Book of poetry: traditional publisher or self-publish?

Traditional publisher or self-publish?

traditional	25.0%	[ 3 ]
self-publish	25.0%	[ 3 ]
other/mix	16.7%	[ 2 ]
poll addict	33.3%	[ 4 ]
Total Votes:			[ 12 ]

[inili]

I have been reading the Publishing sticky, but I am still unsure whether to go for a traditional publisher or to self-publish.

I think it would be around 150-200 pages of poetry / poems, and I do not mind having to promote the book by myself. I do not expect to see the book in bookstores, but I would like it if some small number of people (like 30 or +) eventually bought it. I am still undecided about whether it should be in print or an eBook thing. I have some skill in the fine arts and could probably produce a decent cover by myself.

So far it feels like self-publishing is the way to go.

But I would like the book to have some "legitimacy," as the sticky calls it. I would like it to be more "official" than a piece of self-published "fanfiction" passing for a novel floating around the internet (although in this case it is a book of poetry). I am not sure if self-publishing is credible enough. How credible is it?

Also, I am tempted to see if I can get many more people to buy it. To see if I could get it sold in bookstores.

Currently, I have opted to gamble and submit it to a poetry contest for people who have not yet published their first book of poetry. I do not expect to win. Chances are veeeeeeeeeery slim. If I do not win, should I go for traditional or self-publish?

(I realize that even getting accepted by a traditional publisher is a slim chance. But I am not focusing on that. I am wondering, which is the better option for me?)

Advice is greatly appreciated.

[Sir Icehawk]

Let's say you don't win this contest. (Good luck by the way!) Why not try the traditional route while you fine tune your poems, the presentation, and such further? It'll take a few months for that to work its way through the process. Lots of time to do that stuff and figure out where you'd like to self-publish it through. That's what I'd do.

There's nothing wrong with self-publication. There are plenty of free tools for making ebooks, and many options to get a physcial copy available either on demand or otherwise. I can't recommend any one to you as I haven't used any, but I would suggest looking at several professional writers who have also self-published and see what services and tools they use.

Again, good luck!

[lucidpattern]

In my poetry writing class at university my teacher says it makes you looks like a loser to other writers in the industry. If you want to gain respect and have a hope of ever getting published for real, you have to build your reputation the hard way and submit your stuff to literary magazines and the like, keep trying, editing, take some rejections, doing a lot of re-writing, and so on, so you can build your portfolio. Publishing your poetry yourself gains you no respect in the community, and will likely lessen your chances of getting published for real. Vanity presses are not generally something to be proud of if you ever hope to write professionally. It's like, you couldn't get published anywhere else?? Kinda sad.

If you want to be published, you gotta work hard at it and learn to take criticism just like everyone else. But then, if you just want to have your poetry in a book you can put on your shelf just for you, whatever. Do what you want. But this is advice from my teacher who is a professional poet and editor of a literary magazine, and has been published a lot...she is a real member of the writing community.

[inili]

My reason for going to book form immediately instead of first through magazines and such is that I would like to use a pseudonym (having people know it was mine, except in special cirumstances, generally takes the fun out of poetry for me). The more people I have to get to agree to letting me use my pseudonym, the worse my situation is, since the chances are greater that someone who wasnt supposed to know now knows. It could happen through casual conversation, and while it might feel innocent to them (who is gonna care that I wrote it, anyway, right?), it is damaging to me.

lucidpattern and Sir Icehawk, thanks for your advice. smile Any others?

[Sir Icehawk]

inili

My reason for going to book form immediately instead of first through magazines and such is that I would like to use a pseudonym (having people know it was mine, except in special cirumstances, generally takes the fun out of poetry for me). The more people I have to get to agree to letting me use my pseudonym, the worse my situation is, since the chances are greater that someone who wasnt supposed to know now knows. It could happen through casual conversation, and while it might feel innocent to them (who is gonna care that I wrote it, anyway, right?), it is damaging to me.

lucidpattern and Sir Icehawk, thanks for your advice. smile Any others?

Writers use pennames all the time. Publishers are used to it. Every magazine I've seen with a digital submission asks if you use a penname and what it is. Your real name would get out in time odds are, but most people don't care. A lot of people don't know Mark Twain's real name. It's just like actors and screen names.

Don't put a picture on the back of the book or a picture on your poetry site, if you decide to make one to promote your work. That will break your anonymity more so than a name I think.

[Chibicat16]

I would do self publishing because it allows you freedom. You can also purchase a low sell price to place your books acrosd certain stores in america.

[marshmallowcreampie]

ikumi ika

I would do self publishing because it allows you freedom. You can also purchase a low sell price to place your books acrosd certain stores in america.

Er, most book stores won't carry self-published works. Exceptions appear, but are rare.

That's not to say self-publishing is a bad idea, but it can depend on what you're doing and what you want to do. Self-publishing is better if you want the work to be released immediately for some reason. Or if you write really niche stuff. If you already have some kind of following to your name, you might be able to get by on self-publishing since people are already paying attention to you.

If you want to get your book or poem published officially someday, though, DO NOT self-publish. Companies won't take works that have already been put out, (sometimes if a work sells really well, a publishing company will take it up, but those instances are rare, so don't count on it) hell, you shouldn't even post a story online if you want to get it published.

If you want to be self-published but still have credibility... Work hard. Make something high quality. The stigma against self-publishing is because anyone can self-publish. I could open Microsoft Word and have my cat walk across the keyboard and self-publish the final product online. If you're worried that having a self-published work will damage your reputation should you want to publish through a company, use a pen name. If you're gonna self-publish, put out something good and market it well. As I mentioned, there are cases where a self-published novel that sells well got picked up by a real publishing company. Being a successful self-published author isn't easy, so doing well can get you the good kind of attention.

[marshmallowcreampie]

lucidpattern

In my poetry writing class at university my teacher says it makes you looks like a loser to other writers in the industry. If you want to gain respect and have a hope of ever getting published for real, you have to build your reputation the hard way and submit your stuff to literary magazines and the like, keep trying, editing, take some rejections, doing a lot of re-writing, and so on, so you can build your portfolio. Publishing your poetry yourself gains you no respect in the community, and will likely lessen your chances of getting published for real. Vanity presses are not generally something to be proud of if you ever hope to write professionally. It's like, you couldn't get published anywhere else?? Kinda sad.

If you want to be published, you gotta work hard at it and learn to take criticism just like everyone else. But then, if you just want to have your poetry in a book you can put on your shelf just for you, whatever. Do what you want. But this is advice from my teacher who is a professional poet and editor of a literary magazine, and has been published a lot...she is a real member of the writing community.

Eh, there's a difference between a vanity press and self-publishing. Vanity presses market themselves as actual publishers and mislead wannabe authors about how the publishing industry works. People who use a vanity press believe they are getting published for real. Someone seeking to self-publish may just have the books printed, or sell digital copies through an online retailer such as Amazon.

[inili]

heart Thanks for the replies, guys. It seems like I should work at getting it published by a traditional publisher first,
and if that doesn't pan out but I'd like to make a book anyway, then self-publish. emotion_kirakira

I've been striving to make my content better, of course. emotion_yatta And I don't put my poems out unless I wasn't planning
on getting that piece published anyway, or unless it is for an official-looking contest.

It also seems that using a pen name will be less hassle than I thought it would be. 3nodding