I see what you're saying. I may not be the right person to edit this collection. Do you have anybody else in mind who you feel would do a better job? My last collection of poetry cost $8.68 per unit and was 127 pages long. That price was set at the minimum printing cost. I could have marked the price up to any amount of money that I wanted to, but because it was essentially a chapbook (albeit a high quality chapbook), and the goal wasn't to make money, I opted to put the printed magazine for sale at cost. It is also free for download, even though I could have set that price at anything, too. My Mom did the final spell-checking for it, because maybe you haven't noticed yet (because I've been improving), but I'm definitely not the best speller out there. If by your logic we were to look at peoples experience in the publishing field as the only qualifying characteristic when choosing "editors", then my Mom shouldn't have spell checked the magazine. But, if we were to evaluate her on her top-notch spelling, then she was a great candidate to do the job. I appreciate your honesty that you think that my attitude is presumptuous. To be blunt, I'm open to using a more qualified editor for this project! There's no argument that I'm not a seasoned veteran when it comes to publishing. At the same time, I do have a little experience, which I am glad to share with anybody who wants it. I do think it's a good idea to put together a collection of poetry written by the poets at this site (with their permission of course). I like to be involved in projects like this, because I get a good feeling of seeing projects through from start to finish. And, I have a fair amount of time on my hands,so it just makes sense that I suggested that I could do the "editing". It didn't occur to me that anybody would call me presumptuous for offering to put together a collection of poetry here (or ever). It may seem kind of stupid to you since you've been published, but I truly feel that a lot of poets would jump at the chance to be published in a collection like this, because it would look good on their resume. ha ha. Well, maybe not, but I still think they would be happy to contribute.

If you or someone else that you know would prefer to do the editing and you (or they) are more qualified than I am (and are willing to work for free like I was planning on doing), and if you feel like this project has potential, then I hope you won't hesitate to come on board and help make this happen. I'd like to be a part of the project in some way, even if it's just to set up the finished document on Lulu.com or to help seek out potentially publishable poetry to be included in the collection. I like the name: The Mingle Poetry Collection. But, names can be changed. And, so can attitudes.

I wish you would look at Chaplin's Magazine, because don't think you would be so critical of my "editing" if you did. The fact that we could put together a quality collection of Mingle poetry seems really neat to me, and I hope that you aren't too mad at me for having even brought it up :(

I need to tell you that there is no cost whatsoever in publishing a book at LULU.com. If I want to create a book and buy one copy, then I will upload my file, and pay $8.50 for my copy (or whatever the printing cost is). There are no "start-up fees"! Or I could create the book, and make it available free for download - and that would be totally free for everyone involved! The point is that thousands of dollars would NOT be spent creating a LULU book. The only money that anybody would spend would be on their own personal book copies, which incidentally, poets could mark up and sell for whatever they wanted to sell them for. You are right that it is vanity publishing! But, you are wrong that there are costs involved other than paying reasonable prices for solid products. Also, it wouldn't be "self publishing" for most of the poets in the collection, considering the fact that they would not actually be the ones publishing the collection. That's a technicality though. But, on the other hand, Lulu.com is a self-publishing company - I know, I know, I'm full of contradictions :)

Speaking of contradictions, I guess I could have been a little more thorough in my explanation of the proof reading situation. Although I spell-check (on my computer) the documents that I self publish, I always give the final proof to my Mom to go over just to double check for mistakes that the computer and I missed. I'm sorry for not having been exactly clear about the situation. My bad. Frankly, I trust my Mom to find mistakes better than me or my computer. She's intelligent is all...

Here are the pros and cons of making a collection through Lulu.com (as I see them):

Pros:

1) Poets will see their work published somewhere other than the forum, and these poets will be able to site this collection as a place they've been published before. (don't roll your eyes just because it's a "vanity press"!) For all you and I know, some of the poets in this collection may never have seen their work in print, and maybe being published this will spark a passion in them to seek out other venues for their poems to be showcased - maybe even earning money doing so! Seeking and searching are good things I must say ;)

2) The collection will be available in print (for the cost price) and will be downloadable for free.

3) The collection won't cost a cent to create.

4) The collection will be for sale through the Lulu.com website (but frankly, don't expect many sales to people who don't personally know the poets contained in the collection).

Cons:

1) Nobody will be paid for their work, unless they sell their own personal copies for profit.

2) Somebody has to wade through a lot of poetry on this site to "collect" the material for the collection. That somebody also has to get permission to use the poetry from each poet, and this takes time.

3) Marketing costs money, so this collection won't be marketed, so the only notable sales will be to ourselves or to direct acquaintances. In other words, these collections will be about as popular as your average chapbook - multiplied by as many poets who are included in the collection.

These are all the pros and cons I can think of right now. Based on logic alone, I think the pros out way the cons, so I think the idea of publishing a collection using Lulu.com has some merit.

It's been an interesting dialog. Thanks for your consideration.

I might be interested. I need to get my creative juices running though so I can write something decent. I been in a writers block for a while. I have a lulu.com account also I made when I found it through alllpoetry.com.

