Friday, January 14, 2011

One More Reason to Go Digital

Long ago, I made the decision to submit almost entirely via electronic channels, whether through e-mail or online submission forms. Part of my reasoning was based on convenience. A larger part, though, was based solely on the economics of submitting work. Between the purchase of envelopes, paper, ink cartridges, and most importantly stamps, it just doesn't make any sort of economic sense in the world for a poet to spend all that money with little ROI (return on investment).

Look: I'm not trying to make a living off poetry, but I don't want to max out my credit cards making submissions either. That would be like kicking a poet while he's down.

On January 2, the USPS raised rates on competitive services. Now, they're planning on raising rates on market dominant services April 17 (click here to read an article on the increase).

That will be two rate increases within months of each other. And we all know there's more to come. From where I'm sitting, the number of reasons to go all digital increases every few months as well.

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Check out my post Changes in publishing (and what it means for writers).

2 comments:

Cameron said...

Yeah - I go all digital because of the ease of submitting and tracking (and lack of need to keep track of pesky paper, stamps and envelopes). Unless it is a "really special" publication.

Robert Lee Brewer said...

That's right, Cameron. I haven't even submitted to "special" publications via mail recently. I have made submissions by post for some collection competitions, but most of these are even moving to digital submission systems (thankfully).