One of the pitfalls of how our culture is moving into disparate niches is that we’re reading work that’s different from our fellow poet. More often than not, I’ll ask another poet what they’re reading and find out that they’re not reading anything I’m reading.

If it’s bad, it’s bad because we have no common ground. It’s bad because we don’t have books informing our culture.

If it’s good, it’s good because we have no common ground. It’s good because we don’t have books informing our culture.

Today, I thought about how I might adore the work of a poet and no one else would be reading or talking about that person. One of these people is Alexandra Teague. I had the pleasure of reading her recent poems in The Missouri Review. I invite you to read some of her work on the web, and to look below for an excerpt. Click to read the rest.

What I Know For Sure

for sure if I got all the middle names right,
or if I have ever known yours.

Gradually, niche social bookmarking websites hit the scene. One example you may have read about here is Good Reads and marketing your poetry book. Good Reads is a site where you can share and rate your recently read books with others.

Now, for artists, MyArtInfo allows artists to showcase their work, chat with each other and blog.

Why on earth would you need more, or any, blogging tools?

One of the goals of MyArtInfo is to provide a global way to showcase your art. At first, I figured they meant only visual artists and was pleased to be wrong. The site will allow such disciplines as performing arts, film, poetry, sculpture, fashion, architecture, and design

Powered by ScribeFire.

This is a semester-long workshop that requires no academic qualifications or prior publications. Beginning or intermediate writers might find this weekly workshop the most useful, though anyone may apply.

The workshop takes place:
Wednesdays, 7 – 9 p.m.
January 2008 – April 2008

Applications must be sent by: December 20, 2007. Acceptances will be sent by December 30, 2007.

To Apply, Please Submit:

• Brief bio (include contact info)
• Statement of interest (outline your writing history and your motivation for taking this course)
• 6-10 pages of your best original poetry
• Self-addressed stamped envelope for return of your writing (optional)

Naturally when I saw these lovely covers, I thought of my own book. The 2009 publication date is still a long way off, yet I have not come to a conclusion regarding the cover. I know that WordTech will do a lovely job if I don’t come up with an idea that grabs me. At the same time, it’s important to me to have some input and WordTech is open to that.

Since the book is entitled Midnight Voices, we searched for photos related to dark, midnight, clocks, women and so on. We found lovely photos, yet none of them seemed quite right.

If you are a poet with a published book, what was your involvement with the cover? What led you to decide on a certain idea for a cover? How involved were you in the process?

I drove a car that must have a coat of grime on the inside of the windshield that caused a bunch of blind spots — and the weather was raining and foggy.

I sat through the 2.5 hours of presentations, which were good, and finally left only to find that a TRAIN is blocking all of us from returning to our cars. There is nowhere to go because we are about 40 feet from the Potomac River. So, our choices are “train” or “river” or stand outside in the foggy rain and the rainy fog until the train goes by.

But the train doesn’t go by. It moves forward. It moves back. It moves forward again. It moves back. Rinse and repeat no fewer than 10 times. At this point, I seriously consider if I can jump between the cars while the train is stopped and get to the other side. (If only I’d worn different shoes…) My other plan is to slip under the train car. That starts to seem like a great plan.

I am cold. I am tired. I am hungry.

I want warm pajamas and flannel sheets, please.

Three of us, strangers all, see that the train has moved in such a way that we can see the caboose. There is an end! However, that end is about a block away. The train still moves back and forth and back and forth. We run our fastest down a dark path to get around the last car. Victory!

I return to my car and back to dealing with the grimy windshield and the rainy foggy fog. My inability to see leads me to imagine taking an unintentional swim after my car jumps over the grass, past the Iwo Jima memorial and into the Potomac. I wonder how cold the water is now.

By now, I’ve missed my exit to DC. I must go the looooong way. This road is deliciously dark.

I get home, open the door and see the new bright red cover of 32 Poems sitting on top of a box. Husband placed it there, so it’d be the first thing I see.

This latest issue includes our first color cover.

Then, I feel grateful. This magazine was my dream, and it came together with the help of many, many fine and intelligent people. It’s amazing what collaboration can do. Our cover is designed by a well-known album cover designer (Dirk Fowler). Main Street Rag printing amazes me with suggestions that improve the look of 32 Poems. John does good work editing. Amazing, amazing.

I saw the red cover, and I just can’t stop looking at it. I could weep at the beauty of it all. I’m glad that my car didn’t go off the road into the Potomac. I’m glad I took no unintentional swims.

How about you go get yourself a copy?

Good Reads, with its slant towards bibliophiles, seems an obvious social networking choice for a writer. I’ve seen people selecting their own books for their reading lists and think that’s a great idea. When writers choose their own book, they let their Good Reads friends know about it. Users of Good Reads can choose to have the book selections of their friends emailed straight to their in box. If you are posting your own book to your list, then you’ll be mailing info about the book to someone’s in box (with their permission).

Permission is so important. However, that topic is for another post.

If you want to market your book on a budget — and what poet is not on a budget? — Good Reads seems like a good way to use social networking and social marketing to get your book in front of people. Remember, it takes about 7 impressions before someone will buy an item, and you’ll do better if you have a variety of ways of getting the word out to the public.

• Poet Soup: An Interview with Charles Simic
• A Vendor of Verse — Need Cash? Sell Poems on the Street
• Crucial Books for 3 Writers (I love these kinds of articles.)

Electricity
Funeral
Song of the Scrub Tech
Surgery
Virginia
Birthing Time
Mangos
The House
Postcard from Anger
The 39th Week of Gestation
Articulated Crash Rescue Vehicle
Untitled
Grief
Golf Course at Night

I’ve written roughly one poem every two days. Given what August has been like in terms of major life transitions, I consider this nothing short of a miracle.

While we’re on the topic of September’s challenge, what shall we call the month? The word “memorize” or “memorization” is quite a mouthful. Some ideas:

National Memorize Poetry Month (so we could call it NaMePoMo a la National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo))

Memorize Poetry Month (perhaps a bit bland)

The 30-Day Poetry Challenge (not very specific)

What other ideas do you have?