press publisher Cider Review Press after author and publisher moved to polar positions over differences regarding the production of the book. You can easily come up to speed by checking out Brown's blog (check the linked entry, and read backwards through the end of August 2007) and the counter opinion posted, surprisingly, on Poets and Writers (soon to be renamed Publishers and Publishers).

The story has a happy ending, of sorts -- Brown's book is being published by another press, and Cider Review has spiffed up their Terms and Conditions to clarify what authors may and may not talk about. (Huh?)

The real happy ending, though, is that Stacey Lynn Brown's evolving blog is a pleasure of clear writing and interesting opinions, and in addition to waiting for her book of poetry to hit the stands, I'm hoping and waiting for a collection of essays. Her blog, Ten Fingers Typing, moves to my "Blogs to watch" list (see right panel).

Rankovic's essay on Don Finkel

Catherine Rankovic, local essayist extraordinaire, has posted an interview she did with Don Finkel years ago. It is more than worth checking out -- go here to read it: http://ucollegeblog.blogspot.com/.

The essay is a tribute to Don, now one of St. Louis's lost treasures, and also an insightful and humbling portrayal of the arc of one great poet's career as the poetry publishing industry collapsed in the 1980s and left so many poets stranded, fading into "out of print" and with no publishing outlets available. Finkel's attitude toward life, his way of keeping focus on writing and on what mattered (the relationships around him), and his eternal good humor all provide good sustenance for any writer.

Rankovic has written a number of essays based on interviews with poets. It is a true pleasure to have this one posted online. She is precise, aware of the vast local and industrial background against which her subject matter is poised, and her eye for her subject matter is more accurate, and tender, than any camera.

To poets interested in publishing a chapbook --

Publishing a chapbook is very different from publishing poems in journals. With journals and magazines, the publication has a ready-made audience and your poem is introduced to that audience. With a chapbook, there is no audience but the one you already have in hand and the one you are willing to expand through your own efforts. Cherry Pie will do its best to help – send out review copies, send out announcements, place the book at the best independent bookstore in St. Louis (Left Bank Books). Ideally, your chapbook will benefit from prior and future Cherry Pie publications, sharing those existing audiences, and expanding that audience for other Cherry Pie authors. However, with chapbook marketing you – the author – are the bottom line.

Here are some questions to help you determine if you are ready to publish and support marketing of your chapbook. Don’t let the questions overwhelm you but do allow them to push you. The marketing of a chapbook has much more to do with author effort than it does with the quality of the poems. (There you have it, the dark but true underbelly of chapbook publishing.)

If you don’t already have an established audience or faithful reading friends, a chapbook gives you a good chance to build that, if you are willing. If you are not willing, then the chapbook will sit on a shelf and be read by very very few people. It will not be worth your effort, or mine.

If you are merely looking for the satisfaction of seeing a small collection of your poems nicely printed, please go ahead and do that yourself. If you think having a small press name on the book adds some mysterious air of legitimacy, then make one up. (I’m not being sarcastic – I applaud this approach. It will encourage you to regard your work more seriously, and that’s a good thing.) Your local copy shop or a good desktop printer can accomplish this cheaply and you will be in total control of the effort. Consider giving out copies free to all your friends. Consider giving it to strangers. You will gradually build an audience, and you will have a small collection of poems to be very proud of.

You don’t need me for that.

On the other hand . . . If you have read some of the poems from Cherry Pie authors, and you want to be associated in the reading public’s mind with those authors, and you feel your own work is equal to or better than their work, and you feel you have something to say or show about U.S. poetry that is bone and root part of the Midwest experience – its rivers, its cities, its world-blend of cultures and histories, its plains and its Ozark mountains that are more ancient and more worn and therefore smaller than the Rockies – then let’s talk.

The following questionnaire is intended to help you think through the reasons for and implications of publishing a chapbook. The answers you come up with are not for me, but for you. They will help you figure out if this is really what you want to pursue. And they will help you ensure your work, if it published as a chapbook, does get read.

AUTHOR CHAPBOOK MARKETING QUESTIONNAIRE

Title of chapbook: _________________________________________

What response does the title elicit? Would it make a reader want to pick up your chapbook and open it? Is the title about tangible things (objects, senses) or is it about an idea (to be pondered)? Is the title simple and memorable, or would an interested reader need to write it down to remember it? Have you checked Books In Print or Google for books or songs or anything with a similar title? Did that search turn up anything you don’t want to be associated with?

About you and the background you can bring to the effort of marketing your chapbook --

URL of any blog or website you might use for publicity:

Present occupation (your day-job):

Previous jobs:


Educational background (traditional or nontraditional):


Principal cities and states in which you have lived and in which you still find memories and personal relationships:


About your poetry and your work within the world of poetry --

YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ANSWER ALL OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.
JUST ANSWER THOSE THAT YOU CAN, BUT DO THINK ABOUT ALL OF THEM.

Please list other books you have written, including publisher, year of publication, and type of book (i.e., poetry - specify book or chapbook, or fiction, how-to, essays, children’s book, biography, etc.). Include any anthologies your work was included in. Do any of these books share a potential audience with your poetry chapbook?

