Witness. Respond. Moment: An Interview with poet Claire Blotter

I first met poet and teacher Claire Blotter in September 2011 at the California Poets in the Schools Symposium in Santa Barbara. I was having a bit of a rough time, since I'd only just moved to California and barely knew anyone. A conversation I had with a few poets, including Claire, stood out from that overwhelming and somewhat lonely weekend.

She spoke about her experiences teaching, her use of performance in the classroom, and tips about getting started as a poet-teacher. She lives in Marin County where she writes and performs poetry with movement and body rhythms. Her warmth and energetic presence made me remember her name at this past year's CPITS symposium, our second meeting. After attending her Poetry Out Loud workshop (which was so rich and informative), we spoke at dinner about her forthcoming chapbook, Moment in the Moment House, bonding over our mutual titles from Finishing Line Press.

The third time I ran into Claire was last month when I read for the Why There Are Words Reading Series in Sausalito. I was particularly amazed by her pre-sale strategies, which mostly involved emailing everyone she'd ever met and through talking to her vast network of kindred spirits in person. She smiled as she told me about reminding her hair stylist to buy the book. Why didn't I tell my hair stylist? I thought. Which brings us to this interview where Claire speaks about building a successful career as a full-time poet. She has taught performance poetry privately and at San Francisco Bay Area universities since 1981 and also published two other chapbooks. She currently teaches writing to children and high schoolers through the California Poets in the Schools and Poetry Out Loud Programs.

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Laura Davis: Your past work experience includes supporting yourself through teaching poetry writing and performance. How has that experience, particularly your work establishing a local network of interested parties, influenced your promotional efforts for your chapbook?

Claire Blotter: When I supported myself entirely by teaching writing workshops in San Francisco and Marin, it was by creating workshops, performances and readings, where people made social connections and enduring friendships- social networks with mutual support. The performances often involved the audience members in some way, which created a deeper community bond. Two of my students from Marin and San Francisco, whom I bought together for an advanced performance poetry workshop, ended up becoming life partners [who are] still together after 15 years. When I was called on to promote the pre-sale of my book, I used all the email and address lists of social networks I had ever been involved in—as far back even as high school!

LD: What advice do you have for published poets just beginning the promotional process?

CB: Think about the people who have loved and supported you over the years. Let them know that you've worked hard on this amazing new book you're delighted to share with them and ask them for their support. Ask them for help. People LIKE to help, but you have to ask, the hard part for me! I sent out 3 rounds of emails for the pre-sale of my book which I've heard is what it takes for most people to respond to non-profit requests.

LD: If you had to summarize Moment in the Moment House in one sentence what would it be? What about just three words?

CB: Stay present with fear, witness or respond with integrity in the moment, don't let the darkness outside or inside you scare you from seeing truth. Three words: witness, respond, moment.

LD: What part, if any, does performance play in Moment in the Moment House?

I have already memorized about a third of the book and performed poems for high school and adult audiences. By the time I've finished editing a poem, it is usually memorized or close to being memorized. Performance of the poems is what, in my opinion, will sell the book, because oral presentation gives the audience an emotional experience they often want to take home with them or at least examine more closely on the page to see what moved them.

LD: What plans do you have marketing-wise once the chapbook is released? 

CB: I have a Marin [County] book launch planned for March 23, my birthday, at my favorite nearby independent bookstore Book Passage, and a reading with others at the Why There Are Words reading at 333 Caledonia Street on April 11th. I also plan to go on a performance poetry summer tour of cities where I have friends and relatives from Southern California up the coast as far as Washington. I expect to sell poems based on my performances as people have requested books after performance readings I've done in the past. I need to create a website and get more hip to social networking!

Two Upcoming Readings! November 14th & December 13th

Just a quick update, Dear Reader, about two of my upcoming readings. Braiding the Storm will be available for purchase, as well as my signature should you want a signed copy. I've got a couple posts in the works regarding scheduling readings, post-publication promotions, and how to sign your own book (the answer may surprise you). I hope to see you soon at a reading or otherwise!

Me, reading in March 2012 @ AWP

Wednesday, November 14th, 2012 @ 7:30pm
Lyrics & Dirges: A Monthly Reading Series
Pegasus Books Downtown
2349 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, CA
Readers: Laura E. Davis, C.S. Giscombe, Colleen McKee, Chris Lebo Planas, and León Salvatierra
Curated and hosted by Sharon Coleman
Cost: Free

Thursday, December 13th, 2012 @ 7:00pm
Why There Are Words Reading Series
Studio 333
333 Caledonia Street, Sausalito, CA
Readers: Laura E. Davis (will update you on the other readers once I know)
Curated and hosted by Peg Alford Pursell
Cost: $5 donation

Chapbook Rookie: Photo Opp!

