Red Morning Press

What Did You Come Up With? (Vol. 1 No. 4)

2008-04-17T08:43:00.005-05:00

Exercise #0003: "Write a poem in which you take a scientific discovery and relate it to something in another field."

This week's featured writer is Miles B. Waggener. He sent us the poem below and received a free book from the Red Morning Press catalog.

Click here to read an interview with Miles B. Waggener.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marsh Hawk on the Paddock Bridge

Over seamless fields, drainages to deeper water,
the eye and re-firing neural paths are
dove-rapt and hunting with feeding birds.

Rictal breath visible in the cold,
primary coverts splay and mantle the dove
peppered in blood, liturgical as a curtain

now offered up on memory's rusted girder.
Tendons shimmer, fibrous and oblong gore.
Trace back the dove

leaving the safety of the maple's lattice
to slide its shadow across the snowy field,
as from an old source, from hippocampus through

limbic byways, relive the dove plucked on the wing,
accruing context through the cortex.
There are the rough-edged holes

where blood melts through snow
and leads to fallen aftermath, the hollowed-out reliquary,
as synapses make my tangled way,

where a dove is obliterated, restaged, rived
and steaming on the bridge.
Blood's metallic warmth, like rust

courses through the Papez Circuit, and I'm
cleaning game birds again, or my grandfather
is again in his wheelchair, staring at his hands

in disbelief. As if they don't belong to him.
From hippocampus through cortex,
from the maple, dove shadow glides

out across the snow, back to hippocampus,
back to the disk-shaped face of marsh hawk.
Where within its eye-ring

the parabola sharpens, the circuit hollows
the cell that memory becomes, fovea from which
the heart, and not the eye, might see.

Retrace capturing and caught, re-travel synapses:
my head is on my mother's chest, her heart
beating through her blouse; my body draped

against my father, sweat and burbon, fried chop
and vinegar on his shirt, he's singing Deep
in the Heart of Texas. Remember, and again

the news breaks, our child won't come to term,
blood before the ultrasound, fields and copses
the dove sees in the hawk's grip,

the doctor wants me to sit down, the bird
falls from its branch, and every stone I ever throw
is falling back to me.

Interview With an Author (Vol. 1 No. 4)

2008-04-17T08:39:00.007-05:00

Miles Waggener is a poet, translator, and essayist living in Omaha, Nebraska. His book of poems, Phoenix Suites, was published by The Word Works and won the Washington Prize. A chapbook of newer poems, Portents Aside, is forthcoming from Two Dogs Press. A recipient of an Arizona Commission on the Arts fellowship, Waggener recently joined the faculty of The Writer's Workshop at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

In this interview, Waggener discusses his poem "Marsh Hawk on the Paddock Bridge."

What are your thoughts on the use of science-language and metaphor-in poetry?

I like reading and writing poems that work with the nomenclature of more than one field or sphere of knowledge. Of course poetry is ravenous for new diction and new modes of expression. And Amy Holman's assignment is a great opportunity to build a conceit, an extended metaphor. But such a process demands attention to the fields being compared, and sometime I fail at this. In my hands, an extended metaphor can easily erode into an analogically flat poem, where neither the extended vehicle nor the tenor get much stage time. I've written bad extended metaphors that end up being instructional and binary (gawd-offal and preachy).

Working with a new kind of subject and diction certainly invites a fresh approach. In fact, the hope of the submitted poem was to fuse or braid narratives together, rather than give, say, the science of memory a more figurative role, and ornithology a literal one. I tried not to make one field a crutch for the other. I'm grateful to have been given this assignment, for it reminded me to loosen my grip on the subjects.

How did you interpret this assignment? What were your first thoughts on what it asked you to do? How did that guide your composition?

As mentioned above, I first thought about the hope (and dread) of an extended metaphor and past attempts (train wrecks) at making them. Then I tried to think up a way to weave two fields together. I then turned to Donald Murray's idea of the dialectical notebook, which involves drawing a vertical line down the center of three or four notebook pages. The left sides of these pages were reserved for the science of long term memory, and the right sides were for the marsh hawk, the unlucky dove, falconry, and ornithology. I knew that I was going to make a mess and hoped for the best.

This poem relates the science of memory with the field of ornithology. Which came first during the writing process-the language of memory or the birds?

The birds came first. I had a larval/crummy draft of a poem about the hawk that was going nowhere, and I could draw from that.

What did you find challenging about writing this poem?

While it was liberating to proceed and not know where I was going, there came a moment late at night when all I had were columns of scratch and an empty head. Finding a form and a voice to channel the poem was difficult. I'm not convinced of the poem's form as submitted... but I probably shouldn't say this.

What do you like most about the poem you wrote?

I like the verb "to mantle," when a hawk spreads its wings, fans its tail and arches over prey to hide it from others. I've never used that verb before and want to use it again.

What are you reading right now?

I'm reading Port Trakl by Jaime Luis Huenún, which is translated by Daniel Borzutzky, a great poem sequence from Action Books. And I just finished Anne McLean's translation of Julio Cortázar's Autonauts of the Cosmoroute, which was wonderful. In fact, I've been buying copies of the Cortázar book for people. And, I've been reading student poems. Lots of student poems.

What can you say in terms of writing advice, opinions on the writing process or lessons learned?

Again, I'm grateful for Holman's assignment, which renewed my commitment to taking on new processes and subjects. The assignment made me listen to my drafts more carefully. It was important to remember that in the messy process of drafting a poem, an impasse can turn into a gate. It was good to work through the inertia and confusion, as hard as it was at the time. I need to remember to work through it. (I don't know if this will be of any use to others.)

Haas and Schultz Win Pulitzer

2008-04-08T10:16:00.003-05:00

Poets Robert Haas and Philip Schultz were awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry yesterday. Haas won for his collection Time and Materials and Schultz for his collection Failure.

--AB

Bredle Reviewed in The Boston Review

2008-04-02T07:59:00.003-05:00

Charlie Clark reviews Standing in Line for the Beast and Pain Fantasy by Jason Bredle in The Boston Review's March/April issue. To read the review, click here.

--AB

The Next Big Writer—A Review

2008-03-31T08:21:00.000-05:00

Part One

I found the NextBigWriter while surfing the internet for information about writing classes and workshops. I’ve been missing the camaraderie and energy of a workshop environment, so I thought maybe there was some kind of forum online that I could join.

I was attracted to this site because of its format. Before you can post writing to be reviewed, you have to review other people’s writing. By giving reviews, you earn credits. You spend credits when posting your own writing. It virtually guarantees you will receive feedback on your writing.

Of course, not all feedback is equal. The big question in my mind was whether I would get any useful comments on my writing. I decided to give it a try. You can sign up as a Review Member for free, which means you can read and comment on writing but not post your own. I joined as a Writing Member and paid for a year subscription, which cost around $50. You don’t have to join for a year if you just want to test it out, but the per month fee is higher.

The process of setting up an account is pretty easy. You have to give yourself a pseudonym, which becomes your screen name. I chose Barrington Greene as my pseudonym, in case anybody is looking for me on the site. I ignored the warning about not being able to change your pseudonym once you entered it, and I regret that. In retrospect, I should’ve just used my real name, but the site seems to encourage anonymity. Maybe it’s so people will feel more comfortable giving tough feedback? Fine with me.

