What's up, Chicago?

A newish collaborative site to answer that burning, eternal question:

Chicago Poetry Calendar Dot Org

The summer lazies...

...or not really lazies. More like the summer whammies. I've been outta touch, kids, due to a bunch of personal and family biz. Things have calmed down significantly since April/May, and I'm trying to catch up again and stay on top of announcements at the least. But the new content on this here blog has been lacking and may continue to be sparse while I focus on other things (like Bloof).

Which reminds me to say, if you haven't already subscribed to the DIYPPC news feed, you're missing lots! It's a handy way to keep tabs on most of the presses we're tracking here. You can reach it via the dark blue box in the sidebar too, but here's the link.

Stick that in your reader & feel the rush.

May your staplers remain full & jam-free.

The Best of Stain, Volume One

In the fall of 2008, Janice Brabaw created the music and literary series Stained Glass Confessional in Brooklyn, New York. After nearly forty performers and features in Time Out, New York, the Greenline, the Brooklyn Eagle, AMNY, and the NY Daily News, Janice is proud to announce the release of the chapbook anthology, The Best of Stain, Volume One.

The Best of Stain, Volume One features:

Swapan Basu
Janice Brabaw
Patricia Carragon
Mike Fiorito
Roxanne Hoffman
Valerie Jupe
Laurel Kallen
Nina Karacosta
James Kass
Frank Kelly
Jee Leong Koh
Harry Bentivenga Lichtenstein
NIck Loss-Eaton (Leland Sundries)
Jason Madison
Puma Perl
James Skidmore
Carrie VanDenburg
Darcie VanHamlin
Joe Yoga

Pre-order your copy TODAY. $7 including shipping. This is a limited run so reserve your copy now!

ORDER HERE! PAYPAL ONLY!

Please send check or money orders (made out to Janice Brabaw) to:

Tangled Up In Blue Productions
629 Grand Street
Brooklyn New York 11211

You can also pick up your copy at the BOOK RELEASE PARTY on APRIL 20th at the Stain Bar in Williamsburg @ 766 Grand Street.

This event is also STAINED GLASS CONFESSIONAL 4 which will feature Poets Laurel Kallen, Nina Karacosta, Janice Brabaw, Jessica Reed and musicians Lizzah Lohse, James Skidmore, and Mike Fiorito. Hosted by James Kass!!

Party Starts @ 7 with an open mic, features begin at 8!!

*** Also a special reminder that this MONDAY, April 13th, Stained Glass Confessional Presents

An Echo, A Stain: An evening of poetry at Stain Bar

Hosted by Lawrence E. Soehnel

Featuring Lawrence E. Soehnel, Janice Brabaw, Frank Kelly, Ameliia Terry, and Luis Bernard.

766 Grand Street in Williamsburg. Readings begin at 7:30. Open mic to follow features.

Poets House Showcase

The only event of its kind, the annual Poets House Showcase is a free exhibit featuring all of the new poetry books and poetry-related texts published in the United States in a single year—with more than 2,000 titles on view (including volumes by individual authors, anthologies, biographies, critical studies, CDs and DVDs) from over 500 commercial, university and independent presses. The Showcase provides writers, readers and publishers with a fascinating vantage point from which to assess publishing and design trends and linguistic, aesthetic and philosophical shifts. Established in 1992 by Executive Director Lee Briccetti, the Showcase reflects Poets House’s mission to make the range of modern poetry available to the public and to stimulate public dialogue on issues of poetry and culture.

Each year, Poets House adds the bibliographic records of all the books exhibited in the Showcase to its free, fully-searchable online database, the Directory of American Poetry Books. With over 20,000 titles, the Directory contains the most comprehensive information about U.S. poetry books and publishers from 1990 through 2008.

