Poetry Fishbowl Report for Tuesday, October 13, 2009
This month's Poetry Fishbowl went zoom! I worked from 12:15 PM to 2:30 AM. That was not due to technical difficulties this time, but because I got so many great prompts that I kept writing poetry until my brain and body went, "Bed now kthxby." After subtracting lunch and supper breaks, that's 12 hours 15 minutes of work. A big rush of prompts arrived early, with a few more trickling in later. I wrote 22 poems, mostly medium, with a few shorts and a few long or epic ones. Most were free-verse poems, a few were forms, and a few had specific verse structures but not rhyme or meter. Some poems used multiple prompts, but more of them were based on single prompts.
Participation this month was terrific! A total of 19 people posted prompts. Please welcome our seven new prompters: nekomata, i_id, wolfbrotherjoe, siege, allykat, synnabar, and kestrels_nest! You have them to thank for "Medusa's Daughter," this month's bonus freebie for participation. There were 68 comments including mine.
Noteworthy records from this month include several all-time highs and others that are highs for this year. I am particularly intrigued that last year's Horror topic also showed on the list, which inclines me to continue exploring this topic.
Most Poems Written: 22 (10/13/09 Horror: Shapeshifters); 23 (10/14/08 Horror)
Most Comments: 68 (10/13/09 Horror: Shapeshifters); 53 (12/9/08 Science & Its Stories)
Most People Sending Prompts: 19 (10/13/09 Horror: Shapeshifters); 15 (12/9/08 Science & Its Stories)
Most First-time Prompters: 7 (10/13/09 Horror: Shapeshifters); 7 (5/15/08 Speculative Fiction)
Most First-time Donors: 4 (10/13/09 Horror: Shapeshifters); 3 (4/26/08 Nature)
Another factor in this month's success was networking. Several people mentioned finding the Poetry Fishbowl via a friend's recommendation. I've had a couple more folks Friend me or drop by this week for the same reason. So here's a big round of thanks to all of you who are posting about the fishbowls or otherwise pointing people in this direction. It's starting to work! Remember that a key aspect of promotion is plain old repetition -- people may not respond immediately, but after they've seen something three or four times, they're more likely to follow up if it's in their area of interest. I hope that the audience here will continue to grow.
The following fishbowl poems have been published:
“Building Suspense”
“The Calico Fox”
“Fat Moon Night”
“Felis dendrophila”
“Ghost Mittens”
“Medusa’s Daughter”
“Shadowskin”
“The Social Chameleon Speaks”
“ssessu”
“The Swan-Children’s Song”
"The Transformations of Terror"
Epic poem report:
This month we finished microfunding one epic poem and started another. I'm pleased to see continuing interest in the longer poems, and microfunding seems to be an effective way of making them accessible to more readers. (Although the SFPA has a long poem category for 50+ lines, many markets have a length limit around 20-30 lines. So these aren't always easy to sell.) I'm thinking I'd like to discuss the handling of epic poems, but I want to wait until Monday or Tuesday when more folks will be online to join that conversation. Meanwhile, you can enjoy these epics:
"The Cuckoo's Song" (finished microfunding 10/15/09)
“The Transformations of Terror” (began microfunding 10/15/09)
The donor perk post is up so that donors can see it; if you're new, you might also want to click the "donors" tag in the right sidebar to see previous donor posts. All currently sponsored poems have been posted. The polls to direct general donations have been completed. This time it occurred to me to offer opportunities to direct general donations into epic verses, and in both cases the epic won! Voters first decided to finish "The Cuckoo's Song" and then funded three new verses of "The Transformations of Terror."
This month's donors are: ellenmillion, allykat, synnabar, minor_architect, dormouse_in_tea, janetmiles, and stonetalker. A special welcome to four new donors allykat, synnabar, stonetalker, and wolfbrotherjoe! Everyone's generosity is greatly appreciated. You folks are making a difference in the world by sponsoring the kind of material you want to see. A couple of people mentioned how much they enjoyed seeing certain poems sponsored. With the power of the Internet and the cool new business model of crowdfunding, you too can become an editor and introduce the world to the stuff that you personally think is worthy of attention. Thank you all from the bottom of my muse-ridden, word-loving heart.