The first thing I did after getting my account set up was check out the Site Forums. The topics include categories like “Writing Tips and Advice” “Getting Published,” Self-Publishing” “Writing Contests, Challenges, Prompts and Games,” and “ Reviewing Tips.” I clicked on the “Reviewing Tips” forum and read some of the posts. Here’s when I started to think maybe that I made a mistake with the year-long subscription. Most of the posts in this section are complaints from people who thought they were reviewed too harshly. Quite a few posts argue that poetry is subjective and therefore shouldn’t be criticized too harshly. I read the poems by some of the people who posted, and the reviews. The reviews were not wrong. The poems needed a lot of work.

On the other hand, there were some good posts about reviewing. One reminded people that we give our writing up to review because of how subjective our own readings are. Most of us have loved a poem we’ve written unconditionally and it took someone else’s reading to make us reconsider.

Overall, I got the feeling that there are some reviewers who review many things quickly because they just want to earn credits and post their own work. That didn’t seem to be the majority, though.

I was ready to start reviewing and posting my own work. In the next issue of The Writing Assignment (April 14), I’ll chronicle what happens and tell you whether or not The Next Big Writer is the next big thing.

--AB

Smallpressapalooza

2008-03-19T08:20:00.002-05:00

If you didn't know, March is Small Press Month. (And don't forget--April is poetry month). To celebrated small and independent presses, Powell's is hosting Smallpressapalooza. If you're in Oregon on March 20, stop by. If not, read at least read about it here.

--AB

Interview with Ivy Alvarez and Lee Herrick: Part Two

2008-03-17T14:59:00.002-05:00

The Boxcar Poetry Review publishes part two of an informal conversation/interview between poets Ivy Alvarez and Lee Herrick. Click here to read. Click here for Part I.

--AB

Issue Two of The Writing Assignment

2008-03-17T13:45:00.002-05:00

The second issue of RMP's newsletter "The Writing Assignment" is now available. This week's issue features a new writing exercise, as well as a poem and interview with Amy Holman.

--AB

Poetry in Your Pocket

2008-03-14T10:46:00.002-05:00

More accurately, it's poetry on your phone. The Academy of American Poets has launched a mobile poetry archive that you can download. Check out the press release here.

--AB

Write Drinking Poems for Prizes

2008-03-13T08:05:00.001-05:00

Your beer-related poem can win tickets to TapNY 2008. Check it out here.

--AB

Call for Submissions

2008-03-03T11:40:00.003-05:00

Red Morning Press is now reading manuscripts for publication. Send your complete poetry manuscript via email to submissions@redmorningpress.com.

Submission guidelines can be found at www.redmorningpress.com

--AB

RMP Newletter Re-Launched

2008-03-03T11:36:00.002-05:00

Writing Assignment, a newsletter by Red Morning Press, is being re-launched to coincide with the re-opening of our reading period.

Writing Assignment features a bi-weekly writing exercise, poetry news and occasional reviews of books on writing and publishing. To sign up for the newsletter, send your email address to andy@redmorningpress.com, with "Newsletter" in the subject line.

The 2008 National Poetry Month Poster

2008-01-22T12:43:00.000-05:00

Here's an article and photo of the 2008 National Poetry Month poster. The article also includes links to the American Academy of Poets site, where previous years' posters are displayed.

--AB

Poetry's Contribution to the Marathon

2008-01-22T12:40:00.000-05:00

Here's a neat article about how a Robert Browning poem is tied to the origins of the modern marathon.

--AB

First Book Poets in Conversation

2008-01-21T08:50:00.000-05:00

Ivy Alvarez and Lee Herrick discuss their first books in Boxcar Poetry Review. Click here to read Part I of the conversation.

--AB

Craig Perez Reviews Mortal

2008-01-21T08:48:00.000-05:00

Craig Santos Perez reviews Ivy Alvarez' Mortal for the Boxcar Poetry Review. He says, "Alvarez resists the poetic tendency to simply name-drop mythic characters in the hopes of giving a banal poetic moment mythic quality. Instead, Alvarez gives the mythic characters personality and depth, setting them in modern-day situations."

Click here to read the entire review.

--AB

AWP Sold Out!

2008-01-04T16:05:00.000-05:00

AWP is reporting that they've sold 7,000 registrations for the conference in New York. I think the past attendance has been more like 1,000. I've been to quite a few AWP conferences, and never would I have anticipated this many people showing up. I wonder if that means we'll be conferencing in New York more often...

--AB

All Four RMP Authors to Read at AWP

2008-01-03T12:06:00.000-05:00

The What: Switchback / Sarabande Books / Red Morning Press / Red Hen Press Reading The Who: Ivy Alvarez, Thomas Heise, Peggy Munson (via DVD!), Liz Bradfield, Brandi Homan, Sean Norton, Jason Bredle, Charles Hood, Eva Saulitis, Nickole Brown , Cate Marvin, Jen Tynes, Monica de la Torre, Simone Muench, and Caroline Noble Whitbeck The When: Friday, February 1st @ 7:00 pm The Where: 11th St Bar (http://www.11thstbar.com), 510 E. 11th St. (between Avenues A & B), New York, NY 10009, Phone: 212-982-3929

What Amazon's Kindle Means to Self Publishers

2007-12-06T17:09:00.000-05:00

I'm a big fan of the Publishing Basics newsletter. This month's issue just landed in my inbox, and one of the stories is about Kindle, Amazon.com's new e-book reader.

Amazon.com is positioning itself to compete with Lulu and other print-on-demand companies, so you should read this article if you're a publisher or self-publisher who uses these services.

--AB

Trends in Publishing

2007-12-05T09:54:00.000-05:00

I spend every day reading and writing about the printing industry, so I’ve heard it all from both sides. It’s either “Print is dead,” or “Print will never die.” As with most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. What prompted this post was an article I saw from the Associated Press about E-Books. What interested me is that the article doesn’t say e-books are great or e-books are bad. It says that e-books are great for some things and not as good for others. For example, one company featured in the article published PDFs of role-playing texts. Why is the format popular for these types of books? Because the print books are thick, heavy tomes that players have to carry them to each game. The books are for reference, so the players need them, but in electronic form, they’re easier to transport.

Print books are a medium. E-books are a medium. Websites are a medium. Billboards are a medium. Television is a medium. CDs are a medium. The lesson here is that each medium has distinct advantages and disadvantages. The success of each medium depends on the kind of content it transmits. Print books and magazines still have advantages over an e-books and magazines and vice versa.

What's This Got to do with Poetry?
I think this discussion is relevant to poetry in a lot of ways. The internet certainly has made it easier to distribute poetry to more people. Digital printing has made it easier for authors to fund their self-publishing efforts. In terms of e-books specifically, I wonder when poetry publishers will start to really take advantage of the technology, by which I mean incorporate it into a viable business model. There are quite a few presses, journals and individuals who offer work electronically, but it's more often out of necessity than conscious strategy.

