Lamplighter Most Gracious. Collected Poems and Selected Prose, 1972-2009

Since 1985 Joe Ruggier has managed his own small press, MBooks of BC, where he fulfills the dual role of author / publisher. His book Lamplighter most gracious ... features, in one convenient volume, seven of his outstanding, published as well as unpublished, collections of prose and poetry, and merely excludes, in the interests of effective distribution, all work previously published in This Eternal Hubbub. Between 1985 and 2009, just like Walt Whitman, Joe successfully sold his publications door to door in British Columbia ... over 25,000 copies of books he has published, more than half of which were his own, the rest by other authors. In the 19th C, Whitman used to print 10,000 copies of each new edition of his collected poems, and sold out all printings door to door. Whitman outsold Joe Ruggier, but we all know the reason. In those days the mass-media were not what they are today and people still did nothing else but read .... In B.C. it is public knowledge that Ruggier has been able to sell poetry door to door as successfully as Whitman, and that is just how good he thinks his work is. When we say, however, that his poetry is bestselling poetry, it does not mean he sells millions. It merely means that, in so far as all poetry goes, where sales are notoriously limited, his poetry is, by any stretch of the imagination, bestselling poetry, and the potential financial reward therefrom is nothing to sneeze at. The author humbly points out that his work has intense marketing potential as original writing in poetry and prose and that this boast is not vainglorious ... it is borne out by facts ... in B.C. he has consulted the people door to door before making his point and winning the argument. A special marketing effort, brought to bear upon the marketing of this book, would, in the author's estimation, pleasantly surprise and reward his distribution partners. You may look up Joe's website at www.mbooksofbc.com. You may also look him up on www.thehypertexts.com. You can also carry out a simple Google search under his name, Joe M. Ruggier, or else Joe Ruggier.