Poets Need To Eat Too, So Here's Some Market Advice

One of the writers in my network on Gather.com, Edward Nudelman, recently wrote an article, Publish or Perish. He discusses his experiences as a poet seeking publication and recommends a few online and offline markets to which poets seeking publication can submit. Check it out.

Extended Weekend Destination: BookExpo America

Tomorrow, BookExpo America begins and runs through June 3 in New York City. This event brings the major players and aspiring players in the publishing industry together to swap notes and network. Unfortunatley, I'm not able to attend this year, but I will be keeping up with events at the BookExpo America website. BEA Director, Lance Fensterman will also be blogging the event. Take a look around the site. There is a social networking section for attendees and exhibitors, where you can pickup useful information. Remember, taking a quick self-tour of the site will help give you an idea of what major publishers, distributors and book sellers are thinking; you'll get a feel for the trends of the publishing industry. They've done a great job of making the website the next best thing to being there.

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

When we work hard to accomplish a goal, it can often seem as if it is taking longer than it should.
We need to remember that anything worth accomplishing requires effort, input=output, and that a hurried task is often ill performed.

Quote for the Week

Miracle Max: You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.
--from The Princess Bride (1987)

Shrek The Third Is Worth The Trip To The Cinema

I viewed Shrek The Third yesterday. It was just what I needed--smart, unpretentious and occasionally off-taste humor. Take the kids and enjoy. Don't forget to stay for the credits.


Word for the Week

ogre

• in fairy tales and folklore, a man-eating monster or giant
• a hideous or cruel man

Source: Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language

Writing Prompt

 

Answer the following questions:

 

What is your favorite genre to read? What is the genre in which you prefer to write? Why?

Are they the same? Are they different? If they are different, why is that?

 

 

 

 

 

---

Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story.
Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games.

Get To Know Other Writers

As writers, we spend a great deal of time working in solitude. I believe that in order to produce a continuous flow of meaningful work, a writer must strike a balance between living their craft and experiencing the world in which the live. It also means forging relationships with other writers.

Writers must challenge themselves to expand their circle of relationships to include more writing colleagues. I've started building more connections online, because as a parent my time is somewhat limited. I also attended the Kansas City Literary Festival last weekend and picked up some great information there as well as joining a few mailing lists. Other possibilities are writing conferences and author events in your area.

There are several benefits with getting to know other writers. The more writers you know the better informed you become regarding the publishing industry and the writer's craft. Getting to know other writers allows you to build a circle of people with whom you can workshop, exchange constructive criticism or even plan events of your own. It helps you keep perspective when you interact with other people taking on similar endeavors; being a writer is great, but it's not easy.

Here are a few links to get you started:

Gather.com

Associated Content.com

My Writer's Circle.com

Edit Red.com

Simple Pleasures

I wrote this last week. I think that the last few lines illustrate the tenets of imagism. The personification of the morning doesn't suit, but the rest does. What do you think?

Aurora sweeps butterfly kisses across my cheeks.
She calls me to rise and greet the day.
I lay measuring my breaths in morning prayer.
A simple pleasure awaits me.
I anticipate the rumble of the kettle
and watching the bits, apples, hibiscus, rose petals,
my herbal tea, swirl in the flow of hot water
I pour into my trasparent teapot
changing it from glass to ruby.

More on Imagism

"In a Station of the Metro

The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.

--Ezra Pound

...Pound's definition of the image was "that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time." Pound defined the tenets of Imagist poetry as:

I. Direct treatment of the "thing," whether subjective or objective.
II. To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation.
III. As regarding rhythm: to compose in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence of the metronome."

Sometimes, we need to paint another picture.

Word for the Week

imagism

a movement in modern poetry (c.1912-1924) using precise, concrete images and extensively free verse.

Source: Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language

13th century text hides words of Archimedes

This story was sent to you by: Desire

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13th century text hides words of Archimedes
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The pages of a medieval prayer text also contain words of ancient Greek engineer Archimedes. It takes high-tech imaging to read between the lines.

By Jia-Rui Chong
Times Staff Writer

December 26 2006

THE book cost $2 million at auction, but large sections are unreadable.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-archimedes26dec26,1,7261044.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

Paulo Coelho On The Purpose of A Book

Sometimes, when you revisit books and authors, you find their offerings like a well sourced by a cool underground spring. You have to put out a little effort to get a drink, but the work can prove a respite, and the contents, once retreived, are always refreshing and almost sweet. The experience inspires you to bring a friend along on your next visit, so you can share it.

