tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9089616.post114542069391315511..comments2023-12-30T18:56:13.073-05:00Comments on Land Mammal: Bits & piecesAnne Haineshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17038705452206752521noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9089616.post-1145467378725051862006-04-19T13:22:00.000-04:002006-04-19T13:22:00.000-04:00I completely agree with everything you said, both ...I completely agree with everything you said, both in the post and in the comments. I definitely feel the blogosphere puts so much pressure on you to prove yourself somehow as a "real" poet/writer. What happened to just writing because it was something you loved to do?writingblindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16102434762522512019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9089616.post-1145462859082833572006-04-19T12:07:00.000-04:002006-04-19T12:07:00.000-04:00If having a book is the be all end all, then you m...If having a book is the be all end all, then you may be in the wrong business. I just don't get it. I am happy to write, when I can. I am thrilled to be published, occasionally. I got lucky with my first book, my second came from hard work but I would have kept writing without them. I don't get it. The book won't make you famous or rich. I think a lot of this I NEED A BOOK AND I NEED IT NOW comes from some kind of blogOsphere pressure. There wasn't so much talk about I NEED A BOOK among poets before the Osphere rolled around. A book was something you worked hard for, for years, not something you expected to have.Radish Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06534752971317927559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9089616.post-1145431658298104132006-04-19T03:27:00.000-04:002006-04-19T03:27:00.000-04:00As I recall, Walt Whitman was about 45 when he pub...As I recall, Walt Whitman was about 45 when he published the first edition of Leaves of Grass. It's not too late.<BR/><BR/>An option to test the water, so to speak, might be to self-publish a small book ("chapbook," as they're often quaintly called), maybe 15 or 20 poems (or however many seems right).<BR/><BR/>You could do a first printing of, say, 100 copies, which would supply enough copies so you wouldn't run out immediately, but wouldn't be such a huge quantity as to leave piles of books on your hands.<BR/><BR/>You could think of it as a project to get your poems out in the world (or, from another perspective, a really classy "business card"), rather than a profit-making operation.<BR/><BR/>(Though if you price the book at a dollar or two above cost, you might stand a chance of breaking even -- at least eventually -- after accounting for copies given away to friends, etc.)<BR/><BR/>Just a notion from someone who has done this (many years ago). I found it entirely worthwhile and a whole lot of fun.Lyle Daggetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10731915540520704368noreply@blogger.com