I think the illustrations are a good idea because you are doing them thoughtfully with good taste. The poems and their format on the page is primary to the collection—then adding in illustrations timely paced would add to the atmosphere. If done right, I don’t think it would subtract from the poems but add dimension to the dystopian world you’ve created.
I appreciate your professional point of view on this. You’re making a great point by bringing up the dystopian genre. Some readers may actually find images grounding, since the concept can be somewhat abstract.
Hi, I'm thinking this this is not a Children's Poetry Book. Even though some of my children's books don't have art inside, that's the norm. At some point, I will include more pictures in my Children's books. But, that's not on the top of my list right now. I need the artwork with I create book trailers. So, after I've created a book trailer, I can reuse that artwork inside my books.
I've written some poetry books - about 10. It takes a lot of poetry to get to 131 pages. That's the minimum size (at one time according to Amazon) to get the title printed on the spine legibly. Adding pictures would help me acheive that book size. But, I only include pictures in books when it's easy and simple. I try to include pictures where the book calls for them.
Chris Baron wants some very good poetry books where the entire story is written as a poem or poetically. These are not meter and verse poems. They're very beautiful. If I remember correctly, they had occasional imagery in them which added to the story.
But, that was images of the scene. I understand that you're including images to give people a chance to breathe in what you've written. I think that could work well. I think abstract art might work extremely well. But, other images might be just the thing.
Your image description - flowers that contain bolts - suggests something that can't be real. Yet, we're seeing it. This can give our brains a chance to disconnect from assumptions about how we understand things to be. It can allow us to dive deeper into your poetry.
Hi Dale. 👋 Good points, and thanks for taking the time to reply in depth.
This isn’t for kids, but adults read graphic novels too, and it’s an art form in its own right. That said, it’s not my skill set, and this is a poetry book.
Page length is also a valid point with KDP. I think the current minimum for a paperback is around 70+ pages, which helps many writers. My page count with images is a bit over 200. Without images it would probably land closer to 170. Images can also help with pacing, especially when spreads and chapters are uneven.
I’m a visual reader myself. I can imagine abstract images helping me take in heavy dystopian content more gently.
You probably have a lot of experience with KDP. Is it your go-to method, or have you tried other options as well?
I started self-publishing many years ago. My mentor showed me createspace, kdp, and acx (for audio). That's all Amazon. kdp bought createspace. I thought the createspace self-publishing app/website was better, but kdp is still good. It's easy, so I recommend it for self-publishing for the first time, even though I no longer use it. I might use it to publish a hardback or a short paperback. Last I heard the minimum was 31 pages for paperback. If it's 70 now, then, kdp won't help.
I now use Draft2Digital. They've been around for a while. They used to compete with smashwords, then they bought smashwords. I use Draft2Digital because it has wider distribution, especially for e-books. They started publishing paperbacks a few years ago. I switched my paperbacks over at that time because they offered distribution to both Amazon and Ingram-Spark, plus some others. At the same time I quit publishing e-books on both Amazon and Draft2Digital and only publish on Draft2Digital because they'll get to Amazon and therefore to Barnes & Noble.
The self-publishing process on Draft2Digital is easy. It's just not as easy as kdp and doesn't have the cover creator. It still creates nice covers, but you have to supply at least the front cover.
Draft2Digital also provides a webpage with all the links to places that your book is sold. They have trouble finding Amazon, so I add that manually. And, they don't publish e-books to Google Play, so after I do that, I add that link.
I really appreciate this reflection, very helpfult to me. What you said about illustrations in ancient texts resonated with me, especially the idea of a cognitive pause.
I like the idea of poetry slowing the reader down and shifting the pace, much like illustrations do in ancient texts.
In Hush Halo, I’m exploring how sound and atmosphere can carry the written word further. A poem grounding itself with sound can sometimes deepen the experience, but not always. The same can be true for imagery, too.
I'm not a poet, at all — too literal, perhaps. Nonetheless, I like the development of immersion experiences: reading, images, soundtracks, even readings of the written word.
I don't like VM's because they can't be referenced easily enough, yet, but a reading of a written work brings the author's emotional Nuance to to the experience.
Some of my favourite, ancient texts are interspersed with illustrations, some ornate, some simply line drawings. They provide a welcome cognitive change of pace to my reading.
I personally love a poetry book with images. I enjoy the visuals too, but it’s your personal choice.
Thanks for the comment. I enjoy images too.
…and lots of white space to reflect with ny own notes.
