Let's do it! Let's publish a "LitNet Poetry Anthology"!
This is an idea our fellow LitNetter desiresjab has recently come up with and has exposed in his thread in the "Poems, Poets, and Poetry"-section. He was so enthusiastic that he has even opened a submission thread in the same section. In order to comply with the rules of that section, I think it would be better if we opened the thread over here. I've taken the liberty of copy-pasting desiresjab's first two posts beneath.
Now let's start with some simple and clear Guidelines. These are neither exhaustive nor definitive nor binding. Merely my humble suggestions – if you have better ideas on how to run the project, how to improve the rules etc., please let us know!
1. Submissions:
- No limitation as for the amount of poems you submit.
- You can submit your own poetry as well as poems written by fellow LitNet members (in this case make sure you include the poet’s LitNet Forum name).
- The submitted poems may be original work or poems already posted on this site.
- Submit poems only (no short stories, scenarios, etc.) and do not submit poetry from writers outside the LitNet – this should be our showcase, right?
- If you notice that one of your poems has been submitted but do not wish to participate or do not wish to be included in the book, please PM me, and I will withdraw it from the “selection pool”. Bear in mind that I might not be able to withdraw it from the thread, though.
2. Feeback:
This should be a shared LitNet experience so we absolutely need your feedback on submitted poems! Consider yourself co-editor of this project. In order to ensure that the submitted poems can be easily browsed and to keep this a “neutral” ground, however, I suggest we all refrain from posting comments on submitted poems IN the thread – please send me a PM instead. I will centralize your feedback, which will be taken into account when we get down to selecting the poems. If you PM me with a question, please don’t be cross if my answer takes more than some minutes; keep in mind that I have a daytime job and that we might live in different time zones.
3. Deadline for submissions:
Oct. 6th, 2016 (can be adjusted if necessary).
4. Selection:
With all your (hopefully plentiful) feedback, we will select the very best world-class top-notch poems and send out PMs to the selected poets asking them for their consent before publication. Please note that any poem for which we are unable to get the author’s consent (whatever the reason) will not be included in the book.
5. Layout, publication:
I’m a graphic designer and have already published several books (hard copy & ebook) for several writers on one of the biggest and best-known online bookstores via their POD- and ebook-platforms. Thus, re. layout, account-creation, file-upload etc., I offer my services for free.
6. Promotion:
Even if we’re not there yet, I’d like to stress a very important point: it’s a good thing to have a book available in one of the biggest online bookstores. Yet if no one knows about the book’s existence, no one will be tempted to buy it. Once again, we will need your help. I’m sure many of you have one or several social media accounts (Facebook, google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, whatever) and/or run a blog. It would be wonderful if we all could share news of the book once it’s being published and available online. If (and only if) we all participate in the book promotion, we can really make this happen!
7. As for the eventual proceeds of sales, I think they should be split amongst the authors in proportion to their place in the book (not on a page basis but on the basis of selected poems, I suggest). My intention is not to earn money on the back of fellow poets, I assure you (if that was the case, I wouldn’t “do” poetry). Any other ideas are welcome, of course.
I have contacted the admin and the senior mods by PM to briefly expose the project to them and to ask for their feedback. Until I hear from them, we do not know whether we'll be authorized to call our book "The LitNet Poetry Anthology" (and use the site logo) or not. But I think that shouldn't stop us. desiresjab has kicked off this project, so let's do it!
For questions, suggestions, ideas, you can PM me whenever you want. Or you can post them in the thread where desiresjab has brought forward the idea of a LitNet Poetry book being published – it's here.
And now – we are impatient to read your submissions!
dieterm @ desiresjab
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