My Poetry Website
 

I thought I might put it out in General Talk that I have now a poetry website with my own work there. Not that I expect big splashes and high traffic on account, but I'd be glad with the slightest ripple. I thought I'd make it available for any in case any happen to be curious.
Thanks
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Whoops - double posted. (Always helps to make a good impression up front.)

Sorry to be Uncle Grumbly, Erik, but I think something should be said (and I suspect some may have the gall - the unmitigated gall - to disagree with me.). Almost everybody who participates on the Sphere has a web site of some sort with their own work on it. And virtually nobody links to it on General Talk. The reason is that GT would soon become a vanity site. People would post their links, and others would applaud. That's not why the Sphere exists.

We have a prohibition against posting your own poetry on GT. I don't know if that officially includes links to a page as well, but my feeling is that it should. (I have no problem with individuals linking to a specific poem of theirs as part of a broader GT discussion.)

We do have a "brag" site called Accomplished Members where members or colleagues list publications, and my feeling is that info on a new site would fit better there. It is also possible to add the site to your Members Profile - as I see you have already done - so that interested parties can find it that way.

You misspelled "sore."

I dunno. There's a lot of self promotion going on, and this is general talk. He was pretty polite about it... Give him a little space.

Not sure how this ended in a mean dig at First Things. They've never published me, but I greatly admire the journal. Opinions vary.

John, a number of people on the Sphere vowed they would never contribute to First Things again after FT printed a couple of strongly anti-gay articles last year.
Although I dislike their editorial stance on most things, I continue to submit work because they now pay $100 a page, and Paul Lake is a great editor.

What does First Things have to do with the subject of this thread though?

Gail, is that $100 a poem, or only if the poem fills the page? Not that it matters, I guess, since for me it is a matter of conscience not to publish there, which means they would have to pay at least $200 per poem before I was willing to change my mind.

I thought Paul was a good editor as well when he took a translation of mine. He accepted it within a day of submission, didn't change a word or a comma, and published it within a couple of months.

I see no reason Erik shouldn't be allowed to tell us about his website. I know it's on his profile, but I didn't look at his profile (since most profiles have very little information) and I only glanced at his site because of the announcement. Michael, do you have a site? You must, but I don't think I ever thought about it or visited. Maybe you should announce it!

Hi Erik,
Glad to get a look at your site. I watched the '91 fire from the porch of my apartment in the flatlands. It was pitiful how the hills looked even after rebuilding.

I couldn't tell if you wrote the Pope-Stevens article.

Good of you to post epigrams -- that is a good way to draw eyeballs, since the reader expects something in return for a very small investment in time.

Most of what I saw could benefit from workshopping to remove even minor glitches. Consider it, and welcome.

Michael is correct in that general protocol on the Sphere would be to post an announcement like this either on Accomplished Members, or General Announcements. It is not a discussion topic, but rather an announcement of accomplishments. Keeping the boards somewhat separate in nature seems the whole point of having them divided to begin with, no?

Nemo

But really, so what?

Besides, I can't see that having a website is an "accomplishment," since anyone can do it. And the distinction between General Talk and General Announcements can be blurry at times, especially for new members.

Well no, it's not that big a deal, Roger. And yes Erik is a new member. But I think it pretty clear that the point of General Talk is to generate discussion on particular, general topics outside the realm of the critique of the poetry of members. Any discussion this post would generate would be about this particular individual and his poems, and since the poet in question hasn't yet posted any poetry on this site for critique, that seems kind of like using a backdoor to enter when the front door is wide open.

But I am surprised, Roger, you find such a blurred line between General Talk & General Announcements. I find them to have very distinct characters, and serve very different purposes.

But, my minor point having been made, I shall seek the exit so as not to come across as going on and on and on and on (and on and on and on) (and on) about next to nothing.

Nemo

All things considered, General Announcements is probably the best place for a general announcement about one's poetry website.

No harm, no foul, Erik.

Well thanks everyone for the information. I'll take note and heed what I have learned from this.

A suggestion
 

As a convenience, perhaps we should have a single list/thread for everyone's blog/website.

-o-

My guess is that Erik is following the advice expounded so often by self-named gurus.

Promote your work.
Join poetry sites to get your name out there.
Make a web page.
Get your name out there.

That isn't what Eratosphere is about. Eratosphere is a workshop dedicated to improving craftmanship. It isn't a site to promote sloppy work.

And yes, I'm sorry to say it but the very first poem at the linked site tells the reader that it is way too early for you to claim the title of "poet". The overblown and convoluted diction of your crits (that I've read so far) indicate the same.

Let me say this: My heart goes out to every person, young or old, male, female or other, of every race and creed who has a strong desire to communicate with the wider world through the medium of poetry.

So this is my advice. Learn the craft. Don't put yourself "out there" before you are ready. And believe me, friend, you are not ready. But wanting to be a poet is the first step and the most important one. That is where everyone starts.

Post some work on the boards and get feedback. There are some really good advisors available here who will tell you what you need to hear. And there are sometimes some who will praise anything that includes letters of the alphabet in an arrangement that can be recognized as words--ignore the praise and concentrate on improving that which is flawed.

If you work at it, Erik, you will become better and better. And in a year or less, you will understand why I say this and will be embarrassed that you listened to the promote, promote, promote parrots.

Erik is your first language English? because your prose style suggests otherwise.

Thank you all for informing me on protocol. I'll proceed accordingly.

Erik

Erik, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, don't. Stay with us - at least until this latest kerfuffle dies down.

I have been reading the comments you've posted on other people's work and if more members went to that much trouble the Sphere would be spinning higher and brighter. I include myself there. You took a lot of flak and rose above it and I was pleased you'd started commenting again.

When I first saw your post on GT I thought the same as Michael and wondered if I should alert a mod, on the quiet, to shift it swiftly and tell you privately. I wish I had and I apologise for not having done it.

I now see that you are being told to "post some work" when you've only just notched up enough crits to do it. It reminds me of a Yorkshire expression "Ee, be buggered - yer can't do right fer doin' wrong". I'm smiling again. You smile, too?

Ann's right Erik. I went and fixed a post where I had been playing about with you as if you were a long time associate. Poor manners on my part. Stick around, your excitement about poetry and what it is capable of is a good thing.

Andrew

I've been away for a week and didn't notice that Erik had just passed the crit mark. I apologize for that; didn't mean to seem to be pressuring him.

However, my post is amiable so why the expressed fear that (as I interpret it) Erik is being hounded and will leave soon. For what it is worth (or isn't), Erik and I have had private communication (BEFORE it was demanded of me in an earlier thread to apologize) and as far as I know we are on friendly terms. I have certainly made it clear to him that I welcome him to the critting fields, and he responded graciously.

Like Ann, I can see good intentions behind the crits and recognize that both time and thought have been devoted to them, but like Ross, I wondered if English might be a second language.

However, we are all adults here, and poets do not run away from criticism. They run forward and embrace it if they find it useful. Or they ignore it, if they think they know better.

Posting in the wrong place isn't the worst thing a new member can do. Even old members do it, have done it, and will continue to do it. Alert moderators can fix that faster than you can pronounce synecdoche.

Kerfuffle, indeed!

(Should I write YOKE somewhere in the above, or maybe insert a smiley or two? Just to show that I'm a friendly?)

Erik -- Your personal link has been edited out since Eratosphere is not intended to be used as a vanity link farm. That's also why personal signatures have been disabled from showing, and posting your personal link anyways to circumvent this is not proper conduct here.

The type of links allowed at General Announcement (or very sparingly if at all at General Talk) are those of a public nature as in reputable poetry conferences or contests, or similar. Or you may post announcements of acceptance or publication of your work in a literary journal or anthology, etc. at Accomplished Member (other than self-publication, which is not really an accomplishment!).

Thread closed.