Tag: book

Marika Maijala at MASS MoCA

I am here at MASS MoCA, in residence with the Boiler House Poets Collective, where there are always new things happening. MASS MoCA has recently opened the Research & Development Store, which yesterday hosted an artist talk by Marika Maijala, a Finnish artist, illustrator, and author that I was fortunate to attend.

Marika was in the United States for the first time to appear at the Brooklyn Book Festival in celebration of the English translation of her book Rosie Runs, her first children’s book for which she also wrote the text. (Translation by Mia Spangenberg) She was very engaging, self-effacing, and friendly in her talk and in answering numerous questions. She very kindly signed books for us with special messages.

Then, we were all privileged to go to the also recently established studio and gallery of Gary Lichtenstein Editions. During the day, Marika and Gary, an artist with over forty-five years of experience in silkscreen printing, had collaborated to design a new print for the occasion and we got to see Gary do some pulls as they collaborated on the final color run. It was amazing to see Gary’s skill with the press and the subtlety of color he was able to achieve!

I was so grateful to see and hear from both Marika Maijala and Gary LIchtenstein. You can find the work of many artists working in collaboration with Gary at the gallery in North Adams or online at the link above. You can find Rosie Runs at an independent bookstore near you or online at Amazon and other sites. It’s been translated into quite a number of languages, so check to see if it is available in the language of the children who are dear to you.

Carol Mikoda’s new book!

Poet-friend and fellow Grapevine poet Carol Mikoda has a new book forthcoming from Finishing Line Press, Wind and Water, Leaf and Lake.

Carol’s nature poems have great depth. Of the book, James Crews writes, “The tender, attentive poems of Carol Mikoda show us how to look up and outside of ourselves to notice the intricate aliveness at play in clouds, leaves, and water—to feel the whole world.”

Through August 25th, you can pre-order your copy so you will be among the first to read it in October when it is released. Bonus: you will receive $2 off the list price!

Order today by clicking on the link above!

SoCS: mailing Hearts

It never occurred to me that part of my efforts to learn about publicizing my chapbook Hearts would revolve around envelopes.

I needed to buy envelopes to ship my book, first to family members and the poets who wrote back cover blurbs for me, later to out-of-town folks who ordered directly from me.

Most people ship books like this in padded mailing envelopes for extra protection. The book is 6×9 inches and there are 6×9 padded mailing envelopes, so it seemed straight-forward.

But, no.

Most 6×9 envelopes have that as their internal dimension but don’t accomodoate for thickness, so, even though, as a chapbook, Hearts is not very thick, it wouldn’t fit in most of the envelopes in the store.

I did find one Scotch one that worked because its internal dimensions are 9.25×6. Yay! I bought ten, which was about all they had on the shelf. When I used those up, I bought another ten. The store doesn’t have a lot out at once.

I was running low again, so went to the store and was happy to see they were on sale. There weren’t any on the shelf, so I asked for a rain check. They said they couldn’t do that but could order online.

Except they couldn’t, apparently because of the brand.

And they didn’t know when or if they’d ever get more in. They offered to substitute another brand but I explained kindly that those didn’t fit.

I tried looking for another supplier but couldn’t find an in-store one and the online shipping was too high to order them online and have them shipped to my home. Also, I did not need a box of 100 envelopes!

One of these days, I’ll go back to the store and see if more have appeared.

Meanwhile, I still have three from my last stash.

Realistically, most people order from Kelsay or Amazon. If you have a local independent bookstore, you can ask them to order it for you through Ingram.

See? I told you I was trying to learn marketing…
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “envelope.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/08/11/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-12-2023/

poetry scam

It wouldn’t have occurred to me as a possibility until it actually happened, but the publication of my first chapbook Hearts led to a very strange phone call last week.

One evening, the phone rang from a toll-free number that came up without a name attached, asking for me. They started out congratulating me on my recent publication and wanted to know what I was doing for publicity. Most of my efforts have been local, so they started pitching things like national interviews with millions of listeners. I was laughing because the concept seemed totally out of the realm of what one does with a poetry chapbook. They did eventually get around to the cost, $1,000 to $3,000, depending on chosen options, which, of course, was a discount off their regular pricing.

