Erika Dreifus

Three quick things.

1. Poll results

As you may have seen, last week I ran a poll to complement some advice I’d offered one of my book-publicity clients about starting a mailing list. The purpose of the poll was to gauge interest in an assortment of subscription incentives:

First things first. THANK YOU all who voted and/or shared the poll with your networks.

As you can tell, 55 participants responded. Of them, 44 percent chose “mini-collection of poems” as their preferred sign-up gift. Twenty-two percent chose “recommended revision tips”; 29 percent chose “favorite writing prompts”; and 5 percent chose “other.” (“Other” preferences included a primer on poetry forms; some behind-the-scenes info on poetry construction; and a poem based on the winner’s prompt (with poet’s authority to veto the topic).

I had shared the poll in a closed Facebook group, too, where I thought one respondent’s comment about the need to think carefully about the intended audience—does my client want to attract more “readers” or more fellow poets?—was important.

2. I’ve gone back to Hebrew School! (Again!)

You may recall that last summer I embarked on a re-education in the Hebrew language, starting with the very first-level course (“Beginner Aleph”—”aleph” is the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet). In fact, I published an essay about the experience not all that long ago. It took me this past week to continue with the next-level class (“Beginner Bet”). But it has happened!

I am so happy to be back at work with this endeavor.

3. Q2 contribution based on book sales

Over the weekend I tallied the latest quarterly information for sales of my short-story collection Quiet Americans. And then I made my latest quarterly donation to The Blue Card.

What’s new with your writing practice?