Since Jim Lee has outed me, I’m going to announce that I have self published a book of poems. It’s entitled “Reading Evening Prayer in an Empty Church” after a poem with the same title that appears towards the end. I never thought to do this, but after reaching the age of eighty-one with publications scattered here and there and no book to my credit, I decided, what the hell. I am now eighty-two, and it still seems like a good idea.
As I explain in the rather lengthy acknowledgments essay, I think I am unlikely at my age and remove from colleagues to find a publisher willing to take a chance on a book of this kind. But since I am my own publisher, I have felt free to create a book that not only contains all my poems to date that I think are fit to print, both published and unpublished, but also makes me happy as I hold it in my hand. I’m still writing poems, but I think I’ll save what I have to say about that for my new publisher page.
With all the usual reservations about Amazon, I chose Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) to print my book. KDP requires a minimal cash outlay, since it is a print on demand service, and it has the further advantage of providing a more or less blank slate to an author with the requisite skills in design, photography, etc. Not an entirely blank slate, to be sure, but one that was sufficiently blank for me. The book is now available at Amazon.com. And, there is even a Kindle edition, which I recommend with some reservations. I lost patience with the KDP template at some point during the time I was creating the Kindle edition and left a few blots here and there in it; though I don’t think the blots render the Kindle edition unreadable. On the other hand, I recommend the paperback edition shamelessly.
Three dear friends, Richard Sale, Stephen E. Smith, and Shelby Stephenson consented to write blurbs for the back cover. You can read them if you follow the link embedded in the image at the head of this post. I finished the book last November, but various health issues have prevented me from announcing it until now.
Go Litel bok . . .