Tuesday, March 19, 2013

#67 - Jeff Simpson

How often had you sent out Vertical Hold before it was chosen for publication in 2011 by Steel Toe Books?

I was extremely lucky. Steel Toe picked it up in the first round of contests I entered.

Tell me about the title. Had it always been Vertical Hold? Did it go through any other changes?

At one point I was going to call the book Crybaby, but Vertical Hold was actually the first title I came up with. Growing up we had this old TV set that had been struck by lightning a couple of times, and you really had to fiddle with the v-hold dial to get the picture right. I always loved the sound of those words together and how the act of image stabilization is a perfect metaphor for writing poems: You put language in vertically running columns and try to assemble this flood of images into something steady and meaningful. Plus, I make a lot of movie references in the book. For me, it’s a perfect title even if no one younger than 30 knows what the hell “vertical hold” means.

It seems like there’s a possible misconception among some poets who are trying to get their first book published: that they must win a contest. Were you concerned about winning a contest at any point? What advice would you give to poets sending their book out now regarding contests versus open reading periods?

I agree it’s a misconception. There are a dozen or more ways to get a book published, and I think you have to consider them all and weigh them against your expectations. As much as we want to believe publishing is this romantic enterprise in which the best work gets noticed and supported, it’s just not the case. Like anything, publishing is a game, and every avenue of publication has its own set of rules and practices and competing sets of outcomes.

I was very concerned about contests before sending the book out because that’s how most poetry titles are published. I love independent presses, and the open reading model that many of them use feels less dirty than the contest model. Still, most small presses can’t offer advance money or marketing support, whereas a contest can, on reputation alone, help market the book on top of providing a few dollars in prize money that can be spent on shit like book tours, etc. It’s all about looking at the pros and cons and choosing which route best fits your goals. 

What was the process like assembling the book? How many different versions did it go through as you were sending it out?

At least a dozen or more. Besides editing on the screen, I spent three days looking at the page-by-page layout on my living room floor trying to decide if poem A should come before poem B or where to put the section breaks. I agonized over the smallest details, trying to create these complex patterns that would work like a concerto, knowing all the while that most readers wouldn’t notice the arrangements (or give a shit if they did). Ordering is essentially an arbitrary thing, but when you think of your book itself as a large poem assembled from its individual parts, you can drive yourself crazy trying to create this intricate design. Having gone through the process, I think I now know how to approach the next one without wanting to kill myself. It’s like what they tell novelists about learning to write a novel by first writing a failed novel. It’s the same thing. You have to put together 37 bad versions of your book before you figure out the right order…or at least the order you settle on.

How involved were you with the design of the book—interior design, font, cover, etc.?

I was heavily involved. Steel Toe was super great about letting me have a say about the design. They were fine with me choosing the cover image so long as the photographer didn’t charge a fortune for the rights. After I picked the cover image, the designer, Molly McCaffrey, sent me design proofs of the covers, interior design, etc., which she nailed. Steel Toe has treated me unbelievably well, and the best part of working with them was how open they were to letting me have a voice on the design and editorial changes.

What about the publication of the actual poems in journals and magazines prior to the book being published? Was there ever a concern for you to have the majority of the poems published before you were sending out your manuscript?

There was a time when I was really concerned about publishing as many poems in journals as I could, but that was largely due to worrying about building a CV for future academic employment. I think it’s important to publish early in your career in order to make a name for yourself and start building an audience. Besides that, I don’t think poets need to worry about publishing 80 or even 50% of the poems in journal form prior to publication. There’s something to be said for creating an expectation with your work in journals so you can exceed those expectations with the quality of your book. There are a handful of poems I purposefully left out of print prior to the book release so they’d stand out and offer something new to the poems that had already been read. You want to create movements and rhythms and moments of surprise within the book, and it’s tough to do that if all poems are archived on the Internet.

How much work did you do as far as editing the poems from the day you knew the book would be published to its final proofing stage?

