​Hello my lovely Write Queen readers!

I am happy to announce that I almost done editing the Home Sweet Home manuscript. I have just finished making edits to the poems I have selected for this collection. That is usually the biggest battle for me. Once I know the poems are where I think they should be, the rest of it is not so hard. 

Now I have to decide on the exact order they will go. While the theme is apparent and the poems can stand by themselves, I like to think that when I choose poems to be put together like this, that there is a slight story to it. The order isn't the hardest task, but gives me the most insight on my thought process and vision for my manuscripts. 

It develops slightly as I am choosing and editing poems, but now it's time for me to put the puzzle pieces together. Now it's time to see what Home Sweet Home really is.

After that, it's all about formatting for submission. I learned with Late Night Feelings that different presses will ask for different things (cover page, no cover page, acknowledgements, no acknowledgements...see where I am going with this?). So I will need to have at least six different versions of the manuscript for submissions.

With formatting, my biggest challenge is the Table of Contents. In Microsoft Word, you must have your pages formatted in a certain way in order for the TOC to generate. This consists of what fonts you use and the Styles section that I bet no average user pays attention to. I won't get into those details now (you'll just have to come back and see a future post.), but it can be a pain in the neck.

I am so excited to be almost done!

I can't finish it today because I am on my way to treat one of my best friend's out and I have tons of other editing work to do when I get home, but it will be finished before the end of the month.


Until then, enjoy your weekend my loves!

Hello Write Queen lovers!

I've been blogging about new manuscripts, tips for revitalizing submission opportunities and my thoughts on the print vs. e-book argument plus what self-publishing means to me.

You can check it all out on:

Or just click on the book tab!

There is nothing like the feeling of a book in your hands. 

If it's new, it's the feeling of anticipation running through your veins.  If it's used or borrowed, it’s the acquisition of someone else’s secret, waiting to become yours. A dog-eared favorite feels like you are holding hands with an old friend. And if it’s your own, it’s a feeling of highest accomplishment a writer can achieve (except maybe certain awards, but we don’t write for those). It all boils down to that gush of emotion that comes from just the feeling of the pages beneath your fingers. 

With that being said, let me pitch my feelings towards eBooks and eReaders. It’s less personal, but it’s instant. You can’t feel the contours of the pages; you cannot feel a physical connection - but you can become absorbed immediately. If a writer has done his or her job, the words have put you under a spell. You stop paying attention to the lack of paper underneath your skin and get pulled into the story. The fact that you can access millions of books at once; being able to carry your whole library in the palm of your hand is the epitome of having the whole world in your hands. 

With both perspectives on the table, I want to talk about my current struggle: wanting to publish my chapbook in print and in digital format. 

There are not many small presses willing to do both. Most presses will give you a limited run on your book if it's in print (saddle stitch is not easy to reproduce at a whim - and on little to no budget). The presses that are willing to go the digital route will only make it available digitally. The ones that do both are either highly competitive, will only publish a full collection, or have requirements that do not match with my body of work. 

While I am in the constant pursuit of finding presses that will meet this desire to be traditionally modern, I have been toying with the idea of self publication. I know that there are plenty of options in the Print On Demand world that will fulfill this request with ease. 

The only problem? 

Credibility and expertise.

When you are published under a press, it gives you a boost. It says someone believes in my talent, my work, and is willing to vouch for both. It gives you an audience who is willing to check you out because their press says that you rock. A press is also a resource for learning and being involved in book design, promotion, and selling. They have a model that works for them and if you find that you believe in their mission, admire their set of authors, and your work fits their bill - your chapbook or book has a chance to barrel its way into the literary world.

With self publishing, you are left to your own devices. Everything is your responsibility and you have to take the time to learn. I do believe that with self publishing, it gives you an opportunity to turn yourself into something that goes beyond the title of author. Suddenly you are a book designer, a publisher, promoter and sales man. If you learn how to do it well, you will earn credibility that will outshine with negative connotation that comes with self publishing. 

If you don’t do it well, your book is in danger of falling in the cracks. There will be no one to back you up.

Fear is never an option when you desire to publish this much however. Those who self publish are willing to take the chance.

Does that mean that you will self publish Christina? 

Not yet. While I am a modern day writer who is into all that is new in book publishing, I have some traditional whims floating in my heart. I want to be able to hold my first chapbook and see the imprint of a press that took the time to believe in me. If I see that I am not getting anywhere with pursuing presses, then I will work on going the self publishing route. For now...

Let's keep on trying!

Please feel free to let me know your thoughts on this matter. The comment section is always open!
​

Hello Write Queen readers and Late Night Feelings enthusiasts!

As I am patiently, but anxiously waiting for word on my Late Night Feelings chapbook submissions, I am currently editing two more chapbooks.
​
Sweltering Sugar

The first one I am editing is called Sweltering Sugar. It is filled with haiku, tanka, and other short form poetry. While editing Late Night Feelings, I found that I had a lot of haiku and shorter poems that I really enjoy, but did not fit the Late Night Feeling bill. I am a fan of writing haiku and short poems, especially during less inspiring times. 

