My First Poetry Book Will Be Published as I Turn 74

Main Street Rag is publishing my first-ever poetry chapbook. At 73 years old, I am in a new place that is exciting and uncomfortable at the same time. I am being asked to promote myself. Though I am used to selling things in my several different businesses as a caterer, piano teacher, and therapist, this is different. I feel more tender about these poems, more unsure. I desperately want people to get them, to be moved by them, to enjoy them. And now that the manuscript has left my hands, I have no control over any of that.

I really want this book to be a success, so I have to tell people about it. Of course, a small book of poetry by an unknown poet is not on everyone’s shopping list. It won’t even be published for months yet. But I feel responsible for bringing this creation to life in the first place. Now I want to make sure that it flourishes.

I also want to write about the process of having a book published in my seventies and hope to inspire other older poets and writers to trust themselves, to have hope, and submit those manuscripts to publishers, contests, and journals. If I can do this after only a few years of serious but part-time effort, so can you. It could have something to do with a mature perspective and widely varied life experience. I don’t know.

I am not at all sure why my book was accepted. My first pessimistic thoughts were that the company would publish anything or that the editor had a monthly quota to meet and just accepted the last one he read that month, as my manuscript was accepted on the last day of October. Or that he never read it at all. My teacher and other students who have been at this publishing thing a lot longer than I have assured me that none of these things are true.

I have to trust that my book has merit. After all, I did work on it almost exclusively for many months after I had thought the poems were completed. I revised and tweaked (and sometimes added to or cut big chunks out of) every single poem until each was as perfect as possible. Then I arranged and rearranged them over and over and sought feedback from others. I had the invaluable leadership of my teacher, Brian Evans-Jones, and friends who gave me honest ratings of the poems and suggestions for improvement. I put a lot of effort into the manuscript.

One thing that’s odd about this book is that it is a paper book, a real-life hold-it-in-your-hands-and-turn-the-pages book. Not an ebook, an actual book. In the world of poetry publishing, a chapbook (called a pamphlet in the UK) is a small, focused project. A collection of poems that relate to each other in some way to make some point or present a certain poetic vision. Though the length varies, it is usually between 20-40 pages. Mine is 42 pages and contains 22 poems.

It is loosely organized around my reactions to the aging and death of my mother, Mildred Ethel Felsberg, in July of last year, and the book is dedicated to her memory. These poems, together with poems that explore my growing understanding of aging and mortality, make up the chapbook Not All Are Weeping.

Having a book published has been a new experience. Though I self-published a book on Amazon a few years ago, this is more fun and a lot less hassle. The editor asked me to select several royalty-free images that might be suitable for the cover of the book. I had to come up with writers who would read the book and make statements, called “blurbs,” about it for the back cover. The publisher designed the cover. The formatting will be done for me (that was my waterloo with my self-published book). The author page and basic promotion are done by the publisher. The best part is that there is a publishing firm backing my belief that the book is worthwhile. When I start feeling inadequate, I have that to fall back on.

This book is a dream come true for me. I began by writing poems, then progressed to studying how to write better poems and practicing daily, and working at it steadily and determinedly. Asking for feedback, not getting sidetracked by criticism or fears of needing to be better already. I made writing poetry a priority, and it has paid off. Maybe it is time for you to make time for your own dream.

If anyone is interested in buying this book, check out the Main Street Rag website. There are special discounts available pre-publication.

Follow my antics at jeanfeldeisen.com

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