This week’s episode of The Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast takes a trip to Tuscany, featuring two Italy-themed poems originally written in English, and translated into Italian by a translator based in Italy who specializes in translating poetry. “limano” is inspired by Limano, Italy, a town hundreds of years old tucked along a mountain ridge. “torta di riso” captures the experience of learning how to bake the favorite creation my mother-in-law makes each Easter.

DUBLIN, CA–At the Dublin Arts Collective Scary Art Show (F.CO. Art Gallery, Oct 14-31), the winners of the Viewless Wings Scary Poetry Contest were announced, and their poems placed on display for the duration of the show. Over 50 poets submitted poems with the winners selected by Dublin, CA Poet Laureate – James Morehead.

Each selected poet also recited their winning poem for the most recent episode of The Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast:

James Morehead (Poet Laureate – Dublin, California), in partnership with the Lake of Bays Township Public Library, will be hosting a special live, virtual event on Thursday October 21, 7pm EST (register for free tickets here). James will read selections from his book “canvas: poems”, discuss his writing process, and field audience questions.

DUBLIN, CA–The inaugural Viewless Wings Poetry and Pizza Open Mic, held at Patxi’s Pizza (Dublin) on Wed. Aug 18, featured twenty local poets, ten artists from the Dublin Arts Collective, and filled Patxi Pizza’s outdoor patio. The event was hosted and organized by James Morehead, Poet Laureate of Dublin, California.

DUBLIN, CA–In his first event as Dublin, California’s new Poet Laureate, James Morehead is teaming up with Patxi’s Pizza (Dublin) for the inaugural Poetry and Pizza Open Mic, with the intent of creating a monthly space for East Bay poets to share their original work. The free event will be hosted by Morehead, feature local poets (adults and students, sign-up details below) including Poet Laureates from the Tri-Valley area.

The greatest challenge a first-time author faces (after creating a manuscript worthy of publishing and finding a way to get your book published), is creating a community of readers. If you are an “ordinary” person without an existing following there aren’t any shortcuts (be wary of anyone claiming otherwise). Below are the steps I took leading up to the launch of my first book “canvas“.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 15, 2021

UPDATE: Exclusive signed copies of “canvas: poems” are available direct from Viewless Wings.

DUBLIN, CA–City of Dublin Poet Laureate James Morehead’s debut book canvas: poems, featuring original art by Kari Byron (EXPLR Media, MythBusters, Crash Test World) and Alla Tsank, and photographs by the author, went on sale today in hardcover, paperback and eBook formats, through retail booksellers and Ingram Content Group. Morehead documented his experience as a first-time author in a series of articles published on viewlesswingspress.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 1, 2021

DUBLIN, CA–At the June 1, 2021 City of Dublin Council Meeting, the Council voted to confirm the selection of James Morehead as the City of Dublin’s Poet Laureate for an 18-month term starting July 1, 2021.

Although I’ve written poetry for decades, it is only recently that I decided to publish my first book. I suspected that publishing a high quality book would be complex and time-consuming – time measured in months and even years – and I was right. The pandemic provided both inspiration to write and the need for an all-consuming distraction outside of work. My day job is product management at a large tech company and I’ve found that everything I’ve learned to be an effective product manager applies to the challenge of publishing a book. Below are some of the ways product management and publishing a book are related challenges.

RUTLAND, VT–In celebration of National Poetry Month 2021, The Paper Poet in collaboration with Phoenix Books Rutland and Downtown Rutland Partnership created a pop-up poetry path featuring 70+ poems in the window fronts of 17 downtown Rutland businesses, contributed by over 30 poets. James Morehead, author of “canvas” (Viewless Wings Press, now available for pre-order) contributed three poems from “canvas” that are now on display as part of the event.

Your manuscript is complete. You’ve worked a designer and copyeditor to create a word-perfect and beautifully designed product. You have ISBNs and all the other details finalized. How do you take the next step and see your hard work realized in physical form?

The next most important task after authoring a compelling an impeccably edited (and copyedited) manuscript is choosing a designer for your cover and interior layout. This may be two different people or the same person. As a first time author who is self-publishing I started by looking through my collection of poetry books. In particular I loved the design of Olivia Gatwood’s book “Life of the Party”. I reached out to the cover designer of Gatwood’s book, Zoe Norvell, and I was very fortunate that she agreed to take the project. The cover and interior design will likely be the most significant investment you’ll make in making your publishing dream a reality so take your time and choose wisely!

One of the many first-time publisher questions I had as part of the project was the copyright of art given to me and/or owned by me from two artists. Both agreed that I could use their art in the book and on the cover but I suspected I needed more than something verbal or a simple email. I was also unsure what happens when you purchase art. With the caveat that I’m not providing legal advice and the reader should consult with a lawyer (as I did), here is what I learned and a possible starting point for an art licensing agreement. You’ll also want to register a copyright for your original work – more on that below too.

You’ve spent hours writing your book, weeks in editing and copyediting, and you are pulling together all the assets you need before handing your manuscript to the designer. Take the time and invest in a high quality profile photo – you’ll be thankful

When you have a copyedited manuscript it’s a good time to checklist through a series of items that will give your book professional polish. All of these items were new to me and at first were intimidating. I had so many questions as a self-publisher – do I use my name as the publisher? What’s an imprint? Do I buy ISBNs are get them from the print service? How do I get a barcode?

When my upcoming book “canvas” is ready to be sold my goal is for every word to be letter perfect. Unlike web content (such as this article), which can be updated and corrected on the fly, a book once printed is permanent. Given the complexity of publishing a book, taking the extra step to ensure letter perfection is worth the investment.

When I decided to turn 40 years of poetry into a debut book I had a running start and it was tempting to get ahead of the manuscript and jump into the many other elements required to publish a book. I was advised, however, to focus on the manuscript first because so many decisions depend on the manuscript. There is no universal template for taking an idea from from a blank page to a design-ready manuscript; here is the approach I took with my first book.

I’ve written poetry for over forty years, inspired by my grade 10 creative writing teacher so many years ago. Poetry captured my imagination: a form of artistic expression that is all about economy, beauty and the search for perfection through the careful selection and thoughtful placement of words.