Quote for the Week


"One day the shelves in my apartment collasped, and I saw all my books on the floor, and I thought to myself, why all these books, to impress my friends?" the author of The Alchemist said, explaining how he lugs bags of books around in orde to give them away. " I feel a book must travel."--Paulo Coelho

A Multi-leveled Labyrinth Holds The Muse

As we practice the craft of writing, some days it proves a frustration and others a delight. Writing can become like finding one's way through a multi-level labyrinth. Think in terms of the space which is fabled to have held the Minotaur. However, unlike the home of the Minotaur, a writer's labyrinth is not static; it is ever-changing. The lighting within it ebbs, grows and flows as we seek our destination. Each corner holds a new and different treasure. When we solve the puzzle and exit the space, we are eager to move on to the next challenge.

Word for the Week

labyrinth

an intricate structure containing winding passages hard to follow without losing one's way; maze

Source: Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language

Mother's Day Is An Opportunity To Reflect On Our Children and Ourselves

Writing prompt

I've been showered with flowers, charm pins and thoughtful assistance this week. Mother's Day is Sunday and since my children are school age, I've pretty much had mine. Their intentions are so sweet and genuine.

Take a moment to reflect on your relationship with your mother and your own children if you have them. How are they the same? How are they different? As you consider your relationship with your children, how do you wish to shape it?

We live in a world of wide and varied relationships and family units. If you don't or didn't have a mother in the traditional sense, consider the person or persons who fulfilled the role which we usually attribute to mothers.

Happy Mother's Day!

Bring Your Will To Bear and Success Will Follow

Quote for the Week:

"Success is intentional. If you don't plan for it, it won't happen."

--Bishop T.D. Jakes this morning during an interview on the Steve Harvey Morning Show discussing his new book, Reposition Yourself; Living Life Without Limits

Spider-Man 3 Starts the Summer Blockbuster Sizzle

The critics said that it was too much--too much flash, too much hype, too many villains and not enough story,too much inner drama and ambivalence from Peter Parker aka our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. They were wrong.

Spider-Man 3 kicks off the summer movie fest with a bonanza of flash, mayhem and special effects that will keep you in your seat for two hours and 35 minutes--no problem. Forget about the complaints regarding a whiny Mary Jane and an overly conflicted Peter. These elements make them real. He's a reformed and now globally affirmed geek. She's an actress trying to make it in the hard-knock world of New York theater from an even harder-knock background. Remember the hyper critical apparently drunk father from the first movie? Give her a break if she's a little insecure. Besides, this is a super hero movie, it wouldn't be any fun without some melodrama. Remember the attempts to give us a somber noiresque Batman without the comic relief of the Joker or the Riddler? I still shudder every time I think about it.

We go into the darkened theater to escape the summer heat as much as to just escape. We live big screen lives through our favorite heroes and heroines for a few hours before returning to our regular lives. On a great day, maybe some of us are even inspired by what we see on the screen.

Look, it's a summer flick. Have fun and don't forget your popcorn. Go Spidey!

Word for the Week

Bonanza

a rich vein of ore

any source of wealth or profit

Source: Webster's New World Language of the Amearican Language

Writing Prompt

Make a list of your favorite childhood playthings or toys, as many as you can remember. Select one or more and describe them in detail. Talk about why you loved it. Where did you get it? What happened to it?

How Are You Channeling Your Energy?

I don't think that Burgess' sentiment is limited to the young. The impulse to create remains with us in all of life's stages; people, who fail to find a positive way to fulfill this impulse, may do something destructive. They may not. I believe that many of the violent incidents which have occurred in recent years and days illustrate that advancing beyond youth does not mark the end of this type of behavior. They man who pulled the trigger at Ward Parkway was in his 50s and really frustrated--out of work, out of food and apparently out of time.

Quote for the Week

QUOTATION:
Violence among young people ... is an aspect of their desire to create. They don’t know how to use their energy creatively so they do the opposite and destroy.
ATTRIBUTION:
Anthony Burgess (b. 1917), British author and critic. London Independent (London, Jan. 31, 1990).

Source:The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996