Welcome to the Sombre Days (Poetry Collection) - Announcement
Announcement
I am excited to share this amazing news with you all! On 9th March, I will be releasing a poetry collection called Welcome to the Sombre Days. This book will be available on Amazon, both as an e-book and as a paperback. However, that is not the only way to read the book. Starting tomorrow, March 2nd, I will post a poem from the book everyday. For those of you who want to read it here, you will not need to pay money to purchase the book. This process will take 3 months on Steemit - by June, the whole book would be on the blockchain; permanently.
Welcome to the Sombre Days
Welcome to the Sombre Days is my autobiographical story told in eighty-eight poems. This includes themes of religious upbringing, sexual orientation and coming of age, depression and mental health, identity and relationships.
I am as excited as I am terrified to be sharing this story with you all! The book is divided into four chapters:
1. Puppet Strings
2. Welcome to the Sombre Days
3. Silver Linings
4. Finding the Warrior Within
Whenever I start a new chapter, I will also share an introduction to the main theme and the story behind that chapter. For now, I will leave you with the forward of the book, written by Lihi Ben Haim.
Forward
This book welcomes us to the sombre days, and in the same breath, it shows us the light at the end of the tunnel. We are led into worlds through sensual words and precise descriptions.
Jeremy is a combination of young age with great wisdom. His poems share his past difficult experiences, through his current sensitivity and sense of humour. He is only twenty-three, but his heartfelt life observations and wisdom in his poetry would suit a much older man. Reading Jeremy’s book was an emotional bittersweet experience for me. Knowing him beforehand, I was thrilled to have this opportunity to get to know him better. Indeed, I am moved by his beautiful writing and his gift of describing his past with such grace and beauty. Yet, it was difficult to learn of all the pain he went through, of how strongly he did not belong. Alas, belonging is one the biggest human yearnings.
Jeremy touches his past self heartfully, courageously. The wise, gentle, endearing, heartbreaking observations in his poetry, connect gracefully to the human soul. Read with consciousness, as some of his poems evoke one to stop and think of oneself:
All my childhood was an act
and I have no idea who I really was
and I have no idea who I really am. (p.16)
Prepare yourself for a powerful, soulful and wildly beautiful journey.
Wishing you a good read,
Lihi Ben Haim
P.S.
As a writer and poet, I tend to avoid the over usage of adjectives. However, as you can see, they took over, no matter how badly I tried to fight them! Maybe you’ll understand and forgive me once you begin to read this book.
Stay Updated
With each post, I will be linking to the previous poems and related posts, so in case you do miss a couple of my posts, you can find them easily! Thank you to all those who make this experience memorable and much more enjoyable. In the mean time, here's a selfie of my bearded-self with the proof copy:
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Ah wow! So excited on your behalf! :) I am working towards my first book-length collection of published haiku, so I understand what a big moment this is! Congratulations and I'll be following your daily poem postings with bated breath 🙂
Ah!! Thank you :) Good luck on your collection too! Writing was much easier than editing. I spent so much time on just editing (both the cover, the poems and the document). Happy that the first proof copy was the way I planned it (except the annoying not for resale tag that makes it less appealing).
Hmm, I love the cover as well :)
Thank you! I got a photo from pixabay or pexels (free for commercial use), edited the photo a little bit, and a lot of hard work with text and fonts and placing and sizes hahaha. A lot of feedback from people I knew as well, and luckily it came out right :D
I used canva.com for the editing, and I love that it came out high quality, especially for a free service!
How exciting! I have published a few ebooks on Kindle, but I'm sure it's completely different to feel your own actual book in your hands. I hope it really takes off, and I look forward to reading some work from the book here!
I know Amazon and Kindle (had a short collection out already). Realistically, I know it won't take off. Hence, why I am expected upvotes to give me more income than actual sales. I do the paperback for the few people that will appreciate having it. One of them is myself; it takes a lot of editing, but it definitely feels great to hold it in my hands!
Hello @poetrybyjeremy.
I want a lot of success with the publication of the book and I will be happy to accompany you in reading your poems.
Congratulations.
Thank you! I hope you will enjoy doing so :)
Fantastic to see this come about. I think having your own published material is a great achievement, and with the various options for people to participate in the reading of these poems, you're on the road now. Not just talking about it, but doing it. I wish you every success with this endeavour.
Thank you! I write poetry all the time, but to have them in a collection, printed in my hands - it already feels much more special. Considering I'll be sharing my own story, it's also that much more special to share with everyone :D
Yay!! I know I do not know you very long but I am SO proud of you and so very happy for you too. Do not be terrified, you have your supporters and I am sure there are many. Steem On!! xx Eagle
Thank you :) Yeah, we haven't really known each other, but I can feel the support nonetheless, and I do feel it's genuine, so thank you <3
Yeah, hopefully no one will approach you that is not real. More time and monies for Vitamens ... Woop
Vitamen better have their own money - It makes the win better. Not to buy shirts though, no shirts involved.
Hahaha okay one wealthy Vitamen coming your way ... no shirts! :p
thank youz <3
Welcomezzzzz❤️
Wow man you must be so proud shout it from the rooftops you're a published author.
haha thank you! Well, self-published, so it is a slight difference, but yes, I'm published! I believed in myself enough to work hard on this :D
You are an author, no doubt about it. Note that being published by an established publishing house doesn’t mean that you wrote a quality work!
Yeah, definitely. I have learnt my lessons, and rather trying to promote and market it as a one-man person, I will just share it on steemit as well and just be happy to share my work :P
Congratulations, Jeremy! You look to be half my age, yet you've done it - you got your poems into a book, in print, and in ebook form. Woot!! Well done! You're right, the one-man-promotion team is tough. I've spent years promoting other authors (Twitter links, Book Reviews) and still it seems that who you know (and luck, of course) matter more than how good your writing is. Your Steemit friends will help. May you find the audience you deserve! By the way, Amazon USA didn't produce your book when I searched, but AmazonUK did: https://www.amazon.co.uk/PROOF-Welcome-Sombre-Jeremy-Mifsud/dp/B079PDJSP6
Well, the paperback should be released by Friday (possibly before, because I cannot set an exact date, so it depends on how quick their processing is). I was sharing some poems before so that people will know what to expect before.
Hence, the link you provided only is a proof version and not sure if it's purchasable.
Thank you for the comment, I truly appreciate your support! Yeah, more than anything, one needs to know people to succeed. Rather than trying too hard and focusing too much on Amazon, steemit was much a better solution, as the efforts are not solely for the book/collection itself.