Make A Chapbook Of Your Poetry

Poetry is a hard thing to market; it could take years to get your work published by a traditional publisher so why not publish your own chapbook. A chapbook is "a small book or pamphlet containing poems, ballads, stories, or religious tracts" (dictionary) 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 the chapbook yourself, using Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. Print it out on a good printer and have a print company make multiple booklets for you. Make sure you contain a title page, an author bio and a synopsis of what the poems are about. You may also wish to add an acknowledgement page, a dedication page, author photo, and table of contents. Carefully select your 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 anymore than five dollars.

Your Cover

1. Title of your book
2. Your pleasing eye-catcher design
3. The author's name

Your Back Cover

1. A short description of the contents in the book
2. A short biographical note about the writer and your photo
3. Contact information of the publisher

Inside Pages

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