“God at the last, reluctant, made the sun. / He loved His darkness still, for it was old”

[larryhammer]

An idle question for an idle Friday:

Poll #27917 A book of ghost poems?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 11

View Respondents

Is it worth polishing all these Chinese ghost poem translations into a book?

View Answers

Yes, and find a trad publisher
6 (54.5%)

Yes, and find an academic/niche publisher
8 (72.7%)

Yes, and self-pub it both print and ebook
7 (63.6%)

Yes, and self-pub it in just ebook
3 (27.3%)

Nah, not enough material for a full book
0 (0.0%)

Nah, not interesting/good enough
0 (0.0%)

Nah, too much effort for not enough ROI
0 (0.0%)

No! —the dead should keep their secrets
0 (0.0%)

Other answer in comments
1 (9.1%)

---L.

Subject quote from He Made the Night, Lloyd Mifflin.

Comments

[sartorias]

YES! Though trying to find a publisher and self pu are both a ton of work. I know I'd buy one.

[larryhammer]

I’ve done self-pub so have a handle on the lift there. Well, except for effective marketing.

[cmcmck]

Definitely but what sort of publisher to go for I'm not sure.

[larryhammer]

Noted.

[sovay]

Is it worth polishing all these Chinese ghost poem translations into a book?

I have no strong opinion about how you publish it, but hell, yes.

[larryhammer]

So noted.

[thistleingrey]

Yes--no opinion re: publisher type; too many tradeoffs to guess from a distance.

[larryhammer]

Thankee.

[puddleshark]

Yes, please! I've no idea about publishing, but I'd definitely buy this book!

[larryhammer]

Noted.

[wakanomori]

I would definitely be interested -- your Japanese translations came out really nicely, self-published in paperback, right? Most trad publishers seem more trouble than they're worth, but maybe there's a niche press that would support it? I don't know much about that side of things, but I DO enjoy the books!

[larryhammer]

Self-pub in both paperback and ebook, yeah. I went through most of the niche publishers, trying the Kokinshu volume, which took a while, before giving up and doing it myself. I’m considering at least querying Tuttle and Copper Canyon, since it seems right up their line.

[genarti]

I don't have particular opinions on how is best to print it, but I would be very enthusiastic about buying a book of them! I love your thoughtful translations, and your framing of them to elucidate without bogging down. It's really rare and valuable, and a lot of fun to read.

(I don't know much about publishing poetry, but it strikes me that PEN and/or ALTA might have some useful resources regarding the academic/niche publisher route, at least, if you haven't already consulted there?)

[larryhammer]

Oo -- I had PEN on my tbd list to check, but I totally blanked on ALTA. Thank you!