I wonder if and when, for instance, a publisher will have an ITunes model, where people pay to download their favorite poems. Another characteristic of successful e-books, according to the AP article, is their perceived disposability. Harlequin now sells short stories for 89 cents each. Why can't a publisher or writer do something similar?

--AB

Tynes Published in Tarpaulin Sky

2007-12-04T13:57:00.000-05:00

New work by RMP author Jen Tynes appears in the first print issue of Tarpaulin Sky, a literary journal.

--AB

Missouri to Get Poet Laureate

2007-12-03T14:25:00.001-05:00

Turns out that Missouri also is getting a poet laureate. Too late for Missourians to apply--the deadline was Dec. 1. For an update, click here.

--AB

Toledo to Get Poet Laureate

2007-11-30T10:45:00.000-05:00

The Toledo Free Press reports that Lucas County in Ohio is planning to create an (unpaid) poet laureate position. I know what you're thinking...they didn't have one already? :)

If you live in Toledo, maybe you can throw your hat into the ring. Read about it here.

--AB

Call for Submissions: Poetry Calendar

2007-11-28T14:20:00.000-05:00

The Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets is accepting submissions for its 2009 Poets' Calendar. Although you need to live in Wisconsin to be considered, there's no reason why you couldn't start a poet's calender in your own state. Here's what you need to do it:

1. Poems
2. A friendly designer
3. Money

You can find lots of calendar printers online who will do the job for you at competitive prices. Here are a few I know about. I'm not endorsing them, but check them out: Some have instant quote calculators so you can get an idea of how much it costs.

1. PrintPlace
2. Printing for Less
3. VistaPrint

If you have questions about why some cost more than others even though they offer the same features, let me know. One piece of advice: Always ask a printer for samples before you commit a job to them. They should happily send you some so you can see examples of their work. If they refuse, don't use them.

--AB

MiPOesias Raises the Bar

2007-11-27T09:21:00.001-05:00

I encourage everyone to check out the latest issue of MiPOesias and not just because RMP author Ivy Alvarez' beautiful shining face adorns its pages. You should check it out because it has production values, by which I mean it was designed by someone with talent.

Most literary journals do not look like they are professionally 'designed.' They tend to value page after page of text. Discussions about design revolve around what fonts to use. MiPOesias asks: Why not have photos? Color? Cover lines? Captions? It's designed like a consumer magazine, which I think is great.

Bonus points because the issue is offered as a PDF download OR you can buy a hardcopy at Lulu.com.

--AB

Bredle Published on Sharkforum

2007-11-27T09:16:00.000-05:00

RMP author Jason Bredle's poem "Assist Your Boyfriend with His Suffering" is featured on Sharkforum as Poem of the Week.

--AB

Bredle and Tynes to Read Together in Nebraska

2007-11-26T12:06:00.000-05:00

RMP authors Jason Bredle and Jen Tynes read on Dec. 1st in Lincoln, Neb. They're joined by author Cynthia Arrieu-King as part of The Clean Part Reading Series held at the Sheldon Art Gallery. For more information, click here.

--AB

Alvarez Reviews MML Bliss

2007-11-26T12:02:00.000-05:00

RMP author Ivy Alvarez reviews Moonshine, a chapbook by MML Bliss (published by PressPress). The review is posted at Galatea Resurrects. Click here to read it.

--AB

Brown Published in Salt Lake Tribune

2007-11-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

You thought it was a joke, but I really did submit a Jell-O haiku to the Salt Lake Tribune. The results are published in today's edition of the paper. Check it out here. You'll need to scroll down for awhile.

For backstory on how and why I did this, click here.

--AB

Homage to Bredle by J.P. Dancing Bear

2007-11-20T15:27:00.000-05:00

One day after Jason Bredle's third appearance on Verse Daily, the web site posted "A Poem Starting With a Line By Jason Bredle," a poem by J.P. Dancing Bear. Check it out here.

--AB

Bredle Published in Verse Daily...Again!

2007-11-20T15:17:00.000-05:00

Another poem from Pain Fantasy by Jason Bredle is on Verse Daily--the second one to appear in the past 30 days. That makes three appearances for Bredle on Verse Daily this year.

--AB

I am BEOWULF

2007-11-19T15:23:00.000-05:00

Has anyone seen the movie (yet)? It's okay--you can admit it. You wouldn't be alone. It grossed $28 million this weekend, so a fair amount of people ponied up for a ticket.

What I want to know is, why is Beowulf's body hairless? I don't remember reading the part where he takes a moment to wax his pecs.

Anyway, if you thought this was the first time Beowulf has been on screen, think again. Here's a story about some other adaptations.

--AB

Pub Named After Poet Laureate/Hitler Look-Alike

2007-11-09T10:30:00.000-05:00

In poetry news this morning, residents of Wirral, U.K., are upset about a pub named after poet laureate John Masefield because he looks like Hitler. Specifically, they're upset about the pub sign, which includes a photograph of Masefield. Click here to read the story.

--AB

My Jell-O Haiku

2007-11-07T15:08:00.000-05:00

I've sent my entry to the Jell-O haiku contest. Have you? See the posting below for more details. According to the call for submissions, the haiku can be "silly, funny or sarcastic." Guess which one I went with?

Peach Jell-O salad:
Fresh, fruity, juicy, mouthful
of good memories.

--AB

There's Always Room for Jell-O (Haikus)

2007-11-07T09:33:00.000-05:00

The Salt Lake Tribune is holding its first-ever Jell-O haiku contest. The topic is your family's favorite holiday Jell-O salad. You can submit more than one! The winners will be published in the newspaper.

I would love it if we all tried to get Jell-O haikus published in the Salt Lake Tribune. Here's the call for submissions.

--AB

Poetry Mentioned in Esquire Magazine

2007-11-06T09:59:00.000-05:00

Author Tyler Smith recommends going to poetry readings (No. 6) on his Summer Program for Writing & Healthy Living, which appears here on Esquire magazine's web site.

--AB

Bredle Published in No Tell Motel

2007-11-05T13:23:00.000-05:00

Click here to read "Everything I Know About Philosophy I Learned from KRS-ONE," a poem by Jason Bredle that appears at No Tell Motel.

--AB

Mortal Reviewed in Currajah

2007-11-02T15:16:00.000-05:00

A review of Ivy Alvarez' Mortal appears online at Currajah. Here's what reviewer Patricia Prime has to say:

"The achievement of the poems in this collection lies in part in their counterpoising of the profoundly personal with a kind of objectivist impersonality, with the discovery of idioms in which the two can co-exist.

Mortal is a fascinating text containing a fluid sense of time, place, individual and family which generates complexes of meaning and feeling with which most readers will be able to empathise. Alvarez’s use of sentence and paragraph in her prose poems and, elsewhere, her use of stanzas, minimal punctuation, rhythm and assonance, and her ability to use both structures in a very accomplished and meaningful way, make for constantly thought-provoking reading."

To read the entire review, click here.