A ton. Another great thing about working with Steel Toe was that my editor/publisher, Tom C. Hunley, had me go through six or seven proofreading drafts, which gave us lots of time to fine-tune and catch typos. I also wrote three new poems (about 10 pages) that were not in the original manuscript, so there was a lot of writing and editing happening before the final proof. I’m obsessive-compulsive about editing anyway, so the drafting process felt right at home. And it’s great to have an editor who’ll work so hard to make sure everything is as close to perfect as possible before going to print.

What do you remember about the day when you saw your published book for the first time?
 
I remember how surreal it felt to open a box with 20 copies of my book inside. It took a good month or two before the idea of having a book felt real.

How has your life been different since your book came out? 

I have a slightly bigger audience, and I get to say, “I have a book” at parties and social events. Everything else is pretty much the same.

If you struck up a conversation next to someone seated on an airplane, and after a few minutes you eventually told them that you were an author who had a book of poetry published, how would you answer their next question: “What’s the book about?”

This is a tough one because the book is about so many things. I grew up in rural southwest Oklahoma surrounded by farming and ranching, and Vertical Hold is broadly about growing up in a particular time and place with a particular kind of family. I had one foot planted in this western, blue-collar world of combines and cattle shoots and the other submerged in books, music, video games, and HBO. I find the tension between high and low forms of culture—physical labor and questions of ontology—and the ways in which these things intersect our personal histories, endlessly fascinating. But my wife said it best in her introduction for the book launch party: “Vertical Hold sings not only of what we might have lost in this postmodern, media world of our own creation, but what we’ve found, offering a space to move forward, taking Bruce Willis by one hand and Barry Switzer by the other.”

What have you been doing to promote Vertical Hold, and what have those experiences been like for you?

I try to read as much as I can to expose new audiences to Vertical Hold and the poems I’m writing now. Besides readings, I have a website and use Twitter and Facebook like every other writer I know. I love giving readings, but I wish we still lived in the heydays when presses took care of the marketing side of things. Even though social media is a profound tool for communicating with readers and friends, most days I wish it were never invented. I’m a little sick of the endless marketeering writers feel they have to be engaged with to get noticed and sell books. I know it’s just how things are, but I’m careful about not letting book promotion steal too much time from the actual ass-in-chair writing I’m supposed to be doing. The poet Todd Boss co-ran a book promotion blog called Squad365 for awhile that I think is now defunct. He argued that book promotion should be a year-long event in which you’re always reading, posting, and showcasing audio and video recordings of yourself. 365 days is excessive and a little too Ringling Bros. for my taste, but I’d also say it’s damn effective.   

What advice do you wish someone had given you before your first book came out?

Start the promotion 4-6 months before the book comes out. I wish I had lined up more reviews of the book prior to its release, but I didn’t. No one sensible wants to be a ham about having a new book out, but you also don’t want to treat it like a secret and wait until it’s on shelves to start promoting.

What influence has the book’s publication had on your subsequent writing? Are there any new projects in the works?

You always want the second book to be different than the first. Most of the poems in Vertical Hold are longer, narrative-driven pieces, which I guess is sort of my shtick. And while it feels comfortable having the “Jeff Simpson formula” down pat, I want to push my work into new territory. Even though I’m still writing longer poems, some of them narratives, I’m trying to work my way out of the habits I’ve created…within reason.

I have two manuscripts I’m currently working on: One’s a typical poetry manuscript, and the other is a giant, book-length poem that’s unruly and strange. It’s one of those projects I’m not sure I’ll finish, but anymore I don’t get too excited about writing unless the degree of difficulty or risk of collapse is pretty fucking high.

Do you believe that poetry can create change in the world?

I believe poetry can create change in an individual—change that may move someone to do good in the world. But can poetry single-handedly change the world? Probably not. I’ve always seen poetry as more a means than a means to an end—a way to communicate about the things we don’t talk about socially. I don’t expect anyone to be fundamentally changed by my work. I just hope readers get what I’m saying and enjoy the ride.

Jeff Simpson grew up in southwest Oklahoma. He is the author of Vertical Hold (Steel Toe Books, 2011), which was a finalist for The National Poetry Series. His poems have recently appeared in Forklift, OhioNo News Today, Prairie SchoonerCimarron Review, and others. He lives in Brooklyn, NY, where he works for Poets & Writers Magazine and edits The Fiddleback, an online arts & literature magazine. Visit him at jeffsimpson.org

Thursday, March 7, 2013

#66 - Alex Dimitrov

How often had you sent out Begging for It [view the trailer for the book here] before it was chosen for publication by Four Way Books as a Stahlecker Selection in 2013?

