Flying the Nest, by ~justim

About a month ago I received my copies of my self-published book of poetry, "Flying the Nest". The book started out as a year-long school project and graduated to a summer project. It took a lot more work than I initially thought it would, but the experience I've gained in doing it has been priceless. I'd highly recommend to anyone with even slight ambitions in poetry or publishing of any kind to give something like this a try. It's amazing how many people you can reach with your ideas with a little creativity and a lot of elbow grease. Invest in a couple of photocopies, borrow some scissors, buy some staples, and you're off. It's fun, exciting, and scary, but well worth it. And hey, if you can sell one person one thing you've written for even a penny, then you can say you've been paid for your writing, and at the very least that will get you laid.

I don't expect I'll make any money off of this, in fact, if I recoup half of my losses I'll be thrilled. My main ambition is self-promotion, and the entertainment of my audience. Most of the poems are supposed to be funny, though there's a few with a slightly more serious slant.

Since receiving my copies of the book I've embarked on a (less than) ambitious marketing campaign. I've come to the conclusion, marketing sucks. But it's definitely a necessity for anyone trying to promote their work, artistically or otherwise. So that's why this post is here. If you're interested, please have a look at my web page and read two of the poems in the book. There are also a few poems from the book on my deviantArt user page, though not all the poems on my page are in the book. If you're interested in a copy you can pay with Visa, MasterCard, or paypal, or if you have some work of your own you’d like to trade, just note me on deviantArt.

Even if you have no interest in my stuff in particular, I still encourage you to seek out and support independent art and publishing. Go to your local magazine store and ask if they have a rack for independent/zine type stuff. Ask around at your university. Scream at the top of your lungs in the middle of the street, whatever it takes. I promise you’ll learn a lot, and meet some very weird and interesting people (kind of like you do on deviantart).

~justim