Oprah, I’m Still Waiting for your Call!

by Terri Kirby Erickson
(Winston-Salem, NC, US)

Thread Count

If your vision is you and Oprah chatting it up in front of millions of viewers about your book of poetry, um…you're probably going to be disappointed, no matter which route to publishing you choose to take. Reading a good book of poetry is probably not a "Bucket List" item for most people. In fact, the majority of guys I know would commence with the "drop and roll" routine (i.e., recommended in case your clothes are on fire), if somebody started reading them a poem, possibly covering their ears and shouting, "La, la, la."

Women are a slightly more receptive audience, in my experience, but they do make comments like, "Wow, I could actually understand and relate to your work!" like this is a big surprise. Hopefully, with all the poetry slams going on around the country these days, the perception of poetry as rarified entertainment for academics and intellectuals, is changing. However, I can guarantee that unless you've been widely published in literary journals, are a college professor with a hefty writing resume and great connections, a celebrity, or Poet Laureate of your state, it is going to be very difficult to find a publisher for your poetry.

Thankfully, self-publishing is an option for those of us who don't have pages and pages of poetry credentials, and even some who do, who still can't sell their work to a publisher. It's all about money, as a rule, in the publishing world…and historically, books of poetry do not generate much income. They do, however, have a certain cache, so thankfully, there are publishers who do publish poetry. If you are an "unknown" author and want to try that route first, before you even consider self-publishing, I wish you the best of luck. However, at 46-years-old and without any poetic credentials to my name, I chose not to waste my valuable time knocking on closed doors.

Instead, I self-published (through AuthorHouse Books in Bloomington, Indiana), my collection of poetry entitled, Thread Count. It wasn't exactly cheap (although there are self-publishing options out there that cost less, even at AuthorHouse-you can shop around to find a plan that fits into your budget), but it didn't put us in the poor house, either, and I've sold more books than I ever imagined I would. The book itself is gorgeous and high quality, and the poetry apparently strikes a chord with readers, if my sales and poetry reading attendance are any indication! I'm still getting royalty checks, (not big ones, but hey, it's still a great feeling!) nearly three years out.

Of course, it took a lot of hard work to get where I am today. Once the book "came out," I took a copy to our local Borders, who reviewed the book and agreed to sell it. Through AuthorHouse, Thread Count is also available on Amazon and many Internet book sellers. As a result of my marketing efforts, I've done a commercial which aired on our local T.V. station, WXII, for the English department of my alma mater; been interviewed by "Triad Arts Up Close" on our local NPR station, WFDD; and have been featured in both a newspaper column and in a story about the teen poetry workshops I was teaching at the public library, in the Winston-Salem Journal. Forsyth Woman Magazine did a brief story on me in their "Women on the Move" section, and published two of my poems. Also, I was invited by Salem College to teach a poetry class for their "Courses for Community" program, and I became a member of their faculty for the fall of 2006.

I've done (and am still doing) a number of poetry readings for various entities, including many branches of the public library, as well as the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, North Carolina, and in every case, I sell a very respectable number of books.

In the years after Thread Count was published, I've been very busy with my writing. Publishing this book gave me the confidence I needed to start sending my work to journals and other venues, and my poems have been published or accepted by

Pisgah Review, The Broad River Review, The Dead Mule, The Christian Science Monitor, Paris Voice, Old Mountain Press, Thieves Jargon, Forsyth Woman, WomenBloom, Parent:Wise Austin, Silver Boomer Books, and the Hickory Women's Resource Center anthology: Voices and Vision: A Collection of Writings By and About Empowered Women. My poem, "Bobbing for Apples," won second place in the category of "Light Verse" in the 2008 poetry contest sponsored by the Poetry Council of North Carolina, and will be published in the 2008 edition of Bay Leaves. The Northwest Cultural Council also selected my work in 2006 and 2007, for an international juried poetry exhibit.

Of course, you can't self-publish a book and crawl into a cave, hoping it will sell. YOU have to be the one to sell it. But if you invest as much time and effort in marketing your book as you did in writing it, you might be surprised at how far you will go. I know I was…

If I had it to over again, I wouldn't change a thing. I've been thrilled with my experience as a self-published poet. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to see his or her book in print while still fairly coherent and able to amble up to podiums without the assistance of canes or walkers!! It really was a dream-come-true for me, and with a bit of talent, luck and drive, you can achieve your writing dreams, too! (Although, I have to admit that I'm still waiting on that call from Oprah's "people!!!").

Best of luck to you,

Terri Kirby Erickson

Visit Thread Count.