My sister writes great poems, but she wanted a way to showcase them. I assembled them into a self-published book that she loves. It is available for her friends and family to order a copy online without excessive cost to her.
If you're an organized poet, maybe you already have all of them in one place. If not, then gather your scraps of paper and get the poems typed into the computer and saved in a word processing program.
Look the poems over to be sure you're happy with the wording of each one. Read them out loud to check the flow of the words and the resonance of each. Have a friend, whose judgement you value, review the poems and ask questions to you on unclear wordings.
I recommend Blurb.com where you can download their BookSmart software for free. You can also use any of the photo book programs out there that you might like. Get the poems into the publishing program that is going to turn it into a book.
You don't have to have photos or artwork with the poems, but I think it makes a visually appealing book with them. Make sure the photos and artwork are your own or that you have permission to use them.
Read through the book in draft form to see that the topics of the poems flow in the way you want. With my sister's poems, I grouped pages of poems on topics like childhood, writing, relationships, etc.
Spell-check and get several people to look for typos, design mistakes and other errors. Upload the book to the publisher. Order a copy for yourself and tell all your friends where they can order a copy.
You're done and can now enjoy the pleasures of having your own book of self-published poems. They make great gifts.
Nice ideas. Thanks for sharing.
Helpful information here. This is actually a project I plan to do in 2012!
Thanks for this info on self-publishing poems. H5
select one here...