--AB

Call for Submissions: Ivy Alvarez Guest Edits qarrtsiluni

2007-11-01T14:08:00.000-05:00

The November/December of qarrtsiluni, an online literary journal, will be co-edited by RMP author Ivy Alvarez. The theme is Insecta. From the call for submissions:

"For this issue of qarrtsiluni, we are interested in art — poem, painting, story, nonfiction, photograph — inspired by insects. We are equally interested in writing about insects, being just as enamored by Thoreau’s ant battle in Walden as Frost’s butterflies, “Tossed, tangled, whirled and whirled above, / Like a limp rose-wreath in a fairy dance.”

The deadline to submit is December 15. For more info about the journal and how to submit, visit www.qarrtsiluni.com.

--AB

Concelebratory Shoehorn Review Publishes Ivy Alvarez

2007-11-01T14:05:00.001-05:00

A poem by RMP author Ivy Alvarez appears in the No. 11 issue of Concelebratory Shoehorn Review. Click here for the site.

--AB

What if? An Idea for Presses

2007-11-01T13:56:00.000-05:00

What if a press held a contest, and everyone who entered the contest got to vote on the manuscripts the press received? The manuscript with the most votes is the one that gets published. Only entrants get to vote, so the entrants themselves are the judges, but no one can vote for their own manuscript.

Would that work?

--AB

UPDATE: I'm not as creative as I thought. It looks like this idea is kind of already being done, as reported here in Poets & Writers magazine.

New Press, Same Model

2007-11-01T13:39:00.000-05:00

Austin Peay State University has started publishing poetry books by hosting a first-book contest. I'm glad there's another press in the mix, but I wish they'd tried experimenting with a different model. Read about the winners here.

I'm not trying to make fun of Leigh Ann Couch, who was one of the winners (and managing editor of the Sewanee Review) but I thought her quote was a bit funny: “I publish about four poems a year in magazines that maybe a half-percent of Americans even know about,” she says.

Based on the the Census Dept. Population clock, that means roughly 1.5 million Americans know about her poetry. If your audience is that large, Leigh, Red Morning Press would like to talk with you.

--AB

Independent Publishing as Strategy

2007-10-30T08:30:00.000-05:00

I’m reading this book called Blue Ocean Strategy. Like most books I read nowadays, it fell in my hands randomly, but ended up speaking to me personally. The premise is that most companies tend to operate like every other company in their industry. They compete for the same customers along narrowly defined lines. Some find a way to break away from the conventional wisdom of their industry and create a “blue ocean” of “uncontested market space.”

The authors offer Cirque de Soleil as an example. In this case, it breaks from the traditional ideas of what circus and/or theater should be like. The result: There’s nothing else quite like it, which makes competing for customers’ attention much easier and more lucrative.

What does this have to do with poetry? A lot, actually. People don’t like to admit this, but book publishing is an industry, and poetry is a part of that. When we started RMP, we looked at the traditional models for starting a poetry press: Hold a contest, apply for grant money, or both.

Within those basic models, the differences between poetry presses are minimal. If you visit most press websites, their mission statements are the same (“We strive to publish the best poetry.”) What does that mean? As a consultant I heard once says, “It doesn’t mean anything. ‘Best’ is a definition only you and god know.”

Some presses try to differentiate themselves by the type of poetry they publish (“We strive to publish the best [experimental, witness, political, women’s, regional] poetry”). The differences are minute, and what’s worse—the strategy is the same. If every press competes using the same strategy, there will only ever be a small handful of presses that succeed.

Blue Ocean Strategy suggests creating new business models that buck conventional wisdom. I personally can’t stand flying Southwest Airlines, but I have to concede their success. Who thought way back when that an airline could get away with not serving a meal or assigning reserved seats? Those amenities were part of a narrow formula that airlines considered necessary to succeed.

When I look at RMP in this context, I’m encouraged. We’ve abandoned most of the conventional thinking that goes into starting a poetry press. I see a lot of advantages in not competing with other presses for contest fees and grant money. It makes us a lot more flexible, and our future is much less dependent on the trends that affect other poetry presses. For instance, if grant money dries up or so many presses are applying for grant money that each press continues to get a smaller piece of the pie—that won’t affect our ability to keep publishing books.

What we haven’t done is turn those advantages into profitability…yet. Living in D.C., we’re surrounded by the history and mythos of the punk rock scene. Independent music labels that exist as standalone companies today started out in basements. I think when you have something like RMP, where there’s nothing to lose by experimenting, you’re more likely to succeed in the long run.

What we haven't done is figure out how to maximize all the advantages of being a truly independent press. The other message in the book is that companies like Cirque de Soleil and Southwest Airlines create models that brought new value to their customers. I’m not sure what that is for a poetry audience. When we figure that out, I think we’ll be set.

--AB

Corrupting the Youth: Part III

2007-10-29T15:41:00.000-05:00

Click here to read some feedback about my session at the CMA convention.

--AB

Corrupting the Youth: Recap

2007-10-29T09:18:00.000-05:00

Ten minutes before my presentation started at the College Media Advisers convention on Saturday, there were zero people in the room. So I thought, this is going to suck. The hotel is about four blocks from Adams Morgan, which for those of you who’ve never been to D.C., is basically a street lined with bars. So I figured everyone went out late the night before and couldn’t drag themselves out of bed for a morning session. I couldn’t blame them, actually.

Still, nearly 20 people did show up by the time it started. The gist of the session was how to stay involved in the literary community after you get out of school. I used starting RMP as an example of the extreme. You don’t have to start a press to stay active, but it was cool to see that more than a few students in the session wanted to start their own. If you’re interested, here’s some of the content I gave them—a rough description of how much it cost. If you want more detailed information, email me, and I'll send you the specific breakdown of expenses. (Bear in mind, the losses are split three ways, and it’s over three years, so it comes out to about $5,000 each per year. I’ve spent that much money on much less worthwhile things.)

	Revenue	Expenses	Net Loss
2005	$1,191	$8,762	-$7,571
2006	$1,404	$6,442	-$5,038.00
2007	$1,281	$5,000	-$3,791.00


	$3,876	$20,204	-$16,328

As you can see, it is not a money-making venture for us, but as I said in the session, that’s not to say it couldn’t be. If we had a contest, I guarantee we’d be profitable. If we didn’t travel to AWP, we’d be profitable. If we printed the books on demand, we’d be profitable. We just don’t want to do it that way, and we don’t have to, because we have day jobs. It's a liberating feeling--something I hope I communicated during the session.

--AB

Corrupting the Youth

2007-10-26T15:29:00.001-05:00

I'm conducting a presentation tomorrow at the College Media Advisor's convention in Washington, DC. The conference is not geared toward advisors, as one might suspect. Instead, it's for students who work on college publications, including newspapers and literary journals.

My presentation, which is titled "Keeping the Dream Alive," is supposed to give students ideas about how to stay involved in the literary scene after they graduate. Starting a press is one way, I guess.

I'll let you know how it goes.

--AB

Gridiron Poets

2007-10-26T09:22:00.000-05:00

I don't actually have a comment on this. I just thought you'd like to know that there's a college athletic program that has embraced poets as a mascot.

--AB

How to Win the UK's National Poetry Contest

2007-10-25T14:49:00.000-05:00

I thought this was funny. Some "tips" on how to win it all. Click here to read.

