Tips for Self-Publishing a Chapbook

Educating Storm, Noah Cain's debut chapbook, chronicles the experiences of an uncontainable fifth-grader through twelve poems, one for each month of the year.

Last month, I self-published a poetry chapbook called Educating Storm, and it went really well! I sold out of books in under 24 hours and have received some lovely feedback from readers in the weeks since.

Everything about the process was new to me: setting up an online store, designing the cover, printing and binding the chapbooks, registering for an ISBN, and promoting the release.

I learned a lot along the way and wanted to share three takeaways for anyone interested in self-publishing a little book of poems:

1) Print more than you plan on selling.

I sold out of all 100 copies I printed, which means I don’t have any left for myself or for a few people I really would’ve liked to give one to. Some of these were close friends; others were more established or connected writers who’d expressed interest. While I plan to do another run, I wish I’d printed an extra 25 copies to keep in reserve for those who missed the initial sale.

2) Don’t underestimate the work after the release.

It took me two solid days post-launch to organize everything, stuff envelopes, and arrange local pickups, plus some half days in the week following. While I’ve now got it all tidied up now, it took more time than I expected to get everything in order.

3) Don’t take yourself too seriously.

I was nervous in the lead-up to the release, but the most stressful part might’ve been recording my first video talking directly into the camera. I had to dig deep to find the nerve, but I pulled it off, giving my best influencer impression and hamming it up a little. I’m sure I got made fun of, but I’ve decided I’m in on the joke.

If you have any questions or want to learn more about bringing chapbooks into your English Language Arts classroom, want me to reserve a copy of the next printing, or have any other questions, please reach out!