The 17th Annual Poets House Showcase
April 4-11, 2009

Opening Reception: Saturday, April 4, 1:00–4:00pm
Exhibit Hours: Saturday, April 4-11, during regular library hours

Catch an eyeful of what's happening in poetry today with this divergent, cacophonous display of all the new poetry and poetry-related books published in the United States in the last year. From micro-press chapbooks to masterworks from major commercial publishers, over 2,000 titles share shelf space for one week.

@ NYPL Jefferson Market Branch
425 Sixth Avenue (at West 10th Street)
For library hours, call (212) 243-4334
Admission free

A CELEBRATION OF THE CHAPBOOK: April 23-25

From Ana Bozicevic:

Dear Chapbook publisher:

I’m writing you on behalf of The Graduate Center and MFA Programs in Creative Writing of the City University of New York, The Asian American Writers’ Workshop, The Center for Book Arts, and Poetry Society of America to invite you to A Celebration of the Chapbook Festival. The Festival will run from April 23rd-25th in New York City, and feature a two-day Chapbook Fair, the purpose of which will be to showcase innovative new publishers and encourage networking and community-building between publishers, poets and scholars. We would be thrilled and delighted if you could attend.

Here are the details:

1) The Chapbook Fair will take place at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, on April 23rd-24th – from 10 AM-6 PM in the The Elebash Recital Hall Lobby of the Graduate Center on Thursday, and from 10 AM-6 PM in Rooms 8301/8304 of the Graduate Center on Friday.

2) You will receive one half of a 6’ table free of charge. Please remember to bring everything you need; the Graduate Center only guarantees you table space and two chairs. You must bring your own table coverings, signage, tools, adhesives, pens, markers, calculators, etc. For e-publishers, you will have wireless access.

3) All publishers will be able to keep the proceeds of their book sales.

Please RSVP via e-mail as soon as possible if you are interested, and note that there is limited space for tables, which will be given out on a first-come, first-serve basis.

For more information about the Festival and a full schedule of events, please see below. We hope you will be able to join us, and look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Ana Bozicevic

A CELEBRATION OF THE CHAPBOOK
Thursday April 23rd, 2009 - Saturday April 25th, 2009
A Celebration of the Chapbook festival calls attention to the rich history of the chapbook and highlights its essential place in poetry publishing today as a vehicle for alternative poetry projects and for emerging authors and editors to gain entry into the literary marketplace. The festival will forge a new platform for the study of the chapbook inside and outside the academy and celebrate the importance of chapbooks to America’s cultural heritage and future.

Thursday, April 23
at The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue & 34th St

Chapbook Fair
10:00am-6:00pm, The Elebash Recital Hall Lobby

Brief History of Chapbooks
3:00-4:30pm, The Elebash Recital Hall
With Isaac Gewirtz, Curator of the New York Public Library’s Berg Collection; Eric Lorberer, Editor of Rain Taxi; and Michael Ryan, Director of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at Columbia University. Moderated by Richard Kaye, Hunter College, CUNY

Chapbooks in the 20th and 21st Centuries
4:30-6:00pm, The Elebash Recital Hall
With Michael Basinski, Assistant Curator of the Poetry/Rare Books Collection of the University Libraries, SUNY at Buffalo; Anne Waldman, Chair and Artistic Director of Naropa University’s Summer Writing Program; and Kevin Young, Emory University. Moderated by Ammiel Alcalay, Queens College, CUNY.

Keynote Reading
6:00pm, The Elebash Recital Hall
Readings by Lytton Smith, Gerald Stern, Judith Vollmer, Kevin Young and others, with an introduction by Kimiko Hahn.


Friday, April 24
at The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue & 34th St

Chapbook Fair
10:00am-6:00pm, Rooms 8301/8304

Chapbook Now: Producing Chapbooks
A Workshop for Poets
10:00-11:30am, Room 8400
With Rachel Levitsky (Belladonna*); Sharon Dolin (The Center for Book Arts); and Ryan Murphy (North Beach Yacht Club). Moderated by Alice Quinn (Poetry Society of America).

