It’s finally here. I received an email yesterday letting me know that the anthology I am being published in is now available on createspace and the main Amazon.com site.

You can check out my poems on the site here and here, but I urge you to check out the book too as there are many other great works of poetry and short fiction within those pages.

I’m not peddling it because I get paid (I don’t). I’m simply sharing work that I’m very proud of.

I hope you like it.

If you were following this blog last summer and fall before I disappeared for a few months, you may remember seeing a few posts of poems that I submitted for a contest on LinkedIn as part of a writers group there.

Winners!
I was fortunate enough to get selected as a winner one month with my poem “I Am” while ”Bang!” was selected for second place earlier in the year.

I am very proud of both poems and also extremely excited that they are soon going to be published in the anthology of all monthly contest winners for both poetry and short stories. The book will be available on Amazon.com.

More to Come
I submitted an author bio and picture (thanks Amanda) earlier this month, so I am hopeful that the book will be out soon. Once it is, I will have a link from this blog as well as from the poetry pages for those poems. I encourage you to check out the great work that will be in this book, not because I’m getting anything from it (no royalties for this publication) but because there are some excellent writers highlighted in the book.

I also encourage you to check out ”1025” which was also submitted for the contest but did not win.

Two little stories about books today.

II was browsing around on the net yesterday and was reminded of the fact that I have two poems that are going to be published at the end of the year from the poetry contest I entered on LinkedIn over the summer.  I found a copy of the previous year’s anthology on Amazon and looked through the “Look Inside This Book” pages to see what my writing will look like in print.  It was an absolute thrill to see that and imagine my own work in a published volume very soon with copyrights and everything!

I also came across a post on BuzzFeed this afternoon related to books and why they are better than eReaders.  Don’t get me wrong, I didn't hate reading a book on my iPod Touch as much as I thought I would and actually did manage to finish one last month, but this post is absolutely right that there is something magical about holding a book.  The smell, the feel, the weight of it; all are part of the experience and while I think we are absolutely moving to a more digital age in terms of publishing, I truly hope that there will always be a place in the world for physical books.

If you have never had the opportunity to explore the bowels of a library (especially an old one) I highly recommend that you do as soon as possible.  Go to the oldest university in your area and visit their library, ask at the front desk where “the stacks” are and follow the directions they give you to an entirely new world.  You will be glad you did!

Looking at the publishing market today, things are changing.  With ebooks taking off, people have been proclaiming the end of print publishing for some time.  I think this is a little overblown and will not quit on my dream to hold a book that I have written in my hands.  Not on an iPad or a Kindle, but physically hold the paper and bindings in my hands and be able to smell that new book smell.

I had an epiphany at the end of last week as I was posting up some of the poetry I have worked on in my life.  I’m going to go ahead and self-publish a short book of poetry and offer it at cost on the website for a limited time.  I am also going to offer up ten (10) copies of the book free of charge to a few lucky people.  If you are interested in entering for a chance to win one of these copies, please fill out the entry form below by midnight (EST) on August 31st.

Thank you in advance for your support.

I have to make a confession.

I have sinned.

I ripped a book.

Well, I didn't actually rip it myself.  I did however fail to prevent a 2 year old from ripping it.

What's worse, this book doesn't even belong to me.  It was borrowed from the local library and both of my kids absolutely love it.  (Draw Me a Star by Eric Carle in case you're wondering)

Needless to say I was upset at the destruction of this lovely piece of art.  But then I came to realize that it's not the end of the world.  Carle already has his money from the purchase of this copy of his book.  The copy in question is from the 11th printing of the book so I doubt that there is any collectible value to the book.  A few pieces of tape and careful replacement of the damaged pages will allow the book to be enjoyed by many other children for years to come.

But I can't help feeling a little bit shameful for the act anyway.  If I wrote the book and someone ripped it, even by accident, I feel like a little piece of me gets torn with it.