Tag Archives: Writing

In Praise of Traditional Small Press Publishers

People always seem to want to reinvent the wheel in publishing. Sometimes that leads good opportunities for writers, but often these seem to be new ways (or newly packaged old ways) to make money off of writers. Here are my musings on online publishing platforms and hybrid publishers.

2024 Writer’s Resolutions

Each year we make our resolutions and try to keep them. I’ve never been one to focus too much on losing the weight gained over the holiday (I trust I will as I get back to my morning walks and other routines and work my way through a few leftover treats). My resolutions tend to beContinue reading “2024 Writer’s Resolutions”

More News on Substack

I’ve just started a newsletter on Substack. It won’t replace this blog, but it will be a place to post news about my publishing life. My first post describes how Tree Fall with Birdsong found its publisher and reveals a secret about the title poem. In doing this, I’m also looking for new ways toContinue reading “More News on Substack”

Whole Writer Workshops

In our low-residency MFA program, we have developed an alternative to traditional workshops that I like to think of as “Whole Writer Workshops.” These are workshops that follow up on the ones we do during the semester which are more or less traditional, depending on who’s teaching. During our summer full residency, we look atContinue reading “Whole Writer Workshops”

My First Decade as Occasional Blogger

Recently, WordPress was kind enough to inform me that this month is my 10th aniversary of writing this blog. As I looked back, I noticed the very first first post was July 24, 2009. What a long, fun, and a little crazy trip it’s been. I started blogging mostly as a dare to myself. I’mContinue reading “My First Decade as Occasional Blogger”

Facebook, You’re Such a Nag

Or Why writers Should All Say No to Constant Content I don’t know about you, but I manage several groups and pages on Facebook, and one constant source of annoyance is the notifications that my readers haven’t heard from me in awhile. The only thing more annoying are the ones telling me a post isContinue reading “Facebook, You’re Such a Nag”

Remembering a Mentor

This weekend, I drove from Mississippi to western Illinois for the memorial gathering of one of my main college mentors, Robin Metz. The many hours by myself in the car on the the way there and back gave me lots of time to reflect, and seeing so many people come out for the memorial wasContinue reading “Remembering a Mentor”

Heading to #AWP18

This week, I’ll be going to Tampa for the 2018 Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference. As always, it will be a very busy few days—inspiring and exhausting. This year, it will be a little different, since I’ll get to hang out with some of my students who are taking a Short Residency classContinue reading “Heading to #AWP18”

This Christmas, Buy Poetry

I usually don’t like to hawk my own books, but with the Christmas shopping season in full swing, it seems like a good time to promote books in general (for mine, see below). And what better kind of book to buy than a good book of poetry? They say good things come in small packages:Continue reading “This Christmas, Buy Poetry”