Gina Rey Forrest, left, and Mike Henry
Tanya Batson-Savage, Staff Reporter
AFTER SPENDING hours communing with their muses, which probably lead to many hours furiously scribbling down the touches of genius (or his lesser friends) on anything ranging from notebooks to even Palm Pilots, the poet then has to look toward the far more arduous task of getting someone to agree magically to transform these thoughts into a book.
Increasingly, many poets are deciding to forego the rejected manuscripts from publishers and simply publish their own work. They now have the benefits of print-on-demand printers, some of whom promise to take orders as a single copy.
Additionally, with poetry bars and cafés springing up in the United States (U.S.) as easily as cabbage patch dolls, poets are finding that it is easier to sell their work, without simply taxing the pockets of friends and well-wishers.
Chris Mansell, an Australian poet and the creator of PressPress, spoke about why she created her publishing company on poetry.about.com.
Mandell's article details many of the problems facing prospective poets who wish to get their work published. Mandell argues that a part of why publishers are reticent about taking on new poets has nothing to do with the quality of the work.
Mansell argues that it comes down to the fact that there is not sufficient returns to be made from publishing poetry. In speaking to local publishers the problem seems to become even more dire as the publishers themselves seem to get very little shelf space for Jamaican books, poetry and otherwise.
DRAWBACK
Mike Henry of LMH Publishing pointed to this drawback.
"Bookshops are steeped in the tradition of the international trade," he said. Henry explains that this means that most of the books on the shelves have been imported.
He noted that LMH publishing puts out at least one collection of poetry each year. He said, however, that this is in part due to the 'specialised' nature of poetry, both for editing and writing.
One of their most recent poetry publications is I Will Survive by the late Loiuse Fraser-Bennett, who was a major player in the entertainment industry, ranging from artiste management, promotion and a producer.
lmhpublishingjamaica.com describes I Will Survive as a work which details Frazer-Bennett's own survival skills.
Henry pointed out that since Frazer-Bennett's death in late October of this year, the sales for the book have increased.
However, death is not a reliable way of getting ones work sold, and according to Henry, from his own assessment of the international scene, there has been no major increase in the number of poetry collections being published.
A table compiled by Andrew Grabois, confirms Henry's assessment, at least in the United States. Grabois is the senior director of publisher relations and content development at R.R. Rowker, the leading bibliographic information producer in the U.S. The table gives a telling picture of the number of poetry publications in the U.S.
The listing totals publications for alternate years from 1992, with the exception of 2002 when the figures were preliminary. While there was a steady increase in the number of fiction books created, moving from 7,357 in 1992 to 15,131 in 2002, poetry books only increased from 2617 in 1992 to 2812 in 2002.
Henry explains that the advantage of getting published by an established company is that the publisher has greater access to the tools of marketing such as book fairs and bookshops.
Even so, as Mandell illustrates in her article, the increasing simplicity of technology is quite narrowing the playing field and creating greater possibilities for self-publishers and small presses. Indeed, a quick search on the Internet can quickly put an aspiring author in touch with information ranging from how to format a manuscript, to making it more editor friendly, to how to go about publishing your book.
One of the most prominent types for self-publication is the chapbook, which is essentially a handpublished text, often created using desktop publishing software. The chapbook, generally no larger than 20 pages, is often used by first time writers, and may be used to give a sample of the author's work.
Additionally, Jason Pettus in an article titled 'Old Skool and New Media' on about.poetry.com points to the fact that some independent bookstores across the U.S. use chapbooks as a part of their stock. In the main however, most chapbooks are sold by the author after a reading of their works.
Henry remarks that every book has to be marketed by its creator. This seems to be even more true when the work in question is poetry.
Gina Rey Forrest is currently busily attempting to promote her second self-published work, Interludes Volume One: A Collection of Poetry, a collection of 45 poems. Unlike her first work, Hot Sweet Chocolate: A Celebration of Love and Desire, it is in paperback and contains no illustrations.
Forrest explained that she made the decision to go paperback and without illustrations because of cost. Explaining that she is using limited finances to for her publications she noted that she wanted to keep Interludes more affordable.
Hoping to leave her day job in computing by next year, Forrest explained that she intends to offer her experiences in publishing to other poets who would like to create their own books.
Forrest intends to creat Forrest Fire Productions, which will offer publisher's services as well as book readings for poets to help them sell their own work. Forrest points out that having a regular job and promoting your poetry is very hard work and thus takes great time and commitment. She notes that her very understanding boss, who also sponsored the printing of Interludes, helped to make her working on her book possible.
"If you love something I don't see any reason on this earth why you cannot make a living from it," says Forrest.
Raymond Mair also produced his own collection of poetry, These Days I Celebrate this year. Now retired, Mair noted that the collection was the fullfilment of a lifelong dream. "It has always been an ambition of mine and I'm not getting any younger," he said.
Mair took a very professional approach to the work, noting that he thought long and hard about how he would market the book. Starting from a launch at the Phillip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts at the University of the West Indies, Mona, St. Andrew. Mair has engaged in a series of readings after which he sells copies of These Days.
"Just from the launch alone I was able to breathe easier," Mair said. He noted that approximately 80 of the run of 500 books printed are left with him. A check with Ian Randle Publishers suggested that Mair's sales are in keeping with the movement of poetry books generated by publishers.
A source at the company explained that of three books of poetry released this year, Dancing in Bondage (Jacinth Henry-Martin), No More Smalling Up of Me (Jean Wilson) and When Ground Doves Fly (Esther Phillips), only Dancing in Bandage has sold out all 500 copies printed. According to the source, all three books are doing very well are there are only a few copies of the other two titles left with the publishers.
Mair explained that his decision to self-publish was not born out of rejection by established publishers. "I had made some casual enquires," he said, "and there wasn't much interest in publishing poetry." As such, he decided to pursue it himself.
Mair notes that the success of his book makes a second collection possible but not just yet as he does not have sufficient material. "I really have to move forward from this rather than regard it as an end," he said.
PLAYING THE WAITING GAME
Andrew Miller is one of those poets who believes in going the route of the traditional publishers. "I know there is a really good history of people who publish themselves, but for me it often is a sign that you're not good enough," he says.
"If a publishing company rejects my work, it is a sign that it is not that good yet," Miller continued. "When you publish it yourself, you don't go through all the checks and balances." Even so, Miller advocates that he quite understands why a poet would choose to self-publish rather than wait around.
Miller also points out that people who succeed at self-publishing are those who are good at the business end of things, for all the marketing and promotional work that it will take.
Instead, he is willing to play the waiting game as he believes whether or not he gets signed with a reputable publisher he will probably never be able to get rich from his writing. "I've kina accepted that I won't make money directly from my writing," he says.
Though it may take years before he releases a collection of poems, Miller is already on the path of getting published. One of the first steps is to build credibility by getting one's works published in journals. So far, Miller has been published in three journals. The Caribbean Writer, published by the University of the Virgin Islands published two poems, Church Women Mourning and Noctiphobia, as well as one of his short stories The Shaman's Prayer.
The quarterly Internet journal Paumanok Review also published two poems both from Miller's Church Women series, Church Women Hats and Church Women Caught Up. Miller's work has also appeared in another electronic journal, Red River.
While, like Miller many poets prefer to have their work published in a traditional manner, the road to self-publication is quickly becoming more well-travelled.
While it means that maybe more mediocrity may make it to bookshelves it may also mean that more poets get to send their ideas to a well-meaning coffee table in the sky.
