If you are not alien to literary creativity, and you have been writing poetry of your own for a long time and fruitfully, then sooner or later the question arises before you: how to publish a collection of your works? Indeed, it is a shame if your regular readers are only family members or just a few friends. How to open your creations to the whole world? Put your pen and paper aside and do your organizational work.
Instructions
Step 1
First, conduct a kind of audit of your creativity. Of course, not all of your works make sense to publish. Some of them may be raw, unfinished, or simply of poor quality. Pick up a number of your poems that are united by a specific theme. This can be, for example, a lyrical theme, poems about love and friendship, reflections "about time and about yourself." It is advisable to include works of different years in the future collection, arranging them in chronological order.
Step 2
If you find that your thematic collection is not complete, that's okay. Our views on life and on ourselves are constantly changing, so it is necessary to leave at the end of the collection a kind of "loophole" for future works, a kind of ellipsis … Perhaps, putting in order your poems, you will feel new creative impulses that can result in an excellent poem, preceding or ending collection.
Step 3
Move on to the technical part of publishing. Your collection has a chance to see the light of day if it is correctly typeset and formatted. Do some marketing research. Contact the publishers and printing houses near you to find out what requirements publishers have for collections of poetry. Also find out what are the requirements for the layout of the future book, determine what expenses of time and money you will have before you pick up your book.
Step 4
Agree with the designer and layout designer who will help you create the layout of the collection. If you want to take responsibility for the layout in your own hands, you will have to master several computer programs that allow you to bring the materials into a single, formatted and ready-to-publish form.
Step 5
Calculate the upcoming costs separately. They will consist of payment for services for creating a book layout, the work of a graphic designer, as well as the number of copies that you want to receive. Be careful, because a small edition of the collection looks like a profitable solution only at first glance. The total cost, indeed, will be low, but each copy of your creation will be several times more expensive than a large edition.
Step 6
Consult with experts about the quality of the paper, the printing method and the design of the collection. Offset printing on newsprint, and even softcover, will be several times cheaper than glossy and embossed hardcover. The choice is determined solely by your financial capabilities or the ability to attract sponsors.
Step 7
Make a final decision on the technical details and submit the future collection to the publishing house, having previously concluded an agreement with him. And soon the happy moment will come when you can pick up the first copy of the book containing your innermost thoughts, which you are ready to share with the reader.
