I have compiled a poetry book with poems of 4chan users. It has a lot of vulgarisms, is it possible to publish something like that?

There's no real limit on what can be published, and I don't think vulgarity is a barrier on poetry (in some markets, sure, but far from all).

The question is who exactly you're aiming this proposed book at. Is it a humor/gift item ("The Poetry of 4chan!")? Or is this serious, "artistic" poetry? Or perhaps, as you mention, it's a sort of character study - delving into the psyches of these writers and trying to say something about them as a group (in which case you might want some additional material, perhaps viewing these 4chan sociopaths from several different angles and not just the possibly-oblique poetry).

If you want to pitch this book, you'll have to have a good, clear proposal, because otherwise this could easily wind up with a "why the hell would I want to publish random ramblings from people who post obscene pictures on the internet?" reaction.

(Of course, publishing's an iffy prospect, doubly so for oddball projects. Even if it's possible, it's not gonna be easy.)

posted about 13 years ago

CC BY-SA 4.0

Standback‭

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As someone mentioned earlier- anything can be published.

If the real question is will a publisher pay you anything to publish it-The answer is will enough people pay money for the work to allow the publisher a chance to get a ROI? Need I mention that the market for poetry is not large?

Unless the work is really well-written and has some redeeming value I probably wouldn't be tempted to buy it even if it was self-published - based on your description.

If you think it is something that others will BUY then send query letters to agents and see if anyone is interested enough to represent you. If you don't come up with a really GOOD query letter I'd be willing to bet the only group who might make any money will be the postal system (when you send query letters and copies) and they are losing money. (Yeah, I know email is free but you'll have to try every agent and some still don't use the net.)

posted about 13 years ago

CC BY-SA 3.0

Joshin‭

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