--AB

Charles Simic in Wall Street Journal

2007-10-25T13:21:00.001-05:00

An article about poet Charles Simic appeared in today's Wall Street Journal.

--AB

Reading Series Turns 25

2007-10-24T14:37:00.000-05:00

Anything that last 25 years is pretty remarkable, especially in the world of poetry. This year, the Midwest Poet Series celebrates its silver anniversary. To read about the series and its founder (who kept it going all these years), click here.

--AB

You Could Be Poet Laureate!

2007-10-22T12:30:00.000-05:00

If you live in Boston, you could be the city's poet laureate. According to this story in the Boston Globe, the competition is weak. Only a few people have applied for the 2-year job, which pays $2,000 per year and requires you to give a reading or two. The application process is managed by the Office of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events. Click here for the downloadable application form.

--AB

Another Tongue List

2007-10-22T09:38:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of John Moore:

73 Things to Do With Your Tongue

1. make trills on a flute
2. make staccato notes on a trumpet
3. pronounce alveolar consonants
4. pronounce velar consonants
5. clean dishes
6. provide sensual pleasure by contact with the outer body of another person
7. be rude to someone
8. help carry out a wine-tasting
9. dislodge stuff from your teeth
10. explore the inside of your mouth for wounds
11. swallowing
12. provide evidence of your health
13. grip food
14. move food around
15. direct spit
16. recognizing the taste of food that's gone off
17. lingual tonsils filter out harmful germs
18. stop saliva dribbling out
19. sculpting ice cream on a cone
20. playing shove football with cherries
21. push food onto the back teeth for grinding
22. saying tongue twisters
23. place in the cheek to say things in a subtly mocking way
24. gauge air temperature
25. find out wind direction
26. convey food items into your mouth
27. when protruding, express eagerness
28. when bitten, stop yourself from saying something stupid
29. sealing envelopes
30. attaching postage stamps
31. cleaning the lenses of spectacles
32. moistening cigarette paper after rolling over tobacco
33. holding it to remain silent
34. aids the prehension of food
35. find out what you're eating
36. when pierced, holding a stud or other adornment
37. when forked, speak dishonestly
38. cleaning fluff out of hard to reach crevices
39. getting sticky stuff off your fingers
40. soothing the pain in your thumb after a blow with a hammer
41. provide sensual pleasure by inserting in another's mouth
42. pass it over your lips to show anticipation
43. stroking your lips to encourage sexual arousal
44. balancing several full wine glasses on it to impress your friends
45. applying it to a part of your boss's anatomy when you're after a raise
46. cleaning your boss's shoes with the same object in mind
47. preening yourself if ever you're asked to do a cat impersonation
48. removing lice etc from your partner when he/she asks you about your animal instincts
49. removing fresh bloodstains from non-porous surfaces
50. removing particles of food from your moustache
51. separating the side of the plastic bags you get in rolls in order to open them
52. temporarily attaching two pieces of paper
53. tut-tutting
54. pronouncing the clicks in African languages
55. microfacial tongue thrusts to show aggression
56. creating works of art as an alternative to finger painting
57. moistening an oboe reed before playing
58. directing the air into a blowpipe
59. wail like Arab women at a funeral or wedding
60. deliver a tongue-lashing
61. annoy someone by tickling them behind the ear
62. picking up toast crumbs off the sheets after breakfast in bed
63. stealing the decoration off the top of a wedding cake
64. temporarily corking a bottle
65. give it to the cat to cheer it up when you want to keep quiet
66. blocking holes on a harmonica to play single notes
67. moisten pages of a book to make them easier to turn
68. opening the window if your hands are full and your nose hurts
69. fold it back to wolf-whistle
70. roll it, make it look like a slug dancing to scare people
71. tickle your upper palette if you are really bored/sexually frustrated
72. stretch your cheek out to pretend you're sucking a boiled sweet
73. catch rain, tears, nose droppings and other falling liquids

Guenette Thankful for Bredle's Poems

2007-10-19T21:21:00.000-05:00

Poet Matthew Guenettee blesses Jason Bredle's poems here.

--AB

Bredle on Verse Daily

2007-10-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

Verse Daily has posted a poem from RMP author Jason Bredle's Pain Fantasy. Check it out here.

--AB

72 Things to Do With Your Tongue

2007-10-17T22:34:00.000-05:00

Compliments of Jason Bredle:

72 Things to Do with Your Tongue

1) Elect a political leader.

2) Decry a political leader.
3) Sign a petition against an action a political leader has recently taken with the environment.

4) Sign a petition against pants.

5) Nod knowingly to a college student canvassing against pants.

6) Take off your pants.

7) Call a friend on the telephone to discuss your mutual hatred of pants.

8) Call a friend on the telephone to discuss your distrust of a political leader.

9) Angrily hang up a telephone and put on pants.

10) Mail a letter to a political leader.

11) Walk about town furiously and with purpose.

12) Forget about love.

13) Remember love.

14) Taste an ice cream sundae.

15) Listen to a friend discuss his recent ordeal with the phone company.

16) Impersonate a snake.

17) Impersonate a lizard.

18) Impersonate a frog.

19) Impersonate a puppy.

20) Impersonate a man walking on the moon.

21) Impersonate a college student angrily canvassing against pants.

22) Audition for the role of Neo-Nazi #1 in a Jerry Bruckheimer production.

23) March into the Gap and tell them exactly how you feel about its new line of pants!

24) Rescue a family from a burning house.

25) Rescue a family from a burning tree house.

26) Rescue a family from a burning houseboat.

27) Watch a total solar eclipse.

28) Win third place in a pie eating contest.

29) Tell a friend you love him or her.

30) Win tickets to a concert after successfully naming a song on a local radio program.

31) Learn to fly a helicopter.

32) Appreciate an opera.

33) Enter a square dancing competition.

33) Enter a break dancing competition.

34) Clean yourself.

35) Earn twenty dollars in a short amount of time.

36) Erect a monument to a political leader.

37) Play a heated game of tic-tac-toe with a friend.

38) Land an airplane.

39) Direct a Broadway musical.

40) Scale a tall building.

41) Judge a beauty contest.

42) Deliver a eulogy.

43) Deliver a package.

44) Deliver a baby.

45) Infuriate a choir.

46) Circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon.

47) Build a model airplane.

48) Become the fastest human alive.

49) Become a political leader and eliminate all pants from existence.

50) Edit a literary quarterly.

51) Signal to someone that he or she may cut in front of you.

45) Signal to someone that he or she may not cut in front of you, and doing so will anger you.

52) Participate in a longest tongue contest.

53) Participate in a shortest tongue contest.

54) Perform a sexual act in a pornographic film.

55) Complete a dissertation.

56) Indicate to a person of the opposite sex that you like him or her.

57) Judge a wet t-shirt contest.

58) Submit an abstract to a medical conference.

59) Perform quadruple bypass surgery.
60) Perform quadruple bypass surgery on a horse.

61) Make a watch.

62) Move scorpions from one box into another on a television program.

63) Lose a quarter of a million dollars playing high stakes blackjack in Vegas.

64) Write a detective novel.

65) Solve a murder.

66) Murder a detective.

