Especially writing for either self publishing or indie/small publishing firms. When you think of children’s books…the first thing that comes to mind is golden books. Trust me…that is an unrealistic view of what you will be able to publish.
Amazon has the strictest regulations here, but the others are not far from it. In order to have even a Paperback book you need 24 pages. That is not as easy as you think. For Hardcover the requirements jump to 75 pages. For a kid’s book that is nearly impossible.
This is done I am sure due to the cost of printing each book. You also need to consider the cost of each book if you were to set it up as a Hard back. That often adds a factor of almost $10 to a book. How many parents are going to be willing to buy a book from a new author at such a high cost?
Sometimes it is better to start smaller and work your way big. Paperback for an initial release if it is done right can still look nice.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get it done in time. But I finally got it done. (Yeah I know the post this morning said that I had 10 left. I do my posts Sunday night when I can.)
I will post the link when I get it… but I just wanted to celebrate finishing the writing.
Personally, I write Free Verse. My reason is simple… I hate dealing with the rules. Other forms require the poet to be aware of syllables or the syntax of the poem. Some require certain rhyme schemes.
I’m working on a volume of poetry entirely done with forms other than free verse – Xactly Poetic.
I am so frustrated with it at the moment. I am at 60 poems. I started with the idea that I was going to do 50… realized that I was being lazy because I always do 70 poems in each volume and I got mad at me.
So I am going to do 70. But it is not as easy as it is for the regular volumes. And I am irritated with myself for wanting to quit.
I have set a self imposed deadline/release date of September 15… that is a I have to get it done and published by that date. Which means I have to get it written by August 15. And I have 10 poems left to write. Ugh. Not normally a problem… so I am hoping that I can get it done.
Both of these poems are from my Xactly Poetic volume. If you are curious about the forms poem one is a cascade poem and poem two is a found poem. To be specific the second poem is all song titles.
Both of these poems are from my Xactly Poetic volume. If you are curious about the forms poem one is a cascade poem and poem two is a found poem. To be specific the second poem is all song titles.
So I have a list of “Titles” for upcoming Poetry books. Some with a theme in mind…others not. I know I am supposed to do a cover reveal thingy for each book, but this feels more fun. These are not in progress yet. I did the cover design because it was fun. These are going to be the ones I choose from when my current volumes are written. The idea is that eventually, I will have a poetry book starting with each letter of the alphabet. Which do you like best…and Why?
This one has two possible…have yet to decide which I want. It will be general poetry.
This will be general poetry.
This will be general poetry…but I think I am likely to lean a little bit into the idea of addiction here…not sure.
This will be general poetry.
This will be general poetry.
This is one I am working on. It is going to be entirely Political poetry. I don’t know if I am going to stick to my standard rules as far as the number of poems inside or if I will adjust for the book. I do like how it is coming together so far.
Also In progress right now. It is general poetry.
This is probably going to be religious poetry. I have been considering this one hard.
General poetry. How could this title be anything else?
Again General.
This is another where I am not sure which I like better. This one will be written in letter format. A sort of Prose Poetry. I have the idea only so far.
This one is uncertain. I have already done one volume of Love poems. Still I love the imagery in the title and the cover I made is so nice…It will be there if I am ever ready to do a second one.
Another cover I am not sure which I like better…
General.
General. I actually made the cover for a different author. He didn’t like it, but I really loved it. so I had to find a use for it.
This is going to be all LGBTQIA+ Poetry. I am Pansexual and have thoughts on the Queer that I have yet to put to words… This is going to be me doing exactly that.
General.
This has another cover – But I really like this one better. This one suits me better. It will be general poetry.
General
General.
This is going to be me exploring various poetic forms. I am usually a free verse writer. I think that it would be interesting to do a book with at least one of each of the forms. This is going to be difficult to write, but I am looking forward to the results.
General.
Gemeral.
I use Evernote to write. It keeps me organized…I have a notebook on Evernote for each of my poetry volumes. I have these all organized under a stack labeled Future Poetry Volumes. I include the cover in each notebook so I don’t lose it. That being said…I have a file on my computer for Publishing. Inside the Publishing File is a file for Book Covers. I organize that file too…so the file where my book covers live on my computer has folders for each volume. I have folders in there with titles and no cover. Those have yet to get to the stage where I am ready to make covers for them, I may do this post again in a couple of years with those titles. I don’t know. They would have to make it into my Evernote for me to write in them. At this point, they are interesting titles and nothing more. The ones on this list are in the running to be my next volume…Heck, my next volume was on this list.
So, which title and cover did you like best? Why? Is there a theme you think I should consider? I end up doing two or three volumes a year most of the time. So I feel like I will be able to do this list without overreaching myself.
Oh! also the three I posted two covers for….Which cover would you choose for each one? I really am having a hard time choosing.
A sestina is a fixed verse form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, normally followed by a three-line envoi.(Envoi or envoy in poetry is used to describe: a short stanza at the end of a poem such as ballad, used either to address an imagined or actual person or to comment on the preceding body of the poem. a dedicatory poem about sending the book out to readers, a postscript.) So you do 6 stanzas each 6 lines…then a short 3 line stanza at the end.
The words that end each line of the first stanza are used as line endings in each of the following stanzas, rotated in a set pattern. The video above shows the basics. (Found on one of the you tubers I follow about writing.)
The picture below gives a quick look at the ending rotations.
I am hoping that this is going to help you to write poetry yourself.
Pattimouse 