This is happening. It's really happening. 

Rachel Bunting flaunts her copy of Braiding the Storm

Lo Williams showing off her copy of Braiding the Storm

Chapbook Rookie: Something Special, Maybe?

I have a diaries from my adolescence spanning 11 to 17 years old. A few months ago when I was rereading them I found this passage:

Yes, I did refer to my diary as "you" as though I was talking to a friend. I also trailed off partway through the sentence. But on April, 3 1994 at 12 years, 9 months, and 12 days old, I dreamed up the day when my writing might be published as a book. When I might "do something special."

Today, at 31 years, 3 months, and 19 days old, something did occur. Something I did. Something special.

Holding my chapbook in my hands is strange. They are sitting next to me on the couch in the Priority Mail box. Sal answered the doorbell when the mail carrier delivered them earlier today, but I didn't hear it due to the white noise blasting through my headphones while I worked. The next thing I knew, Sal was sliding open the pocket door to the office saying something like, "Congrats, published author!" camera in hand, ready to capture the look on my face when I saw the package and realized what was inside. Someday I'll share that picture. Let's just say I was having a bad hair day.

I was terrified to open it, but I had no reason to be. Finishing Line Press produces beautiful chapbooks and my cover artist beautifully illustrated my imaginings. They have a deep brown ribbon and a spine even. I've never seen a chapbook bound this way, but I love it. It's very book-like.

At first I didn't know what I was feeling. I didn't really feel anything except overwhelmed, perhaps worried about getting back to work. I've since slid toward a simmering excitement. This is where I am. This is my something special. This slow boil. This 18 1/2 year-old dream come true.

Chapbook Rookie: Storm Headed Your Way

ETA: Thursday, October 11th.

Chapbook Rookie: The Galleys Are Here

Chapbook Rookie: What Happened to Preorders?!

Well, that went quickly. Turns out my pre-order period is just about finished. If you haven't bought a copy of Braiding the Storm yet, and you plan to, it'd be swell if you could grab a copy by this Friday, July 13th.

Oh yeah, that's right. My pre-orders end on a Friday the 13th. Good thing I'm not superstitious.

I have so much to say about chapbook marketing, but I won't be able to get to that until later. For now, I leave you with resources I've found useful thus far.

LINKY GOODNESS!

Kristin Berky-Abbott on the Promotion of Self and Others
Laura Madeline Wiseman's interview with Dancing Girl Press Editor Kristy Bowen
Effective Email Signatures for Book Marketing

and

xkcd: Valentine Dilemma (just because it's hysterical)

Chapbook Rookie: Interview with poet Joshua Michael Stewart

Stewart, staring longingly into outer space

I recently had the chance to talk shop about chapbook marketing with poet Joshua Michael Stewart. After sending him a thank you on Facebook for pre-ordering Braiding the Storm, Stewart shared some advice with about his experiences promoting his two chapbooks, Vintage Gray (Pudding House Publications, 2007) and Sink Your Teeth in the Light (Finishing Line Press, 2012), and the different approaches he took with marketing the second time around.

All of Stewart's advice was helpful and encouraging, so I thought other poets might benefit from his advice. Thus began the spark for this enlightening and frank interview below. I highly recommend cozying up with his words. Not only am I a fan (see proof at the end of this interview), as an editor I've published Stewart's work in Weave. His poems have also been published by Massachusetts Review, Euphony, Rattle, Cold Mountain Review, William and Mary Review, Pedestal Magazine, Evansville Review and Blueline. You can find more of his work online here.  Stewart resides in Ware, Massachusetts, but you can visit him on the web at Fictionaut, Facebook, and Twitter.

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Many people swear by social media and email, while others say that in-person marketing, such as book parties or readings yield the best results. What types of marketing, both before and after a chapbook’s release, have been most successful for you? Which approaches do you feel are a waste of time?

I’ve heard over and over again that readings are where it’s at, but it’s not about the readings or even (sadly) about the quality of your work. It’s about establishing relationships. In order to make any sales at readings you need to do a lot of them and become an active member of that community. The hard truth of the matter is that most people won’t buy your book because you’re a great poet, but simply because they know you.

Social media is also about establishing relationships. I’ve had more success with selling my chapbooks via the internet. I would have to say it’s because it’s easier to establish and maintain those relationships on a daily basis. Also it’s easier to get my work “Into their hands,” by posting poems, or links to poems published in E-zines. I think I can be bolder with my tactics online. With my first chapbook, Vintage Gray, I simply would post announcements on my wall, and frankly, hardly anyone took the bait. Then with my second chapbook, Sink Your Teeth into the Light, I sent emails with links and sample poems to everyone in my friends list. I pissed a few people off by doing that, a couple even un-friended me, but the bottom line is, I sold more chapbooks in one week by doing that then I did in three years by just posting announcements on my wall. Like it or not, cold calls work.