I had been seriously sending it out for a year and during that year I was constantly changing it so different versions were sent to different publishers. I tried to forget who I had sent to once I had. I didn’t want to focus on my expectations for the book, I wanted to focus on having exactly the book and the poems I wanted.

Tell me about the title. Had it always been Begging for It? Did it go through any other changes?

The title was American Youth for the first three years I was working on it—I began writing the book in 2007 and I finished it in 2012, though it was taken in 2011. I wrote a chapbook called American Boys during that time period but I had changed the title of the book to Begging for It well before the chapbook. And none of the poems in the chapbook are in the book—they are very different projects.

America is one of the big things I think through in Begging for It, which is full of lovers, America being one of them. So for a while, it just felt like I needed to include America in the title. But ultimately I decided against it. America, You Darling was also a possible title. That’s a poem in the book. I don’t know, I’m not Andy Warhol so that title didn’t quite work for me. I like what I went with.

It seems like there’s a possible misconception among some poets who are trying to get their first book published: that they must win a contest. Were you concerned about winning a contest at any point?

I actually have always wanted an editor to take my first book as opposed to having it win a contest. Obviously it’s an honor however one’s book is taken. But I’m happy that it was taken by Martha Rhodes.

What was the process like assembling the book? How many different versions did it go through as you were sending it out?

I was changing the book until the last possible moment. I can’t tell you how many versions it went through—probably over twenty. I took out many poems, it was originally a longer book, but I had a rule that I needed to absolutely love every single poem in the book. No filler. No poems that were a “bridge” from one poem to another or from one section to another. Every line, every poem had to stand on its own and together with the others. And that took a long time and was difficult for someone like me who is not patient at all. But I knew I had to be patient because my poems are the most important things to me. And so I waited until I had exactly the book I wanted. You only get to debut once.

How involved were you with the design of the book—interior design, font, cover, etc.? Did you suggest or have any input regarding the image that was used on the cover?

I wanted a photograph from David Wojnarowicz’s “Rimbaud in New York” series. I knew that. When I first moved to New York, in the summer of 2007, I would look at those photographs and think about Rimbaud and being an artist and New York and Wojnarowicz. That series was very instructional to me. Those photographs were an education. So for the book cover, it was a matter of getting permission from his estate, and they ended up giving us permission.

Everything about this book, from the design to what’s in it, is very personal to me. It’s all been thought through really carefully. So yes, I was involved in the design process. I can’t imagine not being involved. I’m someone who’s concerned with both depth and surface. Visual presentation and aesthetics are incredibly important to me. But I mean, they are to most artists, right?

What about the publication of the actual poems in journals and magazines prior to the book being published? Was there ever a concern for you to have the majority of the poems published before you were sending out your manuscript?

Almost all of the poems in the book have been published in magazines, journals, anthologies. I never set out to do that, it just happened. I don’t think it matters either way. The only thing that mattered to me was that I was happy with the poems. There are a few poems in the book that haven’t been published anywhere, and they are some of my favorites, and I think some of the best. So what does that tell you.

How much work did you do as far as editing the poems from the day you knew the book would be published to its final proofing stage?

I never stopped editing. Before it was taken, after it was taken, a day before my final proofs were due. I have a hard time letting go of work.

What do you remember about the day when you saw your published book for the first time?

I was sitting at my desk at the Academy of American Poets and just looking at the envelope. I sat there and looked at it for a few minutes and allowed myself to have those last possible thoughts about the book before it existed in the world, before it was real, in front of me. And then I opened the envelope. And I loved it. I’ve worked so hard and for so long on this book. If I don’t love it, what’s the point.
   
If you struck up a conversation next to someone seated on an airplane, and after a few minutes you eventually told them that you were an author who had a book of poetry published, how would you answer their next question: “What’s the book about?”

Begging for It is about youth, love, and sex in America. It’s also about the past, religion, death, obsession, New York. It’s about people. It’s about me.

