VRZHU bullets of pure love

Meet Duffy

Since it's YouTube posting Saturday (well, okay, Sunday now I just realized), I wanted to share a video by Duffy, the Welsh singer/songwriter who's album, Rockferry, has been a huge hit in the UK and is now landing on our shores. She's Dusty Springfield with a little Lulu thrown in and a whole heapin' help of Motown and what the Brits call Northern Soul. This album has been on constant rotation at my apartment while I've been writing and editing some new work. The lush, wall-of-sound warps you back to 1965 in an instant, yet it's modern at the same time. This song is Warwick Avenue (named for one of the Underground stations in London) and this simple, elegant video is brilliant.

Amazon.com: To Boycott or Not by Collin Kelley

There's a movement afoot on Facebook to boycott Amazon.com after the book-selling behemoth (and nearly every other product imaginable)  announced that it was changing the way it sells POD (that's print-on-demand) books on the website. Amazon owns BookSurge and they want to be YOUR -- and everyone else's -- POD of choice. This has caused many small and micro-presses to reexamine how to get their books onto the market. Some have already said "Amazon is dead to me" (Reb Livingston, owner of No Tell Books, on her blog last week) and others have already said they would rather sell their books through other online sources (B&N, Powell's, their own website storefronts), than cave to Amazon.

Lulu.com -- one of the biggest POD companies in the world -- has said they are working out a deal with Amazon so that their titles will still be carried on the site. PublishAmerica, on the other hand, refused to play ball and Amazon turned off all the "Buy" links to the listed titles. Other POD companies are trying to figure out how to respond to Amazon's strong-arm tactic. Amazon officials posted a note on their website last week that said using BookSurge saves money and gets the title into the hands of readers more quickly. Sure, writers can use Lulu or iUniverse, but if they want their POD title on Amazon, those companies will have to send an electronic file to Amazon where it will be stored in the BookSurge database. Anytime someone buys the title, it will be printed by BookSurge, rather than the company the writer contracted with. That means more profit for Amazon, less profit for the POD company and, ultimately, to the writer.

Amazon does take a big chunk of change from POD titles, but there is the "prestige" factor of having a book available at Amazon. How many writers are willing to give that up? My first collection of poetry, Better To Travel, was self-pubbed with iUniverse back in 2003. Yes, I had sales on Amazon, but the majority   came from bookstore orders and hand-to-hand transactions at readings. When Slow To Burn was published in 2006 as a limited edition, it was only sold online at MetroMania Press's store and at my readings. All 300 copies sold out in just a little more than a year. Even better was that the profit split between me and the press made each of us a tidy sum. Who can say that in poetry these days?

My chapbook, After the Poison, from Finishing Line Press is coming out later this year and it will be available on Amazon, but rather than letting Amazon sell it, the link on the page will direct buyers to purchase from the press. I'm not sure how much of a cut Amazon takes on those kinds of situations, but I guess I'll find out. I have to admit, I love Amazon. I love being able to order hard to find books and music and DVDs from other parts of the world (Amazon.co.uk gets more of business than the American site). But I also love exploring small press websites, buying my books at local independent stores and supporting the new DIY culture of poetry. If we really want to support poets, buying directly from them or their small press publisher is going to make them the most money. And since poetry doesn't pay -- except in love -- every dollar helps.

I'm not ready to boycott Amazon yet. I'm still waiting to see how this shakes out with Lulu, iUniverse and xlibris and I'm closely following what Reb Livingston and Shanna Compton at Bloof Books will be doing. I haven't talked to Dan or Michael at VRZHU, but I'd also like to know their thoughts and what they plan to do to help their authors. Let's get some discussion going...what are your thoughts, gentle, bullet-ridden VRZHU blog readers?

Addendum from Michael @ Vrzhu:  I was out of town when this broke, so I'm just catching up on what's going on this morning.  Vrzhu author Kim Roberts sent me this link here about the about it, which I'll be reading along with Reb's post and whatever Shanna has up about it.

Lambda Literary Award Poetry Finalists

The Lambda Literary Awards will be handed out soon. Here are the finalists in poetry:

Blackbird and Wolf, Henri Cole (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
A Gathering of Matter/A Matter of Gathering, Dawn Lundy Martin (University of Georgia Press)
Otherwise Obedient, Carol Potter (Red Hen Press)
Fata Morgana, Reginald Shepherd (University of Pittsburgh)
The Second Person, C. Dale Young (Four Way Books)
Human Resources, Rachel Zolf (Coach House Books)

Congrats to all the nominees!

