Liz Strauss said it better than I ever could.
In summary, publishing is a business. Even if you self-publish, you’ve got to impress your editor and your publisher with a product that can sell. Do your editor and publisher have the skills to know what readers will buy?
The hard part is the marketing. If you aren’t prepared to handle the marketing part of your book, even a self-published poetry book, then you shouldn’t be publishing. It’s your money, but publishing a book without intent to earn a profit on it just because you think it’s good is sheer vanity. Throwing a blog up with all of your poems on it as a free buffet isn’t publishing. It’s giving away your rare jewels (if the poetry is any good). If it isn’t any good then you’re just giving away pebble stones.
An author thinks about creation. An editor thinks about packaging. A publisher thinks about marketing. You’d better be able to do all three or you’ll never survive.
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This sound good on paper, Allen, but come on. How much money do publishers actually spend on promoting books of poetry? I notice, once again, that you don’t provide any figures.
Writing poetry is not like writing a novel. The barely unspoken premise of your post is three fold: First, your contempt for self-publishing, second, the notion that the endpoint of writing poetry is profit (and that, without it, a poet will “never survive”), and third, that a poet needs “a book”. This is a specious argument if there ever was one.
How many poets actually make a living *off their poetry*? Can you name one? Maybe Ashbery? Maybe? How many publishers turn a profit from publishing poetry? How many of the thousands of “legitimate” poets actually make a living off their book? Not one.
In poetry recognition comes first; then, for the average poet, a few minimally remunerative readings, then (for the gold standard) maybe a professorship at some MFA.
You’re right about one thing, marketing (self-promotion) is how one invests in ones poetry. The best way to do that is for poets to start their own blog, put their poetry online, then work like hell to attract readers. The book can come later.
Patrick, you really must stop reading into the material. I nowhere have said any of the following:
That the endpoint of poetry is profit
That I have a negative view of self-publishing
That a poet cannot survive without making a profit
That a poet needs a book
What is true: I believe there is nothing wrong with making money from one’s poetry, if you can. Self publishing is a viable option for poets who have a decent product and know how to market it, but traditional publishing has its benefits as well. A poet cannot survive in the marketplace without producing a quality product. Profit can happen (and I think is much more likely to happen for poets in the 21st century who can leverage the technological tools available to them), but it isn’t the goal of poetry. I do believe most poets sell themselves short and devalue their poetry by giving it away. That’s not to say that giving away one’s poems as a marketing tactic in order to sell books is not a valid strategy. My own philosophy regarding blogging is that it is best used as a marketing tool to attract interest in one’s product; once that happens you can lead your prospect to the sale. A pat on the back is not payment. No one needs a book. However, many people see publication of a book as the first step on the path to the holy grail of literary achievement. It is a desirable goal for most people with literary aspirations, but the beginning of all publication, whether one self publishes or goes through traditional channels, is to first produce a quality product.
That’s a far cry from the projections you have made.
To answer your question about poets making a living, Robert Service made a very fine penny from his poetry, though his primary profession was banking. Perhaps he made money because he understood money, something I’ve observed most literary artists don’t.
Perhaps under the Pound era. That is going to change.
Almost: The poetry has to be good. There is no substitute for quality. One can be a lousy poet and a great marketer and it won’t change the fact that the product sucks. The best way to invest in one’s poetry is to make it worth reading. As for marketing, there are many paths to nirvana.