Thinking about getting her work published..(rantish..)

I say you should go for it! What do you have to lose? Worst case: someone's opinion differs from yours and they decide not to publish you. No harm, no foul (aside from you being bummed, of course). But I think you're probably better than you give yourself credit for, considering you've already been published before.

I'd love to read some of your stuff. Feel free to post it! I'm sure we'd all enjoy it!  

Take any poem that poetry.com published and put it in a safe place. Don't submit it anywhere again. (Unless it is specified that previously published poems are okay.) Take any poetry you have online offline. Then go to a library.

Find the literary magazines that you think you would like to submit to and read them. Read the back issues to a year in the past. If you feel what they're publishing meshes with what you are writing, look into their submission guidelines. Buy Poet's Market 2009, and look through it. Attend workshops or conferences if you have time and can afford it. Get friends (English teacher type friends are really awesome for this) to review your work and give you feedback. Tell them to be completely, candidly honest.

And... don't ever simultaneously submit to the Georgia Review because they will black ball you if they find out.

(This advice only applies if you're looking into getting published. If you're looking into self-publishing, that's another story - which I also know about.)

I'm considering self-publishing. I can't afford the whole deal. What I've found for publishing is highly expensive. 

Here's one of them.  I like this one. It made me think after I wrote it

So get published anyway. Some of the stuff you think is trivial will go on to be a best seller. The most popular songs of all times started out life as a finger exercise and a warm-up.

"Stairway to Heaven" started from an arpeggio that Jimmy Page used to warm up his fingers. It was recorded in one session at his castle. It's not even Robert Plant's favorite song. Out of "nothing" came the most requested rock song of all time.

The beginning riff in "Sweet Child O'Mine" was Slash's idea of circus music. He would play it when people were bustling about setting up this and that. It was their breakout hit and there's not a person in the world that hasn't heard this song, born out of a spoof on guitar.

Jamie Lane of Warrant wrote "Cherry Pie" at the insistence of his producer. He wrote it in 15 minutes, hoping that it would be crappy. It's their signature tune.

Quiet Riot was asked to cover the song "Come on Feel the Noise" by Slade. They never liked that song and were not big fans of Slade. They conspired to record in one take as "lousy" as they could manage and it was a world-wide hit.

Point being, you, the author, can't decide what is good or not, sales-wise. The public does that.

So, publish. Your adoring fans await ...

Ahh... In that case you should look into a POD (Print On Demand) type of deal. I know that both Lulu.com and BookSurge.com are that style of printer. BookSurge has the advantage of being associated with Amazon, while Lulu charges extra to put your book on Amazon. I've only used Lulu, but BookSurge got lots of high praise at the conference I went to - and I've had good correspondence with them so far.

Be prepared, however, not to make any sales unless you are willing to put money into marketing right now. There are certain techniques that are more effective for raising awareness of your book such as blogging, websites, and other types of advertising (bookmarks or cards with your book's information on it).

Poetry's a tough market, and if you do self-publish and sell over 500 copies, those poems are considered pre-published and are no longer able to be submitted to literary magazines. If you just want copies for yourself, your family, and your friends - then I'd say research it some, and go for it. If you are looking to make an impact somewhere, consider getting published because you're more likely to get noticed.

Hmm.. Well that's given me a lot to think about. Thanks for the advice!.

And Ron.. I don't have any fans that I know of  

ron2

Point being, you, the author, can't decide what is good or not, sales-wise. The public does that.

So, publish. Your adoring fans await ...

That is a good point.. 

And it may take a while. My favorite author Heinlein stated that he could wallpaper his office with rejection notices, even after he was already published. So, if one publishing house doesn't like it, try another.

In case you don't know, Heinlein wrote such books as "Starship Troopers" and "Puppet Masters" which were made into movies. He was and still is considered the dean of american science fiction. And he had rejections and harshing editing to contend with, just like anyone else. If you have something to say, someone is going to listen to it or read it.

ron2

Quiet Riot was asked to cover the song "Come on Feel the Noise" by Slade. They never liked that song and were not big fans of Slade. They conspired to record in one take as "lousy" as they could manage and it was a world-wide hit.

ron2

The beginning riff in "Sweet Child O'Mine" was Slash's idea of circus music. He would play it when people were bustling about setting up this and that. It was their breakout hit and there's not a person in the world that hasn't heard this song, born out of a spoof on guitar.

LOL

I'd never forget you guys!! I'd send you all thank notes for buying my book. Lol

I highly doubt my books would make it to movies.. But.. I'll give it a shot!  I've started researching stuff for my first ever novel! *crosses fingers* 

I knew there was a reason I liked this forum besides the advice on dogs! 

oranges81

I'd never forget you guys!! I'd send you all thank notes for buying my book. Lol

I highly doubt my books would make it to movies.. But.. I'll give it a shot!  I've started researching stuff for my first ever novel! *crosses fingers* 

I knew there was a reason I liked this forum besides the advice on dogs! 

ron2

Point being, you, the author, can't decide what is good or not, sales-wise. The public does that.

Janet808

oranges81

I'd never forget you guys!! I'd send you all thank notes for buying my book. Lol

I highly doubt my books would make it to movies.. But.. I'll give it a shot!  I've started researching stuff for my first ever novel! *crosses fingers* 

I knew there was a reason I liked this forum besides the advice on dogs! 

See!  Glad we're building up that confidence level!!!!  Now get to work! 

*grabs a pen and paper* Yes Ma'am!

But I have writer's block. Lol.