Marketing my first two books of poetry has taught me many lessons. First, poetry is a hard sell: of the 60% of adults who read at least a book a year, only about 5% read poetry. Second, the ones who read poetry are often passionate about it. Third, a lot of poetry readers write poems themselves, though they are usually shy about it. (As I was for fifty years.)
I have some friends here in Savannah who regularly offer their art and writing in the beautiful Forsyth Park in center city. So, I decided to try to encourage both writing and reading poetry. I selected haiku as a simple form, easy to explain in a few minutes, and quick to write.
I have had my table in the park on weekends (mostly Saturdays, depending on the weather) for eight weeks now, and have had many engaging experiences in talking about poetry with people. As a side benefit, a few have donated money for one or more of my books, but this is clearly not ever going to be a moneymaking activity.
Some of my best encounters have been with young kids, so last week I added Erasmus the Reading Dragon to my setup. When the weather here warms (YES! Snow in Savannah!), Erasmus and I will take another trip to the park, and encourage more people to read and write poetry.