Poets & Writers Magazine welcomes letters from its readers. Please post a comment on select articles at www.pw.org/magazine, e-mail editor@pw.org, or write to Editor, Poets & Writers Magazine, 90 Broad Street, Suite 2100, New York, NY 10004. Letters accepted for publication may be edited for clarity and length.
Self-Publishing Power?
After reading the articles in your special section, “The Power of Self-Publishing” (November/December 2013), I wanted to write a few sentences about my own experience in that field. In 2011 I self-published a novel, Del suelo al cielo. It received some good reviews, from Kirkus to the Spanish magazine Vanidades, and went on to win second place in the International Latino Book Awards competition in the category Best Novel Adventure/Drama in Spanish. Call me naive, but I thought, “This is it! I’m going to find a literary agent and a traditional editorial publisher that can take this book to the next level.” It hasn’t happened, and not for a lack of effort or dedication on my part. I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a little tired of doing the work myself, but I haven’t lost my passion for writing. I continue to write just for the pleasure of doing it.
Virginia Gift
New York, New York
“An Editorial Imperative: The Importance of Finding a Good Editor” by Michael Bourne was interesting and helpful. As a writer who began self-publishing in 1995, though, I must say Brian Holers isn’t the only one to “blaze a trail,” as Bourne put it. Holers wrote his book in 2005 and finally self-published in 2011, taking advantage of some services totally unheard of in 1995. Bourne writes that Holers “spent roughly ten thousand dollars on Doxology and has sold roughly three hundred to four hundred copies.” I ached over that! I stopped selling my books when I paid off my initial investment in them. As a no-name, lifelong writer, I found self-publishing and all the learning it required exhilarating and worthwhile. Certainly I was blessed that everyone I hired was professional and encouraging. I’m now working on a memoir. Self-publishing had not been part of my plans, but because of the articles in your special section, I am open to it again. Thank you.
Susan I. Paul
Marina del Rey, California
Naming the Raindrops
In “The Art of Reading Denis Johnson: The Enduring Appeal of Jesus’ Son” (November/December 2013), William Giraldi recalls a time when he discussed a line of literature with a fellow partygoer in Boston. Giraldi describes his temporary companion as part of the “lagging species of outlaw literati.” The full characterization is a discordant note in an otherwise interesting article. The guy at the party really likes Johnson’s sentence “I knew every raindrop by its name,” from Jesus’ Son, because, for him, it has a variety of interpretations.
I think what the partygoer said was just a simplistic articulation of his feelings. He might have lacked preparation in talking about something he usually only thought about. Or maybe what he said perfectly described his feelings. At any rate, I disliked reading Giraldi’s judgment of this guy’s appreciation of Jesus’ Son. This person, a marijuana seller in his twenties, had an emotional connection to a piece of contemporary literature. Who is to judge this connection? Giraldi might have a fabulous brain, but he needs to develop a more generous acceptance of people who read his favorite books differently than he does.
Hunter Hague
Hanover, New Hampshire