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Thread: Have you been published?

  1. #16
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    Thanks for the complements on the poem. Bukowski, eh? Interesting.

    And don't give up, Darcy.

  2. #17
    Registered User Darcy88's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mutatis-Mutandis View Post
    Thanks for the complements on the poem. Bukowski, eh? Interesting.

    And don't give up, Darcy.
    I'm not a huge fan of Bukowski, I respect him more for his life-story than for anything he wrote, but I can see the similarities.

    I don't see the point in being published. Posting on this site, a site frequented by bibliophiles like me, seems better than having my book in stores. My professional incompetency is so stark, so heinously stark I believe it entirely possible that I will never get published in the sense of having a book out there in stores. I am okay with this. I don't mind having a day job. I don't mind living on disability. I don't mind making money by busking or playing dives. I don't mind living like a poor hobo-like creature. I enjoy my lifestyle. I enjoy it very much. It is the life-style natural to many of the people I admire throughout history - monks, writers, philosophers, generals, ect. All that really matters is survival and honor. I think I best keep my honor by posting my writing here for free than by kowtowing to some big publishing house. If they don't want me I don't want them. And from the emails I get its pretty darn obvious they don't want me. I am fine with this. There are a million ways to make money and support myself and any dependents I might have in the future. I love to cook, I love to play music, I love to sit here on litnet just writing, writing, writing in my spare time. The publishing houses like to think they own the writing game. They don't. The internet has opened doors and if a person has a day job or another source of revenue other than from writing, then that person has a power greater than that of the publishing houses.

    Rant over.

  3. #18
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    I read one of Bukowski's books, Ham on Rye, and wasn't too crazy about it. I've never read his poetry, so the similarities are unintentional.

    And that was a good rant.

  4. #19
    Registered User Darcy88's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mutatis-Mutandis View Post
    I read one of Bukowski's books, Ham on Rye, and wasn't too crazy about it. I've never read his poetry, so the similarities are unintentional.

    And that was a good rant.
    Thanks. Don't get me wrong - I consider Bukowski to be one of the great figures of the last century. But I consider him to be great in how he lived, not in what he wrote. To me he is a poor man's Henry Miller. I know this sounds harsh and a lot of Bukowski fans will bear their teeth at hearing it....but its my opinion.

    So I admire Bukowski, admire him greatly, but my admiration lies in my awe at how he lived, how he suffered, not in how he wrote.

  5. #20
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    I wouldn't worry about it. The Bukowski detractors far outnumber his supporters around here, lol.

  6. #21
    Registered User Darcy88's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cafolini View Post
    Publishing has nothing to do with making a living out of it. Making money requires good marketting, which is a separate and unrelated task. Most of you misinterpret the market and think that if you write well, you'll get rewarded for it. Ridiculous.
    This is so darn true, so darn true. Its about marketing, and even then, even if someone has a lot of attention, if one does not play by the rules....one will not get published. The publishing houses, as corporations, have incredibly large egos. I know for a fact that with the amount of attention I receive from the media that any book I put out there would sell like hot-cakes, but I still do not get emails or calls from publishing houses. I'm being stalked by reporters who want to write about slanderous criminal things and the fact that I resemble some movie star, and yet, even though I've sent a hundred emails in the past two months to writers and publishing houses - I am not being published. I laugh at it. Its like a big joke. I enjoy the fact that I make no money off my writing. Its like a big middle finger to the publishing giants that this potential source of revenue just sticks his writing up on the internet for free, for everyone to read. Its beautiful really. Its an act of rebellion. I've actually reached the point where if I were to receive a positive email from a big publishing house I would probably print it and then joyfully set it on fire. Their rejection of me during a time when I am receiving such a large amount of attention is down-right beautifully absurd, comedic to a wonderful degree. I love it, I really do love it. Hahaha.
    Last edited by Darcy88; 07-11-2012 at 04:12 PM.