As for the editing. I prefer to do it myself.

My facts are 100% correct! 'NO THEY ARE NOT.'

'I have first hand experience self publishing with Lulu.com!'

THEN I GUESS YOU'RE JUST A REAL EXPERT AREN'T YOU?

'And, the prices I cited are accurate to the cent! I personally think that the self publishing industry is helpful to people who don't want to shop their books around to publishers and potentially face dozens if not hundreds of rejections. Self publishing offers a quick and easy solution to the question of "how do I get my work out there?" - self publishing is book publishing for the small guy!'

IT'S ALSO WHY THE MARKET HAS BEEN SO FLOODED WITH MEDIOCRE WRITING THAT PUBLISHING HOUSES ARE SHUTTING THEIR DOOR TO NEW AUTHORS. ANYONE CAN BE A WRITER THESE DAYS - JUST DREDGE UP ENOUGH CASH OR FIND SOMEONE LIKE YOURSELF WHO PUSHES THE NOTION THAT "HEY, WE CAN PUT OUT A BOOK" WITHOUT ALSO ADDING THE ADDENDUM THAT WHILE AN AUTHOR WHO WORKS HIS OR HER ASS OFF ON A PIECE MAY ACTUALLY SEE IT IN PRINT, IN ALL PROBABILITY IT WONT GET "OUT THERE" FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO READ. JESUS YOU ARE NAIVE.

"Anybody anywhere can self publish ANYTHING nowadays - anything from mugs to T-shirts to cd's to books to comic books or stickers - it's a testament to the technological progress that has been made in the last 15 years."

IT'S NOT A TESTAMENT. IT'S TAKEN THE QUALITY OUT OF ART AND CREATIVITY ON MANY LEVELS. WHILE IT IS TRUE THAT ALOT OF EXCELLENT WRITING HAS BEEN SELF PUBLISHED IT'S ALSO TRUE THAT FAR MORE MEDIOCRE AND JUST PLAIN BAD WORK HAS FLOODED THE MARKET OBSCURING REAL TALENT.

"For $8 I can print one copy of a professional quality book, or for $8 I could buy grilled chicken Caesar salad at the local pizza joint. Book or salad... it's a hard choice, eh?"

YEAH, I TOOK A LOOK AT "YOUR" BOOK. PASS ME A FORK FOR THAT SALAD WOULD YOU PLEASE?

"Don't feel bad that you weren't aware of the benefits of Print on Demand technology..."

YOU'RE A FOOL AND THAT WAS A STUPID REMARK TO MAKE. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT I AM AWARE OF OR NOT? I AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH PRINT ON DEMAND TECHNOLOGY. IF I WERE NOT, I WOULDNT BE HAVING THIS LAME AND REDUNDANT ARGUMENT WITH AN ANIMATED DOORKNOB WHO HAS NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN JUSTIFY HIS NAIVETY BY SCREAMING OUT HIS EXPERIENCE "I HAVE SELF PUBLISHED AND I KNOW IT ALLLLLLLL"

"it's not really common knowledge yet, because it's so new."

BULL****. IT'S BEEN AROUND FOR YEARS.

"I suggest that you do a wikipedia search for "print on demand books" so that we can end this discussion on a note of mutual understanding and empathy."

I SUGGEST YOU TAKE YOUR BAD IDEAS AND PAWN THEM OFF ON SOMEONE WHO MAY ACTUALLY KNOW LESS THAN YOU DO ABOUT THE MARKET. GOOD LUCK THOUGH, I DOUBT YOU'LL FIND ANYONE WHO KNOWS LESS.

"You may be surprised by the fact that I'm not just blowing hot air out my you know what."

WELL YOU ARE CORRECT THERE. I WOULD BE SURPRISED BECAUSE AT THIS POINT YOU'VE DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO ALLEVIATE MY OPINION THAT YOU ARE IN FACT, BLOWING HOT ARE OUT OF YOUR YOU-KNOW-WHAT.

"Anyway, that's all I've got"

CLEARLY.

ok, so I'm ranting here, and this is a huge pet peeve of mine.
You gave an idea and you clarified upon that idea. We get the point and if anyone wishes to take you up on your offer, they will seek you. It should end right there, no matter what anyone else may have to say.
This makes me wonder what part of FREE FORUM don't some "people" understand and why do these "people" try to pound or sell their money scheming ideas into people who could care less about what scams you're trying to run.
I for one could care less about publishing anything I write and I DO take offense to others cramming stuff like this down others throats.
Seriously, if someone wanted to have their work published, most would inquire about it discreetly and not cause such a big scene and hassle as this has caused.
Additionally, mud slinging and being pushy has never gotten anything worthwhile done. All it does is create chaos and ill will toward both sides.
You can take these words whichever way you wish, it really doesn't matter to me.
Most of us come here to have fun and share our talents amongst one another. That's what these forums were created for.....ENJOYMENT and maybe even some enlightenment.....Not chaos. We put up with too much crap in everyday life without having to come here and deal with more of the same.