Chapbook Now: Producing Chapbooks
A Workshop for Publishers
11:30am-1:00pm, Room 8402
With Jen Benka (Booklyn); Matvei Yankelevich (Ugly Duckling Presse); and Brenda Iijima
(Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs). Moderated by Rob Casper (Poetry Society of America).

To register, call (212) 817-2005 or e-mail abozicevic@gc.cuny.edu – registration is offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.


Friday, April 24
at The Center for Book Arts, 28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor

Bookmaking for Writers: A Studio Workshop
With Susan Mills and Karen Randall
2:00-5:00pm

Bookmaking for Publishers: A Studio Workshop
With Susan Mills and Karen Randall
2:00-5:00pm

To register, call (212) 481-0295 or e-mail info@centerforbookarts.org – registration is
offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. There's a $20 materials fee for each workshop.

RECEPTION
at The Center for Book Arts, 28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor
6:00 pm
All are welcome! Visit the exhibitions at The Center for Book Arts: \’fl \:art, text, new media,
Roni Gross: Zitouna at 20, and Spotlight: 2008 Artists-in-Residence.


Saturday, April 25
at The Asian American Writers’ Workshop, 16 West 32nd Street, Suite 10A

Collector’s Show-and-Tell:
The Secret History of Asian American Literature
Patricia Wakida
2:00-3:00pm

Publishing from the Margins
4:30-6:00pm
With Tan Lin; Dawn Lundy Martin (Third Wave Foundation, Black Took Collective); and Bushra Rehman. Moderated by Ken Chen (The Asian American Writers’ Workshop). Followed by a brief reading from the Workshop's Postcard Poetry Project.

RECEPTION
at The Asian American Writers’ Workshop, 16 West 32nd Street, Suite 10A
6:00 pm

Co-sponsored by The Office of Academic Affairs, The Graduate Center and MFA Programs in Creative Writing of the City University of New York, The Asian American Writers’ Workshop, The Center for Book Arts and Poetry Society of America

Participating Publishers
Achiote Press
Belladonna*
Booklyn
Cuneiform Press
Dancing Girl Press
Diagram/New Michigan Press
Flying Guillotine Press
Noemi Press
North Beach Yacht Club
Octopus Books
Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs
Rain Taxi
Sarabande Books
Slapering Hol
Small Fires Press
TinFish Press
Toadlily Press
Ubu Editions
Ugly Duckling Presse
and others

An interview with Michael Schiavo by Lytton Smith...

...wherein the poets discuss independent bookstores, independent presses, self-publishing, the Espresso Book Machine, and more.

Part 1

Part 2

Order your copy of Schiavo's Mad Song, printed by the Espresso, here. Or stop by Northshire Books, if you're in the area.

Happy New Year from Bloof

BLOOF BUNDLE SPECIAL: JANUARY 2009



Warsaw Bikini by Sandra Simonds
My Zorba by Danielle Pafunda
For Girls (& Others) by Shanna Compton
Drunk by Noon by Jennifer L. Knox

FREE SHIPPING...plus $5 from each bundle purchase
goes to benefit Poets in Need

That's 4 books for the price of 3, free shipping,
and a charitable cause we can all get behind.
What's not to love? $45.00

If you use Lulu...

I posted this in the Lulu forums. These charges have gone up since the last book I put out, but cannot be entirely explained by the increase in USPS rates.

Shorter: Poetry books are skinny and light + Lulu's packaging is heavy and mostly empty = Customer pays 37-60% over price of order for cardboard.

I was just testing a newly released book by logging in with a different nonseller ID to see what a customer would be charged.

The shipping + handling on a very lightweight (5 oz.) 80-page poetry book is $5.52 for Media Mail and $7.06-$9.16 for Priority, depending on where I told it to send the book. (Priority is priced by zones.) The price of the book is $15, which means Lulu's shipping + handling adds an additional 37-60% to the total! That's a whopping amount! I couldn't believe it.

