How important is poetry formatting? If you’re a poet who dreams of seeing your work in print, you can fulfill that wish by self-publishing a poetry book. Poetry requires different publishing and printing techniques than a novel. In this article, we’ll go over what you need to know about poetry formatting to successfully print your book.
Self-Publishing Is Ideal for a Poetry Book
As a poet, you know you’re working in a limited market. Poetry books are not the biggest sellers, but they can attract devoted followings. Readers who enjoy a particular poet are likely to buy all their books. You may not make a lot of money selling your poetry, but you can have a successful, gratifying career selling your work to people who love it.
Is Your Poetry Ready to Be Published?
Editors can help writers improve their books. Poets can also get help from a variety of sources to help them decide if their work is ready to reach the public. Some editors specialize in working with poets. You can find one who will understand your voice and help you refine your work for publication.
You can also get feedback from poetry writing groups and writing workshops. This can be a major help in getting honest critiques of your work along with motivation and inspiration from fellow poets. Check out sites like All Poetry, Writers’ Café, Poetry Magnum Opus, and Hello Poetry.
How to Create a Poetry Book
Are you ready to get started? Poetry formatting starts with the basics of curating a collection of your best work.
Choose the poems
Start by going through your work and selecting the right poems. Choose the ones you consider your best. Many poets group together poems that deal with the same subject or theme. It makes for a cohesive, well-planned collection.
You don’t need a lot of poems. The average poetry book is under 100 pages in length. You could fit 80 to 100 poems in those pages. Some poets publish smaller editions called chapbooks, which might have 20 to 50 poems each.
Edit and proofread the poems
Before you begin poetry formatting, make sure your poems don’t have misspellings and are properly aligned. Poetry follows its own rules, and your capitalization and punctuation may not fit the rules of a grammar book. That said, you should be certain they don’t have clear errors.
Select images and cover artwork for poetry formatting
Enhance the look and feel of your book with the right images. You can find online sites that provide free and copyright-free images that anyone can use. These include beautiful drawings, illustrations, and photographs. Select the ones that fit your book’s theme. Also, pick a cover image for your front cover.
Get Your Book Printed
If you want your book printed, you must first format it correctly. You can also sell your poetry book online. Whatever route you choose, you must focus on the poetry formatting to create a readable book.
Poetry Formatting
Formatting is especially important for a book of poetry, which doesn’t follow the same layout rules as a standard book. Typically, with poetry formatting, you will have a separate page for each poem. Poems also follow their own layout rules that differ from the standard left-adjusted formatting.
Fortunately, you can find help with poetry formatting by using a software program that does most of the work for you.
1 Choose typesetting software. For a simple poetry book, you can use the built-in book creators on Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and Apple Pages. Using a more advanced software program like Adobe Illustrator, BookBaby, or Canva isn’t necessary, but you may find that it comes with more options.
2 If your poems are all in separate documents, or handwritten, combine them all into one document. Use page breaks or chapter breaks to separate each poem.
3 Select a layout that gives you plenty of white space around each poem. The poem should always take center stage.
4 Use a readable font size in minimum 12-point size. Serif fonts are more readable and convey an elegant, finished look. You can use sans serif fonts for the poem titles and the book coverlines. Poetry is all about the words, so make your words engaging and easy to read.
5 For poetry formatting, consistency is key. Each poem should be laid out the same way on every page.
6 Select the right size. Poetry books are generally smaller than standard novels or hardback books. The industry standard is either 5 x 8 inches or 6 x 9 inches. Readers prefer a smaller book when they read poetry.
7 Design the front and back cover.
8 Using a book creation tool means you can easily save your book as a PDF file. You can send this to a printing company or use it to format your book for online sales.
Create a Beautiful Book
Poetry formatting should create a book that is as lovely to look at as it is to read. A book’s esthetics matter to readers who choose poetry above other literary forms.
Cover
Every book deserves a great-looking cover. Book covers do a lot of the work of selling a book, and that’s true of poetry books, too. A big part of poetry formatting is creating the right cover. Your book only has a fraction of a second to catch a reader’s attention. Make it count with a cover they can’t turn away from.
Always think of your design from the reader’s perspective. Choose something that will inspire or appeal to readers.
Back to the software
Your trusty software package can do more than just poetry formatting. It can also help you design a front and back cover. Use the free templates to find a book cover layout that appeals to you.
Title
Don’t pick an obscure title that only has meaning to you. Choose a title that conveys the meaning of your poetry collection. If your book has an obvious theme, use that to come up with your title. The right font style and size are critical to getting an attractive cover. Choose a font that reflects the overall design and the theme of your book.
Byline
Your byline is important. Keep the font smaller than the font you used for the title. You may want to use a fresh style, for instance, use the same font type but in italics. If you are using a design template, it will guide the placement of the title and byline.
Cover image
Today’s book cover trends feature titles in large, bold font and a single, arresting image. This is an eye-catching design for any book, and it works especially well for a poetry collection. Choose an image that reflects the book’s theme, or pick something more abstract to convey the emotional meaning of your poems.
Back cover
The back cover is important, too. Add a brief description of your book, a brief author bio, and your photo. If you prefer, use another image in place of your author photo.
How Does Poetry Formatting Differ?
Poetry book formatting is different from the formatting you’d use for a novel or nonfiction book. You’ll have to keep these pointers in mind when you print your book.
If you have questions, contact your preferred professional printing company. Here are the key differences:
- It’s usually shorter. A typical poetry collection has around 100 pages, compared to 250 to 350 for a standard book. Some collections are even smaller.
- You may need heavier-weight paper. Because of the book’s small size, your paper should be heavier to keep the books from feeling flimsy.
- Binding matters. Most poetry books use perfect binding.
- Use high-quality, high-resolution images. Even an amateur’s first book can look high-quality with professional printing, a simple layout, and beautifully rendered images.
Poetry Formatting Will Prepare Your Book for Publication
If you want to publish your poetry to sell it to the world, or if you just want to print some treasured copies to give to your loved ones, you deserve a book that’s beautiful, well-designed, and professionally printed. If you have questions about the printing process, Dazzle Printing is here to help.
