Do you write poetry? You can easily publish your own book of poetry for family and friends or for the public.
You have been writing poems all your life and you have accumulated quiet a few. How do you go about getting those poems published in your very own book? Thanks to the Internet and on-line publishing companies (there are several good ones) you can prepare and print your very own book of poetry at a very reasonable cost.
You can choose the size of your book, the quality of the paper and whether you want a soft cover or a hard cover. The price for these services is very attractive. For example, at Blurb.com you can prepare and print a 100-150 page trade-sized (9" x 6"), soft cover book for under $20 (plus shipping).
Of course, if you would like to create a really outstanding keepsake poetry book in which you include some of your own art work, you can select a Standard Landscape size (8" x 10") with 100-200 photo-quality pages, hard back covers and a heavy, glossy dust jacket and still keep the cost under $100 (plus shipping) at Blurb.com.
The beauty of most of these services is that you do not pay until you have completed your book. For instance, at Blurb.com you download their BookSmart software (free) onto your own computer, work on your book using their software, preview it on your computer and upload it to Blurb.com when it is just the way you want it. All that free! Blurb.com even allows you 15 days after you upload the book in which you can invite others to help you preview the book at Blurb's web site before you give them the order to print and ship you a copy of the finalized book.
Of course, you will want to carefully proof that first copy you receive from Blurb.com before you buy additional copies or approve the sale of your book from Blurb.com. If changes are necessary, you simply make the needed changes to the book on your computer and upload the corrected copy to Blurb.com.
The various Internet publishing companies each have their strengths and weaknesses and we suggest that you investigate several of them before choosing which one you wish to use.
To get started, we suggest that you type up all your poems using Microsoft WORD and SAVE them to insert in your eventual book. If you are going to include artwork in the book, scan that artwork into digital format or take a photograph of it with a digital camera and SAVE these images for later insertion into the book.
Investigate the various book publishing companies and decide which one meets your needs best. We have chosen Blurb.com as a good choice for most people who are writing a book that combines text and photographs or artwork and have been extremely satisfied with their responsiveness and the quality of their printing.
To assist you in using Blurb’s BookSmart software we have produced a set of short videos (free) that take you through the steps in making a book. They can be accessed HERE.
To assist you in using Blurb’s BookSmart software we have produced a set of short videos (free) that take you through the steps in making a book. They can be accessed HERE.