Name of your website?Poems by M. Miriam Herrera: A Collection of Poems from Kaddish for Columbus
Your name?
M. Miriam Herrera
Your Location (city, etc)
Malta
Please give us a short summary of your website?
A Collection of Poetry from Kaddish for Columbus: Images of nature, life, & folklore From American, Native American, Crypto-Jewish (Anusim), & Chicano cultures
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I wanted more people to read my poetry. Although I'm published in national literary journals, more people have read my poetry on my website than in all my hardcopy publications put together.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
I launched my first website over ten years ago when I was teaching at Russell Sage College in NY.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I named my website after my unpublished manuscript, Kaddish for Columbus.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
I am a poet from a unique cultural background. I am a Chicana descended from Crypto-Jews of the American Southwest. My ancestors fled the Spanish Inquisition and settled in the New World, eventually intermarrying with old Christians and Native Americans. My poetry melds images from these discrete traditions resulting in a poetry that is inclusive and based in the sacredness of all traditions.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
I would like to publish my book of poetry, Kaddish for Columbus.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
It has paid off tremendously. My website has given me more exposure and contacts with other poets and people interested in Crypto-Judaism. In fact, because of my site, I was contacted by the Societry for Crypto-Judaic Studies and invited to give a poetry reading/lecture at their recent annual conference in Albuquerque, NM
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I wouldn't change a thing. Googlepages has been the perfect venue for my website.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
I don't think it would be difficult. Right now I don't include any advertising.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
I've experienced none.
What has been your biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge has been getting people interested in reading just 10 of my poems. Because poetry that's online is considered "published," I only include poems that have been previously published in national print journals. I only add new poems to the site after they have been published--and even then I have to wait a while to allow the journal to put out the print copy.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
I post my URl in the Poetry forums I belong to and when I see a good poetry site or blog I request that my website be added to their links page. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Also, I use StatCounter, which is a tremendous help because it tells me where my traffic is coming and what they're interested in. I also added annotated links pages in Poetry, Crypto-Judaic Studies, Chicano Arts and Culture, and Native American Resources in my pages for people doing research in these areas. I constantly update the links and this seems to get people coming to my site and eventually I get more readers.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I never knew my website could be so successful! I'm constantly amazed to see where my readers are coming from--from all parts of the world! It's also amazing to me that there are so many readers of poetry in English outside of the US.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
I've run my site for only 8 months now. Even if I only get 1 person a day to read my poems I will consider my site successful and keep on maintaining it.
What advice can you give to other poets starting their own websites?
Use a page creator site like googlepages.com. You don't have to know html and can come up with a decent website relatively quickly. Also, keep your site professional and avoid all the bells and whistles. Let your poems stand on their own and people will come to read them!
What is your website address?
Poems by M. Miriam Herrera: A Collection of Poems from Kaddish for Columbus
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