67) Save a child from a terrible ferris wheel accident.

68) Direct traffic.

69) Beg a debtor to have mercy and not take your finger.

70) Mourn a recent tragedy and honor those who have died in the tragedy.

71) Make love to the person you love.

72) Lick the person you love's ass.

The Top 10 (Modern) Korean Poets

2007-10-15T13:13:00.000-05:00

The list and ranking formats are generally tired. How many ways can you write a magazine or newspaper article about the Top 10 [fill in the blank]? They're especially overdone in lifestyle magazines, where it's considered hack to have a list with less than 50 entries. The result are absurd numbers of mundane things, like "73 Things You Can Do With Your Tongue."

That said, I find rankings and lists useful when they're about a topic I know nothing about. A case in point is this recently published list of Top 10 Modern Korean poets. The rankings don't matter; I find it useful because it's a starting point for exploring the topic. I may discover eventually that I don't agree with the list at all, but without it I'd be overwhelmed by the total number of Korean poets and wouldn't know where to start.

--AB

Build Your Audience One Reader at a Time

2007-10-11T10:41:00.000-05:00

Here’s an idea for self-promotion: A couple of writers in Seattle are giving poems away. Each one put up a box by their homes with copies of their poems. Passersby and guests are invited to take one for free. Read more about it here and ask yourself--What if there was a poetry box at every bus stop?

--AB

Poetry Center Gets New Home

2007-10-11T10:38:00.000-05:00

One of the largest poetry collections in the world is housed at the U of Arizona Poetry Center, which just moved into a new, larger building. Read about it here.

--AB

Print on Demand: A boon to DIY publishing

2007-10-01T15:13:00.000-05:00

In the interview I linked to below, Jen mentions that Horse Less is planning to print books with Lulu, a print-on-demand publishing company. I’ve been meaning to write about POD on this blog for awhile, because it’s a huge issue in the printing industry, especially the book publishing specifically.

First of all, if you are remotely interested in the topic of DIY publishing, you should be reading the newsletter Publishing Basics put out by Ron Pramschufer of RJ Communications. It is the single best resource on independent publishing that I read regularly because of its balance between practical info and birds-eye view of the topic. For instance, here’s a recent article on Amazon.com’s acquisition of iUniverse.

If you want some perspective on the way POD is affecting book publishing, the article is a good place to start (and then read some of the back issues). One of things I’ve taken from my reading on POD and as partner in RMP is that the print-on-demand part of POD is not exactly why it has been a boon to DIY publishers.

Most people assume the reason that print-on-demand removes a huge barrier to independent publishing is because you don’t have to pay for books that don’t get sold. However, that particular cost savings is negligible in my view. Printing 1,000 books up front is not prohibitively expensive. In fact, the unit cost is always lower than if the books are printed on demand. Where I think POD printers have done a great service for DIY publishing is not in the printing but the auxiliary services, such as listing the books on a website, taking care of order processing and mailing the printed book when someone buys them. Those are the most expensive and time consuming parts of running an independent press.

--AB

What's Jen Tynes Watching on TV?

2007-10-01T08:35:00.000-05:00

In a recent interview at poetry blog Women on the Web, RMP author Jen Tynes gives a rundown of the things that interest her. She also discusses her role as editor and publisher for horse less press.

--AB

Heron/Girlfriend

2007-09-28T08:37:00.000-05:00

Jen Tynes' manuscript Heron/Girlfriend was accepted by Coconut Books. Look for it in spring/summer 2008.

--AB

Upcoming RMP Readings

2007-09-20T07:28:00.000-05:00

Mark your calendars!

Thursday, Oct. 4, 7 p.m.
Jason Bredle reads at Shaman Drum Bookshop, Ann Arbor, Mich.
For more info, click here.

Saturday, Oct 6, 1-5 p.m.
Jen Tynes reads with Elizabeth Robinson, Dan Beachy-Quick, & others TBA
A Swap of Language
Denver, Colorado
For more info, click here.

Friday, Oct. 12, 7:30 p.m.
Jen Tynes reads with w/ Adam Clay & Kate Greenstreet
The New Lakes Reading Series
Missoula, Mont.
For more info, click here.

Tynes Reviews Bredle

2007-09-17T14:39:00.000-05:00

Jen Tynes, author of The End of Rude Handles (from Red Morning Press), reviews the newest member of the RMP juggernaut. Click here to check out her thoughts on Pain Fantasy.

--AB

Bookslut Reviews Bredle

2007-09-07T10:58:00.000-05:00

To read a recent review of Jason Bredle's first book, Standing in Line for the Beast (New Issues), click here.

--AB

Sean Norton: A Living Writer

2007-09-07T10:51:00.000-05:00

Sean Norton recently appeared on T. Hetzel's Living Writers radio show, which is broadcast WCBN 88.3 Ann Arbor. If you missed it, check out the archive on iTunes (9-05-07 episode) by searching Living Writers WCBN.

Bonus: You can still visit this link and listen to an archived appearance from 2005, featuring a reading from Sean from Bad With Faces.

--AB

Order Your Copy of Pain Fantasy

2007-09-05T08:43:00.000-05:00

Pain Fantasy by Jason Bredle is now available for purchase at www.redmorningpress.com.

Alvarez Interviewed by Greenstreet

2007-08-08T16:04:00.000-05:00

Mortal author Ivy Alvarez was recently interviewed by Kate Greenstreet as part of a series that features first-book authors. Check it out here.

--AB

Pain Fantasy--Not Exactly On Schedule

2007-08-01T13:41:00.000-05:00

Pain Fantasy is scheduled to be printed and shipped on August 9. It's about two weeks behind when we hoped to have it, but our contribution to our printer's annual revenue is less than one-thousandth of one percent, so they kind of fit us in where they can.

--AB

Pain Fantasy at Printer

2007-07-17T14:11:00.000-05:00

Pain Fantasy, by Jason Bredle, is currently going through preflight at our printer. It should be printed, shipped and received by us in the next 3 to 4 weeks maximum.

--AB

Pain Fantasy Update

2007-06-13T13:01:00.000-05:00

The Library of Congress Cataloging in Publishing Data for Pain Fantasy arrived today:

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bredle, Jason.
Pain fantasy / Jason Bredle. -- 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-9764439-3-3
I. Title.
PS3602.R435P35 2007
811'.6--dc22

All that's left to do is prepare the files for the printer. A friend of mine graciously does that for free, but we do it on her schedule, so hopefully we'll get with her next week and have the book off to the printer pronto!

--AB

Bredle Reads This Weekend

2007-06-06T16:19:00.001-05:00

Jason Bredle reads Saturday, June 9th at Lumbart 2007, an event sponsored by The Splat Flats. For more info, click here.

Important Notice Regarding Manuscript Submissions

2007-06-06T15:34:00.001-05:00

Please forgive us. We are backlogged with submissions. As of the end of this week, we will stop accepting submissions until we are all caught up. For those of you who sent manuscripts a looooong time ago, we plan to be caught up by the beginning of July.