What have you been doing to promote Begging for It, and what have those experiences been like for you?

I’m doing a lot of readings this spring at NYU, New School, Harvard, Yale, Poetry Society of America, a lot of places. And I’m also going to San Francisco. I want to go to LA and I want to go to Portland because I’ve never been there and the poetry community there seems great. I’ll go anywhere. This is not a New York book. So many different kinds of people from different parts of the country have written to me, and I want to give them these poems, physically, in person.

What advice do you wish someone had given you before your first book came out?

I don’t really wish for things like that. Wishing is mostly a waste of time. I’m lucky, my teacher in graduate school was Marie Howe, who as well as teaching me how to make my poems better, taught me how to be a person in the world. She’s one of my best friends. And I really value all the advice and help Brenda Shaughnessy has given me. I love those women. They care and they’re such role models. And so many other friends have helped me as well.

What influence has the book’s publication had on your subsequent writing? Are there any new projects in the works?

I don’t think the book being published has had any influence on my writing. I am working on a few projects—one is a series of poems, some of which are portraits that I wrote about people I have never met from the internet—people who answered a questionnaire I wrote, consisting of 26 questions, which I posted on my Tumblr, and which asked them about love and death and what they really want in life. Here is a link to it if people want to read it.

I am using their answers to write poems, to make something out of the lives of people I don’t know, but also out of feelings, their feelings, that I often relate to quite a bit, and other feelings I don’t relate to at all. And I’ve also been seriously working on new poems, the internet project aside. Right now I feel like the internet poems/portraits will be a part of my second book, a section perhaps. I’m not entirely sure but I’ve been writing a lot. I also throw away a lot. The world doesn’t need bad poems. Or poems just for the sake of poems.

Do you believe that poetry can create change in the world?

If I didn’t believe that I would have a very difficult, impossible time, justifying my life. 

******************************************************************************************
Alex Dimitrov is the author of Begging for It, published by Four Way Books. He is also the founder of Wilde Boys, a queer poetry salon in New York City. Dimitrov’s poems have been published in The Yale Review, Kenyon Review, Slate, Poetry Daily, Tin House, Boston Review, and the American Poetry Review, which awarded him the Stanley Kunitz Prize in 2011. He is also the author of American Boys, an e-chapbook published by Floating Wolf Quarterly in 2012. Dimitrov is the Content Editor at the Academy of American Poets, teaches creative writing at Rutgers University, and frequently writes for Poets & Writers.
****************************************************************************************** 

Saturday, March 2, 2013

#65 - Noah Falck

How often had you sent out Snowmen Losing Weight before it was chosen for publication in 2012 by BatCat Press?

Snowmen was sent out about 3 times a year for about 5 years, in various incarnations, before BatCat picked it up.

Tell me about the title. Had it always been Snowmen Losing Weight? Did it go through any other changes?

The original title was The Snowmen Are Losing Weight. Then it was briefly called The Gods of Standing Room Only, and later Traffic Islands of Our Youth, but none of those gave off enough light. Eventually, I came back to Snowmen, but decided to simplify it to Snowmen Losing Weight.

Your book recently went into a second printing, correct? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages to a more handcrafted book versus a collection with a more defined press run?

Yes, it went into a second printing in December 2012, seven months after the initial printing.
The advantages of handcrafted books are they feel more like friends than third cousins. Not that there is anything wrong with cousins. Well, not really. When you hold a handmade book it makes you feel good about yourself and the world. Like driving in an eco-friendly vehicle or better yet, a bicycle. It gives you a completely different reading experience.

It seems like there’s a possible misconception among some poets who are trying to get their first book published: that they must win a contest. Were you concerned about winning a contest at any point? What advice would you give to poets sending their book out now regarding contests versus open reading periods?

Contests are catapults. Winning one will put your name and work in certain circles, and I respect that. I was not at all concerned about winning a contest, but I still sent Snowmen on the contest tour in hopes of getting noticed. And it was a finalist in enough places to make me smile. But I don’t think you need to win a contest to generate inspired work. 
 
The only advice I have is to send your work to presses you admire, places that are publishing work that excites you. I don’t think it matters if it is through a contest or an open reading period.

