I just went to the kitchen to put my coffee mug in the sink and the mesh drain filter was full of assorted debris: food scraps, a chunk of cat food, and something I can’t identify. Yuck! As I knocked the filter into the garbage can to clear […]
Many authors know about swag and its potential to increase visibility and book sales. But with the wealth of material and distribution options available, what is the best way to integrate it into their marketing campaign? Here are a few tips on how to make the most of […]
Sometimes you get to a certain point and you just don’t know what to do with a poem. You might have many drafts and you don’t know what’s working anymore. You’ve lost perspective. And on top of that, maybe you’re surrounded by a whole bunch of other discarded poems […]
As people, we often like to put ourselves into categories. As writers, we tend to do the same thing. We say things like, “I’m a fiction writer” or “I’m a poet” or, if you’re me, “I’m, like, kind of a poet, I mean, I like to write poetry, […]
Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned and decisions I’ve made in the area of literary submissions. Some of these I consider hard and fast rules, others are more like guidelines, and finally some are my preferences representing decisions I’ve made about how to conduct my own […]
For my previous poetry collections, I had kept my endorsements close to home, inviting poets I knew personally and whose passionate support I could trust. In all honesty, I also feared it an imposition to contact “big names” in our poetry community whose work I admired yet to […]
It’s so important to do your homework before sending your manuscript to a publisher. Make sure to take notes for each publisher you research. You will most likely want to compare them to each other before deciding where you want to submit. Make sure the press is the […]
