A Lesson in Assertiveness

As part of the requirements for my poetry class, our class collaborated with graphic design and art students to put together books of poetry. I was so excited when I found out what we would be doing. A book of my very own poetry!

It started out fine. I met with my designer and illustrator at the beginning/middle of the semester to give them some poems. We talked about book size, how many poems/pages, etc. Just basic formality stuff. My illustrator said his artwork would reflect his interpretation of my poetry, and that was fine because I knew I didn't have a say in what was illustrated, just as he didn't have a say in what my poetry was. It seemed like things would be great.

Then my designer and illustrator dropped off the face of the earth. I didn't hear from either of them for weeks. I finally contacted my designer to ask if I could send him a revision of one poem, which I told him at the first meeting I would be doing as the semester progressed. The initial poems I gave him were just as much for the illustrator to get a sense of my writing as they were for the designer to know how many poems there would be. Other classmates talked about how they were meeting with their designers once a week to make sure things were going in the right direction. One classmate even had her illustrator draw a picture and she wrote a poem to go with it. "How neat," I thought. And so I waited.

And waited, and waited. And heard nothing. Until this Monday, when my designer contacted me to ask if I wanted hardcover or paperback for the book. I thought, "It's done? How can that be? I still have a revision to one of my poems. I haven't edited anything." I sent him a text and told him I had one more revision, and it would not change the feel of the poem at all, just some stanza changes and better wording. He told me he had already submitted the book and finalized it online. That means he did that without me editing and giving the okay to print. Big no-no.

And here's the kicker. One of my poems is missing the last line. The last line. You can't do that to a poem. Sure, you might be able to pull one out of the middle, but not the last line. It's the most important one!

Needless to say when I previewed the book online, I was furious. But once I calmed down, I was even more upset at myself. I know my designer should have contacted me. If I were a real client, he would have had major issues with sending something out to print without the author's okay. Legal trouble. But I should have contacted him to see what was going on. Only I didn't know the deadline for the project.

I'm just frustrated. This could have been a great experience, but it wasn't. I know I didn't have a say in the artwork, but one of the illustrations shows the backside of a nude woman. It isn't really in your face, it's kind of out-of-focus. I think he used pastels, but I'm no artist and I can't be sure. The point is, I never would have put my poetry in a book with a girl's naked bum in it. That's just not me.

And my professor said I should contact my designer to let him know that I am not okay with all of this. But I'm so mad I feel like I can't say or write anything or it will be too mean. Help!