I’m pleased to announce my poem, “Pizza and a View,” was published in the latest online issue of Fourth River.
Poem in Fourth River Online
100 Poems!
The 7th issue of Shift: A Journal of Literary Oddities contains an important milestone for my writing life. The journal recently published my poem, “Hands-free,” which happens to be my 100th poem to appear in a literary journal or anthology. I’ve meant to go over each acceptance and figure out how many of the 50 states I’ve appeared in, but other tasks have taken precedence.
“Hands-free” is a contemplation focused on how my late father’s dreams have bled into my own. It is fitting that such a poem marks this juncture. My father was also a poet. He was, to use his word, tickled, with the idea of seeing his work in print. Yet he was shy about the submission process. The few rejections he did receive had the effect of paralyzing future efforts. Fortunately, he forged ahead with the actual writing of poetry as he went about his days until he passed away in 2002.
I wasn’t actively writing poetry during the years when I listened to my father talk about his work. I regularly wrote newspaper articles back then. I chipped away at a couple of children’s novels. Yet when I could sneak in a visit, he often shared his favorite poets with me, and I felt my interest in poetry pique. Alas, my schedule was weathered by my library career and the aforementioned writing projects.
As I lived my busy life, I often pictured my dad walking a backroad as he took in a stark winter Northwest landscape, say, before stopping to jot down a few lines in his grubby notebook. Every so often he’d mention how he might submit a poem to this rag or that one. I usually did not hear if he followed through on his intention. I do know I would have heard if he’d received an acceptance.
While I’ve experienced my own moments of agony over rejection letters, I have learned how to try again. Though I must admit, I did not discover true resolve over this necessity until I was about 50, some 10 years after my father’s death. I wish he’d lived long enough to have known the 50-something (and now 60-something) me. If he had, I would have rolled up my sleeves and helped him develop a system for submission. I would have employed my methodical way of sending batches of poems out to journals around the country, if not the world. Because I am certain my father’s acceptances do exist in some parallel universe. Though I am not sure if I will ever be free of the wistfulness I feel over the intermittent “if only” that continues to prick my thoughts.
Wannabe Blue – Poetry by Kari Wergeland is forthcoming!
Cold River Press is running a discounted presale through May 12!
Kari Wergeland’s Wannabe Blue is a compelling and philosophical poetry collection characterized by close observation ‘The little shark has kitten teeth, / black button eye. / Its mouth hinged open’, wariness ‘Danger could open up anywhere / Just this thought wrings a drop of awe from the morning’, and yearning for something beyond all the anxieties we face ‘I want the world to be / about love and creativity— / colorful trinkets by the sea’. These are poems to visit again and again to find the place inside us where solace begins.
— Lucille Lang Day, author of Birds of San Pancho and Other Poems of Place, editor of Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California
The poems in Wannabe Blue describe Kari Wergeland’s wide-ranging recollections with well-honed poetic craftsmanship. There is a fine mix of free verse lyrics and occasional pieces of formal poetry as in the lovely sonnet titled “Old Photos”. The poet has an ability to compress stories from various time periods into a single poem, handling with ease and an adept use of language, the move from a present time glimpse of a coyote to past memories of a father who smoked when she was in elementary school. Conversations during two different visits to the beach, appear to be in stark contrast only to the poet herself, whose loss of her hair between those visits makes an understated, but moving, reference to her cancer. This collection gives occasional glimpses of California, seen as the vivid color of bougainvillea, brilliant against the green grays of the Pacific Northwest. Underlying these places, layers of history break through in the form of miners’ panning for gold and old ghost towns crumbling into the present time and into the poet’s imagination. Interspersed among the histories are moments of whimsy that will make you smile, like the grapevines whose trunks twine together ‘as if preparing to dance’, or the dry leaves that fell ‘up into the air’, on ‘the day the waves broke backwards.’
— Judith Barrington, author of The Conversation, Long Love: New & Selected Poems, 1985-2017 and Virginia’s Apple: Collected Memoirs
Book Signing
I will be signing copies of Off the Wall in the Indie Authors Pavilion (adult fiction and non-fiction) on Saturday, March 15, 10 am – 1 pm.
