Today is a pretty special day for me... because it's the official launch date of Read This Press, my brand new micropress project!

With Read This Press -- which I am running pretty much solo for now -- I am hoping to start creating small-scale pamphlet-style books, which will be printed with assistance from Forest, hand-bound and distributed in various places both online and in the real world. I am hoping to publish the pamphlet collections of individual poets as well as small-scale chapbook anthologies too. Needless to say, I am really, really grateful for the help and support that Forest has shown me, and I'm really, really, really excited!

And Read This Press needs YOUR submissions! I am currently putting together an anthology of fresh, original, unpublished poems on the subject of tattoos and tattooing. The title is Skin Deep and I hope that the book will end up showcasing the works of writers of all ages, all levels of experience and from all over the world. It will be retailed in tattoo parlours and bookstores here in Edinburgh and will also be available online at the Read This Press website, at One Night Stanzas and also at the forthcoming this collection online outlet. The anthology will be handmade by me and will retail at a bargainous £4 ($8)!

If you want to get on board, send your original, UNPUBLISHED submissions on the topic of TATTOOS AND TATTOOING to claire@onenightstanzas.com. You can send as many poems as you like, and submit as many times as you like -- just remember to put "Skin Deep" somewhere in the subject line, as I get a heck of a lot of email! The deadline for submissions is 15th February 2009, and I'll get back to you and let you know how your submission(s) fared as soon as I possibly can. Anyone is welcome to submit, no matter where you're from -- and you absolutely don't have to be tattooed to be considered!

You can find more information on Skin Deep at the Read This Press website, and if you want to know anything else or have any questions at all, just email me at claire@onenightstanzas.com. If you want to send your submissions by post, you can fire them off to the Read This PO Box -- details here. And feel free to link to or send along pictures of your tattoos if you have any... I am a huge tattoo geek and would love to see them!

PLEASE NOTE! Read This Press is not currently accepting submissions of whole chapbooks by individual poets. We soon will be... just not yet! I promise I will let you know as soon as this happens and after then, you'll be welcome to send me your poems. In the meantime, why not send them to be considered for the One Night Stanzas Featured Poet slot?