GCG’S SPECIAL OFFER FOR POETS:
5 FREE copies of your book when you order 50 or more 6 x 9 perfect bound books. Mention the code WEB FOR POETS to your Publishing Consultant when you place your order.
Are you ready to share your poems?
Poetry is alive and well. The rhythm and music of poems appeal to readers of all ages. There is magic in capturing paragraphs worth of insight or emotion in brief lines of extremely well chosen words. If you are a poet, you know the particular joy of seeing the words printed and shared with others who, like you, are attracted to the economy of presentation that a poem represents.
Before people wrote books they created poems. Oral histories were often rhyming and later written down, leaving us evidence of the age and value of the literary form we call poetry. As children we often learn to sing a poem, before we learn to read (A-B-C-D-E-F-G). Many of us learn to read with books of rhyming poems (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish – Thank you, Dr. Seuss).
Not all poems rhyme but the culture packed language and images are common to every form of poem. Are you a poet? Most of us are. And some of us are active, dedicated poets, with more than enough material to fill a book. Are you that kind of poet?
Poetry books are often small. Some are Chapbooks, a small booklet format with a long and colorful history. Others are both soft-bound and hard-bound depending on the quantity and the potential market. The layout of the book can do a great deal to enhance the mood or the tone of the book as can appropriately chosen illustrations.
HELPFUL HINTS FOR POETS:
-Analyze your poems and decide what size book will best suit your content. 6 x 9 may be preferable if your poems are fairly long, 5 x 7 if they are short, 5.5 x 8.5 is the most economical and 8 x 8 or 8.5 x 11 if you are considering illustrated poems for children.
-Review best-selling poetry books and decide how you want your poems to be arranged on the page: left aligned, right aligned or centered. The length of your poems may influence what looks best on the page. Try working with two samples: your shortest poem and your longest poem.
-Your cover should convey the tone and content of your poems. If they are “edgy reality,” you don’t want a romantic cover and vice versa. Consider picking a few lines of your best poem to place on the back cover to entice the reader to open the book and engage with your work.