How involved were you with the design of the book—interior design, font, cover, etc.?

I had nothing to do with the design. It was all BatCat Press. I didn’t actually see the book until the release party in Midland, Pennsylvania. When I first saw the book my heart skipped a few beats, similar to the way it did when I first saw my wife. It was sexy, and beautiful, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands all over it. That didn’t come out exactly right, but you know what I mean.

What about the publication of the actual poems in journals and magazines prior to the book being published? Was there ever a concern for you to have the majority of the poems published before you were sending out your manuscript?

I like sending work out and I like hearing from editors and presses no matter what news they bring. I wasn’t concerned at all with publishing any percentage of the poems. I did want to have some of the poems picked up, but there was no special number in mind. 

How much work did you do as far as editing the poems from the day you knew the book would be published to its final proofing stage?

The BatCat crew and I went back and forth over a period of 3 to 4 months discussing poems, order, punctuation, and all that fun stuff. None of the poems were heavily edited or rewritten. Working with the editors at BatCat was truly enjoyable. And it felt particularly special working with BatCat because it is a student run press. The student editors (Alison, Jane, & Robin) did a fantastic job. They were very considerate in regards to the layout and thoroughly thought out how people would interact with the book. And Deanna Mulye, who oversees the projects at BatCat Press, must be some sort of saint teaching her students the art and craft of bookmaking.

What do you remember about the day when you saw your published book for the first time?
  
There was a lot of sweaty palms and more applications of deodorant to my underarm region. Also, there was a nuclear power plant and margaritas. 

How has your life been different since your book came out?

A lot has happened in my “life.” I took a job in Buffalo, New York, working as Education Director for Just Buffalo Literary Center. Before I was teaching 4th graders in Dayton, Ohio. 

So I’ve moved to a new city, which I am slowly falling in love with, and working a gig that puts me in a more direct conversation with literature and the arts. I also am writing more than I ever have. I am on more of a schedule that permits me to focus my creativity energy.

If you struck up a conversation next to someone seated on an airplane, and after a few minutes you eventually told them that you were an author who had a book of poetry published, how would you answer their next question: “What’s the book about?”

Ha, people on airplanes. I would tell them that the book is about you and me, and this shared air, and the baby crying its body to sleep in the arms of a young mother ahead of us. 

It’s about all those moments you want to remember forever. The moments you wish you had on film so you could watch them again in slo mo. It’s also about the moments you don’t want to remember, but are somehow thumb-tacked somewhere inside you and you can’t shake them off.

What have you been doing to promote Snowmen Losing Weight, and what have those experiences been like for you?

I’ve been doing little interviews, and reaching out to reviewers and other writers to let them know that the book exists. I made a book trailer, which was fun. I’ve also been trying to participate in as many readings as possible, though I haven’t had the time to really travel or “tour,” but I’d like to. I like road trips of all kinds. Particularly, road trips that are focused around reading poems.

What advice do you wish someone had given you before your first book came out?

Be patient and believe in the process. Keep at it. Don’t let it get you down. Never surrender. And ride your bicycle near the river, the ocean, the greatest of lakes.

What influence has the book’s publication had on your subsequent writing? Are there any new projects in the works?

The publication of the book has only made me want to write another book. So that’s what I am doing. I am working on a new manuscript right now. Mostly prose poems.

I am also shopping around a chapbook collection about celebrity dreams, aptly called Celebrity Dream Poems. And I just finished a collaborative chapbook with the poet Matt McBride, tentatively called Vocal Air.

Do you believe that poetry can create change in the world?

I think poetry can act as a sort of communication vessel for the soul. A vessel that highlights both the quandaries of the everyday, and shares the dreams of the intellect. Can such a vessel change the world? Absolutely!

******************************************************************************************
Noah Falck is the author of Snowmen Losing Weight (BatCat Press, 2012), as well as several chapbooks. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Boston Review, iO: A Journal of New American Poetry, Jellyfish, Sink Review, Paper Darts, Fact-Simile, interrupture, and elsewhere. He works as Education Director at Just Buffalo Literary Center in Buffalo, New York. Visit him online at noahfalck.org
******************************************************************************************