Need something to do this summer?
Earlier this year, we had a tsunami of submissions flood our inboxes, thanks to our open submissions period. We read a lot of good poetry, but the experience also made us a bit sad and anxious: there were so many excellent submissions that we had to say no to, simply because there was not enough space or time to fit them in our publications calendar.
In the rejection letter we sent to every unsuccessful writer, we asked a simple question: what resources do you need to help your poetic journey? Dozens of writers responded. The response that we received the most, by far, was a request for guidance on how to self-publish poetry.
You spoke and we listened. Presenting: These Notes Are Yours, a free, 60-odd-page digital PDF document that is filled with notes, resources and contact details to help poets and other writers to self-publish their own poetry books, pamphlets and other publications in South Africa. (It also has plenty of advice for people outside of SA, too.)
Written by uHlanga founder Nick Mulgrew and uHlanga poet Megan Ross, and especially formatted for screens and phones, These Notes is a document filled with advice, helpful tips and trusted suppliers to help you take those steps yourself. This document focuses particularly on simple zines, but also offers advice and contacts to help you produce more commercial books, and who to contact to find potential sellers and distributors for your books.
Seeing as uHlanga cannot publish every book that deserves publication, we hope that, by offering a bit of advice, insight and connection, we can encourage more poets to become poet-publishers. And why not? Self-publishing is a bona fide poetic practice that includes many of the world's best-known poets, and has a long history in South Africa. Poetry is, in fact, one of the few kinds of writing in which self-publishing your work is a completely normal thing to do.
So if you're looking for a project to do this December, look no further. Did we mention that These Notes are free? It is licensed under Creative Commons, so you can even make These Notes into a book yourself, or use it as the basis of your own guide.
Head to the publication page to download These Notes, and share widely with your friends and poetry buddies. These Notes are intended to be a living document that we will update when appropriate; you will always find the most up-to-date version on our website. If you have additions or corrections – or are a supplier who wants to be listed in our supplier section – please mail notes@uhlangapress.co.za.