Chapbook Definition: A small book or pamphlet containing poems, ballads, stories, or religious tracts
Are you tired of keeping your poetry a secret? Decided it’s time for the world to take note of your writing skills? If you are just starting out as a writer and want a cheap easy format in which to share your writing with others why not make a chapbook? A chapbook is a short, inexpensive booklet that you can make at home. It can feature your favorite poetry or even short stories or articles if you so desire. The world is your oyster when you print a chapbook of your very own!
You can even print a chapbook to give away as a really personal and thoughtful Christmas, Thanksgiving or Valentine's Day gift. You may be considering getting together with a few other writers and publishing an anthology of selected works. Whatever the reason, if you are thinking about printing a chapbook to display and share your work, read on to find out how!
Your can print a chapbook using templates from the web or using your computer software such as Microsoft Publisher, Adobe Pagemaker or Quark Xpress and there are even small home printing businesses that will print it for you at a very reasonable fee once you give them the layout and work you wish to include. If you are making your own book from scratch follow these easy steps:
Phase 1 of Printing a Chapbook
Get all your poems, stories or non-fiction articles together in one place and decide which ones you want to include in your chapbook. A chapbook usually isn’t very long so you may want to restrict it to your best work or those that conform to them (for example ‘Holidays’ or ‘Inspirational Poetry’).
Try to stick to about twenty pages for your book or it may look a bit bulky or untidy in chapbook form. Make sure that your twenty pages includes space for a title and contents page and any acknowledgements or copyright information you wish to include.
Try to choose a pretty or unusual paper when you print a chapbook. Go for pastel colors or textured paper - any kind that will go through your printer with ease.
