Todays-Woman - Make a Chapbook of Your Poetry

Author: Rose DesRochers

Poetry is a hard thing to market;. It could take years to get your work published by a traditional publisher. Why not publish your own chapbook? A chapbook is "a small book or pamphlet containing poems, ballads, stories, or religious tracts”. The term is still used today to refer to short, inexpensive booklets.

It is easy, simple and affordable to make a chapbook yourself. You can produce it using Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. Then print it out on a good printer and have a print company make multiple booklets for you. Make sure you include a title page, an author bio and a synopsis describing the poetry in your book. You may also wish to add an acknowledgement page, a dedication page, author photo, and table of contents. Carefully select poems that have special meaning to you. Your special chosen poems are a reflection of who you are. Chapbooks are normally no more than 24 to 26 pages and the cover price should not be more than five dollars.

Using your word processing program, customize your copyright information, add a title page, acknowledgements page and dedication page. Type each poem into your template. At the end of your book you may wish to post well wishes for the reader and your contact information such as an email address or ordering information. When you have completed proof reading your book print out the template, you may need to play around with your printer so that it prints on both sides. Be sure that you have included the © symbol and information within your book.

Assembling your Chapbook

After you have printed the last of your pages it is time to bind them together to make your chapbook. Fold the cover and pages in half and staple them on the fold. Do not use more than two staples.

Poetry Chapbook Publishers are hard to come by, therefore it is just as easy to publish your own chapbook. Consider selling your book through a local library, grocery store, card shop or your local book store. If you are looking for an affordable book-cover designer why not give invision-graphics.com a try. They can give you an eye-catching book cover that will stand out. Remember that a well designed cover is like a billboard, therefore you want it to catch your reader’s eye. To see some samples of chapbooks, visit your local bookstores, libraries, or card shop. This will give you an idea of what they look like. These books will not make you rich or famous. However, it's a great way to start promoting your poetry. Now with your computer it is possible for you to become your very own publisher.

About the Author
Rose DesRochers is a published author and web columnist. She is also the founder of Today's Woman Writing Community http://www.todays-woman.net, a supportive online community for men and women over 18.