What is a Chapbook?

 

What is a Chapbook? by Deborah Lyn Stanley

Chapbooks (also called booklets), were first available in Europe; coming on the scene in the 1500s. They made literature available to everyone, because they were inexpensive to produce and to buy.

Chapbooks are 20-40 pages long, folded lengthwise sheets of 8.5 X 11” size paper, bound with a saddle stitch or staples. Some small publishers handle this size publication, but they are easily self-published using Microsoft Word.

Items to consider:
1.    Low-cost to produce, low-price point,
2.    Often used to compile poetry thematically,
3.    Chapbooks have been linked to self-publishing,
4.    Chapbooks, highly regarded within the literary world are great for a sampling or to introduce your works of poetry & short stories,
5.    Provide a great way to publish a series of blog posts,
6.    Chapbooks work to establish your name & reputation as publishers watch to add fresh voices.
7.    Distribute your chapbook for sale or free following an open mic reading event.
8.    Enter a contest for Chapbooks.
9.    Design your own front and back cover.
10.  Last but not least: prepare your chapbook as a pdf and distribute it via your blog, website or digital publisher (Draft 2 Digital, KDP etc.).

Ideas popping?
Inspired to Draft a Chapbook?
I sure hope so!

Check out the following for additional information and How-Tos:
How to Make Your Own Chapbook by Writers Write: https://www.writerswrite.com/tools/chapbooks/

Train River
https://www.trainriver.org/designing-a-chapbook

Create a Booklet in Microsoft Word by TechGramma - Julie Pfeifer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CuxzkLcDsw

Deborah Lyn Stanley is an author of Creative Non-Fiction. She writes articles, essays and stories. She is passionate about caring for the mentally impaired through creative arts.
Visit her My Writer’s Life website at: https://deborahlynwriter.com/   
Visit her caregiver’s website: https://deborahlyncaregiver.com/

Mom & Me: A Story of Dementia and the Power of God’s Love is available:
https://www.amazon.com/Deborah-Lyn-Stanley/
& https://books2read.com/b/valuestories

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Innovative Book Marketing: Three Clever (Cheap) Ideas

We all know about marsomeone keting now, don’t we.  From a book promotion point of view, you’ve got a website, a blog, you’re working social media like a buzzing bee, offering your books free or at deep discounts some times, doing giveaways. These things are all your baseline – they’re all necessary, but the problem is that everyone else is doing the same thing.  It’s crowded market.  So how do you get noticed?  The simple, and slightly irritating answer, is that you need to be innovative – to stand out from the crowd.  That’s easier said than done, of course, especially if you’re an introvert.  Sure, you could pole dance at your next book launch (especially if your book is about pole dancing…), you could bring in a band and turn your poetry reading into a rock concert, or you could do something really controversial like Amanda Palmer and disrobe on stage.  But for real lasting appeal, the following three innovative book marketing ideas will help you stand outside of the crowd without the need for gimmicks or unsavoury wrecking balls.

·         Check out some of the super clever signs in this blog post:

http://bookriot.com/2013/10/23/creative-book-marketing-awesome-bookstore-signage

You’re a creative writer so why not come up with your own blackboard slogans or images.  Blackboards are cheap and it’s possible that your signing venue already has one.  It’s just chalk and a blackboard and you don’t need to be an artist – just think a little outside the (blue) box and you’ll come up with something really eye catching, humorous and persuasive. 

·         Can’t go past Fivver for $5 innovations.  The sky’s the limit on what you can buy here or how you can use it to promote your book.  I’ve bought video voiceovers, had videos made for me, had Facebook pages set up, and even a graphic image done, but you can go zanier.  Why not get a cartoon made of your book cover or of you holding your book cover and use it in a press release? Have someone hold up a sign promoting your work and put it in a blogpost.  Get flyers left for you in a high volume Starbucks.  I could go on and on and for only $5, it’s probably going to fit even the most stringent budget.

·         Try a new promotional venue.  If you can link it to some theme in your book so much the better.  Have you written a novel about an art theft?  Why not contact your local museum and ask if you can do a reading there.  How about the local Laundromat, the barber, your town’s botanical garden, a playground, a health spa, or a clothing boutique?  Think about the settings, plotlines, concepts in your books or target market and pick a place that matches.  If you can find a way to share in the booty (bringing in more customers and a little media), then most venues will likely let you do a reading, a presentation, or a book signing in their venue.  If you pick a busy time, you may well get a lot more customers than you would in a bookshop. 

I’m sure there are plenty of other opportunities for innovative marketing that you can come up with.  The main thing is to think ‘fun’ and ‘fabulous’.  If it’s interesting for you, it will be interesting for your readers and for the media, and that’s the intersection where viral happens.  If you do decide to take on any of these ideas, or come up with your own, I’d love to hear about it.

Magdalena Ball is the author of the novels Black Cow and Sleep Before Evening, the poetry books Repulsion Thrust and Quark Soup, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Sublime Planet, Deeper Into the Pond, Blooming Red, Cherished Pulse, She Wore Emerald Then, and Imagining the Future. She also runs a radio show, The Compulsive Reader Talks. Find out more about Magdalena at www.magdalenaball.com.

WOTM Editing Like a Pro (Grey/Red)