Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 27/09/2026No way I can compete with the major poetry publishers who get collections stocked by bricks-and-mortar bookshops But I do have word of mouth and all you wonderful people here on Bluesky, pushing the numbers of readers of Whatever You Do, Just Don't far beyond the sales of the big boys. Thank you! 514162
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 23hWord of mouth lasts longer than a sale-or-return promotion. In the poetry world, at least. 1394
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Poetry publishers will tell you 99% of sales occur within three months of a collection's launch. That's why I'm stunned to find that sales of Whatever You Do, Just Don't have gone through the roof this year, all thanks to Bluesky. Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you... 14815
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 16/11/2025If you're up for a copy, just drop me a DM and I'll sort one out for you (U.K., Ireland, mainland Europe, Canada and Oceania)... 06817
Reposted by Matthew StewartJon @jonw67.bsky.social · 23hI rarely buy poetry, but this is quite wonderful. 1103
Reposted by Matthew StewartMaccaAimless @cherryaimless.bsky.social · 15hGive yourself this gift. I have mine and it fair made me smile. 161
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 18/09/2026A new batch of books has now reached me and they're all itching to find a reader, clamouring for me to slip them into an envelope and post them off, ready to be devoured. Would you like to lend them a helping hand?! 😜 If so, just drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you... 26721
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 15/12/2024As parents, we're supposed to remember the first time we did stuff with our kids, but the last time is equally as significant, if not more. This poem is from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection... 891930257
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 22hAnd in the poetry world, the vast majority of collections don't even sell in that short window. They just sit on a shelf for a few months till they're quietly removed and sent back to the publisher. 0221
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 02/02/2025If we don't use our small poetry presses, we'll lose them. This is why I refuse to flinch or shy from asking you to purchase a copy of Whatever You Do, Just Don't, my second full collection. Here's a sample poem from the book. Just drop me a DM and I'll sort out a signed copy for you... 1335551
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 22hAnd in the poetry world, the vast majority of collections don't even sell in that short window. They just sit on a shelf for a few months till they're quietly removed and sent back to the publisher. 093
Matthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 22hAnd in the poetry world, the vast majority of collections don't even sell in that short window. They just sit on a shelf for a few months till they're quietly removed and sent back to the publisher. 0221
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 23hIt's a real privilege to get this terrific feedback from a reader...! 0131
Matthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 23hWord of mouth lasts longer than a sale-or-return promotion. In the poetry world, at least. 1394
Matthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 23hIt's a real privilege to get this terrific feedback from a reader...! 0131
Matthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Poetry publishers will tell you 99% of sales occur within three months of a collection's launch. That's why I'm stunned to find that sales of Whatever You Do, Just Don't have gone through the roof this year, all thanks to Bluesky. Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you... 14815
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 20/08/2025Copy by copy, every hard-earned sale of a poetry collection is an act of trust, a contract between the poet and the reader that reaches far beyond cash. This is why I refuse to shy away from reminding you about Whatever You Do, Just Don't. Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you... 714528
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 27/09/2025Poets, if they're lucky, end up having signature poems. But they don't choose them for themselves. Instead, certain poems take on lives of their own once they're published. The Last Carry is one such example. When I first posted it here, I didn't have a clue it would reach so many people... 718927
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 11/09/2025Certain numbers accompany us through our lives, connected to our memories of people and places, of significant events. What numbers remain with you decades later? And why? This poem is taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection... 74910130
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 16/01/2026"Whatever You Do, Just Don't will raise important questions in your own mind as you read Matthew Stewart’s beautifully crafted poems. I can thoroughly recommend this collection..." londongrip.co.uk/2026/01/lond...londongrip.co.ukLondon Grip Poetry Review – Matthew Stewart – londongrip.co.uk 1132
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 20/07/2025The emotional significance of objects sends ripples through our lives, which is why this is often my final poem when I give a reading. It's taken from my second full collection, Whatever You Don't, Just Don't. If you fancy a signed copy, drop me a DM and I'll sort one out for you... 1238265
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 20/07/2025Libraries are transformative. In fact, Farnham Library saved me. Kept me afloat when I was being bullied at South Farnham Middle School in the 1980s. This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't is my homage to it... 1330947