Engaging in the practice of haiku as a modern (I say this loosely) day poet, makes me want to put together a collection that is fitting to that. To write short works that doesn't fit the whole "haiku as nature poems" bill is a personal project that I was not aware of doing, but has now spawned into several pieces. While most won't probably enjoy this collection, I really want to put this out. 

The title Sweltering Sugar came about from an obsession with the word sweltering and what these shorter pieces remind me of - sweet, tiny pieces of sugar, bubbling on the edge of your tongue - sweltering in the heat of desire, wonder, and fulfillment of language. I sat with the title for a while, even trying to come up with alternatives, but came up blank, solidifying the choice. The title of the book is the only thing that I am sure of.

What troubles me is length and format. As to date, I have over 160 haiku and short form poems, which makes staying with the typical chapbook length of 16 to 32 pieces challenging. When you have three line poems that only take up an inch of space, you also start wondering about format. I find that there are almost no resources for how to format a haiku chapbook/book. I don't know how many pieces can be on a page or different styles I can use for a layout. 

I swear that when I discover these secrets, that I will make a guide for other haiku writers. I think it's about time we have updated guidelines that fit with modern day haiku and short-form poetry, especially to be shared. 

Home Sweet Home

While I try to figure how to format the haiku chapbook, I've been editing another manuscript called Home Sweet Home. This manuscript has poems that reflect on home, family and self-image. I realized that I had a whole set of poems that talked about a different kind of love and struggle: the battle of self and family. 

I find that the poem selection for Home Sweet Home coincides with the time I first decided to embrace my life as a poet. Though there a couple of current pieces, the majority of Home Sweet Home are humble beginnings into the craft with my life used as the test subject.

Another guiding force comes from being particularly moved by past encouragement from the first professor that critiqued my writing. From daddy issues to moving, he endorsed these poems finding their way into the world. That has always stuck with me and after finally deciding to be brave and talk about my family and self-image, I go into this shaky territory remembering his support. 

The End...I promise!

Whew - this has been a long entry, but I wanted to share my new projects with you. It doesn't end with Late Night Feelings. We're just getting started.
​
If anyone has any suggestions, especially with formatting a haiku chapbook, please feel free to leave a comment!

​Over a year of this journey and I am still discovering new opportunities. This morning (honestly since yesterday afternoon, but most of my progress happened this morning.), I was googling to find out more information on the art of a mini-chapbook. 

What is a mini-chapbook? 

It's what Bitten in the Wake of Dusk is - a one-page print out that can be folded to take form of a six to seven page book.

I was researching more into this because I wanted to know a few things such as:

• How often is a mini-chapbook used?
• What are the best techniques to assure quality printing?
• Are there small presses that publish mini-chapbooks?
• Are mini-chapbooks profitable?
• Is it better to D-I-Y my mini-chapbook?
• How can I make a mini-chapbook more visually appealing?

Well now that I have an idea for a new post (coming soon!), I wanted to share a little tip while googling this topic. I discovered new resources! 

Some writers may feel sometimes that they have ran out of resources from their typical hub of sites. I know that I have been feeling that way. As introduced in Day 292, I often feel like I am running out of places to submit my chapbook. I decided to not compromise my manuscript unless it was absolutely necessary (finding my ideal press would be my compromise). This means that my resources for submissions has shrunk greatly. 

Now I have been revitalized with new leads! While some of the sites I visited did not answer the questions I had about mini-chapbooks, they did make me aware of presses I have not heard of before. A few new ideas have also started brewing in my head and I have discovered new writers along the way. All positives that came through a somewhat disappointing google search.

There were some disappointments in the discoveries I made as well. Some presses that I looked into are no longer actively seeking submissions while others have that depressing requirement of shorter manuscripts. Don't let the negatives you discover get you down! I found a handful of perfectly good opportunities and so will you when you start to google what peaks your curiosity.

So today's lesson my loves is to find opportunity in everything you do. You may find something that will help your projects or cause inspiration.

Enjoy your Saturday!

I can't believe it will be a year since I've started this journey in less than 90 days! I feel like I have not done much, but at the same time, I've done a lot.

I am still in the submission stage. Between money and time, the progress of submitting the manuscript to contests and presses has been slow. Like turtle slow. Submitting to one or two contests is one thing. Submitting to several at once is costly. 

The one thing that has helped me compile a list of where to submit is The Poet's Market 2013. When going through listings on websites like pw.org and duotroupe.com were becoming more time consuming than anything else, I bought the Poet's Market on my Kindle. Being able to highlight the names of presses or contests and being able to come back to them later in the Notes section is awesome. Being able to do that on the train with my Kindle is even better. Not only does The Poet's Market 2013 have listings for contests and such, it also has essays on a few topics in the poetry world such as Poetic Form. You should go grab a copy (Amazon has the best price!) and see for yourself.

So let's see, I've been researching, slowly submitting, and....creating query letters! Now being a journalist, you would think a query letter would be easy. It's not in the creative writing world because you are offering something for people to react and critique on, you are giving a piece of yourself to whom ever is alive on the other end of that letter or e-mail. In the next post or so, I'll post a sample of what a query letter looks like for creative writing. I will also talk about this wonderful thing called compromise and why I don't want to in the next post. 

But for now, good night Write Queeners. Don't let your Late Night Feelings get in the way.