If you listed any books in the item above, describe what marketing was done by the publisher and by yourself. Tell if the book was adopted by a book club, reading circle, academic class, workshop.


Have you ever edited a publication? Have you ever served as a reader or on the board of a literary publication? (Literary journal, anthology, etc.)


Have you done community service work related to poetry? Poets in the schools, poetry workshop organizing, any volunteer or officer or board role in an organization supporting poetry, etc.

What local poetry groups do you participate in, and what is your role in each?

What local poets have you openly supported – by attending readings, buying their books, asking a local library branch to order their books, writing reviews for them or recommending their work to others?

List any reviews of your work, with place of publication, reviewer’s name:


List any poetry book or chapbook reviews you have written, with name/author of work reviewed, place and date of publication (web or print):


Publications (specify web or print) where your individual poems have previously appeared:



Poetry readings you have participated in within the last 3 years (place, date, solo or group reading):


Poetry readings you have helped organize within the last 10 years:


Honors, citations or prizes you have received related to poetry:


Why did you decide to collect your poems in this chapbook instead of printing individual poems in a wide array of web or print journals? Or instead of putting together a full-length poetry book? Or instead of making a website or blog where you could post all your poems?


What is the theme of your chapbook or your mechanism for ordering the poems?


Are there groups, other than other poets, to which your book would have particular appeal?


How is your chapbook unique?


With which published poets do you feel your work has resonance? (A different way to state this is, If you like to read poet X then you will also probably like to read my work.)


As a poet, what are your strengths?


Does your chapbook have something in common with other Cherry Pie chapbooks? Does it solidify or does it extend (no wrong answers here, folks) the kind of poetry Cherry Pie has published?


Have you investigated other chapbook publishers (how many?), or self-publishing?


About your ability and willingness to market your work --
Are there any well-known people (locally) who should see an advance copy of your manuscript for purposes of giving a pre-publication promotional quote? If so, list their names, their contact information, and describe their relationship to you and/or the book. Indicate whether you think it would be more effective for Cherry Pie or for you personally to contact each one.


Please list any local or specialized media that should receive review copies of your finished chapbook. Indicate if you have a professional relationship, or previous reviews, with a reviewer or editor at the publication.


Please write a brief biographical sketch appropriate for the general news media and to be used on press releases.


Do you regularly attend any major conventions or conferences related to poetry, writing, academic studies, or any subject area related to your chapbook?


Have you read any of the previous chapbooks from Cherry Pie Press? What could you offer in terms of publicity for your own chapbook that would help get previous Cherry Pie chapbooks into the hands of new readers? What might you expect other Cherry Pie authors to do for you?


What do you expect your publisher to do in publicizing your chapbook?


Thank you!

New chapbook: A Stranger Here Myself by Niki Nymark

Cherry Pie is pleased to announce a new chapbook by Niki Nymark! A Stranger Here Myself is funny, tragic, warm and wise. Steven Schreiner (University of Missouri-St. Louis MFA program, and Natural Bridge) says it best:

"Niki Nymark's beautiful poems revel in the relationship between hardship and humor. Whatever this poet learned in childhood from the quiet sorrow and disappointment of parents, she turns into joy and wisdom through her skill. These poems are defiantly youthful, passionately observant, and tender as a bruise."

Read some sample poems:

In Praise of Prose


Forsake poetry.
Prose is better—
more dependable,
less dangerous,
like that nice boy
your parents hoped
you’d marry.

Poetry is the one
you’d climb
out the window
to meet at midnight.

For Moishe

What have we found,
seventh decade love,
on the phone at night
telling jokes so old
no one else would laugh,
the Laurel and Hardy of ecstasy.
I slip on a banana peel;
you catch me in your arms.

I Regret Nothing

Turn and it’s gone,
the anatomy of youth
with all its succulence
and warmth.
Agreed, it took an eon
to make all the blunders
that etch my face.
Je regrette rien, rien.
Gravity tugs at
my attention,
hangs on my crumpled chin,
frightens me at night
from the mirror.
The brown spots
on my hands
are shaped
like little broken hearts.

A Stranger Here Myself (ISBN 978-0-9748468-7-3) is $10, is now available. Email Cherry Pie (cherrypiepress@yahoo.com) or call Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid, St. Louis, MO 63108 (ph 314.367.6731). (Left Bank will have the chapbook in stock soon -- ask them to hold a copy for you if it's not on the shelf yet.)

Small publishers and the chapbook marketplace

Looking for a small press? Here's one more place to browse if you're trying to find one that fits your aesthetic (and might be interested in your poems):

http://www.poems.com/pubs_noted.php

Books and chapbooks are listed for about a year after being received. Links are provided to books available through Amazon (so only those from the larger presses, since Amazon has locked out the small low-budget presses that can't afford to pay the fees and 40% cut to Amazon).

You'll see this year's Cherry Pie chaps listed on http://www.poems.com/, but without, of course, the Amazon links.