Off the Wall Will Be Showcased in the Tucson Festival of Books
Off the Wall has been selected to be featured in the Reimagined Indie Author Experience at the 2025 Tucson Festival of Books. I’m looking forward to signing copies in the Indie Authors Pavilion (adult fiction and non-fiction) on Saturday, March 15, 10 am – 1 pm.
Off the Wall is a finalist (take 2)!
Off the Wall has been named a finalist in the American Fiction Awards i(novella category).
American Fiction Awards Full Results
Off the Wall is a Finalist!
I’m pleased to announce Off the Wall is a finalist in the International Book Awards.
Booktubers, Bloggers, and BookTok: The Mysterious Process of Literary PR
My novella, Off the Wall, was released on October 27, 2023, through Finishing Line Press. At that time, I received a digital review copy for sending out to potential reviewers. Unfortunately, the small press publishing timeline isn’t always similar to that of the Big 5. Large presses make review copies available long before the book release date. Needless to say, prominent review journals, such as Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, want access to review copies months before the book becomes available. This can also be true for review outlets focused on indie presses. Thus, I had to scratch a number of review journals off my PR to-do list. I did circulate a press release and a media kit focused on Off the Wall more than three months before the publication date. This generated a little activity. Poet Ellen Bass sends out a regular newsletter, and she ran an announcement, as did two of my alumni groups (University of Oregon and Pacific University). That seemed like a start.
Snagging book reviews, however, feels paramount. Back in October, I scanned suggestion lists in several PR how-to books and proceeded to shoot out review copies to reviewers that might give Off the Wall at least a cursory glance. I entered a pile of published book contests – 15 of them. Meanwhile, the holidays barreled forward, and I decided to run a holiday book ad on Instagram. Yet I figured I wouldn’t hear much from anyone until 2024 was underway.
In January, I appeared before a book group in the Newport Library (Oregon) to discuss Off the Wall. This warm and friendly event helped me get a sense of how people might respond to the novella. I was grateful for the early invitation, and I’ve put out a few feelers to other venues where I might read and/or sign copies. Yet I sense I need a book review or two before I can draw in a reasonable audience. Placing in a contest wouldn’t hurt.
I’m well aware I might be missing the online approach that could help move things along: Booktubers, Bloggers, and BookTok. I could look for Zoom literary events. Yet I’ve begun my marketing strategy with an old school methodology – rattling the chains of traditional media. Maybe this doesn’t work any longer. It is difficult to know what really works.
In February, a cloud of ennui moved over me as nothing appeared to be happening. Book sales were flat. Meanwhile, no book reviews materialized. I’ve been comforting myself with thoughts like, “It’s early yet.” Indeed, I’ve gone through this process with my two self-published books of poetry and my poetry chapbook. I’ve learned you have to cast a wide net to nab a few bits of buzz,
Here’s what I reeled in for those earlier books.
Voice Break (CreateSpace)
- Radio Interview with Eric Alan on KLCC
- Write up in Newport News Times
The Ballad of the New Carissa and Other Poems (CreateSpace)
- Mention in the The Eugene Register-Guard
- Write up in Newport News Times
Breast Cancer: A Poem in Five Acts (Finishing Line Press)
- Finalist in the chapbook category of the Eric Hoffer Book Awards
- Book Review in Cure Today
- Write up in Oregon Coast Today
I know this isn’t a bad outcome. I’m good in company with other indie writers over the PR struggle. Yet I feel I must be missing some miraculous key that would break things open. Such thoughts were still spinning through my mind when my publisher, Leah Maines of Finishing Line Press, invited me to read my work this July during the Abroad Writers Conference which will be held on a cruise in the Mediterranean. That did perk me up.
Off the Wall is now in the world!
My novella, Off the Wall, (979-8-88838-396-4) is now available through Finishing Line Press, Amazon, Ingram, and other vendors!
2 Poems in Caesura
I’m pleased to announce my poem, “Moonwatch,” has been published in the Objects in the Mirror edition of Caesura Online. My poem “Ocean of Stars,” has been published in the print edition.
Voice Break 