How would you rate the importance of having an online presence with regard to marketing? Do you have any particular online services that you swear by?

Facebook mostly, I do use Twitter, but my success with Twitter is limited, but that’s probably because I don’t use it as much as I should. Obviously, it is extremely important to have an online presence when it comes to marketing. Think of all the writers, musicians, and whatever else you have knowledge of thanks to the internet that you would’ve never come across otherwise. For me, one who hasn’t owned a TV in thirteen years, and except for NPR, doesn’t listen to the radio, the only way someone has a real chance to market a product to me is going the online route.

Since you have had the experience with marketing multiple chapbooks, what was the biggest thing you learned from the first that changed your promotional approaches for subsequent titles?

I learned that I needed to do more of it. Marketing is really a fulltime job. Again, if you want people to buy your product you need to put that product in your customers’ hands. This is marketing 101, but the problem with me, and I’m sure with most writers is that we’re artists, not businessmen, and you need to be especially if you’re a poet, because no one will do it for you, for the most part not even your publisher.

It’s easy to go overboard with marketing, to the point where your audience begins to tune out. How do you know when enough is enough?

I’m not sure. Again, I always think I’m not doing enough. I guess one thing you don’t want is to have everyone you market to all be swimming in the same pool. If everyone you market to is on your Facebook page, then after you’ve posted your book on your wall for the 30th time this week, you’re pretty much washed up. This is where I start taking my own advice. This is why you need to be online and do readings in as many diverse venues as possible.

Marketing is time consuming and one can really devote an endless amount of time to it. Is it difficult to promote a book while still developing new creative work? How do you strike that balance?

Well as I said, it’s a fulltime job. It’s difficult to promote—period. Since I’m a poet, which is another way of saying I can’t make a living by just writing poetry, I already have to balance many other responsibilities along with the craft of writing. So, what’s one more thing? I have sacrificed a lot to devote my life to art. I’m not married, nor do I (or ever will) have children for the simple fact there would be that much more balancing to deal with. I could be working in a job where I make far more money than I do, but that would mean more time and mental energy devoted to something other than art. Ars Longa, Vita Brevis.

What advice do you have for poets who feel timid about book promotions?

Believe in yourself and your work, but with that always strive to improve your craft. And for God’s sake always hold craft above all else. What you have to say is meaningless without caring how you say it. I admit I’m a bit too timid for my own good, and when it comes to promoting anything, especially poetry, you have to be bold and do whatever it takes to get people to read your work. Even if it means some people will delete you from their Facebook page. Those people would’ve never bought your book in the first place, so fuck ‘em.

One thing that many poet's do not think about, or think is even an option, is having their chapbooks sold at independent bookstores on consignment. I live in Western Massachusetts, and I'm lucky to have at least seven independent bookshops relatively near my home. The way it works is that you either call up to speak to the owner, or better yet, go to the store in person and tell them you'd like to sell your chapbook on consignment. This means the owner finds a spot on the shelf for your chapbook and in return, the bookstore receives a percentage once one of your chapbooks have sold. The way I have it worked out with most of the local bookstores around me is that if one of my chapbooks is sold for $10.00 the bookstore takes $3.00 and I keep $7.00. It's not a bad deal considering all I have to do is gloat about having one of my chapbooks sold at an actual bookstore.

What current projects you are working on? What are you in the process of promoting? 

I’m promoting my two chapbooks, Vintage Gray and Sink Your Teeth into the Light, which people can find both at my web page. Sink Your Teeth into the Light can also be found at Amazon.

As for current projects I’m currently working on a book project with illustrator Bret Herholz. It’ll be a collection of poems that will unfold like a hard-boiled detective novel that will also include illustrations and possible elements of the graphic novel.

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me, enjoying Joshua Michael Stewart's chapbook

Chapbook Rookie: Email Marketing, Spam, and Dear God Please Spell Check

I'm back from a two week trip to the east coast, during which my chapbook's preorder status became "official" and I got my first presales update. It's been exciting to get the updates each week and I've learned more and more about which market strategies work and which don't. Today, I'd like to talk a bit about using email to market your chapbook.

Everyone I've spoken with about promoting a chap/book has said that email is the best way to market online. Finishing Line said that over 70% of sales come from email referrals. Since January I've been building a giant list in Gmail contacts of anyone who's ever emailed me. As of a few weeks ago, I had a list of over 500 addresses. Woot. Or so I thought.

