Publishing
 

Okay, I am a poet and have been for a long time. I never let anyone read any of my works until recently. I let some people read some and they told me they thought they were very good, and one of those people is my advisor and saxophone teacher. He actually asked one of the composition students to use one of my poems in a composition and so now that is in the works, which I am very excited about!

A few people brought up the idea of trying to publish my poems somewhere, perhaps in a journal or something, I don't know. I would really like to try...but I don't know how, or where to start. Can anyone help?

Getting published can be a long, uphill battle, with little hope of actually getting your work picked up by a publisher, unless it's something that they really want to publish.

Another way to get yourself published is going the print-on-demand way - which is what I did when I published my book. Mainstream publishers and critics will scoff at the industry as being the new 'vanity press' but at least with print-on-demand you don't hafta shell out a whole lot of money and wind up eating the cost of hundreds of printed books.

Print-on-demand titles are printed only when the customer or the bookseller orders it. You don't get stuck with cartons of excess book stock. Publishing using a print-on demand service requires an initial setup fee of about $300-$500, which covers the publishing, distribution, basic promotional materials and a few promotional copies of your book; it's up to you to market it. Occasionally, they offer specials such as additional copies or hardcover/e-book production for free or a reduced cost.

Two places online that do print-on-demand publishing: iUniverse (www.iuniverse.com) and XLibris (www.xlibris.com) are the better ones out there.

CafePress (www.cafepress.com) also does print-on demand publishing, but you have to do the work to get it laid out and uploaded, and you set the selling price (which is any reasonable amount over the base price CafePress sets).

I knew full well when I published my book that it would only be enjoyed by a very small audience, namely my fellow high school classmates. It certainly isn't gonna make the bestseller lists, but for me it was a labor of love to put in writing some fond (and not-so-fond) memories of high school.

Here's my book, listed on iUniverse: Senior Year: Memories of the Class of 1983 of North Miami Senior High School. It can also be ordered online at Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble (online or at the store).

Best of luck getting your work published; if you have any more questions please feel free to reply in this thread or via PM.

You might want to pick up a copy of the Poet's Market. It gives you tips on being published and lots of addresses of places to submit to, any editorial requirements, etc. It's pretty helpful.

I dunno about publishing, but maybe you could start by getting all your work copy-righted......

The professor of the creative writing class I had my senior year asked me if he could get some of my poems published. I said no, but you might want to talk with professors in the English Department to find out if they can assist.

You can immediately claim copyright on any work by simply adding "Copyright © (year) by (name). All rights reserved." However, registering a copyright with the Library of Congress gives you even more protection. It costs $30 plus two best-quality copies of your work (that is, if it's published in hardcover, you send two copies in hardcover). When they receive the package, they send you a certificate of copyright registration by return mail. Copyright is good for the life of the author plus fifty years, and is renewable.

More info: www.copyright.gov .

other services like cafepress.com?
 

Has anyone used any other services out there like cafepress where you can create a variety of products (not just books)? If so what was it called and how did you like it?


What you can do with cafepress:
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/tour/

Shopper - I want to browse cool items I can't find anywhere else.
Website Owner or Entrepreneur - I want to create and sell products in an online shop.
Custom Gift Creator - I want to create a custom product for a gift or for myself.
Author - I want to publish my book and sell it online.
Musician - I want to release my original music on CD and sell it online.
Data CD Maker - I want to publish my presentation, video or software on CD-ROM.
Corporation or Non-Profit - I'm seeking cost effective e-commerce solutions for my corporation.