The Haiku Foundation Forums

Thank you!

I am an outlier, hence the title of my online journal I created only back in November 2020, called Blo͞o Outlier Journal. In that journal there are some who had never written a haiku before, and some who are still new to haiku. Out of the 260 poets I published, no one was rejected. I did help maybe less than half a dozen, nudging them to a haiku that said what they wanted.

I wish I did know Charles Dickens, and even moreso H.C. Andersen, but those name droppings aren't because they are 'mates'. 

I was actually a little spellbound to have met Simon Armitage, but that was during a Diploma in Creative Writing at the University of Bristol. A difficult time for me as I was a full-time carer to my mom, and Karen developed M.E. (Myalgic encephalomyelitis): https://www.meresearch.org.uk/what-is-me/

Of course there is elitism in any area of life, and like my adoptive father, I've avoided being in a "gang" and lazily relying on nepotism.  I am an enabler where and when I can be though. And I am not in anyone's favor or patronage.

Dear catenate, you have been accurate in this post. And I thank you for that.

Joshua Gage created this post, and for some time I was the only one to answer, for what I assumed was a genuine request for a response.

The question was:
"... I'm wondering if anyone knows of any other presses that routinely publish haiku books. This just seems a limited option for folks who either aren't in the cool kids crowd or, alternately, don't have the money to publish their own books."

Indie presses can come and go, and sometimes we have to create our own, or keep searching for news of a press. If you do not already know about Cyberwit which is well known amongst haiku poets in the USA, India, Europe etc...

Publish Poem Collection | Poetry Submission
https://www.cyberwit.net/pages/Publishingprocess

There will be others I am sure.

I can't create a press, but I created my journal so people from all areas of haikai literature could have something published for Christmas Eve. I finished just after 4am British time Christmas Eve, as it was more work than I allowed for, and so Christmas was a bit of blur due to sleep deprivation in the two days I could allot myself! 

So sorry, not one of the elite, and any influence or power I have it's to help not hinder. In fact Karen is making a Call of the Page report on just how much outreach we do in fact. That doesn't even include what I do outside of Call of the Page.

I can only answer in my own manner. Obviously anything I say will not be taken in the spirit it is intended, so I will bow out.

Quote from: catenate on January 20, 2021, 11:05:28 PM

This doesn't seem quite fair to Alan.  It reads to me that he engaged you at length, trying (and perhaps failing) to understand your individual problem.  It seems to me that he tried to give you context and the advantage of looking over his shoulder at some of his experiences.  It's not unreasonable that you feel there may be elitism in the haiku world (I wouldn't really know), but based on Alan's responses to you I'm not sure it's fair to blame him for that while he's engaging you.

Alan,

You're snobbily name dropping, trying to show off that you're part of the elite, and then sneering at the folks who aren't. This is exactly the problem that I'm trying to discuss.

I haven't asked about marketing books; I'm well aware as a poet and someone who's had books published how much hustling and marketing goes into a book. I'm asking, very specifically, about publishers that routinely publish haiku collections.

So far you've mentioned two--Red Moon Press and Snapshots--both of which teeter towards elitism within the haiku community. I know there are one or two others, but as you've pointed out, they tend to fold or get drummed out as soon as they pop up. Alternately, they do virtual books, which don't seem to have the same selling power or clout in the poetry world as an actual, tangible book.

Outside of that, your responses have been about promoting books. That wasn't the question. The question is how to get a book in print. If the options are limited, basically two or three presses and some really problematic POD places, then I'd say there's a major problem in the haiku community that needs to be addressed.