Mighty Mercury

Two-thirds finished with the best novel or collection of poems, art or photographs you've ever written? Unwilling to cool your heels pining for some fatcat publisher to recognize your stroke of genius and publish your work? Considering DIY (do it yourself)  self-publishing or Print-On-Demand publication (which means only so many copies as are ordered and paid for are printed and shipped by the publisher, all of which is kept track of by computer)? The reduction of hard copies makes sense, in this age of global warming, when more trees equals more air. Many independently-produced journals or "zines" are migrating to blogsites like WordPress, Blogger or LiveJournal, or consulting Issuu for layout or distribution concerns.

 

Many options are available to aspiring writers willing to sacrifice the magic carpet ride of conventional fame for sake of greater exposure. A number of sites exist offering simple publishing tools, among them Lulu, Wordclay, and a member of the Amazon group of companies, CreateSpace, of whom The Owl In Daylight author Tessa B.Dick said, in our recent interview, "It cost me nothing.  All that I ever had to buy was one proof copy of my book, and that was less than $20 including the shipping.  I am satisfied overall, but I am having trouble with the cover art.  Fortunately, Create Space is beginning to offer cover templates that will look better."

 

Small-press publishing is another option. Several companies exist around the U.S., among them Alternating Current Arts Co-op and Black Ocean, both located in Boston. The Chiron Review provides a directory of small presses specializing in poetry at its website, and a comprehensive overview of DIY publishing is available here.