Publishing Your Book of Poetry
by F.J. Bergmann
There is probably no poet alive who has not longed at some point to
have a published book of their poems, if only to show off to friends
and relatives, to say nothing of being catapulted into everlasting
fame. However, there are publishing protocols more likely to result
in you (and others) taking pleasure in your book months or years down
the line.
Important
distinctions are those between traditional publishers, cooperatives,
vanity presses, and self-publishing. “Publisher,” “press,” and “printer”
are often used interchangeably, but there are differences in their
functional spheres.
A printer is
the fabricator of the books themselves; e.g., Kinko's is a printer,
albeit an expensive one. Most publishers do not print their books themselves,
but arrange for a commercial printer to do so.
Press is
a broad term; most publishers and many printers use “press” as
part of their name; it also refers to the machine that actually does
the printing. Letterpress and offset printing are specific, more costly
methods than, say, Xerox copies (see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing for
an extensive explanation of terms and process). Cost per book will
vary with quality and quantity.
A publisher is
a company that produces books or chapbooks, promotes them, and arranges
for their distribution to wholesale and retail venues. If legitimate,
their main objective, and source of income, is to sell books; if you
go to a real publishing company's website, you should see their recently
published books prominently featured and offered for sale, with blurbs,
press releases, author event listings, and so forth. A website oriented
toward enticing prospective authors rather than book purchasers is
a danger signal. Reputable conventional publishing houses consider
submitted poetry manuscripts without charge (other than entry fees
for contests with prizes in addition to publication), and pay you in
copies and/or royalties.
Cooperatives vary
in their terms. Usually, these are run by poets who have similar tastes
and pool their efforts to achieve autonomy, or who lack the reputation
or patience to attempt traditional publication and are willing to contribute
funds or additional labor toward publishing their books and those of
others. Sometimes an individual publisher who cannot risk funding the
entire cost of printing a book will ask the author to contribute. Be
very cautious in this situation; is the press dedicated to poetry?
What is the quality of their previous books? Are these books featured
and readily offered for sale on the press website? Do they sponsor
local reading events?
A vanity
press (PublishAmerica and Author House are notorious examples—or
outfits like the now-defunct Poetry.com, or Naked Fish, where you can
have one poem published in a “real book” for only $75!)
will publish your book under their imprint, at your expense, for a
profit. What this means is that you are paying more—in some cases,
thousands of dollars more—than the actual cost of producing your
book, in order to gain an imprint that any knowledgeable reader will
regard with contempt. These places have no credibility whatsoever with
reviewers or distributors. It is also not uncommon for the “publisher” to
simply pocket your money and never produce. This option is far more
discreditable than self-publishing and should never be considered,
no matter what “guarantees”
are made. A loss of a few thousand dollars may be catastrophic for
you—but it won't be worth hiring a lawyer for. Check ctwatchdog.com/2010/06/20/self-publishing-books-another-way-to-get-scammed-as-students-discovered, scrivenerserror.com/,
and indianawelcomescrooks.com/ for
tales of woe.
Self-published originally
referred to books produced directly by authors themselves. This requires
editing, layout software or paste-up capabilities, design skills, and
access to a press and bindery, all of which can be learned—or
negotiated for. The most important concern in self-publishing is marketing
and distribution. A listing on Amazon and a website (are you capable
of setting up an attractive website with PayPal buttons?) are not sufficient
to attract customers and generate sales. Do you have a fan base eager
to purchase your books? Do you regularly give well-attended readings?
Do you intend to drive hundreds of miles in order to beg individual
bookstores to carry your title? Poets who do well with self-published
books (and CDs, for that matter) are generally performance poets who
are well-known, read in public often, and tour distant communities
regularly.
In
traditional printing, an edition with a predetermined number of books
is produced all at once, and price is dependent on quantity. POD is
digital print-on-demand, where as many or as few copies as desired
can be produced at a time. POD is generally more expensive on a per-book
basis, but if you intend to buy only a small number of books, it may
be a more economical alternative. Binding style, paper used, and printing
method will all affect the per-book price. As an example, in recent
years, the Wisconsin Poets' Calendar, in an edition of 2,000,
wire-bound with a color cover and a few color pages, has averaged about
150 pages and $4 per copy to print.
Currently,
many self-publishing POD venues such as Booklocker or Lulu advertise
online; these places require nothing more than a completed manuscript,
but are more expensive than making arrangements directly with a printer—and
the finished product is often identifiably shoddy. These companies
generally allow you to put your own made-up press name—imprint—on
the books (transparent in this age of Google, though). For poets who
are under time constraints, or do not have access to a good local printer,
this route may be worthwhile if self-publishing is an appropriate choice
in the first place.
An
ISBN number is usually provided by a publisher, but may be an unnecessary
expense if you are self-publishing. ISBNs cost $275 in lots of 10 through bowker.com;
a single ISBN through a retailer can cost $55 or more. ISBNs are pointless
unless you have good reason to expect hundreds of copies of your poetry
book to be sold through a distributor—and in that case, you should
have no trouble in obtaining a regular publisher.
Quality
in production has many aspects, none of which can be overlooked. Cover
image and design, paper, font selection, layout, and proofreading are
all part of publishing; if any of these are skimped on, the resulting
book will be inferior. Not only that, but the poetry it contains should
have been subjected to external quality control—don't rush into
having a book published simply because you have written enough poems
to fill a manuscript.
A
good rule of thumb is that at least half of the poems in a manuscript
should have already appeared in a journal. Involving other published
poets who have books out from good presses in the editing and selection
process is wise—at least get feedback from the members of your
critique group. Sadly, many poets merely want to have an actual book
with their name on the cover to press upon business associates and
family members—the quality of the book and publisher, recovery
of costs, and respect from other poets is immaterial to them. These
folks are easy prey for vanity presses and POD outfits that have no
interest in the literary quality of their output.
Length
is the completely arbitrary difference between a chapbook and a full-length
poetry book: chapbooks normally have fewer (often far fewer) than 40
pages; full-length manuscripts usually have at least 48 pages and may
run over a hundred pages. “Book” in the poetry world generally
refers to a full-length book. With the exception of haiku and other
extremely short forms, there should be only one poem per page. Note
that a stapled-spine chapbook, in an edition of 200 or so, can be produced
by most local printers for well under $2.00 a copy from a formatted
.pdf.
Many
up-and-coming poets obtain book publication by winning manuscript contests.
There are a limited number of these contests, however, and a near-infinite
number of desperate new and prospective MFAs. Some contests, especially
those sponsored by academic presses, are worth entering if you pay
attention to a few safety rules: are you being published in journals
at the same level as past winners? If the press has a journal associated
with it, have you been published there? (Editors are not likely to
engage a judge in opposition to their established tastes.) Is the entry
fee in proportion to the prize money? A fee no greater than 2% of the
total prize is fair. Never include illustrations or photographs with
a poetry manuscript submission.
A
few formerly reputable presses have begun charging a reading fee. While
I am sympathetic to the onerous task of going through a large slushpile,
it should be noted that most major fiction publishers do not charge
fees—and
it takes much much longer to read a novel than a book of poetry. Don't
condone predatory practices by submitting to these places.
For more info:
editorialass.blogspot.com/2010/08/moonrats-rundown-of-publishing-options.html
sfwa.org/for-authors/writer-beware/
winningwriters.com/contests/avoid/av_avoid.php
pred-ed.com/pubwarn.htm
nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/005540.html
publisherstandardsboard.org/book-publisher-scams-and-warnings.html
poets.org/page.php/prmID/56
© 2011 F.J.
Bergmann
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