How I published my book of poems / writing advice for Christians / self publishing advice

I self published my book “Scarlet Ribbon” without any information or learning prior. I figured it all out along the way, and I’m here to tell you what I found, what I’d do differently, and what worked really well.

Here are some pictures of the book I published, to give you an idea.

It is a collection of poems and photographs, which added an extra element to think about when publishing. I didn’t just have words to format and work with, but LOTS of images (full colour at that too). This made the project a bit more difficult and is what really left me with no idea of where to even start.

After googling how to publish photo books, and how to publish normal books, I wasn’t getting too far. I had been googling other things too on my rabbit hole searches, and had come across a printer based near my hometown. This immediately caught my attention because it was a known place and so it felt legitimate and real. After wondering where to go next, I decided to reach out to this printing company and ask them the questions.

The team were super friendly and helpful and steered me in the right direction. After some initial discussions and a quote of how much it would likely cost to publish, I decided to go ahead with this new plan.

How I got to this point with them was this: first they asked if I had a PDF or similar format of document that I could send them to print. But I had no idea how to format a photo poetry book, let alone what software could even perform such things. I was clueless. So their next suggestion was that I work with one of their designers who would design the book for me and sort out the layout aspects. This felt like the right thing to do, so I went ahead. That was the new plan.

In amongst the designing and layout taking place I was asked if I would be buying my own barcode, or if I wanted them to buy one for me. I choose to have them buy one for me. Another thing they asked was if I wanted to have a copyright message in the back, which I also happily agreed to.

I worked with the designer and after a few back and forth checks, I was happy with the end product. It was time to print a proof to be sent to me, before finally printing a few for me to sell.

The proof came and I looked through, checking for any errors, after marking anything I noticed, I sent it back to them in physical form and waiting for my designer to make the changes pointed out.

She then sent me a digital final proof to triple check everything was on order. I gave the okay, and so my 100 copies I’d requested at the beginning of my agreement with the company were printed and sent to me.

Such a little box, full of so much hard work. I opened it up and gazed upon the satisfying layers and layers of books, all perfectly identical. I had published my very first book!

I spent a total of $2434 publishing my book “Scarlet Ribbon”.

Here is a breakdown of some of the costs. The total price said above does include me paying to print 100 copies of my book. So if I took that cost off, the total would be more like: $1759. So, around two grand to self publish a poetry and photograph book.

I want to list some of the things I wish I’d done differently, looking back. There are always better ways of doing things after you’ve done it the first time and can have that perspective. I don’t regret publishing my book (even though I hasn’t really sold). I really sensed God leading me into it. It was an amazing learning experience and I know more for next time now. So, here’s what I’d do differently if I was to do it again.

1: Do more myself

I had no clue how to layout my book, so opted for someone else doing it for me. If I were to do it again, I would persevere in finding out a way to do the layout and design myself. I would have enjoyed having that control over the end look. Even though I love this book, there are things I likely would have done differently had I held the reins.

2: Been more of a perfectionist

I am not a perfectionist by nature, and it sometimes serves me badly. I think I was a little too relaxed with my opinions on the design of the book. There were things I would have done differently, but I didn’t think I cared enough to bother my designer to change them. Now I know that the reason your paying someone to design something is not for them to do it how they want, but for them to work with you and create something your designer thinks is great, but you also love. I wish I’d been a bit more picky on things like font, layout, and colouring.

3: Ordered less copies up front

I wish I had ordered less copies of my book before I knew how they would sell. I currently have a good sixty or seventy copies in a wardrobe, waiting to be loved by someone. I am not sure why I ordered one hundred copies when I was publishing. I think twenty five or fifty would have been a more sensible number to go from. I could always have ordered more, but you can’t un-print books. It was good of me to be optimistic, but that number of copies was a bit bold. I would have saved myself some money in ordering less. Saying that, I now sense the Lord leading me to give them away, so He will always turn the not so good things upside down.

That concludes my little snippets of self publishing advice for now. I hope that whatever good dreams you have of seeing your book in the world come true! It’s more about taking the next step than getting it perfectly right.