There is a poetry exercise that involves taking a page of a book, or a newspaper article, or other written material and “excising” or blacking out everything except the words of a poem that remain.  It’s like carving away at a block of wood until you reveal the figure inside.  It can be a fun and surprising process to learn what concise insights come out of a potentially long and boring article.  The final poem topic may or may not be related to the original article; you may end up with something entirely different. 

In the process of writing my book, I had some old double-spaced printed versions that stacked up a couple of inches high. We cut the pages into bits of scrap paper, the perfect size for making grocery lists.  One day my son and his girlfriend pulled out the pile of printed scrap paper and started crossing out words.  They ended up with a number of pretty cool micro-poems. 

If you’ve read my book that generated the scrap paper (Riding Lessons, Things I Learned While Horsing Around), you might be able to recognize which stories the phrases came from.  I must admit it’s a bit weird to see that some of the original meaning is still retained at about 1/100^th of the length.  Maybe I use too many words…  In contrast, others of the micro-poems were more philosophical. 

From their total of 20 micro poems (which is such a lovely round number), I provide six of my favorites below. 

1 

Once upon a time, 
I had
All the daylight
Saddle, good 
Horsey necessities.  
Then I got 
Mac 
And said 
I wasn’t catching naps.


2

Miles apart
To meet 
It hurt bad.
But I ignored it, 
Jumped
To the other.


3 

Can do things
Like flying a moment on
Controlled precise movements.


4

My friend
Her daughter, 
Ponies, and
Loving 
Suffered through
The same summer
Injured once
Spent time.


5

Things were 
Very
Crisis-oriented
I was worried, it was still
Horses.


6 

Great
Speed and strength
Pegasus
Power and speed.

I have heard of walking meditation, where one walks intently, noticing each step, feeling each breath, and finding a meditative calmness as you move.  Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and global spiritual leader explains it this way:

“Each mindful breath, each mindful step, reminds us that we are alive on this beautiful planet. We don’t need anything else. It is wonderful enough just to be alive, to breathe in, and to make one step. We have arrived at where real life is available—the present moment. If we breathe and walk in this way, we become as solid as a mountain.”

(https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-meditate-thich-nhat-hanh-on-walking-meditation/)

I’ve tried meditation before, walking and otherwise, but I’ve never mastered it.  I never get to that entirely calm state of noticing the breath with a calm mind. My busy thoughts always intrude. Or, alternatively, I go too far into a relaxed state and fall asleep.

I have done a lot of walking this winter, first when I signed up for a walking challenge to support The Nature Conservancy.  I walked 70 miles in January.  The more I walked, the more I liked it.  I found it calming.  I often walked in my own neighborhood, alternating directions, one day heading north on our roads, another day west, another day east.  I found I moved quickly and anxiously at the beginning of each walk; my thoughts were busy, worrying, problem solving, or thinking about what I had to do at home.  Somewhere in the middle of my walk, often at the point where I turned toward home, my edge was worn off.  I walked more slowly.  I was not impatient to get home.  I noticed the bird songs, and the trees.  The more I walked, the more I liked it.  A habit was forming. 

In February, a friend asked me to join her in a walking challenge. We invented our own challenge with our own rules.  Our plan was to walk at least five days a week.  We would track our miles, and give a donation based on our mileage to a local conservation group.  And, during or after each walk, we would paint or draw, or write a haiku.  My friend is an artist, I am a writer.  We also committed to check in with each other frequently, since that reinforced our commitment to each other to walk, write, and draw.

Having an informal challenge helped us both get out of our houses.  I felt that meditative calmness once again while walking in my neighborhood.  But I also discovered that composing a haiku while walking brought on a similar calm and thoughtful state.  The haiku could be about anything, it could be silly or serious.  When I forgot to carry pencil and paper, I would memorize the three lines of haiku while walking.  I would repeat the lines to the rhythm of my steps, line after line, step after step, to remember it long enough to write it down at home.  I found this was another way to focus on the moment.  Mindful walking, mindful words.    

Thus, I have invented a new meditation technique: walking haiku.  Haiku is fun, it is simply playing with words and syllables.  There are 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the third line.  And if I slip in an extra syllable or two, no biggy.  That’s called poetic license. 

