Why? Because print papers are dying. Meanwhile, online distribution is growing. What’s 2+2?

Well, literature is pretty much moving in the same direction, only slower.

I don’t think paper literature will ever die. There will still be newspapers in print. There are still radio programs that deliver the news, right? Old systems don’t just die off. They find their niche and hold on. So too do I think print editions of poetry will stick around even as the masses move to online delivery of a dying lit.

It’s already happening. How many poetry blogs are there? They’ve become sort of a cliche, a bit like family memoirs. The only people who care enough to read them are distant cousins. But the good ones really stand out. And it’s just a matter of time before a real literary “blockbuster” takes off in the digital world. There have been a few successes, but nothing yet really stands out as a true blockbuster in the NYT best seller sense. But I see it coming.

What do you see as the future of publishing for poetry and literature? Is there a new Gutenberg on the horizon?

Tin House Magazine debuted in 1999. Since then it has been a powerhouse of postmodern poetry while making inroads into a new era. Frankly, I think we’ve moved beyond the postmodern, but some postmodern icons are still represented in the pages of the magazine as evidenced by its recently published anthology.

The anthology is titled Satellite Convulsions: Poetry From Tin House. World Class Poetry has published its honest review and we’d like to share with you our thoughts about it.

Feel free to make up your own mind, but the review of Satellite Convulsions: Poetry From Tin House can be found right here.

From Ottoman Press and editor Caleb Rutkowski, the first issue is on the way. They like upbeat stuff in the vein of the Beats and New York School. Read more at WCP.

The contest is characterized by rounds where 12 participants vote on each other’s poems and the winners move on to the next round. Those who chose not to vote are eliminated immediately. The winners are declared by majority vote and in the final round, with 12 remaining contestants, all contest entrants are encouraged to vote. This is truly unique.

The entrance fee is 6 BP. The contest winners walk away with 50%, 25%, 15%, and 10% of 2 BP from the sum of all entrants. The profit from the proceeds are said to go to the Mines Advisory Group, a nonprofit agency that clears conflict remnants around the world.

The deadline to enter is April 30, 2009 at midnight.

For more information and the full details on contest rules, visit the Poetic Republic website. My recommendation to the contest organizers is to do the math and convert the British currency to the U.S. dollar equivalence if they expect to get entries from this side of the pond. At the very least, link to a currency exchange calculator.

New Poetry Book Review

On another note, I’ve published a new poetry book review – on Diana M. Raab’s most recent publication, Dear Anais: My Life In Poems For You.

And if you missed my review of The Trinity: poetry and art by David e. Patton, now’s your chance to catch up with that one. And don’t forget, you can join the WCP social club by clicking the Join button on the top right of any page of the World Class Poetry website and leave a comment on the book review pages.

Oh, and one final note: There’s a new publication listed on the World Class Poetry Publications page. Look for “bear creek haiku”. If you are a publisher or editor of a poetry journal or magazine that publishes poetry then add your publication to the list.

In the spirit of full disclosure, this won’t be for everyone. I find some of the artwork a little disconcerting and even some of the poetry. It’s not academic by any stretch, but if you’re the crafty sort of person who is into scrapbooking and digital art then this might be your bag.

The right words to describe Artella may be flighty, spirited, and leaning toward the feminine-right brain. I don’t mean any of that as an insult; it’s just a hairy-legged observation.

The Shoppes of Artella feature hundreds, maybe more, of products for all types of people, everything from fine art to fashion and jewelry to home decor. There are also books and recordings, cards and stationery, childrens products, supplies for artisans, educational resources, e-courses, and other miscellany. Artella Land also takes submissions for poetry and runs contests (I took third place in one in 2005 while in Iraq) and publishes a magazine that is distributed alternatively in digital format and print. A very unique product. If you have craft products of your own you can even sell them on commission.

As I said, this is a bit different than what most of us with academic backgrounds would be interested in, but if you enjoy sharing your art and poetic gifts then this might just be right for you. That’s why I don’t mind recommending Artella Land.

First, if you aren’t familiar with Facebook, you should get familiar with it. It’s what is called a social networking tool and it allows you to network with other people who have similar interests no matter where they live. There is quite a community of poets already using Facebook and every day I bump into more. The tools available to poets for promoting their books, chapbooks, individual publishing successes, blogs, newsletters and e-zines, poetry journals, etc. are fabulous and expanding every day.

I’d like to highlight a few people who I believe have done very well at using Facebook to promote themselves and other poets. This is not an exhaustive list, but these are observations based on my own use of Facebook and the networking that I’ve been able to do. I’m only sorry that I haven’t done more through Facebook until now or I’d have more to share. You can bet that I’ll be using it more in the future.

Belinda Subraman on Facebook

Belinda Subraman is the host of a podcast that promotes poetry and independent music artists. Her show is called Belinda Subraman Presents / Gypsy Art Show. She frequently sends out calls for interview subjects and poetry MP3s, which she then plays on her show. I responded to one of those calls and Belinda interviewed me. After her weekly show, Belinda then sends out a Facebook notice to all of her fans and friends to let them know the latest podcast is ready for listening. It’s very effective and I’m sure that Belinda Subraman’s weekly poetry podcast is very popular. I know I like it.

You can connect with Belinda Subraman on Facebook here.