The bad news about having a huge mailing list is that Gmail thinks you're spamming people. I had no idea I was setting myself to be a spammer, because I honestly *know* a lot of people through blogs and AWP and Weave and jobs and places of residence. It's easy to keep these relationships going via online connections. So I didn't think I was spamming. But once I told Sal my plan, he said Gmail would shut down my account for a few days if I sent an email to that many people.

If this was a movie, the following scenes would be played along to the Ghostbuster theme song, or some equally 80's retro song.

Sal tells Laura she can't use her big-ass Gmail list. Laura panics.

Laura frantically tries to fix the contact lists in Gmail by making them smaller.

Laura goes cross-eyed from hours in front of the laptop moving people to and from various lists. 

Laura bangs her head off the table, resigned to failure.

I was two weeks into my official preorders and had sent no email announcement. I was traveling during this time so it was difficult to find a solution. After returning home yesterday, Sal recommended a few bulk mailing list services. Enter MailChimp. From their website:

"MailChimp helps you design email newsletters, share them on social networks, integrate with services you already use, and track your results. It's like your own personal publishing platform."

Now, not every writer knows as many people as I do, so for many of you a service like MailChimp might not be necessary. Making contact lists in Gmail (or whatever email client you use) will be sufficient. However, even if you have a hundred people to email, I would recommend MailChimp. It's a little confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it you'll appreciate the flexibility and data you get. You can upload friends and family and acquaintances through many email clients' contact lists (so long as you carefully follow their guidelines regarding spamming).

I cleaned up my lists, removing people that I hadn't spoken to in over a year, and then organized the rest into groups based on how well I know the people in it. My first list, which is the largest, includes people who know me by name. They will see an email from me and know who I am. The second list included online literary friends. I also made a list of bookstores in my area to notify them of my availability to do readings and a list of AWP contacts.

What's great about MailChimp is the back end reports that show you the effectiveness of each campaign. A campaign is essentially just an email, but the content is tailored to the audience of each group. Here is the campaign email I sent to my largest list:

I wanted this to be a personal message, not an announcement from some random list that no one wanted to be on. This list includes family, friends, coworkers, former professors, and anyone else who would welcome this message in her inbox. This campaign been the most effective so far and I've received the most replies. This makes a lot of sense because these are the people who know me the best and perhaps care about my accomplishments. I've got solid rates in terms of the number of people who have opened the email (MailChimp can track this) and how many of them clicked on any link in the email. A number of people have also written back to tell me they purchased a copy. Yippee!

A word to the wise: proofread your emails. Then send them to five people to proofread. Apparently me sending this message to Sal three times and to myself five times didn't help either of us catch this headline: 

I do know how to spell available. See, I spelled it correctly just there. Oh well. Nothing to do about it now, but after spending most of the day yesterday staring at this message, I guess I blanked. So the best lesson you can learn from me is this: wait a day before you send your email. Come back to it after you've just had your coffee and showered and feel all fresh and alert. In theory, that should prevent you from embarrassing spelling and grammar errors. 

I'm interested to find out how successful these campaigns were in terms of sales. I'll get my update this Friday. So far, I've only sold 18 copies, which to be honest, is a little disappointing. But those are my pre-email marketing numbers. Also, I'm pretty sure most people wait until the last minute to buy do anything. Especially writers. We invented procrastination. 

Braiding the Storm Available for Pre-Preorder

It’s seems like yesterday was December, me still reeling from the unexpected email from Finishing Line Press. Email subject: “Chapbook Acceptance—Braiding the Storm” and now here I am, five months later and I’m so grateful. For the beautiful cover art. For the time spent reading and writing blurbs. For people who are already buying copies, even though I just announced it today.

The truth is, I’ve known it was available since April 30th, the last day of National Poetry Month. I had finished writing 30 poems in one month and by chance I was browsing the FLP website and saw my name. There was my name, title, next to a little button marked “add to cart” that I tried of course, just to see if I could, in fact, add it to my cart. It worked (though I didn’t buy it). I have a book that people can buy and read. It turns out since my cover artist also designed the front and back cover, FLP decided to put it up early. My official preorder period begins May 29. So you can buy it now on pre-preorder. How ‘bout that?

I’ve been planning the marketing for BtS, so it caught me by surprise that it went up early. On May 1st, I planned to start a countdown to preorders, with a nifty little widget on my blog, building up buzz (or as much buzz as there can be for a little book of poems). I have an author profile on Goodreads and I planned to do a Giveaway (I still do) and I have an interview coming out that I’ve been putting off finishing until the book was available to buy. The interview isn’t ready, no giveaway yet. I didn’t want to send my email blast to the 500+ people mailing list I’ve assembled. I only plan to send two emails – one at the start of the preorders and one a week before it ends – just about five weeks apart, just enough time to not get marked as spam, but not too much time that people will have forgotten about the first email. I decided I wasn’t ready to announce my chapbook yet. I’m going to wait until I’m ready.