--AB

Ivy Alvarez Reading and a New "Tinyside"

2007-06-05T07:18:00.000-05:00

If you find yourself in Dublin on June 17, be sure to stop by The Original Print Gallery at 4 Temple Bar from 7-10pm for "A Painted Fillí: An Evening of Music and Spoken Word" -- among the artists performing their work will be our own Ivy Alvarez, who'll read from Mortal.

Also, Big Game Books has recently released a "tinyside" (which Ivy tells me is "like a cross between a broadside and a chapbook, only smaller") by Ivy titled One Dozen Poison Hay(na)ku -- that's the good news. The bad news is that it's already sold out! Still, swing by Big Game's site to admire what look to be really cool little books.

-- Chris

Bredle Interviewed on Living Writers

2007-05-22T07:58:00.000-05:00

Jason Bredle sits down with T. Hetzel on WCBN Ann Arbor's Living Writers Show this Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. EST.

Click here to get the internet feed.

While you're there, check out the archives for an interview with Sean Norton.

--AB

Ivy Alvarez Reviewed in Galatea Resurrects #6

2007-05-22T07:51:00.000-05:00

Not one, but two reveiws for Mortal appear in a recent issue of Galatea Resurects.

Ernesto Priego says, "The poems in Mortal grow in the reader like teeth, they break the skin, grow inwards before finally seeking an exit out of the body, through the mouth, to become expression, to grind and bite in survival and in love, in sex and in everything which is pleasurable. To read Priego's entire review, click here.

Jeannine Hall Gailey says, "Alongside poems of mothers giving birth, a daughter struggling to come to terms with her mother’s breast cancer, and the fragile lives of flowers and insects, these mythological poems evoke a mournful and timeless struggle with mortality." To read Gailey's entire review, click here.

--AB

Free Poetry: Digital Recordings of Contemporary Poets

2007-05-11T14:44:00.000-05:00

The AP reports that "Professors at the University of Pennsylvania are offering recordings of contemporary poets’ work to the public through an online audio archive of digital downloads, without charges or fees." To read all about it, click here.

--AB

Tynes Reads on Thursday at Symposium Books

2007-05-10T08:51:00.000-05:00

Flim Forum Press presents
Oh One Arrow

Thursday, May 10th
6pm

Symposium Books
240 Westminster Street
Providence, RI

w/ readings by:

Matthew Klane
Adam Golaski
Lori Anderson Moseman
John Cotter
Jen Tynes

flimforum.blogspot.com
symposiumbooks.com

*

Flim Forum Press is a new press interested in poetry
that postulates then questions the idea of the poem
as experiment, poetry that builds and develops (forms)
original logics/grammars, poetry that dissolves to
redefine the lines between sense and nonsense, process
and product, sight, sound, and semantic.

Oh One Arrow, the first Flim anthology, includes
work by: Brandon Shimoda, Thom Donovan, Jonathan Minton,
Adam Golaski, Lori Anderson Moseman, Katie Kemple, Christopher
Fritton, Eric Gelsinger, John Cotter, Jacqueline Lyons, Jeff Paris,
Michael Ives, Jaime Corbacho, Matthew Klane, Pierre Joris, and Aaron
Lowinger. Cover art by Luke Daly.

Flim Forum Press is currently accepting submissions
for a second anthology.

Visit:
flimforum.blogspot.com
for more information,
or query:
klane@flimforum.com

Bredle Poems on Sharkforum.org

2007-05-01T08:23:00.000-05:00

Read a few of Jason's poems recently posted on Sharkforum.org.

--AB

Mississippians Love To Look for Poems

2007-04-27T14:46:00.000-05:00

Mississippi has some poetry-loving citizens, according to a Yahoo! announcement that state residents conduct more online searches for poems than any other. It also turns out that Mississippians search for more love poems than any other states.

New Mexico ranked second. To find out who made it in the top 10, click here.

--AB

Tynes Reviewed in GutCult

2007-04-26T08:08:00.000-05:00

Jim Toweill writes: "Jen Tynes' book-length poem The End of Rude Handles explores a gothic world of spatial binaries, mediations between interior and exterior experiences, of networks of becoming that inhabit ambulatory flesh."

Read Toweill's entire review in a recent issue of GutCult.

To buy the book, visit the Red Morning Press website.

--AB

Poetic Journeys at UConn

2007-04-25T14:56:00.000-05:00

The Poetic Journeys program at UConn has been going on since 2000 and allows students' work to be displayed on placards installed on buses. To read about it, click here.

--AB

David Halberstam on Poetry

2007-04-24T15:17:00.000-05:00

Pulitzer prize-winning journalist David Hablerstam died yesterday in a car crash. He's best known for his reporting on the Vietnam War, but he also happened to be very interested in poetry. Right before he died, Halberstam attended the Poetry & the Creative Mind benefit, which raises money for National Poetry Month. The Daily Intelligencer has an interview with him from that night that includes his thoughts on poetry. To read it, click here.

--AB

Body Blazon Poetry

2007-04-20T09:50:00.000-05:00

Two writers combined dissection and poetry into a play called Corpus Delicti: Just Desserts. You can read about the play and the history of body blazons (poems that focus on specific parts of the body) by clicking here.

The article cites this poem as an example of a body blazon:

Mary's Ghost
by Thomas Hood

T'was in the middle of the night
To sleep young William tried
When Mary's ghost came stealing in
And stood by his bedside

Oh William dear, oh William dear,
My rest eternal ceases
For alas my everlasting peace
Is broken into pieces.

I thought the end of all my cares
would end with my last minute
But when I came to my last home
I didn't stay long in it

The body snatchers they have come
and made a snatch of me
Oh it's very hard those kind of men
won't let a body be.

The arm that used to take your arm
Is took by Dr. Weiss
And both my legs have gone
To walk the hospital at Guys.

As for my feet, my little feet
You used to call so pretty
There's one I know, in Bedford Row
The other's in the city.

I vowed that you should have my hand
and fate gave no denial
You find it there at Dr. Bell's
in spiritus and a vial.

I can't tell where my head is at
but Dr. Carpo can
As for my truck it's all packed up
to go by Pickford's van

I wish you'd go to Mr. P.
and save me such a ride
For I don't half like the outside place
he's picked for my inside.

The cock it crows, I must be gone
Dear William we must part
I'll be yours in death although
Sir Ashley has my heart.

Don't go to weep upon my grave
And think that there I'll be
For they haven't left an atom there
Of my Anatomy.

--AB

Virginia Tech Shootings and Poetry

2007-04-19T07:44:00.000-05:00

Nikki Giovanni had Cho Seung-Hui in a creative writing class at Virginia Tech two years before he went on his killing spree. Read about it here.

--AB

Pultizer Goes to Trethewey

2007-04-17T09:31:00.000-05:00

The winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry goes to Natasha Trethewey for "Native Guard." Here's a report from the Washington Post:

POETRY: "Native Guard," by Natasha Trethewey.

Trethewey, a creative writing professor at Emory University, imagined the life of a former slave stationed at a fort off the coast of Gulfport, Miss., a former Union prison housing Confederate prisoners. The slave was charged with writing letters home for illiterate POWs and fellow soldiers. Trethewey, a Gulfport native who was a daughter of a black woman and white man, said she used the racial legacy of the Civil War to honor her mother and her personal history.