Robert Lee Brewer

Robert Lee Brewer is the editor of Writer’s Market. He also writes the daily blog Poetic Asides. Robert is one of the many poets on Facebook who use the feed feature of Facebook to promote their blogs. Robert’s feed is very effective because he writes to his blog every day and every time he updates his blog an automatic notice is sent to all of his friends and fans to let them know they can read the latest update on Poetic Asides. I like this feature of Facebook because it means that I don’t have to subscribe to every RSS feed in the world to read great writing. I can be notified through Facebook that a blog is updated and click a link to read the posts that I want to read.

Connect with Robert Lee Brewer on Facebook here.

Didi Menendez

The real test to how effective you are at networking is how much you can get other people to do your promoting for you. Didi Menendez needs no help in promoting herself, but she has it. As the publisher of Oranges & Sardines and MIPOesias Magazine, Didi is well known in the world of poetics. But that doesn’t stop Grace Cavalieri from promoting O & S through a Facebook page.

I believe Facebook pages are one of the best ways to promote yourself online, and Grace’s page promoting Didi’s journal is a great example of a Facebook page.

Connect with Didi Menendez on Facebook here.

Connect with Grace Cavalieri on Facebook here.

What You Can Do With Facebook Pages

As stated earlier, this is not an exhaustive list of poets on Facebook doing great things. But I like what these people are doing. Facebook pages are powerful promotional tools because they are so flexible and much more accessible than Facebook profiles. A Facebook user can hide their private information so that others can’t see it without permission – even if the profile comes up on a Google search. But the information provided in a Facebook page can be viewed by anyone without permission and the pages can be found through search just like a normal web page. That makes a Facebook page a very accessible marketing tool for any creative person from poet to movie star.

There are many other great things you can do with a Facebook page, however. You can upload photos and videos, aggregate blog RSS feeds, promote events, publications, and upcoming readings and book signings. Virtually anything you can promote through a website can be promoted through a Facebook page – and you don’t have to have a lot of technical skill to be able to use it effectively.

And Facebook pages have the same interactive features that Facebook profiles have – that is, people can become fans, leave comments on your wall, start and enter discussions, and even upload their own photos and videos. That’s one powerful interactive marketing tool.

The World Class Poetry Toolbar Facebook Page

I’m always looking for new ways to promote the things that I believe in. That’s why I decided to write a Facebook page for the World Class Poetry Toolbar. Just one day after adding that page and promoting it to my Facebook friends I had a few more downloads. Of course, I get a few downloads every month, but to receive the number of downloads that I received the day after writing the page is pretty good. I’ll definitely be writing more Facebook pages and improving this one as well.

If you haven’t downloaded the WCP Toolbar, I’d encourage you to do so. You’ll have access to more than 30 poetry blogs,  nearly as many online poetry journals, poetry podcasts and radio shows, including Belinda Subraman Presents / Gypsy Art Show. And that’s just the beginning.

If you are a Facebook user and you haven’t connected with me yet then I invite you to add me as your friend. I’m looking forward to doing more networking through Facebook.

I opened up my inbox to filter out all the spam – because I have to do that on occasion – and while there I decided to read some of my very important e-mail. That’s when I discovered a reply to a submission I sent in 14 days ago. The submission was sent to decomP, an online literary magazine.

I discovered decomP through Duotrope’s Digest, which I absolutely love. After reading through some of the other poems in the journal and the poetry of decomPs poetry editor, Misti Rainwater-Lites, on her blog, I decided decomP might be a good fit for a few of my poems. So I put together a standard 3-poem submission. I almost always send 3-5 poems (unless a publication asks for more, or less) in my submissions because it gives an editor an idea of your style overall and provides more choices than just one poem.

The title of the poem to be published by decomP is “The Armor Dims” and it will appear in the December 2008 issue. I think the journal may have liked my poem “Old Goth” as well, but since it had been published previously I doubt they would have republished it since their guidelines say they do not publish reprints. But that’s OK. I’m proud to be published among the fine poets getting their work into decomP and I look forward to seeing it in December. As is customary, I won’t publish “The Armor Dims” until it has appeared in decomP. If you want to read it, you’ll have to read it there.

Rumsfeld’s Sandbox Update

A couple of weeks ago I asked for suggestions on dealing with an impasse with regard to my current work, Rumsfeld’s Sandbox. Many of you offered suggestions and you’ll be glad to know I listened. I decided to take out some of the poems that I was planning to include. It’ll make the book lighter. I do still need to make a few tweaks and I’ve got a couple of poems that have been written but that have not been added to the manuscript. I still feel as though it is missing something. I’m not quite sure what. There is something I’m not saying and I don’t know what it is. It needs more festering, I suppose.

I like Lilliput Review and have liked it since I first discovered it back in the 1980s. I’ve always thought Don put out a nice product. I don’t know why I never subscribed. It may have been because I don’t write too many poems under 10 lines, which is one of his submission requirements. But I highly recommend it.

Poets included in the two issues I have here include:

• Diane Di Prima
• Ed Baker
• Dennis Maloney translating Yosano Akiko
• Hugh Hennedy
• Wayne Hogan
• Greg Watson
• Kelley Jean White

That’s just to name a few.

These little books are a sweet treat because they are so unique. You’d think a journal as fine as Lilliput Review would be all glossy and slick or full of difficult poems. It’s not Poetry or Gettysburg Review. Thank God!

Don Wentworth also writes Issa’s Untidy Hut, the Lillie blog. A good read too. Don’t periodic broadsides are another treat and his contests are equally swell. I’m looking forward to receiving the rest of the journals each quarter.

For more information on Lilliput Review, visit the website.

Oh, and the new issue of Hyperbole e-zine is out too. Enjoy!