It all sounded very fishy and I would never have said yes, but, while I was explaining why it was unaffordable, given that it would take many hundreds of copies sold to even get back the money paid, they told me they were also a hybrid publisher and that they could publish my book, too, so that I would make more money. I told them in no uncertain terms that I had a five-year contract with Kelsay Books with automatic annual extensions beyond that and that I would never break my legal contract with them.

So, the call ended with me still shaking my head at the absurdity of the whole thing.

The next day, I searched the toll-free number and found that it belonged to a company called Author Reputation Press. Although their mailing address is in Canton, Massachusetts, another site listed their service area as Singapore and nearby areas, which explained the accents of the people who called me. Just a word to the wise, in case any of my writer-friends get publicity or publication calls from them.

Yesterday, though, I did run across a reputable hybrid press, Atmosphere Press. A poet-friend of mine has published with them. In their publishing model, if they accept your book, the author pays the up-front cost of the editorial/design team and publication but then keeps a high percentage of the royalties. It’s not something I want to try now, but I might consider it for my full-length manuscript if I don’t find a home for it over the next couple of years.

Meanwhile, there are more manuscript submissions in my future.

And publicity efforts for Hearts.

At least, I won’t be paying thousands of dollars in a scam, although all the submission fees and such do add up after a while.

More decisions coming soon.

Fingers crossed.

A month of Hearts

Just about a month ago, Kelsay Books published my first chapbook, Hearts, available from Kelsay, from Amazon, from me personally (if you are local), or by asking your local bookstore to order it through Ingram.

The experience has been exciting, gratifying, emotional, and exhausting by turns. There have been new things to learn, like keeping a spreadsheet to track sales tax and profit and signing contracts to place books on consignment. I’ve been trying to get the hang of doing publicity, which is a different universe from writing poetry. Sending notices to my poet-friends and non-poet-friends was relatively straightforward, although I admit it feels strange to ask people to spend money to read my work. I’d never been paid for my writing beyond gratitude and the occasional in-print copy of a publication but I am finding it easier to say writing is a profession for me now, even though the total amount of money I earn from it will be small.

Besides the discomfort of self-promotion, which works against my introverted nature, there is the sobering personal aspect of asking people to read poems about my mother’s final years. I’m grateful to know that the poems touch people’s hearts. I’ve had people tell me that our story reminds them of their own experiences with aging loved ones, that the poems made them cry. My heart goes out to them and it is humbling to think that my words might be a help to them as they continue to deal with their loss.

It’s also gratifying to know that I fulfilled one of my goals with this book. I am seldom overt about my own feelings in my work, preferring to “show rather than tell.” I try to leave space in my poems for people to bring their own reactions and emotions to the work and I seem to have succeeded, at least among those who have communicated with me. Three people have even written Amazon reviews, although it seems a bit surreal that I have an Amazon listing at all.

One thing that has happened since the book came out that I wasn’t expecting is the technical publishing questions that I’m asked. Most of these are a version of “how do you get a book published?” which I don’t feel well-equipped to answer. Generally, the person is asking because a family member writes as a hobby and they want to know how to get a book in print, but publishing poetry is different from fiction or memoir or non-fiction, which often involve having an agent, and self-publishing bypasses all the querying and rejection but means you need to know or hire expertise and have financial resources up front. People have also asked me how many copies I’ve sold but I have no idea. I could count up how many I’ve sold, but I have no idea how many have ordered from Kelsay and Amazon. I do occasionally look at the stat for the Poetry by Women category on my Amazon page; at the moment it’s #720, but I have no idea how that translates into number of copies. I probably won’t know until early next year when I get my first annual royalties payment from Kelsay.

I’m feeling as though I’m through most of my initial promotion list but I have more to do. A friend has offered to help me line up a couple of readings or signings locally. I need to find a printer to do business cards and bookmarks to have at events. There is a list of reviewers and awards to look through, although that seems a bit rarefied for me.

And more promotion.

No doubt, more blog posts here at Top of JC’s Mind.

