“The RoseBouquet”

I read of a woman who has written a collection of 800 poems and she wondered how she should get them published. What would you do if that was you?

That’s prolific! I’d like to see the quality of the poetry and the range of topics, but if you are able to produce poems that liberally, maybe you ought to check into publishing them too.

Have you come to the conclusion that marketing poetry is something of a euphemism? There are few commercial outlets, and few readers will buy a book of poems. Even poet laureates have a hard time making a living.

Most of us would like to have our poems printed in handsome form in a book, and be able to give copies to our dearest friends. So why not self-publish? It’s an ancient and honourable way to do it. Today, with the advent of e-books and Print-on-Demand (POD) it has never been easier or cheaper.

Note that a printer prints, and a publisher makes copies of the work public, and offers it for sale. You may hire a printer or a quick-copy shop to make up your book, but don’t expect them to sell it for you. That’s your role if you self-publish.

You don’t need anyone’s permission to publish. If all that’s holding you back is the know-how, then let me outline the simple how-to right here.

Let’s cover print publishing steps first, and then electronic, but remember you can do both at once.

[Read the rest of this article online in my Sharing Library: How to Publish Your Poetry]