My cell phone is dead
I walk and listen to birds
Nothing to distract me.

Playing with this short poetry technique while walking helps me with concentration.   My goal is to notice what is around me and write a short piece about it.  It might be about the sound of a great-horned owl hooting off in the woods; it might be about the blister forming on my heel because my sock fell down in my boot, or it might be about how cold I am on a blustery late winter day. 

Walking in rubber boots
Socks fall down. I get blistered, 
Still nice in the rain.

I find “walking haiku” increases my focus and helps me notice the rhythm of my foot steps.   Serious haiku poets might scoff at my unique and odd short poems, but the goal is not to write the highest form of the art.  It is to walk, breathe, notice, compose a poem, or chant a poem.  And if I end up getting some exercise out of it, even better.    

It’s been quite a week.   I received the first box-of-books Monday (see more about Riding Lessons, Lessons I Learned While Horsing Around, on the other tab of this website.) I’ve been working on the “publicist” part of the self-published-author-split-personality.  Actually, what I’ve enjoyed most was catching up with new and old friends as I shared announcements about the book.  

We had a first book signing, first sale, and first receipt writing.  It was our neighbors, Chuck and Karen, but it counts, right?  Plus we had wine. 

My Mom and husband made up the initial book distribution staff.  I took over distribution later in the week to get books to friends who had requested copies, and to bring gift books to key helpers.  I have driven the car everyday this, week; this is a strange thing for this post-covid hermit. I even put on nice shirts and jewelry!

I absolutely enjoyed checking in with bookstores and retailers.  I love book people.  And I got the warmest, kindest, reception at a local tack store, Spokane Tack Trunk. 

I think it was Russel at Gray Dog Press who said book selling is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.  To put that in horse terms, this is not a Quarter Horse race, it’s an endurance ride.   We are trotting along at a steady speed.

Meanwhile, it’s been a long winter, and my horses are bored.  So I let them read the book. 

[Horse photo credit, Chris Frederick.]

A famous writer, when asked how to write, answered:  Butt in chair.  Okay, it looks like several writers and bloggers have used that, or borrowed that, but I’m giving the quote Anne Lamott, because I like her.  Anyhow, as I’m about to publish my first (self-published) book, I’m reflecting on the process.  It was a long process.  So the first rule of book writing by Michelle Eames is:

Allot Yourself a Lot of Time

It feels like I’ve always written, starting way back in high school, though my writing has often happened in fits and starts.  I journaled with pen and ink by hand.  I moved the good stuff to the computer, slowly over time.  I have mostly evolved to writing directly on the computer now.  Thank you, high school typing classes!  As I look back at the early drafts of the bits and chapters in Riding Lessons, Things I Learned While Horsing Around, I notice some of the first computer versions were dated 2002.  But some pieces were undoubtedly written before that. Eventually, I had enough on the horse and humor theme to start to pull it together into a longer work. 

Vacation from Work to do Writing Work

When you get a lot of pieces of your book ready to compile into something big, spend some focused time on pulling it all together.  I remember spending most of one Christmas vacation working on finishing and compiling some pieces, and then a government furlough, and then finally retirement. Even with that vast space of time floating in front of me upon retirement, it still took a lot of time to finish the book.

Try Publishers, Expect Rejection 

Once I had a solid draft together that I liked, I started sending it out to mainstream publishers.  This is done by researching the kind of books the company publishes, and then sending query letters with sample chapters to the editors.  The research is time consuming.  The waiting for answers, and more often non-answers, is time consuming.  I sent queries out to 10 potential publishers over a year and a half and received no positive responses.  I did get one complimentary note, along with the “no thank-you”.  Animal humor is a bit of a niche market, and I am not a famous writer. Yet.

First Readers, First Sharing

Decide to self-publish but decide to do it right.  First, make sure more people than your mother actually like the book.  Share with “Beta Readers”.  My beta readers included a horsewoman (my aunt), and a non-horsey friend.  Both were avid readers.  And both were obviously biased, but I made them pinky-swear to be honest in their assessments.  In short, they liked the book.  And they helped with editing, a lot.  Incorporate the edits. 

Start Building Your Market Early

After receiving a wonderful birthday gift from my son, an interview with a successful self-published fantasy writer, I asked the author all about marketing and process.  She recommended developing a website and a following on social media.  With my son’s help, I started a website and blog.  Turns out, I like blogging.  This was not a hardship. 