  7. #22
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    I've been published a lot, over 25 years worth of writing poetry, and can promise you that you're never goint to make a living, nor much glory. Readings/workshops sometimes bring in a decent bit, but I've worked all my life and written when I could. I define myself as a poet, am proud of what I've done, but sometimes it seems like a pain in the arse. Can't stop it, though, and would be bereft and distraught if I lost the inclination. Good luck to you. Don't give up!

  8. #23
    Registered User Darcy88's Avatar
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    What I am interested in hearing is whether the writers here like their own work. I love my own work for about a week after its written and then after that I prize it about as much as I do the coupons which arrive daily in the mail.

    For that first week my work is revelatory, after that its recyclable. The people who accept submissions do not experience that first week wonderment. They must pour through so much stuff they shoot down anything that is not pure gold.
    Last edited by Darcy88; 07-12-2012 at 08:02 PM.

  9. #24
    Bibliophile Drkshadow03's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mutatis-Mutandis View Post
    I read one of Bukowski's books, Ham on Rye, and wasn't too crazy about it.
    I'm not a big fan of ham on rye either. I prefer Salami on Italian Bread.
    "You understand well enough what slavery is, but freedom you have never experienced, so you do not know if it tastes sweet or bitter. If you ever did come to experience it, you would advise us to fight for it not with spears only, but with axes too." - Herodotus

    https://consolationofreading.wordpress.com/ - my book blog!
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    The ending of Factotum is fantastic. This poster's relationship with his previous work is directly correlated with his relationship with himself. Anybody dreaming of being published is artistically immature.







    J

  11. #26
    Registered User Darcy88's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jack of Hearts View Post
    The ending of Factotum is fantastic. This poster's relationship with his previous work is directly correlated with his relationship with himself. Anybody dreaming of being published is artistically immature.







    J
    I agree. I have matured as an artist dramatically over the past year and have somehow lost the burningly obsessive desire to be published. Now all I want is to have my work read by people who love and understand real literature. I can achieve this without getting published. I send my stuff to my friends and I post it here and this is enough for me. If all I did was write, if I had no day job or no other hobby (which is the way it used to be) I know my writing would suffer. Sometimes you have to force yourself to write but its also nice to write only when you have inspiration. Luckily I feel inspired nearly everyday, but if I go a couple weeks without writing because I am busy with other stuff I don't get a guilty conscience like I used to.

    Engaging myself in other creative outlets has improved my writing. Painting and making music and training martial arts I think in a way enhance the imaginative faculty. Same goes for regular professions and hobbies. I do carpentry, sometimes for work and sometimes for fun, and I find it really engages my mind too.

    Anyway. Now that writing isn't the only thing I do I find my writing is much better, as is my editing.

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jack of Hearts View Post
    The ending of Factotum is fantastic. This poster's relationship with his previous work is directly correlated with his relationship with himself. Anybody dreaming of being published is artistically immature.







    J
    Well, I think that's a bunch of BS. Unless you explain yourself further. One can be a great writer and dream of making it big. The two aren't mutually exclusive. Frankly, it sounds like the mentality of a crappy writer trying to make himself feel better for not getting published. "I'm such a great writer, no one understands and I'll never get published." Right.

  13. #28
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    Shove it.





    J

  14. #29
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    Well, thanks for explaining yourself further.

    I'm sorry if I insulted you. I didn't mean to imply you're a bad writer. I have know idea what kind of writer you are. It's just the interpretation I came up with front your very glib statement. I've always liked you as a poster, Jack, but I'll be a smartass with my best friends on this forum.

  15. #30
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    Don't worry. We're cool.

    This reader's first response was based on personal experience. This reader has been every bad thing. It's bad to be fixated on your ego instead of your passion; the being published and getting read instead of the process. The process is enough in itself. Having been a bad writer in that way, and perhaps still being not so good, this poster just thought he'd throw in his two cents. This is not shoptalk to Jack of Hearts. This is something that has grown into his life in a way he thought no thing ever could.

    The great irony in this reader's opinion is that we do need other people in our life, in our art. But not to validate us. Someone to be human with.






    J

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