I’m sure it sounds like I’m thinking about this too much. I am. But part of me feels like I need to do this, not just for myself, but for other poets for which marketing doesn’t come naturally. I can help other people. They can learn from my experiences, like I have learned so much from other poet who have shared their experiences with me.

But now I think my hesitation has deeper roots. My recently created author profile page on Goodreads has no reviews. Soon it will though, and I have no control over what people say. There is a whole internet out there where people could say things about my chapbook, good and bad. Or worse. They could say nothing. I’m naked now. That's vulnerability is scary.

Because the truth is these poems are very personal. So personal that the poetry I've written for the last year has been mostly fictionalized stories written in the third person. I've only very (very) recently begun to use the "I" in my poems again. But BtS is more than my chapbook to me. It's a symbol of how fucking hard I've worked these past few years. How much I've wanted this life. No matter how hard it gets or how stressed out I am, I still can't believe I get to have poetry in my life everyday. So that's where I am right now. Grateful, yet vulnerable.

Chapbook Rookie: Braiding the Storm Cover Art Revealed!

I'm so excited to finally share my cover art with all of you! I've been collaborating with the amazingly talented Rose Desiano, who took my words and made them a visual feast. I love the whole design, but I'm particularly fond of the thatched leaves and the tape holding down my name in the corner. I could not have imagined this, but I think it really captures the movement and energy of these poems.

I was lucky enough to have Rose create the art and design the layout for my book, both front and back. So some these pretty leaves below will wrap around the spine. One step closer to holding my chapbook in my hands!

Braiding the Storm is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in September, 2012.

Chapbook Rookie: Interview with author Karen Lillis on Planning Your Own Book Tour

Most small presses don’t have big marketing budgets to throw at every title. At most, an editor's already stretched schedules might allow her to send some postcards or make online announcements. This means a small press writer might find herself wondering how to best promote her latest book. Most editors will say that readings sell books and they are right. But how do you plan a series of readings? Where do you get the money? How do you travel and how far? Where does a rookie begin when planning a book tour? 

Karen Lillis signing Watch the Doors as They Close for her March 8th
release at Copacetic Comics, in Pittsburgh. photo by Mark Knobil.

I decided to answer these questions by reaching out to novelist and seasoned book-tour-planner Karen Lillis. Lillis is currently in the middle of her second book tour for her fourth novel, Watch the Doors as They Close (Spuyten Duyvil Novella Series, 2012). In 2000, Lillis embarked on the cross-country "United States of Amnesia" Reading Tour via Greyhound bus for her first book, i, scorpion (Words Like Kudzu Press, 2000). She's read for many a reading series in the United States and abroad, including Kilometer Zero (Paris), Experiments & Disorders, (New York), The Five Ten Readings (Baltimore), The New Yinzer Presents (Pittsburgh), among others. Also a freelance writer, small press advocate, and Pushcart Prize Nominee, she writes about indie publishing and indie bookstores at Karen the Small Press Librarian.

Lillis is raising funds for her current book tour on IndieGogo, which for a mere $15 donation gets you a signed copy of Watch the Doors. After a book release event on March 8th , she traveled to Cleveland and Baltimore and in late April she visits New York, Philadelphia, and returns to Baltimore. I caught up with Karen between tour legs to chat about her experience with planning and carrying out a successful book tour. Check out the interview followed by the promo video for her IndieGogo campaign.  

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For your first novel, i, scorpion (Words Like Kudzu Press, 2000), you traveled cross-country. Did you plan this book tour? If so, what did you learn from that first experience and how did you apply it to planning future book tours?

Yes, I booked that cross country tour. I traveled with a Greyhound 6-week pass, stayed in cities where my friends lived, and booked readings by looking at local listings and figuring out where people held literary events. Things were very different then—this was 12 years ago. I was using online newspapers to help me find reading venues, but the social web didn't exist. I was still young as a writer and most of my friends were artists or else the kind of writers (journalists, screen writers, zine writers) who didn't do readings; I didn't know many "performing writers" yet. So I made things up as I went. I was emboldened by the DIY ethos of that time (2000). 

Some things I learned for sure: When booking, pay attention to WHO is reading where, don't just go for the generically "good" venue or bookstore, but look for a good fit. Don't read alone in a far-off city—always read with a local who has a local audience. Don't assume anything—check in with your venue a few weeks and a few days before your event. Do your own publicity. If there's a blizzard, don't be afraid to reschedule the reading. Take your reading seriously, but don't take yourself too seriously. By “take your reading seriously” I mean, prepare yourself and figure out what you need to do to give a good performance—preparation for me includes picking out the right reading selection, practicing and timing it beforehand, and choosing the right clothes. By “don't take yourself too seriously” I mean, don't forget that no one except you really cares if you keep writing, keep reading, keep publishing. Do a book tour to see other places, meet other writers, see what it’s like to read to a room full of strangers, fall on your face and find out what you do after that. Do a book tour to see what you’re made of. Everything else (feedback, book sales, reviews) is icing.

