Sunday, 19 February 2012 08:07
Award-winning poet Harry E. Gilleland, Jr has entitled his fourth book of poetry "Poetry Books Don’t Sell!" to refer to the truism among the publishing industry that poetry books do not sell well usually. Gilleland doesn’t know why this is. He cannot explain it. Most readers simply do not buy poetry books. Only a handful of already-famous, mostly dead, poets have their books purchased by the reading public. The poetry of thousands of other poets remains unbought, unread, languishing unloved without due attention. It seems many readers are intimidated by poetry, afraid they won’t like it or understand it, while most readers actually would find reading poetry entertaining and enjoyable … if only they were willing to give it a try. The poetry in "Poetry Books Don't Sell!" is accessible to all readers, being easy to read and understand. The poems included in this book will entertain readers, either by being thought-provoking, emotionally-engaging, or amusing. Gilleland is confident that most readers would love his poetry, if only there were some way to get them to buy either a print copy or an e-book version.
The poetry in "Poetry Books Don't Sell!" addresses a wide variety of subjects and is written in various formats or styles, including forty-three rhyming storoems (story-poems), six acrostic poems, five political poems, and twenty-nine free-verse poems. Seven older poems by Gilleland (prize-winners and author’s favorites) are included as lagniappe. These ninety storoems and poems offer the reader hours upon hours of reading entertainment.
"Poetry Books Don't Sell!" is the fourth published collection of Harry E. Gilleland, Jr's personal poetry. The print paperback 171-page book in 6" x 9" format is available through Lulu Press ( http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/poetry-books-dont-sell/18838395?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/3 ), while the e-book version is available at Kindle ( http://www.amazon.com/Poetry-Books-Dont-Sell-ebook/dp/B0070RARL8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329511997&sr=1-1 ).
Author Bio: Harry E. Gilleland, Jr is an award-winning poet and author of seven published books, four books of his personal poetry and three prose books. Harry was born in Macon, GA, and has lived since 1975 in Shreveport, LA, making him a proud and confirmed Southerner. He once spent two long years living in London, Canada in the snow, ice, and freezing -- and I do mean freezing -- cold. He moved back south to thaw out in 1975 and has no plans to ever leave the South again. Dr. Gilleland retired in 2004 after twenty-nine years as a Professor of Microbiology at LSUHSC-S's School of Medicine. Since his retirement, Harry has devoted his efforts full-time to creative writing, both poetry and prose. Harry is quite happily married to his wonderful wife Linda. Author Gilleland's prose books include a medieval action-adventure novel, Aldric & Anneliese; a contemporary romance novel, White Lightning Road; and a fantasy novella entitled Bob the Dragon Slayer.
Title: "Poetry Books Don't Sell!", January, 2012, released through Lulu Press, ISBN 978-1105473470
Price: print paperback book at Lulu Press = $10.39; e-book version at Kindle = $2.99.
Author: Harry E. Gilleland, Jr