A Free Contest? Hallelujah!

The Open Door Project
Deadline: March 1, 2008

A five-day publishing introduction intensive in New York City-- including a series of lunches with literary agents, book editors, and other publishing figures, a public reading, and a private cocktail reception with New York's writing community will be awarded to the winner of the first Open Door Project fiction competition.

The contest is open to gay men writing fiction with queer content who have not yet published a book of fiction. Accommodations and transportation will be provided to an out of town winner. Judges include Christopher Bram, Alexander Chee, Samuel R. Delany, Dennis Cooper, Robert Gluck, E. Lynn Harris, Scott Heim, Andrew Holleran, David Leavitt, Stephen McCauley, Dale Peck, and John Weir.

Submit stories or stand-alone novel excerpts of up to 8,000 words by March 1, 2008. A winner will be announced in late spring. There is no entry fee. Submissions should be mailed to:

Don Weise, Open Door Project
c/o Oscar Wilde Bookshop
15 Christopher St
New York, NY 10014

Please do not contact the bookstore for information about the Open Door Project. Queries can be sent to dweised@aol.com. No queries confirming receipt or status of submissions please.

Uncle Walt, Is That You?

This is allegedly an old wax cylinder recording of Walt Whitman reading "America" in 1890. While it's been documented that Walt did a test for Thomas Edison, some think this is fake. You be the judge. I love the animation created for this video no matter who it is.

The Lammies Are Coming

Congratulations to VRZHU's Hiram Larew for his nomination for a Lambda Literary Award in Poetry. Hiram is in some very, very good company. However, since the poetry category will no longer single out a lesbian poet and a gay poet, that means this extensive list will be whittled down to just five people. Having read a good many of these collections this  past year, I wouldn't even know how to begin.

LGBT POETRY

* Walking in Sappho's Garden, Ayin Adams
* Blissful Times, Sandra Alland (Book Thug)
* New Jersey, Betsy Andrews (University of Winsconsin Press)
* Seminal, John Barton and Billeh Nickerson (Arsenal Pulp Press)
* The Human Line, Ellen Bass (Copper Canyon Press)
* Notebook of Roses and Civilization, Nicole Brossard (Coach House Books
* All: A James Broughton Reader, James Broughton, edited by Jack Foley (White
Crane Wisdom/Lethe Press)
* Sister, Nickole Brown (Red Hen Press)
* The Marrow's Telling, Eli Clare (Homofactus Press)
* The Natural Law of Water, Kathleen Cluver (Burning Bush)
* Blackbird and Wolf, Henri Cole (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux)
* Catching Tigers in Red Weather, Andrew Demcak (Three Candles Press)
* A Question of Gravity and Light, Blas Falconer (University of Arizona Press)
* Blind Date with Cavafy, Steve Fellner (Marsh Hawk Press)
* After the Fall, Edward Field (University of Pittsburgh)
* Scarlet E, Lois Glenn (Regal Crest Enterprises)
* Underwater Lengths in a Single Breath, Benjamin Grossberg (Ashland Poetry
Series)
* Under Sleep, Daniel Hall (University of Chicago Press)
* Rift, Forrest Hamer (Four Way Books)
* The Islands Project, Eloise Klein Healy (Red Hen Press)
* Hejira, Reginald T. Jackson (Outskirts Press)
* I'm the Man Who Loves You, Amy King (Blazevox Books)
* More Than Anything, Hiram Larew (VRZHU Press)
* My Body, Joan Larkin (Hanging Loose Press)
* Imago, Joseph Legaspi (CavanKerry Press)
* A Gathering of Matter/A Matter of Gathering, Dawn Lundy Martin (University of
Georgia Press)
* Sorry, Tree, Eileen Myles (Wave Books)
* What's Written on the Body, Peter Pereira (Copper Canyon Press)
* The Body is No Machine, Jennifer Perrine (New Issues)
* Torch River, Elizabeth Philips (Brick Books)
* Quiver of Arrows, Carl Phillips (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux)
* Wonder, Nicole Pollifrone (P.D. Publishing)
* The Brightness, William Reichard (Mid-List Press)
* Telephone Ringing in the Labyrinth, Adrienne Rich (W.W. Norton)
* Breezeway, Jason Roush (Windstorm Creative)
* Rhythms, Leo Shelton (Tugson Press)
* Fata Morgana, Reginald Shepherd (University of Pittsburgh)
* Theory of Orange, Rachel M. Simon (Pavement Saw Press)
* The Screw and the Fast of It, Nathalie Stephens (Nightboat Books)
* Purple Hats and Pink Tutus, Betty Nadine Thomas (Spruce Head Island Press)
* Going Around with Bachelors, Agnes Walsh (Brick Books)
* The Second Person, C. Dale Young (Four Way Books)
* Human Resources, Rachel Zolf (Coach House Books)

