inspired: need some advice...

[softlyserpentine]

note: i originally posted this question in the poetry/literature forum where i usually put all my stuff, but i thought i would bring it over here since this seems to be the more appropriate place, and maybe to get more veiws or replies :)...

hello everyone! :)...i need some answers or advice on something {anything would be appreciated}...

recently someone replied to one of my poems saying that if i had a book of my poems they would buy them {i think that was YOU goldenweb...thank you }...and it really inspired me...i have heard things like that from various people before {also an english professor and author from my college...la tee da :)}...but now i am really thinking about it and i am really excited!

i want to gather a collection of my poetry and prose {and create a good deal more, too}, and work it into a collection of pagan poetry: a book of things that i feel and experience when it comes to my life and religion and spirituality as a witch {such as the gods, nature and ritual and maybe even love and all the other things that every human experiences}...and present them in a way that would relate to other witches {or wiccans or pagans or whatnot} and maybe inspire them to explore or express these things... {DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE??? }...

anyway, i am really excited and i have already started planning and trying to pick through and organize some of the things i already have...i really just want to know how i would go about doing this...what publications should i look into? is there a demand for poetry on the pagan market? is it even a good idea? i also don't know how i would go about finishing a manuscript, since i use a lot of style with my poetry and stuff {like a lot of ellipses, punctuation errors, and even made-up words every now and then...and i never capitalize ANYTHING!} i'm afraid it would not be acceptable...do those kinds of things still come into play with poetry? or is it pretty much the same as a regular manuscript {i read some advice given about that in another thread here}?

:erin

[Yasmine Galenorn]

[B][SIZE=2][FONT=Times New Roman]note: i originally posted this question in the poetry/literature forum where i usually put all my stuff, but i thought i would bring it over here since this seems to be the more appropriate place, and maybe to get more veiws or replies :)...i want to gather a collection of my poetry and prose (and create a good deal more, too), and work it into a collection of pagan poetry...

Okay, first off the bad news: it's very hard to place poetry, not many presses touch it, and it seldom sells (which is why most publishers don't buy it--they lose money on it). You would probably do best to start submitting to magazines first, get a track record behind you of acceptances, and then work on finding someone who will back a chapbook for you. A chapbook is a small collection (usually 60 pages or less) of poetry by a poet).

Also...read...read good poets who wrote in the mystical vein to see what they did, read modern poets to see how they approach their craft. Because poetry has form and rhythm, and isn't just a glomp of feelings on the page (not at all saying that's what you do--but a lot of people just pour their feelings out and then never learn how to revise and rework, and even poetry requires that for clarity). Poetry is the hardest craft to master of the writing arts because every single word counts. Nothing should be wasted or superfluous, or it takes away from the meaning of the poem. You need to learn how to break a line so it has best impact, to weed away everything that obscures your meaning.


anyway, i am really excited and i have already started planning and trying to pick through and organize some of the things i already have...i really just want to know how i would go about doing this...what publications should i look into? is there a demand for poetry on the pagan market?

I got my start with pagan-oriented poetry submitting to magazines like the Beltane Papers and New Moon Rising. You might read those journals and see what kind of work they publish and try sending them a few. You can find them on the web if you do a google search.

Good luck!
Yasmine :colorful: