First Time, Online

Is it significant that I have my first online collection just in time for Good Friday?

I did it!

I decided to follow the path laid out by many other writers both here and in my own private sphere and publish my work online. I will admit that it is not the first time I have considered doing this sort of thing. I have a story to tell of a lot of missed opportunities and desperation on my part.

Ripe

This was the first collection of poetry I put together. Now, please do not try to find this one online. This was put together long before I knew anything about self-publishing online. In fact, there was no online publishing, unless you had a PDF file available for free to the bored web surfer who found your tome. It was a real labour of love.

And why did I put it together?

I had saved all of my work, given many public readings, and the thing that I thought would remain a hobby of my teen years carried on as I was teaching overseas. I had just given another reading in public and one of my lucky auditors asked if there was anywhere they could find my work. When I realized she was serious - cute, too - I had to take the time necessary to type it all out and bring it to the local Kinko's (yes, they do have them in Tokyo). I managed to make about ten copies; I sold one to a fellow tenant in my shared house (never got the chance to sell it to that lovely fan). And when I returned to my hometown, I went to one of the main indie bookstores in my town and sold copies on consignment (I still have the contract in a folder somewhere for the all of the money I did not make).

And that was that.

Well, not quite...

I kept writing, but as a newly-minted grad student, I did not have as many chances to do public readings. I found out that a friend had actually read my work when I missed an open-mic night, and I took it as another sign.

I kept writing.

I found Vocal and a few other online pages that were willing to make no money on my work.

And I found this on a fellow writer's page:

Oh, Annie Kapur... What did I ever do to deserve such great respect? I read her review a few times until I could almost believe in her praise. And to compare me to Simon Armitage (the current UK Poet Laureate) and Maggie Nelson (a multiple award-winning author) is really a bit too much (one of your three favourites of the twenty-first century, Ms. K?). My heart is still aflutter.

And since this is now up, I have to mention one other source of inspiration:

Aye, Mr. Stewart... I was always talking the talk, but you actually walked the walk. And you celebrated a year and five months of your online collection (rather odd choice for a memorial). I am not sure how I can even check to see if I have made any money on my work - some have reported having trouble opening it without a Kindle - but your efforts have encouraged me to keep going.

And this is my final announcement:

I have another collection compiled and ready to go!

This is something that I had originally planned to go with before the poetry. It will be a collection of stories taken from both here and other journals and magazines I have written for over the years. After that, maybe non-fiction pieces, certain plays and short dramas, a long-planned Christmas tale with a very modern update on an old theme, and then...?

Well, I guess you will just have to stare into the void and wait to see what stares back at you.

Thanks to you all,

KD.

*

Thank you for reading!

If you liked this, you can add your Insights, Comment, leave a Heart, Tip, Pledge, or Subscribe. I will appreciate any support you have shown for my work.

You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

Give it a look...