Media

Commentary on various aspects of publishing and marketing, primarily focused on books, magazines, and social media.

Me, in a green "Freed Between the Lines." hoodie.

Def Poetry is closing

This just in: Def Poetry on Broadway will be closing on Sunday! Not sure how I feel about that to be honest. Not having seen it, I can't really comment but, based on what I've heard from people I respect that HAVE seen it, it's sort of a double-edged sword. Many poets (good ones, at least) felt it was a dumbed-down version of the best of what we do. A polished spin on Friday nights at the Nuyorican a couple of years back, perhaps. Most agree that they failed to take full advantage of the medium and, on top of…

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Me, in a green "Freed Between the Lines." hoodie.

The snow is blowing wildly across the gray, depressed skyline as I'm looking north - I think! - from my office on the 25th floor. Mind you, I'm in a cubicle but our section sits next to a huge ceiling-to-floor window. I've started bringing in some things to personalize my space. Not the playroom again but it feels comfy and that's what counts. Have a nice picture frame with 5 pictures of the kids, Salomé and me. Jungle Attack He-Man's here; Shea Stadium, my Jets flask, my "I'm Not Bossy, I just have better ideas" sign. Brought in only a…

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Me, in a green "Freed Between the Lines." hoodie.

Back on the job

Well, being back to work is certainly making it hard to get to this journal!

Readjusting – AGAIN! – has been rough and it didn’t help that I stayed out so late on Monday night after the show. We ended a bit late as it was but afterwards, Jerry Quickley was in town for the night before heading to Iraq the next day to shoot a documentary about the effects of the US sanctions and bombings. That’s one brave MF who truly walks the walk in everything he does. Needless to say, we all got a little toasted and I got home at 2:30am! This was right after Oscar and I got pulled over two blocks from the building by a cop looking for weed.

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Me, in a green "Freed Between the Lines." hoodie.

A Curatorial Rant

Back when I was single and just starting out on the poetry scene, I quickly learned one rule of thumb: no matter how attractive, never introduce yourself to a poet until AFTER you’ve heard them read. There’s nothing more awkward than the moment they finish their poem, you realize they’re absolutely terrible – or, even worse, some sad variation on mediocre – and you’ve lost all desire to continue the conversation!

Curating a reading series that includes a slam, I’m always on the lookout for new voices on the scene to invite to read at 13. Whether a potential feature or a new slammer, whenever I’m at a show, I’m careful about who I’m introduced to and, more importantly, WHEN. It’s no longer about attraction but the logic is the same. If anything, it’s even worse.

The absolute worst is people who have established something of a name for themselves – not terribly difficult in these days of DIY PR, the internet and the overall spoken word bandwagon. Recently, I was at a show where one such person was reading. I’d seen her name around and was curious. Thankfully, I waited to hear a couple of pieces before being introduced. She wasn’t terrible, but she wasn’t very good, either. Great performance and stage presence but not nearly enough attention to crafting the words. Most annoying was her identity piece – everyone’s got at least one! – that ranted about the stereotyping of her people while simultaneously indulging in the stereotypes of another. Lacking any sense of irony, it just came off as ignorant.

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Me, in a green "Freed Between the Lines." hoodie.

Got a job?

“Third time’s a charm,” is how the saying goes. I hope so since I had my third interview in seven days this afternoon! It was a final interview with the one person in the department I hadn’t met yet and it’s apparently come down to me and one other person. Relatively confident in the interviews but who knows? They’ve already started checking my references which is a good sign. Cross your fingers.

It’s a return to publishing but, ironically, it’s FINANCIAL magazines this time! This would be the first time I’d actually known a magazine prior to working for it. It’s a bit more marketing than circulation this time around, which would be great, and it’s four magazines, a few newsletters and some web sites, which should keep things interesting.

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Me, in a green "Freed Between the Lines." hoodie.

Cynical Choir Clarification

Ask and ye shall be told. I checked with a colleague of mine at Refuse and Resist about what was up with the Lincoln Center event and here's the deal: "The sponsoring group for the event is Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience (you can see it at www.nion.us), and any money raised will go towards printing the statement in publications around the country. it has already appeared in 45 newspapers or magazines here and internationally, some of which have been paid ads, paid for by donations from people who have seen earlier ads. No one is being paid…

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Me, in a green "Freed Between the Lines." hoodie.

Charging the choir for a sermon

Call me cynical – you wouldn’t be the first! – but I’ve got some issues with this Lincoln Center Anti-War reading next Monday. And no, it’s got nothing to do with it being ON a Monday. I’ve encouraged people to check it out and even sent it out to our mailing list. It was actually a response to that mailing from a friend in Seattle that got me thinking, though.

The CONCEPT is wonderful. A bunch of poets covering the spectrum from establishment to street coming together to speak out against the war is a good thing. A VERY good thing. But what’s with the $10-100 ticket charge? I’ve looked around the Not in Our Name and Lincoln Center web sites and read through the promotional emails I’ve been sent and there’s no mention of this being a fundraiser. Who’s this money going to?

My wife – former event planner that she is – says Lincoln Center is an expensive place to hold an event. I don’t doubt it and that’s what confuses me even more. It makes no sense to me that you’d hold an event like THIS somewhere that isn’t donating the space, much less an expensive one. Who are they trying to reach out to? Why isn’t this a free event held somewhere that could ensure maximum exposure? Even @ $10/ticket, it’s a POETRY show, and all you’re doing is preaching to the choir if that’s your audience.

Don’t accuse me of pulling a post-9/11 O’Reilly on a good cause, either. Seriously. If it’s a fundraiser, it should say that SOMEWHERE. If it’s not, then it’s nothing more than capitalistic opportunism. If the poets themselves are being paid for reading at this thing, shame on them. There’s several names on the lineup that I know personally, some of whom I respect greatly. There’s at least one whose politics have proven rather convenient over the years, aka if there’s cameras, he’ll be there.

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