How many of you have wondered how to publish a poetry book? For many, writing is the hard part – until they reach a point where they need to share their work with people.
Whether you are an aspiring poet or any kind of author with an ambition to publish your own book soon, you will find a LOT of value in today’s interview.
We have talked with the amazing Wattney Lander to bring you the best pieces of advice on writing, publishing and marketing your poetry book.
Let’s start right away.
Meet Wattney.
” I’m Wattney Lander. A poet, author and entrepreneur from Ontario, Canada. I first started writing about 11 years ago when I had lost 3 family members within a 2 month period. It was very difficult and having experienced that, I fell into a deep depression. I noticed through out the grieving period, writing was the one thing that helped me release all the pain I was holding onto. It made me pick up the pieces of what was left of me and gave me a boost to start my life over again.
Once I got back on my feet and felt more like myself again, I stopped writing for a while and then picked it back up again and that’s when I decided to share my words on Instagram. I had no idea it would lead me to where I am today but, I am so grateful it did as now I can see my future brighter than before, publishing more books and growing my company, Poet Possibilities. “
You can connect with Wattney on Instagram or on her website. You can find her poetry on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads and quite a few other places.
The Interview
How did you make your first steps in the publishing process?
While on Instagram, I had noticed other poets had self published their books. And I thought if they could do it, so could I! So I would study how each poet did it. With a lot of research I stumbled upon Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing and taught myself the whole process. It had its challenges but I never gave up as this was a huge goal of mine and I wanted to make it happen.
How hard is it to publish a poetry book? What are the biggest challenges you have faced?
Personally I don’t think it’s hard to self publish a poetry book. The platform I used (KDP) made the whole process fairly simple and easy. The only challenge that I faced at the time was creating a manuscript. But when I found out that KDP had Manuscript templates you could use a guide, everything became a lot easier to follow and complete.
How did publishing your first book affect your creative process?
It enhanced my creative side 100%. The more I put the pieces of the book together, the more wonderful visions came to me about how I wanted the cover to look, how I wanted others to feel when reading my words and how I was going to market it.
It had its challenges but I never gave up as this was a huge goal of mine and I wanted to make it happen.
What are the publishing platforms you would recommend for aspiring poets?
I would 100% recommend Kindle Direct Publishing as it’s simple to follow and complete. I know other poets have also used IngramSpark to self publish their books and said it was a simple process as well.
How to promote and sell your poetry book?
I promote and sell my book through my Instagram account, author website and many other online book stores such as Chapters Indigo and Barnes & Noble. Although there are many other ways you can market your book. I think it all depends on where you have the largest audience and building great connections to help spread the word about your book.
- Constantly be engaging with your audience, whether that’s through Instagram lives, commenting back, sharing their posts or sharing behind the scenes stuff in your stories.
- Have a theme for your Instagram. Instagram is a powerful and visual tool. Having an eye catching theme makes people want to stay and see more.
- Use other social platforms as well. Pinterest is another amazing platform for poetry.
- Make genuine connections. This is where you will have constant support in the future.
- Make an email subscription service and start collecting emails! This is how you can connect with others when they aren’t on Instagram. And you can give them exclusive sneak peeks about upcoming news such as a book launch.
What is the best investment you have ever made as a writer?
The best investment I ever made as a writer was in myself. I’ve invested a lot of time in learning what I was capable of. Doing this allowed me to follow my intuition and accomplish my goals and dreams.
To me, success for an author is touching the hearts and souls of those who read your work which in return, enriches your own life.
The best investment I ever made as a writer was in myself.
Your Turn
We hope that you have enjoyed the interview and got inspired from reading it.
Now, we would like to hear from you:
Which of these pieces of advice are you going to implement?
Please let us know by leaving a comment below right away!
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