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 05/02/2025This is a poem of loss, taken from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023)... 1333941
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Ansaphones were still a thing when I wrote this in 1998. I hope the poem stands the test of time...! 815715
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 28/10/2025This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't is for anybody who's had to clear a house, who's found objects that must have had significance for someone no longer here to tell their story.... 2130140
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 02/10/2026A blast from the past here, a poem that didn't quite make it into my last book. Thanks to Hilary Menos for publishing it in The Friday Poem... 1155
Matthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 02/10/2026A blast from the past here, a poem that didn't quite make it into my last book. Thanks to Hilary Menos for publishing it in The Friday Poem... 1155
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 02/11/2025What's it like to return to your home town years after leaving? This poem from Whatever You Do, Just Don't finds that nothing's changed. But then everything's changed too... 1231653
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Ok, so every day's National Poetry Day in our household (to groans from my long-suffering wife!), but if this means poetry's on your mind today, I might just have a book for your consideration! Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you... 03110
Matthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Ok, so every day's National Poetry Day in our household (to groans from my long-suffering wife!), but if this means poetry's on your mind today, I might just have a book for your consideration! Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you... 03110
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 25/11/2025Here's a video of me reading The Last Carry, now up on my YouTube channel... youtube.com/shorts/W3oTH...youtube.comThe Last Carry, a poem by Matthew StewartYouTube video by Matthew Stewart 0176
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 30/09/2026As a wine blender and poet, I have to admit that alcoholic fermentation resembles the alchemy of writing, but malolactic fermentation is far more like the first edit, that moment when all the defects of the wine or poem suddenly become apparent. 3272
Matthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 30/09/2026As a wine blender and poet, I have to admit that alcoholic fermentation resembles the alchemy of writing, but malolactic fermentation is far more like the first edit, that moment when all the defects of the wine or poem suddenly become apparent. 3272
Reposted by Matthew StewartKate Bielinski @katebielinski.eurosky.social · 29/09/2026Book post today with signed books of poetry by @roguestrands.bsky.social 3173
Reposted by Matthew StewartStewart Horn he/they @thenakedpoet.bsky.social · 29/09/2026It is a great collection. 172
Reposted by Matthew StewartPaul Ings @ings4words.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Great and impressive news. Well deserved too. 131
Reposted by Matthew Stewartsword tree @sword-tree.bsky.social · 28/09/2026My first crush's phone number. Land line. I remember because I got excited when I saw it on the caller ID. I saw it almost as often as my stalker's number on that little display screen; I can't recall those digits. maybe that's dread editing memory's record. 052
Reposted by Matthew Stewartsword tree @sword-tree.bsky.social · 28/09/2026My ICQ number from the mid-late 90s. Strangers all over the world knew more about me than any family or acquaintance IRL. that hasn't changed. (12954978) 031
Reposted by Matthew StewartKate Bielinski @katebielinski.eurosky.social · 28/09/2026Phone numbers. 01 681558 (our first house phone) circa 1975 “Limerick 17” my school friend Mary circa 1977 Can I remember my husbands mobile number? Or that of my kids? No. I cannot. 2111
Reposted by Matthew StewartDuncan Jones (aka Merrion) (he/him) @duncanjonesmerrion.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Numbers. I am haunted by the license plate number of every vehicle I ever owned, in order of the scale of my neglect of their owners. OLJ 565 M haunts me the most. 2101
Matthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 27/09/2026No way I can compete with the major poetry publishers who get collections stocked by bricks-and-mortar bookshops But I do have word of mouth and all you wonderful people here on Bluesky, pushing the numbers of readers of Whatever You Do, Just Don't far beyond the sales of the big boys. Thank you! 514162
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Looking good, but they'll look so much better once they're in a reader's hands. Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you... 1278
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 21/09/2025I only want a single pair of hands to stretch my spine and open me at last... 06710
Reposted by Matthew StewartMatthew Stewart @roguestrands.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Looking good, but they'll look so much better once they're in a reader's hands. Drop me a DM and I'll sort out your signed copy for you... 2378
Reposted by Matthew StewartBob Bear @bobbearwales.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Woolton Library in Liverpool was where I went for peace and quiet. Away from the mad house that was home, the lovely ladies in there allowed by beloved dog to hide under the chair and gave her wine gums and mints. I'll remember their kindness and empathy forever. 0121
Reposted by Matthew StewartSiobhan Logan @siobhanloganwriter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026One of the first books I bought on Bluesky and it's an absolute treat. Gorgeous, thoughtful poems that navigate time and borders with a delicate touch. So many of these poems struck a deep echo. "Whatever You Do, Just Don't" @roguestrands.bsky.social 📖 👌 151