blog about it

So, it’s been anything but quiet since last I was here. Since then, I’ve secured my place for A+ certification training; the training begins next month, May 2010. And, I managed to keep up with a poem a day, so far. I don’t know about the day until I get to it, because my verses don’t come together until the night, when home is more quiet. It just got quiet here today. So, we’ll see what I can manage.

With a vote of confidence from my comrades in the project, and reading their inspired words, I will continue to write. If not on prompt at least I’ll write a poem a day for the rest of National Poetry Month. I’ll have to make the choice predicated on whether or not work has to be sacrificed. I want to write the poems no matter what. But, I have to move business forward too. Work MUST go on!

Work must go On

I thought it would be a piece of cake to get up early and get them done. The thing is though, my family drama starts early, sometimes. And work sometimes takes a back seat to people’s needs. Still I try to not lose too much ground by making up time wherever I can find it. As a result, on yesterday, I spent a few hours working on changes that will be uploaded to my work website. It was good for two reasons:

1. There was so much noise and activity in the house until I couldn’t get the writing creativity going.
2. Starting is a great way to finish anything.

Submission Sites

This quarter is set to be fun as it is slated for trial and error. I’m trying out everything that’s been on my list for some time now. First is submission sites for my poetry. I’ve been putting it off long enough. If I don’t re-start now, who knows when I’ll get back to it.

I say re-start because I did submissions years ago. Some of those publications may be history by now. But I’ve lost all those files in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It’s time to lay some new inroads to mainstream publication.

Three things I’m working on related to submitting:

1. Reading publications’ issues to familiarize myself with what they publish. We have to be a good fit if I’m going send them anything and expect them to publish it.
2. Preparing the best submission letter I can. Reviewing what writers are sharing online is one way to find out what’s working. Also, first even, writing the publishers according to their guidelines. And then trial and error to see what comes back to me with the response I need to hear, be it yes or no.
3. Seeking out and studying honest detailed feedback from writers I greatly respect. It would be good to know if I’m reaching anybody. Or, if mine is just writing I should keep for my family and friends.

Self-Publishing Once Again

Self-publishing is very exciting these days. With the proliferation of selling sites, I can publish ebooks without any assistance. Of course I’ll have to do this at least for a chapbook because I can.

For full length publishing I’ve self-published once before. I want to do it again, and I really am pleased with Author House. So I’ll probably return to it for my second poetry collection (which should be completed soon).

And, to spice things up a bit more, I’ve toyed with for some years now to do it all myself. I’ll share that big news whenever it comes to fruition.

2nd Quarter Goals

By the end of this quarter I would like to have:

• 10 submission sites that I am actively courting
• 2 new writing clients
• 1 poetry chapbook ready for editing

Of course I’ll be sharing my findings along the way. My submissions will be here or linked to here from Telling Stories. It depends on the writing jobs I get, where they will primarily posted, possibly at my work blog and referenced here.

So, what do you think? What of your ideas have become concrete goals this quarter? Which publishers do you like to use? Why? I look forward to hearing from you.

Related posts:

1. it’s high time i get certified
2. Time Waits for No One
3. Poetry Just Because