by Paul Rance

Created on: May 13, 2010

Never in human history has there been so many ways of promoting oneself. So, if you're a poet despairing of a publishing deal, then maybe it's time to think about some alternatives.

Obviously, the internet is useful for both publishing and promoting your poetry, and you could use all sorts of different medium. You could use YouTube for videos, post audio recordings on MySpace, or get your own domain name and website and do both, as well as publishing your poetry in written form. You could also use a blogging service like Blogger for free to publish yourself, and promote your work.

There are lots of fun ways of promoting your poetry, from postcards to a poster. With the computer software available now, you don't even need to be particularly gifted at art to come up with an eye-catching design to accompany any poem.

If you are more ambitious, then you should consider publishing a booklet or book of your work yourself. It's not as daunting as it may at first appear, though as the promotion will be down to you, you'll need to think about whether you are confident enough to approach local newspapers, TV and radio to publicize your work.

Getting a Twitter account is also a good idea. Twitter is very useful for publicity purposes, and its 140 character limit for each Tweet (individual message) shouldn't deter you from posting a haiku or two. If you have several hundred followers all interested in poetry, you may well be surprised as to how many hits your video, audio, website, or blog may receive.

Think of three main things. Make sure you are writing poetry good enough to publish and promote. Remember to be careful of where you are putting your poetry, and always use the (c) copyright sign next to your name whenever and wherever possible, i.e. '(c) John Smith'. Be selective as to where you promote your work. If you post links on every available site you will look desperate, and it'll also irritate people. If you rein yourself in, people will respect you more, and think that you are happy to let your words do the talking.

These are just a few conventional examples of how you can publish your poetry. If you have more wacky ideas, then by all means try them as well, but remember that publicity should go hand in hand. There's no point in being a genius if no one is going to notice you!

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