You’re welcome ☺️
I think the illustrations are a good idea because you are doing them thoughtfully with good taste. The poems and their format on the page is primary to the collection—then adding in illustrations timely paced would add to the atmosphere. If done right, I don’t think it would subtract from the poems but add dimension to the dystopian world you’ve created.
I appreciate your professional point of view on this. You’re making a great point by bringing up the dystopian genre. Some readers may actually find images grounding, since the concept can be somewhat abstract.
Thanks for the reminder, Kassi.
Hi, I'm thinking this this is not a Children's Poetry Book. Even though some of my children's books don't have art inside, that's the norm. At some point, I will include more pictures in my Children's books. But, that's not on the top of my list right now. I need the artwork with I create book trailers. So, after I've created a book trailer, I can reuse that artwork inside my books.
I've written some poetry books - about 10. It takes a lot of poetry to get to 131 pages. That's the minimum size (at one time according to Amazon) to get the title printed on the spine legibly. Adding pictures would help me acheive that book size. But, I only include pictures in books when it's easy and simple. I try to include pictures where the book calls for them.
Chris Baron wants some very good poetry books where the entire story is written as a poem or poetically. These are not meter and verse poems. They're very beautiful. If I remember correctly, they had occasional imagery in them which added to the story.
But, that was images of the scene. I understand that you're including images to give people a chance to breathe in what you've written. I think that could work well. I think abstract art might work extremely well. But, other images might be just the thing.
Your image description - flowers that contain bolts - suggests something that can't be real. Yet, we're seeing it. This can give our brains a chance to disconnect from assumptions about how we understand things to be. It can allow us to dive deeper into your poetry.
Hi Dale. 👋 Good points, and thanks for taking the time to reply in depth.
This isn’t for kids, but adults read graphic novels too, and it’s an art form in its own right. That said, it’s not my skill set, and this is a poetry book.
Page length is also a valid point with KDP. I think the current minimum for a paperback is around 70+ pages, which helps many writers. My page count with images is a bit over 200. Without images it would probably land closer to 170. Images can also help with pacing, especially when spreads and chapters are uneven.
I’m a visual reader myself. I can imagine abstract images helping me take in heavy dystopian content more gently.
You probably have a lot of experience with KDP. Is it your go-to method, or have you tried other options as well?
I started self-publishing many years ago. My mentor showed me createspace, kdp, and acx (for audio). That's all Amazon. kdp bought createspace. I thought the createspace self-publishing app/website was better, but kdp is still good. It's easy, so I recommend it for self-publishing for the first time, even though I no longer use it. I might use it to publish a hardback or a short paperback. Last I heard the minimum was 31 pages for paperback. If it's 70 now, then, kdp won't help.
I now use Draft2Digital. They've been around for a while. They used to compete with smashwords, then they bought smashwords. I use Draft2Digital because it has wider distribution, especially for e-books. They started publishing paperbacks a few years ago. I switched my paperbacks over at that time because they offered distribution to both Amazon and Ingram-Spark, plus some others. At the same time I quit publishing e-books on both Amazon and Draft2Digital and only publish on Draft2Digital because they'll get to Amazon and therefore to Barnes & Noble.
The self-publishing process on Draft2Digital is easy. It's just not as easy as kdp and doesn't have the cover creator. It still creates nice covers, but you have to supply at least the front cover.
Draft2Digital also provides a webpage with all the links to places that your book is sold. They have trouble finding Amazon, so I add that manually. And, they don't publish e-books to Google Play, so after I do that, I add that link.
Royalties are also higher with Draft2Digital.
I really appreciate this reflection, very helpfult to me. What you said about illustrations in ancient texts resonated with me, especially the idea of a cognitive pause.
I like the idea of poetry slowing the reader down and shifting the pace, much like illustrations do in ancient texts.
In Hush Halo, I’m exploring how sound and atmosphere can carry the written word further. A poem grounding itself with sound can sometimes deepen the experience, but not always. The same can be true for imagery, too.
Dystopian poetry.
I'm not a poet, at all — too literal, perhaps. Nonetheless, I like the development of immersion experiences: reading, images, soundtracks, even readings of the written word.
I don't like VM's because they can't be referenced easily enough, yet, but a reading of a written work brings the author's emotional Nuance to to the experience.
Some of my favourite, ancient texts are interspersed with illustrations, some ornate, some simply line drawings. They provide a welcome cognitive change of pace to my reading.