----- Original Message -----
From: "Sue Stanford" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Gerald England" <[log in to unmask]>; "Poetryetc" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2005 4:36 AM
Subject: Re: Hi and little magazines


> Dear Gerald (and others),
>
> Thank you for your comments about the little magazines and the internet.
>
> My own thoughts are rather unformed...but this is where I am so far:
>
> I agree with you that it is easier to read poetry (or anything) on a page
> than on a screen. When it comes to many of the more established (but still
> in copyright) poets its quite hard to find more than a tiny sample of
> their work through Google. I wonder if this is a trend that will persist,
> but certainly the little money there is to be made in publishing poetry is
> more likely to get into a poet's pocket if s/he through a book or more
> 'prestige' paper publication.

Well I would hope so -- in the main -- if you could read ALL of a poet's
work on the net then why bother buying their book?


> On the other hand, it is much easier to get a first taste of a poet's work
> through the internet. I quite often read the poems on the Poetry Daily
> site and when I am impressed go looking for more of a poet's work either
> through Google or in a bookshop/Amazon.

Wish there were more poetry buyers like you around.

I've put a sample poem from each of the NHI publications on my Pickings
section
http://www.nhi.clara.net/pickings.htm
partly in the hope that readers will discover a poem/poet and go on to buy
the book/magazine.

I suspect the number of people who've bought a book having done so is very
very small, but one can only try these things and most small
presses/magazines usually have a showcase side to their websites.

Not many [Shearsman comes to mind for one] publish the same material both
online and in print.


> As far a publishing one's own work goes, the disadvantages of time and
> typos that you mention in your article make the internet a good option.
> Also one's poems stay available - anyone who likes one can look up more.
> (This can be embarrassing, of course, if you have second thoughts about a
> poem:-)

This may or may not be the case.
Internet sites don't last for ever as rule
many disappear after a year or two
some because the editors re-use the pages
some because they change their ISP or don't renew their domain registration.


Publishing in little magazines usually means a small readership and
> generally a once-only reading. And, realistically, not everyone reads
> right through even the little magazines they subscribe to. Also a longer
> poem is more likely to be published on the internet (where much less risk
> is involved for the editor). I guess that does not mean that it will
> always be read right through :-)
>
> Little magazines seem more geographically grounded. They seem often to
> reflect the work of a group of poets who do know one another face to
> face - or who come to do so.

The reason many magazines are geographically grounded as you put it
is often linked to the ways things are funded.

If you are publishing local writers you can get local or regional funding
because you are "doing something to promote the locality"

I was told many years ago when I first starting editing a magazine
that if I restricted my contributors mainly to the local region, I could
have funding
but by not doing so I wasn't a "local" publisher
and I couldn't possibly be a national [let alone international] publisher
since I wasn't based in London!


Sometimes it can be quite a clicky even exclusive
> thing - which has its good points as well as bad. (This can be true of
> internet publications, too, I know.) But I've got to know the work of
> quite of few of my fellow 'emerging Australian poets' though the small
> magazines that are published here. I don't have the money to subscribe to
> all of them at once - but do try to rotate subscriptions or at least read
> issues through libraries or complimentary copies. Of course, I can also
> (eventually) hear the work of many of these people at readings. Listening
> to someone's work can make you want to read more and visa versa. So the
> little magazine functions to make a local poetry community more cohesive.
> The points of contact with people who also publish with the same internet
> magazines are limited. (Except if you share a mailing list. Even then, my
> limited experience suggests that apparently quite intense friendships will
> not persist without the mailing list.)


I'd have to refute that last statement -- I've met a number of people via
mailing lists and have maintained good links and friendships with them
outside of the mailing list which originally introduced us.

> Then again, this face-to-face community can seem limited at times. The
> difficulty of 'success' when it's hard to get into print and particularly
> to get a book published makes for cross currents of rivalry, even
> jealousy. Sometimes even friendly support can be a bit stifling! I want to
> get out and read different kinds of things. I want to try a different
> audience. And - I have to admit - I want to get some damn poems out there!
> Then the internet is great!
>
> I have subscribed to American and British little magazines, but only when
> strongly recommended by friends or because of special interest reasons. (I
> see you are interested in haiku. I am too, and have subscribed to
> FROGPOND, MODERN HAIKU  etc.) But I am far, far less likely to subscribe
> to a small overseas magazine. These days with THE HERON'S NEST, SIMPLY
> HAIKU etc I find I am no longer much interested in the little haiku mags.


Do try some of the Australian/NZ haiku magazines!

> What do others think?
>
> best, Sue
>

yours

Gerald England
New Hope International, Haiku Talk
reviews, poetry. travel photography and more
http://www.nhi.clara.net/index.htm