Just Launched! The Poet to Poet Community
A virtual community for poets working on books
Friends, I am thrilled to share with you the Poet to Poet website, the main home for the new Poet to Poet Community. It all started with this newsletter in January. Reception was so enthusiastic, the community concept grew quickly from there.
What is the Poet to Poet Community?
The Poet to Poet Community translates the newsletter concept into a live, virtual community that helps poets progress toward a book.
Drawing on insights from many sources, and in conversation with contemporary authors, the community is a place to explore the entire process—from the accumulation of fledgling drafts, to iteration and revision, to discovering the book’s driving theme and ideal structure, to finding and working with a publisher.
Why I started Poet to Poet
I believe that poetry is not just a creative outlet, it’s a life practice. Writing books of poetry is the fruition of that practice, yet there aren't many spaces dedicated to unlocking the process of shaping a book and finding a publisher. Most programs barely touch on this.
I attended a wonderful MFA program and still I had to learn so many things the hard way on the journey to publishing my first book. It might have gone quicker and been a lot less frustrating if I'd had more detailed guidance and better support.
Whether you're working on a first book or a subsequent book, the journey can be challenging to navigate alone. In fact, I don't think our books can reach their full potential without focused input from peers and mentors. Mine wouldn't have—and it certainly wouldn't have won a big award. Authors' acknowledgement pages underscore this truth: A book takes a community.
The Missing Piece: Community
The Poet to Poet Community brings more transparency and focus—and joy—to the book development process.
Recognizing that every book has its own journey, Poet to Poet helps poets achieve their book's full potential and chart a path to publication with less frustration, more fun, and greater fulfillment.
There are a few ways to join in.
Conversations
Open to all Poet to Poet members, conversations happen virtually twice a month.
Q&As: The Path to Publication—an open forum to explore book development and publishing questions and learn from the community
Working Sessions—we explore one step in the process (such as bios, cover letters, book titles, etc.) and then work on it together. It is so much easier to clear these hurdles together.
Classes
Open to non-members and members, classes delve deeper into book development and provide detailed guidance and tools for success in the various stages of book development. To start, I'm offering one of the most popular classes I've taught—Mapping Territory, a half-day intensive on how to organize a manuscript—twice this fall.
Membership
Membership is currently just $15/month. Founding members who join now will enjoy that price indefinitely. Members get access to the live community conversations above, members-only monthly newsletters, plus 10% off all classes. The monthly fee will increase as we add features, so I encourage you to join now for access to the community at this low fee.
Take a Look—Drop me a Note
Poet to Poet has been many months (years, really) in the works. I hope you'll give it a look. As always, if you have questions or just want to say hi, please send me a message. I love hearing from you.
—Radha Marcum, Founder, Poet to Poet
It’s not too late to join Saturday’s class …
Mapping Territory: How to Organize a Poetry Manuscript
Class Description: You know how to craft a poem that makes a complete journey. Yet, when it’s time to organize a book-length manuscript, you may feel lost amidst your poems’ many themes, images, narratives, voices, and POVs. This session explores useful tools to map a collection’s terrain, including how to identify primary and secondary themes (They may not be what you think!), establish the major legs of the readers’ journey (how to group poems into sections), and use titles to transform a sheath of poems into a book that guides the reader thoughtfully through its territory.
What Participants Say
“This was one of the best and most helpful classes I have taken. It was well organized, with helpful details and great examples. Filled me with ideas and spurred me on. Thank you, Radha.” -Sue
“Excellent class! It covered very important material—and Radha is an intelligent, intuitive instructor. More of this, please!” -Paige