--AB

DIY Publishing: Makeready

2007-04-16T09:36:00.000-05:00

When we started this blog, I intended to write more about the publishing process than I have. If you have any questions about the process of starting your own press let me know. If you have questions about the printing process specifically, it’s a point of pride that I be able to answer them. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find someone who does. Demystifying the printing process is something I think will help DIY publishers, because once you know what it takes to print a book, doing it yourself doesn’t seem so hard.

Today’s topic: Makeready

Let’s say you get a quote from at printer for 500 books and 1,000 books. Let’s say the printer comes back to you and says they’ll print 500 books for $1,500 and 1,000 books for $2,000. Why does it cost relatively so little to print the extra 500 books?

One huge reason for the difference is the concept of “makeready.” Makeready is all the time and steps a printer takes to get the job set up and running. This includes getting the correct paper and printing plates on the press. Once that’s done, the pressman will start running the press, but the initial copies are waste (particularly on color jobs like book covers).

The reason is that when the paper starts running through the press and ink is applied, it takes time for the pressman to adjust ink levels to match the proof that the client (you) have approved. These “makeready” copies aren’t counted as part of your order. You typically never see them, but they are factored into the printer’s cost of doing business.

Once the ink levels are up and the order is being printed, the quantity is a small cost for the printer. The presses run so quickly that it could take only minutes to print an extra 500 copies. The bulk of the cost is incurred by the printer up front, during makeready, and, except for paper costs, not so much during the actual printing.

The concept of makeready has a number of consequences for DIY publishers. For example, you can design a print job to run on your printer’s particular presses so you optimize factors like makeready. Or you can design a print job and then find the printer with the best equipment for that job. Not all presses run the same jobs equally, and not all printers are created equal.

The reason I thought about makereadies is because you rarely see the copies, but a printer my employer uses to print brochures recently sent us some with our regular job order. He probably did it by accident because makeready copies are generally unusable. They often look washed out, streaky and non-vibrant. For book publishers, this is mostly an issue with color covers, but even the black and white body of your books should have strong, crisp ink coverage.

--AB

Poetry is for Babies

2007-04-12T12:22:00.000-05:00

As I haven't posted anything here (or updated the RMP site) in weeks, I figured I'd post a photo of my excuse, Amelia, who was born on March 26th and has been keeping me from entering REM sleep since.

Web site updates are coming, I promise -- not least among them the long-awaited preview of Mortal. We're also (hopefully) going to be switching servers soon and updating our catalog to allow for a more shopping-cart-like experience.

--Chris

Bredlemania

2007-04-12T08:44:00.000-05:00

If you haven't done it yet, go buy a copy of Jason Bredle's "Standing in Line for the Beast," put out by New Issues Press earlier this year.

Pain Fantasy, to be published by us imminently, will be Jason's second book. Check here often for updates.

--AB

Yo Yo Yo, Whassup Cloud?

2007-04-11T13:10:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the intersection of marketing and poetry. A British town decided to center its marketing campaign on William Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a cloud," but the actual poem wasn't good enough, so a rap version was rendered. Naturally.

Click here to read the story.
Click here to watch the actual music video.

--AB

Against National Poetry Month

2007-04-10T14:09:00.000-05:00

Every story has (at least) two sides, doesn't it? Here's an essay by Charles Bernstein, published in 1999 called "Against National Poetry Month As Such." He argues that it promotes bland poetry.

Personally, I think he's overreacting. Even if you accept that National Poetry Month doesn't effectively support poetry, the idea that it actively hurts the genre is a stretch. In this essay, I think National Poetry Month is just a starting point for Bernstein, an excuse to criticize poetry that he doesn't like. What do you think?

--AB

Update to Murderer Identified in Poem

2007-04-09T14:24:00.000-05:00

In an earlier post, I linked to the story about an anonymous poet who allegedly knows the identity of a local murderer and revealed as much in a poem he plastered on telephone poles around town. Police haven't been able to find or convince the poet to come forward with the murderer's identity, presumably because he's afraid of retribution. Read the latest update here.

Here's a writing exercise: Write a poem in which the speaker of your poem witnessed a murder but is afraid to reveal the identity of the killer.

--AB

More Poetry News

2007-04-05T11:52:00.000-05:00

Click on the links to read the latest news about

1) Art Exhibit Dedicated to the Worst Scottish Poet Ever

2) New Film About Life of Dylan Thomas

3) Owner of Prescott Street Press Dies at 90

--AB

Those Wacky Canadians

2007-04-05T11:47:00.000-05:00

Two Canadian poets face off in some sort of winner-takes-all poetry "battle," conceived and implemented by the local governments. It's Vancouver vs. Owen Sound in Round 1. Read about it here.

--AB

Poetry Foundation--At It Again

2007-04-04T15:26:00.000-05:00

Some recent news from the Poetry Foundation: Joint readings featuring U.S. and British Poet Laureates. Read about it here.

The one in Washington, DC take place on May 10. Anyone want to go?

--AB

NaPoWriMo

2007-04-03T12:27:00.000-05:00

Write a (draft of a) poem a day for the duration of National Poetry Month. All the cool kids are doing it. Learn more about it here.

--AB

Getting an MFA to Pay for Itself

2007-04-02T08:59:00.000-05:00

In case you want to see what kind of writing gigs an MFA will get you, here are two wildly different magazine stories I’ve written recently. One is for my regular employer, and the other is a freelance column I do monthly.

On Tap: “Party Crasher: St. Patrick’s Day 2007”
Print Solutions: “Health Care Forms Undergo Revision"

P.S. If you’re having a party and live in the D.C. area, email me so I can crash it :)

--AB

Move Over American Idol! Here Comes Poetry!

2007-03-30T14:16:00.000-05:00

The next big thing in the Middle East are poetry talent contests, broadcast on TV a la American Idol-style, where audience members vote for their favorite poetry recitation. Read about it here.

How would this work in the United States? Which B- or C-list celebrity would host? Any suggestions? Maybe we should put together a pitch for Fox.

--AB

A Company Called Poet(TM)

2007-03-30T14:12:00.000-05:00

If you're a dry mill ethanol producer that wanted to name your company "Poet," it's too late. The company formerly known as Broin trademarked that shit, so you're out of luck.

I thought some of you might get a kick out of this story about the company naming itself Poet. I didn't actually read much of the article, so if anyone finds the rationale behind the name-change, please eduate me.

--AB

Apparently, It's a Controversey

2007-03-29T14:12:00.000-05:00

The Boston City Council is debating whether or not to have a Poet Laureate. It's an age-old story: Should money and resources be used to support poetry when crime, drugs, etc. are more pressing problems? The city responds by promising that only private funding will support the laureate. What do you think? Who's right? Is this a newsworthy issue? Click here to read the story, then give us your comments.

--AB

Alleged Murderer Identified in Poem

2007-03-28T13:53:00.000-05:00

Someone who allegedly knows the identity of a killer in Somerset, England, has posted a poem on street lamps and bus shelters. Police are looking for the poet, whose verse already led them to what might be the murder weapon. The poetry is bad, but the story is good, so check it out here.

--AB