Stop here and read some of the articles I've written that can be found published around the internet.

Poetry Critics

My name is Jeffrey Michael Miller and my book entitled " From The Inside Out " is my first collection of poetry that's been published through Publishamerica. The book is doing well and even though this is my first book I've been writing poetry for quite some time. I care about the art and how the art effects people.

I want to talk some about how poetry is seen in my opinion and how narrow the view of some can be when it comes to poetry and the worth and value it holds in society. I've heard many times by reviewers and critics and even booksellers that poetry books are hard to sell and that little interest is taken in the art of poetry by the general public but I beg to differ on these views held by so many in the literary world.

I feel poetry is such a unique and expressive art that has stood the test of time and as we look back on poets like Wordsworth and Dickinson and all the wonderful poets of a time gone by we can all agree that nobody can discount or dismiss the contributions these people have made to the literary world.

The Wordsworth's and Lord Byron's are still out there today working hard to bring back into the mainstream the powerful emotions and feelings that once struck a chord so long ago. These people are putting their heart and soul into their words and putting forth messages that they want to share with readers from all origins and backgrounds.

We should not put limitations on them by telling them their art is dead or that their art is not much of a selling point in society because it is and if it wasn't we would not have so many poetry forums and websites accross the infinite space of the internet from nation to nation. One website I visited has over five million poets in their database alone so obviously their is an interest in poetry and it's growing bigger with every passing day. Multitudes of people from accross the globe enjoy this art we call poetry and this is a fact that should not be ignored.

There is also a problem in my view with some people who take the role of critic and these people judge the work of others and seek to influence how an individual chooses to express themselves through poetry. I feel that each person and expression is unique and I have never been much of a fan of the critic as Teddy Roosevelt reminded us in " The Battle of Life " it's not the critic that counts and I agree.

Individualism and uniqueness spawns genius in my opinion in every facet of life or work and it's also certainly true when it comes to poetry. I want to read new and freshly presented material from someone original. I don't want to see someone trying to copy another artist or his or her ways. I want to see someone expressing their own ways that I will not judge because I feel I have no rightful place in doing so.

We must remember that it's not my opinion or the opinion of a critic that counts when it comes to you and your work and the feelings you wish to present. These things are yours and yours alone that nobody should touch or try to fine tune in any fashion. If Shakespeare had allowed his work to be sorted out and played with by the masses then he would not have been the Shakespeare we know today and your work will not be yours if you allow it to be changed to fit the views of others.

Let your vision and your work live and die on it's own and let it live independantly and develop into what you wish it to be not what someone else wants it to be so it never ceases to be your very own.

Poetry Frauds

My name is Jeffrey Michael Miller and I'm the author of the poetry book entitled " From The Inside Out " by Publishamerica. I want to take this time to talk about some self appointed poetry guru's who freely hand out misleading information. Some of these people that I won't mention by name parade around on every website and forum they can find expressing all their ideas and notions about the world of poetry while they themselves are the very things they are warning you the readers about.

These very same people who give you information on how to become successful in the world of poetry are nobodies themselves with bad reputations that are documented on websites around the internet for being frauds for the most part. Some of these people have been accused of stealing the work of others and they have been ostracized and disowned by their very own publishers but they still come on sites like this hiding the truth about themselves and making it look to you the reader like they are successful and sought after poets with good and informative information.

Do yourself a huge favor and ignore these people dishing out this garbage advice while trying to make other poetry groups and organizations look bad in the process. The reason why some of these people are so very mad and spew this kind of nonsense is because they have never won one single award or recognition from the organizations they are trying to ruin the reputation of. Their work was not seen as being good enough to merit a recognition or award in the free world so these people create their own forums with horrible reputations for all kinds of abuses and nonsense to be spread throughout the poetry world like a bad virus.

They award themselves poet of the month on their very own forums and it's absolutely laughable and they do this because nobody else would award them poet of the month if they didn't do it themselves. If you took the time to look into some of these names you would find case after case of allegations against them so research the source of these poetry articles before you listen to the words of these people.

These people logroll and review one another's books in attempt to look popular and their book sales come from one another with little interest from the general public.They sell to their own forum members who are mislead into thinking these people are prominent poets when they are in reality laughing stalks of the art.

Don't be fooled by a snake dressed up in bunny rabbits clothing my friends and look into the source of the poetry information you're receiving because the garbage from so called poets out there is rampant. Self promotion and delusions of grandure are the only things they really know about and poetry is far from their knowledge base.

If you prefer to listen to people who name themselves poet of the month on their own forums then please go ahead and do so but to me it stinks and is far from legitimate. Just remember that I warned you when you finally realize who you're reading information from.

Always take time to know the source before you get wrapped up in someone's pretty and deceitful words. The poeple pointing fingers in reality should be pointing to themselves and not deceiving the readers. If it walks and talks like a poetry duck my friends then indeed it is a duck.

Being True To Your Art