Learn to Wait and Wait Some More

To continue your professional journey, hire an editor, thereby beginning to dig the deep hole of writing and publishing costs that you may never recover from.  Learn how much editors cost (a lot!).  Ask previous teachers and published writers that you know.  End up with a friend of a friend that is new to editing, so moderately priced.  Hope for a quick turn around so you can get this book out the door and down the road in the next week or so.  Then wait for her more sane schedule.  Incorporate the edits.

Find a Publishing Company that Helps Self-Publishers

After receiving only rejections from mainstream publishers, get more serious about self-publishing.  Ask local writer friends how they did it.  Research some more.  Find self-publishing blogs.  Read them.  Eventually, follow the advice of friends and find a local publisher that does layout, some printing, and talks you through the self-publishing process.  Read your manuscript draft one more time and find more edits.  Fix the edits.  Finally share the draft, photos, and cover ideas with the local publisher.  [Gray Dog Press, you are worth your weight in gold!]  Continue to study how Amazon works for paperbacks and ebooks, and Ingram Spark for distribution to retailers and libraries.  Wait some more.

Start Small with a Small Business

After talking to published writers, artists, friends, and googling self-publishing sites, determine it’s in your best interest to get a business license.  This is in part to claim potential losses on your income taxes. Pay for state license.  Notice that there seems to be a lot of costs, and future income from your book may be low.  Buy fun things at the office store, like a receipt book. 

Review. Edit. Repeat.

Receive a pdf copy of the laid-out book. Read it from front to back, and again from back to front.  Ask a friend to read it.  Find more typos and edits and improvements.  Ask publisher to incorporate edits.  Wait some more.  Finally get a “proof”, an actual printed copy of the paperback book.  Ask someone from your writer’s group to do a final proof-read.  Find more typos, edits, and improvements.  Resignedly, ask publisher to fix these new edits.  Hope that all mistakes are now found.  Determine that you are done reading the book, and now will only review for big layout problems.  Wait some more for the printing of the first run of the book.

Become a Book Market Analysis Guru

Before the final printing, the publisher asks for a price to list on the back cover.  Time to do some more serious research, instead of saying, “Oh, I dunno… fourteen bucks?”  Visit the local bookstore and ask staff about prices.  Look on shelves.  Look up similar books on Amazon.  Compare prices for paperbacks and ebooks.  Actually find an author who writes books similar to yours, compare her prices.  Lose sleep over final pricing.  Summarize your findings with your writers group and ask their advice.  Follow their advice.  Sleep again.

Find out how to write a book description.  Find out how to use key words in the book description.  Keep long lists of people who want the book, people you will email when complete, potential Facebook and blog posts, and potential local retailers.  Become the queen of spreadsheets to track all of the future steps and tasks once the book is published. Also track costs.

Become an Electronic Upload Guru

Once the local publisher provides digital layouts for Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), and Kindle ebooks, figure out how to upload to Amazon.  Review electronic “proofs” from Amazon.  Find layout mistakes on the ebook.  Request edits from publisher.  Upload again.  Pay for an actual paperback proof from Amazon.  Wait for arrival, despite having payed extra for the quicker shipping option.  Pause on Amazon until proof received.  Tap fingers on desks and feet on floor while waiting.  Butt is still in chair while checking the shipping tracking link several times a day.

Then, the publisher finishes the electronic documents for Ingram Spark paperback and ebooks.  Upload to their more complicated system.  Pay them some money.  Wait for their review before hitting “Publish” button.  All while waiting for Amazon proof, and while waiting for the local publisher print run. 

Finally receive Amazon paper back proof.  Determine it’s fine.  Push the “publish” button on Amazon KDP page.  Wait for their review and their “go live” date. 

Finally Publish and Become a Publicist [This should happen next week!]

Pick up the first 100 printed books from the publisher.  Take a moment and celebrate with a shot of whiskey.  Ceremoniously sell the first book to a friend. Give her a receipt because you are a small business, and you have a receipt book.  Then get back to work.  Start mailing out promised gifts, promised signed copies, and working through that marketing spreadsheet.  In between marketing steps, think about the next book.  Place butt in chair.