Picking up on recent blog posts by Lesley Wheeler lesleywheeler.org and Matthew Stewart roguestrands.blogspot.com (but from a different angle), I wanted to talk about poetry and the use of social media to communicate/market it.
If you're trying to sell something, you're going to use every marketing strategy you know. That includes social media. If you have a product and you want/need to make money from it, then you need to sell hard and smart. There's so much competition, and, in these times of financial hardship, fewer people able to buy.
So far, so obvious.
But should poetry be part of that kind of marketing world?
Poets want their writing to be published - because that way it gets out into the world. Is that right? Or do they want the acclaim of being published? Social media is full of poets promoting their published work. Of course it is. We've all done it.
And there are a lot of poets and a lot of publishers, and they all want you to buy their books. There are many really good publishers who believe wholeheartedly in what they are publishing, and they want you to be able to read those works. But, in terms of poetry, they are trying to sell to a relatively small customer base, and that is dwindling in the current financial climate. Many are struggling. Some are offering discounts or special offers. Some have made provisions to ensure those with financial difficulties are still able to access their publications. Some are going under.
Why do we write poetry? Because we want to express how we feel? And, unless we're writing just for ourselves, surely it's because we want to communicate with others? To connect?
If you're writing poetry to make big money, you're kidding yourself. Only a handful of poets will ever really make money from their poetry publications. So, if that's true, why is it marketed in the way it is?
There are other ways that you can get your poetry to people, that don't cost money - for you, a publisher, or the people you're trying to connect with. Online sites, free downloads, for example... and a lot of people are doing that one way or another.
Yes, you'll still need to tell people about it - and back comes social media - but think how many more people you could connect with if they didn't have to buy what you'd written. How much you would have opened this world to more people who currently don't see it.
No, I don't want to put out of business the wonderful people who produce poetry publications. There will still be a market for them. But I would like more people to have the opportunity to read all the kinds of poetry that are out there.
And think how that would change your communication with people on social media. Not 'Buy this', but 'I would like to share this with you'. There are a lot of supportive people on social media and a lot of people who would like to join in. Let's help them. And help ourselves, too, to connect with people - more people than we currently can anyway.
I know it's more complex than this - but if we need a new take on things, and we do, then we need to look at new ways of connecting.
Postscript
I woke up screaming in the night (slight exaggeration), thinking that all the wonderful poets whose work I recommend will now be wondering what the heck I'm playing at. You can't say buy these books and then write the above. But I don't want people to stop buying books - if they can afford it. I know how much those books mean to those who, after years of writing and submitting and being rejected, finally get accepted, and then wait for ever to see the book out and in their hand. I just want other options to be available so that more can see what they've written. Some of the wonderful poets do have other ways that you can read their work too - and maybe that's the best of both worlds.