Limpwrist seeks submissions

Poet Dustin Brookshire is still seeking quality submissions for the inaugural issue of Limpwrist, a new online lit mag with a queer sensibility, but not just for the 'mos. He's already scored an interview with Laure-Anne Bosselaar and new poems from Dara Wier. Good company to be in, so get those submissions in ASAP. You can check out the under construction website for submission guidelines at this link. Submmissions can be made via email. Hooray!

Pagan Poetry

One of Bjork's most haunting and beautiful songs. Listen to the lyrics. Pure poetry. This is one of those songs that has become the soundtrack to my writing life. What's on your soundtrack?

Calling All Angels

The Burnside Review is seeking submissions for its 2008 special edition centered around Los Angeles. Here's the skinny:

We are currently taking submissions for issue 4.1, due out June of 2008. 4.1 will be Burnside Review’s Los Angeles issue. Even though the issue will certainly have an L.A. feel, content will not be limited to writing about Los Angeles or writing from Los Angeleans. Understand that response time will be slower until the release of the new issue.

Please read through our guidelines before submitting.

Burnside Review Please send 3 to 5 poems and a brief bio. Poems and bio should be sent as single attachment (this means everything as a single file). Word documents or RTF files are fine (please don’t send PDF’s and don’t paste poems into the body of your e-mail). The subject line of the e-mail should read: Poetry Submission-Your Last Name (i.e.: Poetry Submission-Miller).

Send them to: submissions@burnsidereview.org

Average response time is 2-4 months.

Simultaneous submissions are fine. Please no previously published work.

Payment comes in the form of one contributor’s copy. Burnside Review assumes the right to publish poems on their website as well as in the physical issue. All rights revert back to the author after printing.

Burnside is a great journal. This promises to be a great issue. Visit www.burnsidereview.org for more details, subscriptions, contests and ifo.

A great lit mag returns

Last week I got an email from Michael Hathaway, the editor of the great Chiron Review, telling me that the journal is back in business! Hooray! It shut down after the Winter 2005 (ths special GLBT issue) and seemed like it was dead and buried, but obviously you can't keep a good lit mag down. In its long history, 25 years to be exact, Chiron Review published new work by some of the best poets: Denise Duhamel, Charles Harper Webb, Wanda Coleman, Lyn Lifshin, Marge Piercy, Edward Field, Laurel Ann Bogen, Sherman Alexie and Charles Bukowski among countless others. Chiron will reopen for submissions in December. Here are the guidelines:

Dec. 1, 2007: Snail-mail submissions should be sent, with SASE to Chiron Review, 522 E. South Ave., St. John, KS 67576-2212. They will also take e-mail submissions, which should be sent to ChironSubmissions@hotmail.com after Dec. 1. Put all poems in the e-mail text or as ONE attachment, not one attachment for each poem, please. Floppy disk and CD submissions in Rich Text Format (RTF) are also welcome. Photographs and art may only be submitted via snail-mail.

Editor Michael Hathaway had this to say about Chiron's resurrection: I hope CR readers and writers will forgive me for shutting down and then starting back up again. Chiron Review has always flown along on a wing and a prayer, had its delays and hiatuses, stopping and starting as finances and circumstances dictated. I do apologize for that and can offer no guarantees for the future. Chiron Review readers and writers have always gone above and beyond the call of duty to support the magazine and to spread the word. I hope you will continue that tradition now.

For more information and to buy a subscription (any journal's lifeblood, so do consider it) click this link.