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RE: Echoes of the Heart - Original Poetry
Thank you for sharing your research. I did learn much of this many years ago. I want to say there is a cheaper way to self publish on Amazon [ebook format] but its so long ago I saw the details. I will talk to a writer here who has a self published fiction book on Amazon and I will ask what that it cost him.
Thanks for the journal link!
I'll be looking for your first book...i will be purchasing a signed copy! 😉
@raj808 @wandrnrose7
To self-publish on Amazon it doesn't cost you anything. Of course, if you don't spend much on it, you cannot expect great return. Having your book available is an easy and free step, but then marketing and getting people to be interested in it is another thing. It can be costly AND time-consuming. I have only spent money to get proof-copies before publishing to check for printing errors and any skipped typos etc., and the books turned out great.
Traditional publishers tend to focus on those who have a lot of poems published in journals. Furthermore, a close physical link is usually a must or really helpful. Most people publish through publishers that is close to them locally. There are not many traditional publishers that do poetry, and the acceptance rate would be very slim (and they take months to review). For me, personally, living in Malta, I did not want to find a publisher here because that just kills my opportunity for selling anywhere else (and really, none of my followers are from Malta). Amazon is ideal as I have both kindle and paperback.
I have seen poetry collections (especially chapbooks) from publishers which are overpriced; and they print and ship from USA only, for instance. Therefore, for that kind of book to sell they generally focus locally or you really have to have an incredible marketting game. Most poets I know through twitter end up self-publishing with Amazon, because it's easier, less time-consuming and you control price and such.
Having said all that, you always need to do more than just press publish. My book sold ten copies in a month since release, which for me is more than enough (I'm a student and poetry is just a hobby). Without advertising except a couple of tweets to my few followers and posting on Wordpress, I cannot complain. I also am posting it on steemit because the upvotes from steemit actually make me earn more than my sales. Silly, I know! There are some ideas where people sell the books for SBD/STEEM. And that's another thing where traditional routes don't entice me. Why should I write an excellent poem, wait 3 months to be rejected from a journal which pays no financial reward where I can post it on steemit and earn more?
Thank you for sharing this wonderfully helpful comment! This was worth an entire post for it's valuable insight. I really appreciate your kind thoughts and experience.