Stuart Watkins
A poet friend from Phoenix mailed me a copy of her handmade, self-published book Some POEMS by M.C. Little.
She did it all without going through a major publishing firm, without sending her poems to various publishers for acceptance, without contacting agents to seek their approval. No, she did it herself.
Yes, Marlene Little had to type, select paper color and weight, get binders cut to the size of her book, hole punch the pages, and put it all together, but the finished product came out to her satisfaction, and she was proud to share her poems with family and friends.
Included are two examples of books that cost more to publish for comparisons.
Fire So Hot, Make You Scoot Way Back has 142 pages and is in a standard format of 6 by 9 inches and is available on Amazon for $10. The interior pictures are in black and white.
Oracle, Arizona and Beyond has 39 pages, is 8 by 10 inches, and all pictures are in color. It is available on Amazon for $30.
Including color photos, the size of the book, and the number of pages, all affect the cost to produce the book.
Did Marlene’s book cost as much to produce as the other two mentioned here? Of course not. Is she just as proud of her book? Yes.
Can you put your poems, family history, or your life story in a format such as the one used by Marlene C. Little to give to family and friends? Yes, of course you can.