Lastly, I learned that you must entertain the audience. My new book, Watch the Doors As They Close, is a very introspective book that I think lends itself best to an intense, private read. My first book tour was with a novel that had some great extroverted chapters—flamboyant characters, dialogue, diatribes. It made for obvious readings. For this book, I am combining excerpts from the book with outtakes in order to lure the audience in with something funnier, and then get to the more introspective passages once they are paying attention.

Did you set up all the readings for Watch the Doors As They Close before starting the fundraiser on IndieGogo? 

I set up several readings before the IndieGogo campaign, but it's not necessarily the end of the "tour" —I'm going to try to add more readings in 2012 if money and vacation days allow. But for IndieGogo or Kickstarter, you have to have something concrete to campaign for—so, yes, I had seven readings set up before I started the fundraiser.

What back up plans did you have if you didn't meet your fundraising goals?

I am keeping a budget and trying to raise the money one way or another to pay for the book tour above and beyond my usual life expenses. So, back-up plans include taking on some articles for extra income, selling off some signed first editions, and crossing my fingers for a good tax rebate. And of course the credit card is the ultimate back up plan that I'm trying to avoid.

Since this is your fourth novel, you've obviously done a lot of readings. I'm guessing you also have a lot of connections in the indie bookstore world. Did you have previous relationships with your reading venues or did you contact them cold? 

I don't think I ended up cold-contacting anyone for this tour so far. I did a lot of that in 2011, though, when I was setting up reading dates for a poet whose book I published. I really enjoyed doing that because working on his behalf took the ego out of it; I could just advocate for him and not have any self consciousness come into the equation. I learned a lot and made some good contacts that way with bookstores, reading series, reviewers, and some other writers. For this Watch the Doors book tour, I often started the process by contacting a writer I wanted to read with and they had a contact at a local venue. In Baltimore I got to read again at a great series where I read my last novel (the 510 Readings).

Any tips on setting up readings for newbies?

For young writers, I would advocate using your social web contacts and trying to set up readings with writers whose work you like or with whom you have some kind of personal connection. Reach out and see if they'd be interested in reading with you. Be ready and willing to do all the leg-work to set up an event, but don’t be afraid to approach other writers or to ask questions. Go to readings and pay attention—what makes readings enjoyable and what detracts? If you’re cold-contacting a venue (I suggest by email), let them know why they would want to host you. How are you going to bring them an audience? How are you going to entertain the audiences they already have? If you’re reading at a bookstore, don’t balk when they take a cut of your (chap)book sales. That’s their business—expect a 60/40 split (you get 60%).

On your fundraising page, you talk about the goal of "building an audience" for Watch the Doors. You also mention selling copies to audience members. Can you tell us about the success of these goals? How do you know if you are building an audience? Is that the same as selling your book?  

These are good questions, and not necessarily easy ones to answer. Building an audience is not the same as selling your book, no. Right now my definition of building an audience is doing my best to give readings that communicate to an audience, and being prepared to do this over and over (over space and over time). My work is also to seek out venues that might host audiences receptive to my writing in particular.

My Cleveland reading is a good example—I set up a reading there with a writer, Mike DeCapite, whose new prose chapbook blew me away. (See my review of Creamsicle Blue here.) The reading space Mike chose made me feel very comfortable. The Lit Café was a cozy neighborhood bar that caters to artists. So, I felt very free to be myself as a writer, I felt very welcomed, and I gave a very unguarded reading—it wasn’t a competition and I didn’t feel “nervous.”  The audience was incredibly receptive during my reading—they were warm and very emotionally “there,” they laughed at my most subtle jokes, their faces were enrapt—I could see their reactions as I read. But this was well set-up—I was benefiting from my co-reader’s labor. Mike has been reading at this bar for 20 years, once or twice a year when he returns to his hometown from New York. So, this was an audience he had built and perhaps for the same reasons that Mike and I really admire each other’s writing, they really liked my reading. They didn’t buy many books—sometimes bars can be bad places to sell your books because you’re competing for beer money!—but I think the work of building an audience means giving a reading that’s memorable enough to stick with exactly those audience members who don’t walk away with your book. Maybe they’ll look it up later, maybe they’ll come back for the next reading I do in Cleveland. Maybe they won’t do either but they’ll remember one image in one chapter I read. It’s still my job to do the best reading I can do.