The Poetry Fishbowl Project also has a permanent landing page.
Participation this month was terrific! A total of 19 people posted prompts. Please welcome our seven new prompters: nekomata, i_id, wolfbrotherjoe, siege, allykat, synnabar, and kestrels_nest! You have them to thank for "Medusa's Daughter," this month's bonus freebie for participation. There were 68 comments including mine.
Noteworthy records from this month include several all-time highs and others that are highs for this year. I am particularly intrigued that last year's Horror topic also showed on the list, which inclines me to continue exploring this topic.
Most Poems Written: 22 (10/13/09 Horror: Shapeshifters); 23 (10/14/08 Horror)
Most Comments: 68 (10/13/09 Horror: Shapeshifters); 53 (12/9/08 Science & Its Stories)
Most People Sending Prompts: 19 (10/13/09 Horror: Shapeshifters); 15 (12/9/08 Science & Its Stories)
Most First-time Prompters: 7 (10/13/09 Horror: Shapeshifters); 7 (5/15/08 Speculative Fiction)
Most First-time Donors: 4 (10/13/09 Horror: Shapeshifters); 3 (4/26/08 Nature)
Another factor in this month's success was networking. Several people mentioned finding the Poetry Fishbowl via a friend's recommendation. I've had a couple more folks Friend me or drop by this week for the same reason. So here's a big round of thanks to all of you who are posting about the fishbowls or otherwise pointing people in this direction. It's starting to work! Remember that a key aspect of promotion is plain old repetition -- people may not respond immediately, but after they've seen something three or four times, they're more likely to follow up if it's in their area of interest. I hope that the audience here will continue to grow.
The following fishbowl poems have been published:
“Building Suspense”
“The Calico Fox”
“Fat Moon Night”
“Felis dendrophila”
“Ghost Mittens”
“Medusa’s Daughter”
“Shadowskin”
“The Social Chameleon Speaks”
“ssessu”
“The Swan-Children’s Song”
"The Transformations of Terror"
Epic poem report:
This month we finished microfunding one epic poem and started another. I'm pleased to see continuing interest in the longer poems, and microfunding seems to be an effective way of making them accessible to more readers. (Although the SFPA has a long poem category for 50+ lines, many markets have a length limit around 20-30 lines. So these aren't always easy to sell.) I'm thinking I'd like to discuss the handling of epic poems, but I want to wait until Monday or Tuesday when more folks will be online to join that conversation. Meanwhile, you can enjoy these epics:
"The Cuckoo's Song" (finished microfunding 10/15/09)
“The Transformations of Terror” (began microfunding 10/15/09)
The donor perk post is up so that donors can see it; if you're new, you might also want to click the "donors" tag in the right sidebar to see previous donor posts. All currently sponsored poems have been posted. The polls to direct general donations have been completed. This time it occurred to me to offer opportunities to direct general donations into epic verses, and in both cases the epic won! Voters first decided to finish "The Cuckoo's Song" and then funded three new verses of "The Transformations of Terror."
This month's donors are: ellenmillion, allykat, synnabar, minor_architect, dormouse_in_tea, janetmiles, and stonetalker. A special welcome to four new donors allykat, synnabar, stonetalker, and wolfbrotherjoe! Everyone's generosity is greatly appreciated. You folks are making a difference in the world by sponsoring the kind of material you want to see. A couple of people mentioned how much they enjoyed seeing certain poems sponsored. With the power of the Internet and the cool new business model of crowdfunding, you too can become an editor and introduce the world to the stuff that you personally think is worthy of attention. Thank you all from the bottom of my muse-ridden, word-loving heart.
The Poetry Fishbowl Project also has a permanent landing page.