I’m also trying to do more submissions for my new chapbook, full-length collection, and individual poems. Hearts proved that it can take a few dozen attempts to get an acceptance.

Having a book in print does, though, make it seem more possible that another acceptance will come my way.

And, if not, there will always be Hearts…

Review requests

Today’s adventure in book promotion for my new poetry chapbook, Hearts, available from Kelsay Books or Amazon, is to send queries for possible book reviews. As a poetry chapbook, it will probably not be chosen for an actual review, but I’m hoping to make a listing or two of Newly Received Books, which will broaden my reach beyond my personal contacts.

Speaking of reviews, I have my first customer review up at Amazon! Five stars! If you do read Hearts and are so moved, I’d be honored to have you submit your own rating/review.

One-Liner Wednesday: Hearts!

My first poetry chapbook Hearts is now available from Kelsay Books and Amazon!

This joyous announcement is brought to you through Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/05/31/one-liner-wednesday-sorry-3/

Hearts is available!

I’m excited to announce that my first chapbook, Hearts, is now available from my publisher, Kelsay Books, here or from Amazon here.

For local folks, I will also be selling copies myself after my shipment arrives in 2-3 weeks.

For those who might be wondering, a chapbook is a short book, usually centered on a single topic. Hearts is a chapbook of poems that revolve around my mother, including her last years living with heart disease. Long-time readers of Top of JC’s Mind may remember reading posts about my mother, known here as Nana.

I completed the first draft of Hearts in December, 2017, in response to a chapbook contest prompt from QuillsEdge Press. The prompt was “In Transition” and my mother interpretation of that prompt to write about my mother, who was under hospice care. (We didn’t know at the time that her decline would be more prolonged than expected, as she was with us until May, 2019.) Although I didn’t win the contest, I was among the finalists and my poem, “Sixteen Hours,” was included in an anthology of the finalists’ work along with the winning chapbook, Skin Gin, by Rose Maria Woodson.

Given how busy and emotional those next two years were, I didn’t have the wherewithal to send out a new version of the chapbook until spring of 2020. I had continued to write poems during Nana’s continuing struggles and expanded the manuscript with those poems in the months after her death. I benefited from a manuscript review with some of the Grapevine Poets, local poets who meet every other week to workshop individual poems and as needed for manuscript reviews. They were able to offer guidance on ordering the poems and they identified a couple of places where new poems would be helpful to flesh out my mother’s story.

I continued to send Hearts to publishers and contests over the next two years. During that time, I did more revisions, incorporating comments from poet-friends as I went along. In August of 2022, encouraged by Grapevine Poets Jessica Dubey and Burt Myers who had had books accepted by Kelsay Books, I submitted there and received a publication offer from them on September 2nd.

Karen Kelsay and the whole team at Kelsay Books have been amazing! They made the publication process, which was a mystery to me, straightforward. They also were able to move up the publication date, which I had originally thought would be in late summer/early fall.

When I went to the first Tupelo Press/MASS MoCA workshop-in-residence in November of 2015, I had thought that I might be able to put together a chapbook of poem about the North Adams area and my family’s connections there. I set a goal of age 60 to have that book published.

Of course, life events intervened.

That original chapbook idea is now a full-length collection that is being submitted to publishers, unsuccessfully so far.

Now, at age 62, I’m grateful that Hearts is my first published book because it is about my mother, who made my life possible and loving. She was always a strong support for me, whatever the endeavor. It feels right that my first book has her as its heart.

One-Liner Wednesday: final approval!


I just sent final approval to Kelsay Books for my chapbook Hearts, so watch for a release date soon!

This shameless self-promotion is brought to you as part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2023/05/24/one-liner-wednesday-one-heck-of-a-discount/. Interestingly, Linda’s entry today is also about selling books.

final edits on a special day

Yesterday, the proof book for my chapbook, Hearts, arrived.

It’s amazing to hold my book for the first time!

My immediate job is to review it and send final edits to Kelsay. The corrections I had sent in the first round had all been addressed, so there was not much to comment on.

I sent the email today, on what would have been my mom’s 91st birthday.

She is the center of Hearts. ❤ ❤ ❤