I think the process of building an audience includes keeping your ego in check and remembering that these people are your audience whether they purchase a book or not. I sold a lot of books when I read in Pittsburgh, and that’s a nice feeling. But when I think about it, there were people who were really into the reading who didn’t buy a book—the two are not the same thing. After doing all these readings and working in bookstores myself—how, when, and why a book sells or doesn’t sell is still a total mystery to me.

Chapbook Rookie: Cover Art Teaser!

After AWP last week, I stayed in Chicago to spend time with my two best friends from high school, Heather and Casandra. Heather has lived in Chicago for the past five years and was preparing to move to Pittsburgh. Casandra came in for the weekend from Portland. She had been in the Peace Corp in South Africa, so neither of us had seen her in two and a half years. It was like we just saw one another yesterday. I love those kinds of friends. I'm lucky to have so many friends like that, ones I can call after months apart and we pick up right where we left off.

What I didn't realize about my decision to stay a couple extra days in Chicago was that it put me in a major crunch to get my chapbook documents to Finishing Line. I had a bunch of things to mail them by March 9th, including the cover art. Eek! 

So I got on the phone with Rose Desiano, my cover artist extraordinaire, leaving her a ridiculously long message about the deadlines. I worked on my end to finish revisions to the manuscript while Rose started revising the cover designs she made a few weeks earlier.  

When we first began, Rose asked me to search free font websites to make a list of fonts that I liked. The idea here was that fonts are a good way to bridge between the written word and visual arts. I loved this idea and happily sought out fonts I thought I'd love to have on my cover. I also told her about some general ideas I had as far as art was concerned. Earthy, movement, braiding, a little dark, messy even. When the first of the covers came back, I was surprised to find that the fonts I liked originally were not working for me anymore, but I loved where Rose began with the design. So I also spent some time in Chicago browsing through fonts again. 

Still in Chicago with my besties. Heather, who was preparing to move, also just had her second child, Sam. Hubby and first child were already in Pittsburgh, so we were there to help as much as hang. I hated being on my computer so much because I just wanted to hold Sam, but I really didn't want anything on my end to be the cause of delay. I revised my manuscript, Casandra helped me take an author photograph, and Rose toiled away over the cover.

we brought a baby to a bar. 

For dinner on Monday the three of us took Sam to a most delicious brew pub where they serve bacon fat popcorn that tastes especially delicious with their wheat beer. While there, Rose was emailing me cover designs and I was reply back on my phone with brief commentary about adjusting this or that. In one email she remarked at her surprise at the level of efficiency via email. About five or six emails and a few designs back and forth and voila! I had a cover. All while enjoying a good Belgian-style beer. And Sam did so well in the restaurant, allowing us ladies to enjoy our night out.

Tuesday in Chicago I'm preparing to leave for the airport when I get an email from Finishing Line with my production schedule. Squee! Pre-orders start May 29th and run until July 13th. My chapbook is set to arrive the week of September 8th, give or take a week or two for unexpected delays. Now I really wanted to get everything to them in time so as not to push this schedule back. 

Finishing Line typically does the design work for their authors, but since I'm a major control freak take-charge kind of lady, I opted to have Rose do the front cover artwork and the design for both the front and back. She had some final questions about what file types FLP needed, so Rose emailed the editor. On Wednesday morning, I wake up ready to print many documents, save many documents to a flash drive, and priority mail all the documents off to Kentucky when Rose forwarded an email she received from FLP. They said if we needed more time it was no problem at all. In fact, we could have all the way until June before they needed the full cover design, most likely since Rose was doing all of it. And if I needed extra time to finish my documents, that was no problem either. They said it would not affect my publication schedule at all.

*sigh*

The moral of this story, my fellow poets, is just ask. The worst that anyone can say is no. Plus, this bought Rose some extra time to really polish the design and me some extra time to make sure the manuscript is just so. This kind of flexibility with cover art and design is part of what makes working with a small press so fulfilling. Also, collaborating with a friend is even more awesome. I'm so glad Rose is making the cover! I admire her work and really love what she's created.

Speaking of the cover, it's done save for some polishing. I can't reveal the whole thing just yet, but I can share a zoomed-in square. Enjoy this little nugget. I'm so excited to reveal the full cover! So soon. Is it September yet? 

Next time on Chapbook Rookie: More Marketing! Marketing Galore! 

Chapbook Rookie: Marketing Resource Roundup!

In my search for help with promoting my chapbook, I've found a number of articles, interviews, and chapbooks (yes, chapbooks about promoting chapbooks. meta-chaps.). I've amassed said resources below for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

Great interview with poet Heather McNaugher over at LDP Distro. McNaugher covers so many topics, including one that I feel is super important, yet often overlooked: ask yourself, what have you done to promote someone else's poetry lately?

