call: hand-to-hand book sale tales

Inspired by this recent blog post at Vouched Books (thanks to Leslie Pietrzyk, prof at Converse College, for sharing on FB & of course to VB for writing in the first place), I’d like to make a Call for Hands – true tales about your fave hand-to-hand poetry book sales. 

Be it at readings, literary festivals, or in your office cubicle, if you’re a poet you’ve most certainly sold a book hand-to-hand – and it’s that personal one-on-one sales that keep us selling. Oh, sure, some poets will say they’re not interested in sales or that poetry, actually, doesn’t sell. Well, if you have a book the reality is you need to sell it. If you want another book. If you want to help keep our small presses alive. If you want to keep poetry alive. 

So, then, here’s the call: send me an email at lori@loriamay.com (rather than posting here in response, so we can keep these stories accumulated for a later reveal) sharing a favorite hand-to-hand sales moment. Maybe you sold a book to someone who “just doesn’t get poetry” or maybe you met a fellow poet and struck up a conversation that turned into a years-long friendship. Go on. Dig up the past and share the goods. Because, industry necessity or not, we all do enjoy sharing our work with others. 

Send in your fave moments of doing so and I’ll compile a hit list for the world (or at least my modest blog readership) to see. Who knows. You may just inspire a shy seller to get out there and work it a bit more. 

Send your hand-to-hand poetry book sales recaps to lori@loriamay.com. 

(Yes, of course, if you’re compelled to share your prose sales story, send it along. I’m open!)

new season, new look

Amidst all the busywork I’ve been up to lately, one of the things I am pleased to have checked off of my to-do list is updating my website. If you haven’t visited http://www.loriamay.com/ lately, go on over and have a look. I’ve revamped the entire site with a whole new look and added lots of new content, so I hope you’ll enjoy the transformation.

One of the things I am pleased to include on my site is a page dedicated to resources for writers. We writers always want to hear from others about the writing process, publishing, and tales of success so I put together a page that lists off some of the best resources I can name. I’ve included a few titles of books I have particularly enjoyed; these books are for writers about writing. I’ve also added some links to some great writing magazines, organizations, and workshops, so hopefully this page is a good starting point for useful info. Let me know what you think.

While I liked my old site well enough, I find there comes a time to switch it up. Not only does it serve the viewer – you – by providing something new to look at, it also helps me to redesign from time to time. That way I am always keeping things fresh, adding new content, and increasing the user-friendly features. My hopes for the new site is that you find it informative, entertaining, and worth visiting again.

Hands down, one of the most important tools a writer has in sharing their work with others is a website. Yes, social media tools like facebook, twitter, and communities such as shewrites.com have a big role in connecting with others, but a website is a must. Why? Because you have to have something static. Something that always exists and shows off your work, your style, and reflects what you are doing as a writer. Not only do readers want to know more about you as a person and what work you have on the go, but it’s also one of the first things an agent or an editor will look at when considering your work.

I hope you enjoy the new look and find the content useful. Please feel free to share your thoughts and reactions. If you come across any stumbling blocks, let me know so I can fix it.

Time to get ready for today's launch party… hope to see you there!