The Apples in My Orchard

I don’t think there is anything more special than publishing a poem or book of poems during National Poetry Month. And that’s what happened to me this month.

Picture Perfect Poetry is out in the world. People are buying it on Amazon.

The book is available on IngramSpark. I got my proof copy from them a few days ago. It’s not as vibrant as the copy available from Amazon. For now, I have to suggest that if you are going to purchase a copy, you do so on Amazon.

Here is the link: Picture Perfect Poetry: An Anthology of Ekphrastic Poetry for Students

I hope to have a supply available on this blog soon, too.

The first author copies went out on Saturday, 4/27/2924. I thought I’d have them by 4/23, but they did not arrive until 4/26 and then only part of them arrived. Even though I ordered all the copies simultaneously, Amazon split the order in two for printing.

Thank you, all, for your patience. I received the rest of the books today.

They will be mailed out tomorrow and Thursday.

One free copy of the book was the payment for the authors selected for the anthology. As I stated in the call for submissions, I am a one-woman operation at Northern Loon Press. Therefore, offering one free copy to each participating poet-photographer was the best I could do. I hope all of the authors are pleased with the book. I’d love feedback or anything about working with me that I could use as a testimonial in the future. Thank you for considering that.

All in all, I don’t think I did too bad on what I planned for this book’s release. I wanted it to come out in March just before National Poetry Month. Instead, it was released on April 6th, less than a week shy of the goal.

The release on IngramSpark (this platform has slightly different guidelines for uploading and printing) was two weeks later. Not bad for learning a new platform. The book will be advertised through them to help reach the library and school markets. I will work on correcting the color vibrancy issue – the colors don’t pop like the pages on the Amazon version do.

My last tip as an indie author-publisher is to be flexible and strong.

The following also come to mind.

Be ready for questions. Know how you’ll answer them.

Be consistent. Be fair.

Some people will be easier to work with than others. Be patient. Again, be fair.

Decide if there are those you’d prefer not to work with in the future.

Keep notes of what works and what doesn’t.

In a project this size, there are always many people to thank. Most of all, I thank the authors of the work featured in the book. I am grateful you trusted me with your poetry and digital photography. Without all of you, Picture Perfect Poetry would not exist. Thank you.

Today, I pulled out the draft of a novel I’ve been working on. It is such a different project than the poetry. However, I have 32,856 words written already. I will attempt to finish the story as I’m just past the climax. Yesterday, something gave me an idea of how the story can be wrapped up. Perhaps it will be a novella instead of a novel. I’m excited to try.

Wish me luck!

And thank you!