Jennifer Bosveld, President of Pudding House Publications, discusses, from an editors perspective, how to promote a poetry chapbook, among other things, in her article, Chapbooks—Flying Like Hummingbirds Exciting the Air Around Them: Marketing Your Chaps with Limited If Any Help From the Publisher. Longwinded title and the article does wander into some of Bosveld's personal opinions, however, it is still incredibly useful.

WordClay talks about building an audience based on your geographic location, as well other other things like subject matter of the poetry. For example, if your poems are about gardening, you might  do a reading at your local gardening center or gardener's club. Other aspects covered include book signings, book tours, reviews, and online marketing.

I have found a handful of places that review chapbooks: Prick of the Spindle, The Chapbook Store, Fiddler Crab, and NewPages. There is also this low-key website, but I can't tell how often it's updated. Also, none of these promise to write the review when you send a review copy.

My publisher recommended two books; Guerrilla Marketing for Writers by Jay Levinson and The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson. If I have time, I'll do some reviews of these books.

So far, the takeaway I'm getting from most of the resources I've found is this: readings sell chapbooks. Readings seem to be the most important factor in terms of building a new audience. Of course, if you have a pre-order phase like I do, you'll want to have a plan that taps into your current network. I'm feeling pretty good about that though. But thinking in advance, I've already begun to create a spreadsheet of readings. But that's a whole other blog post.

Next time on Chapbook Rookie: Cover Art!

Chapbook Rookie: Adventures and Mishaps of Poetry Marketing

Welcome, dearest reader, to the first of what I hope will be many blog posts about the process of publishing my first chapbook.

I am the Chapbook Rookie.

Braiding the Storm was accepted in December by Finishing Line Press. Since I received that lovely email in my inbox I've steadily gathered information about the best ways to promote a small collection of poems. I have some experience with literary marketing, since I've been promoting Weave for almost four years now. But once you get the news, you might wonder, now what? Who do I tell? What do I say?

My first steps included a handful of tactics that (mostly) felt like second nature to me, but for the marketing rookie they might seem strange or uncomfortable. Worried you might sound like you are bragging? Don't worry, you are bragging. That's the point though. You are your own PR person. No one is going to brag for you. Besides, you worked hard and believe in your poetry. Shout it from the mountain tops, my friends. Here's the first promotion-type actions I did after getting the news.

1. Announced the news of my chapbook on Facebook, Twitter, and G+.

This was the first promotional thing I did, once I got the go-ahead from FLP. I also kept track of the people who commented and made sure I had their email address (more on that in a sec). It may seem small, but just letting people know that you have a book coming out generates buzz.

2. Started building an email list.*

Next up, I started to create an email list of pretty much every person I've ever known. Family, friends, coworkers, editors, book stores, libraries, reading series organizers, professors, teachers, fellow poets. You know that stack of business cards you get every year at AWP and then don't know what to do with? Get them out, add them to your address book, and add them to your mailing list. Now sure how to do this? Here's how to make a "contact group" in Gmail. Quick update: check out this new post I wrote about mailing lists and the legal issues related to spam.

*I will say that it's important to be careful about how often you lean on this list. Don't send an email announcing your chapbook to the mailing list right away. Wait until you have a link you can include that will take them directly to your publisher's website and they can click the "add to cart" button.

3. Emailed mentors and poet friends.

If you're part of a local poetry workshop, email this group with the news. Did you go to grad school? Definitely notify your department head. I sent an email to Chatham's MFA Program Director, Sheryl St. Germain and she sent a notice to the entire program. I got a bunch of emails from friends and professors congratulating me. I also emailed some poets I know through the interwebs who have FLP chapbooks. That has given me a lot of insights in terms of how long the process takes from acceptance to having chapbooks in my hand.

4. Announced the news on my blog.

Yeah I did that. Then I decided to write this series about publishing my first chapbook. Of course, I hope you'll find these useful and not just shameless self-promotion.

5. Keep talking up my chapbook!

I had a reading a few weeks after I found out about my chapbook. If I had been prepared, I would have announced the news at a reading, but I completely forgot. Sal said to me afterwards, "You didn't tell them about your chapbook!" So instead, I handed out my cards afterward and told people I have a chapbook coming out. I'll get better about this. I'm not used to have a chapbook yet. Teehee.

Well, those were my first steps. Of course, the first thing I did was call Sal and then my parents. That's important. No rush, just keep the news to yourself for a bit. Enjoy it. Have a glass of wine. Celebrate.

Next time on Chapbook Rookie: Chapbook Marketing Resources Roundup!