There are 2 reasons for this (in my example):

1) In my opinion, Lulu's packaging is excessive. I recently received a single copy of this 80 page book--which weighs 5 oz. on its own--in a large box weighing 14 oz. That means the packaging weighs nearly twice as much as the book! This packaging is the same used for customer orders of 1-2 books. (I know this because I also shop Lulu as a customer).

2) Lulu adds additional handling costs over and above the cost of shipping. Lulu charges $7.06 for Priority shipping + handling of this package. But the postage is only $4.80 as calculated by USPS (using the same addresses/zones).The other $2.26 is for Lulu's handling. For Media Mail, USPS is $2.41, so Lulu is charging $3.11 for handling. Presumably, some of this charge goes to cover shipping materials like boxes and plastic wrap, which brings us back to point #1.

RECOMMENDATION: Lulu should consider reduced packaging for very small/lightweight orders like these! I can't imagine they'd send a single CD in a box this big. The box measures 11.5 x 14 x 1.5 and the book is only 6 x 9 x .185.

The same book could be sent with minimal packaging--a flat cardboard envelope with cardboard sheet and shrink wrap to protect the book, for instance--for even less than that. I mail 5 oz books ordered direct from our website for $1.68 using a sturdy envelope, a DO NOT BEND stamp, and USPS First-Class postage. For Priority orders, I use the FREE flat-rate envelopes provided by the post office and the cost is $4.80 (using the zones in my example).

I understand the need for protective packaging, especially when shipping Media Mail--the carriers don't treat it very nicely. But making Media Mail so expensive defeats the point of it. It's supposed to be discount postage!

Because I buy distribution packages for each of my titles, they are also available via Amazon, B&N, and other online retailers. I checked--and none of these other retailers charge as much as Lulu for shipping and handling. (They *all* use excessive packaging, alas.) For example, Amazon charges customers $3.99 for standard shipping/handling on this book.

A customer's total at Amazon would be $18.99 for standard shipping. At Lulu Marketplace it would be $22.06 for the same item. Where do you think they are going to shop?

I don't know the average size of books published via Lulu, but for thinner/lighter items like this, there badly needs to be an alternative. Most of the books in the Poetry section, and by definition all of the saddle-stapled books and chapbooks, must result in the same inflated charges. Why would a customer want to pay to ship a huge, mostly empty box--particularly in these times of high gas prices and tight wallets? They will go elsewhere, and Lulu sellers (and Lulu itself) will earn less in commissions as a result, even if total sales remain unaffected.

Make some noise if you agree. Lulu been pretty responsive to requests in the past, and maybe they'll consider it. In the meantime, I can't blame my customers for shopping with another retailer and I actually feel *guilty* directing them here just so I can make more.

Preorder special on Warsaw Bikini!

Sandra Simonds' new book Warsaw Bikini has been finalized and is currently printing. We're pleased to offer a special preorder price of $12 with free shipping to celebrate its release.

Orders should begin shipping on or about November 16, at which time the special offer will expire. (Regular price $15 + shipping).

Get yours at the Bloof store now.

This sale is now over. Thanks for your orders!

Introducing:

From the editors, Bryan Coffelt & Willie Ziebell:

Rain Fade is interference and degradation of a signal.

Rain Fade is the barrier between words and objects.

Rain Fade is the space between your eye and my eye.

Rain Fade is a new journal of interesting and innovative writing and visual art. We are interested in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, photography, painting, and much more. Send all submissions and inquiries to submissions@rain-fade.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Submit to Zero Ducats

From Scott Alexander Jones:

Zero Ducats, a print journal of fringe poetry comprised of paper entirely dumpstered and pilfered and acquired via freecycle. We will be printing up a few hundred copies on a commandeered letterpress in Boulder, CO this winter. Thus far, we have Linh Dinh, among others, on board, which is exciting:

zeroducats

Please pass the word along to any like-minded poets out there who might be interested in submitting.