“That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” (Whitman, Oh Me! Oh Life!)
…if you can find an agent. And a publisher. And land a decent book deal. And get on the right shelves in the bookstore… It’s tough out there for writers. Always has been. Even Walt Whitman had to self-publish Leaves of Grass—the poetry collection that “Oh Me! Oh Life!” eventually appeared in—back in 1855. He printed fewer than 800 copies at his own expense and bound only 200.
A century and a half later and self-publishing still feels a bit audacious, but it is both easier and cheaper than it was in Whitman’s day. A new wave of web tools and social networking sites are making it almost trivial for writers to find readers, which is what we all really want, right?
In this blog I’ll be sharing my experiences as I try to get my book out there. If you are trying to add a verse, I’d love to hear from you!
