Poetry Presses: Putting the “Pre” in Pre-order
Ok but why “preorder”? I can’t decide whether this blog is like a small instructive platform where I step up on a six-inch step-stool in a corner of the mall and read from a lectern to an audience of 1-3 people at a time who came here to be like “wut” OR whether this is more like the deeply-confessional blog I wrote as a twenty-something that functioned like a private diary I purposefully left out on that big fountain in the public park so strangers could read it and be like “wut” (or “wtf,” either one was a welcome response to me, who was at the time quite lonely).
Anyways I’m going to treat it like the six-inch mini-stage. Because I know—having recently been one—that there are so many writers milling about the internet, looking for ways to get writing in front people who can lift it up higher, where it can get the attention of a publisher. I’ve had the luckiest writing year I can imagine, truly, so lucky I’m still operating within my trusty “scarcity mindset” and expecting it to all have been a weird dream (my dreams are usually awkward social situations where I’m put in a frankly rough position and spend the dream in a nervous sweat, trying to extricate myself and save others’ feelings at the same time, GOD). It’s been an incredible year for my “career,” after not having had one in 8 years. And I want to pay some of what I’ve learned forward.
So, a word about “preordering” poetry books. As far as I can tell, poetry presses may be the only publishers who require preorders, and I’m assuming that’s because poetry is one of the worst literary markets imagineable. Poetry is about slowing down, thinking, feeling your feelings, re-imagining, thinking outside capitalism and other exploitative power structures, and all that is hard mental and emotional work in times (like these, those, or any). But hard times need poets, and books in general but poetry specifically has seen a jump in sales since the pandemic began three years ago. I suddenly want to fact-check everything in this paragraph, including “three years ago,” wtf.
Suffice it to say, poetry doesn’t make the money that cookbooks, memoirs, and novels do. It never will, never could. This is the way. So, while other types of books also open for preorders, I believe poetry publishers not only require preorders but—in the case of vanity presses and other more predatory situations—require a certain amount of preorders. Some vanity/predatory presses require poets to reach a certain threshold of preorders before they will even move forward with the book, or—if the writer is desperate enough for publication—the press will take money (sometimes thousands) from the writer in lieu of preorders. Poetry sales being what they are, those thousands will likely not be earned back in royalties. Fortunately, my press and editor are incredibly profesh and above-board (shout out to Belle Point Press!!) and not only do they not require a certain number of preorders, but they are doing a frankly fantastic job with publicity (which traditionally does not fall under their job description). I’m in love with this press and their fearless leader, Casie Dodd.
But yes, even the best, hardest-working indie presses need preorders. They’re basically RSVPs. How else will a small press with limited revenue and lot invested know how large of a print run to plan for? They can’t know. If they don’t sell the books they print, not only are the books not making money, they’re taking up warehouse space, and therefore costing money. Gross. So there you go. Keep an eye on this space for the January announcement of open Reaching the Shore of the Sea of Fertility preorders…and get copies for you and a friend.
If you’re a new writer looking at presses for your book of poetry, read up on small presses so you know which ones have predatory practices. Avoid vanity presses. And if you have poetry in or adjacent to the American mid-south region, Belle Point Press’s subs are open!
