Fortunate for my ego, I did manage to sign one copy to an attendee. Good enough for a first go. At the shop owner's request, I signed a few other copies in advance for anyone who will buy a copy of Echoes in my absence. I don't expect to make much in the way of income from Echoes. The important thing is to get it out there and into other hands.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I read my work publicly at the San Francisco Writer's Conference. I had read a third poem, and was walking back to my seat, when a woman gently took hold of my arm and whispered, "Thank you! I used to write like that, too!" I have witnessed this so often that it became an imperative that I publish Echoes.
There is a definite need of reinforcement for the rhyming poet of today. I have met a number of rhyming poets who allude to their style in decibels barely above a whisper. In a recent Goodreads post, someone was stymied about her rhyming craft, and asked others in the group if it's okay to rhyme. I wanted to shout, "O f course it is!!!
It is this, more than anything else, which is spurring me on to publish other volumes of my poetry as soon as I am able. I, too, have hidden in the shadows with my work, only rarely mentioning that I rhyme, and usually in an apologetic stance. I have been biding my time, waiting for that tiny fissure in the facade of Poetry to appear.
I took a leap of faith in April at the insistence of my supportive family, and loosed Echoes on the world. The hope is this: the more that other rhyming poets find rhyming verse in published books, the more heartened they will be to publish their own work. I'll write further about the self-published poet route in my next post.
As promised above, and for the entire month of July, I am offering free downloadable copies of Echoes, Neo-Victorian Poetry on smachwords.com. For those of you who have purchased a copy already, I thank you most earnestly for your wonderful support. You have truly and deeply helped this rhyming poet. Thank you!!!