The Poetteer

Hello Poetteers,  Going wide can be overwhelming. Finding a good distributor can help lessen the stress. I started using Draft2Digital to reach ebook retailers unavailable through Smashwords. Like Smashwords and Amazon, it’s free and easy to use. I enjoy using D2D for its features. The interface is easier to use while Smashwords needs an updated facelift. You can schedule sales ahead of time on D2D while on Smashwords you need to set the sale on the same day. On Amazon, you can’t place your book for sale or free unless you exclusively publish with them. Smashwords sales use coupon codes that buyers will have to remember. A benefit from that is you can have a private or public sale. Smashwords can be nit-picky about your book format. If it fails the review, your book won’t be available on the Premium Catalog. D2D helps with table of contents and adding in end matter. It allows you to add a design style. It’s accessible to download MOBI and EPUB. You can pick which retailers you want...

Hello Poetteers,  Self publishing can vary from being free to expensive. It depends on your skills, if you're willing to be self taught and hire out for higher quality work.  Indie author publishing tools A cover designer can run between $150-$300  An editor costs between $200-$400  There are other expenses like formatter and illustrator.  Or you could do the cover and interior by yourself on programs like InDesign which costs about $240 a year. Vellum is $250, a book formatting software for Mac.  Distributors IngramSpark is $50 - to upload a book & then $25 for each revision. Other expenses Isbns $125 - from the Bowker site (for US only). You can purchase an isbn (2 for each: paperback & ebook) to have your name and LLC attached to your book. You can also use a free one through your distributors. Their publishing company will be attached to your book. Also, you’ll have several different isbns for your book through all the distributors you use. Re...

Hello Poetteers,  Is Amazon publishing worth it? Amazon KDP is the most well know book distributor among indie authors. It’s easy and free. The pro is that it’s a site with lots of traffic. It has a rating system to get your book on their own bestselling lists. Amazon’s sole focus isn’t book distribution. They sell everything. You want to find a company who prioritizes their authors. Places like BookBaby, IngramSpark and Smashwords. It’s important to diversify your marketing. Your book should still be sold on Amazon and also use other distributors to reach retailers like Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, etc. All your eggs shouldn’t be in one basket. You want to expand your reach. When getting ready to publish and promote your book, one important thing is cost. What are the expenses on your book? What is your income goal? As a self published poet I’m competing with traditionally published authors. Traditionally published poetry books (paperbacks) are priced at $8 to $16. Ebooks ...

Hello Poetteers, A table of contents helps your readers navigate a book and find the poem that calls out to them. There are two styles I like to use. Option 1 is to add all the chapter titles. Option 2 is to add all the poetry titles. It depends on the length of the book and how the poems are organized. How to Make It On Google Docs and Pages go under the insert tab and the option will be there. When it pops up there will be instructions on how to create it. Whatever text you want to go on the table of contents should be in the paragraph style called 'Heading'. Message me when your poetry book is ready to be edited. Stay inspired, Fida 

Hello Poetteers, I've noticed some repetitive elements on the covers of some of our favorite poetry books. This is one trend to look for when publishing your own poetry book.  Black  White  Minimal  Floral (or nature) It's a combination of those elements. My shelf is filled with poetry books with a black or white cover. The focus is on the text and a minimal photo of some sort, for example: flower, animal, fruit or geometric shape. Sometimes a majority of the cover is covered in floral or a natural landscape. Most recently, I noticed several white covers with a pop of color (pinks or blues) in the middle. What have you noticed about your favorite poetry book covers?  Stay inspired,  Fida  P.S. An underrated cover design is using a solid bright color with a minimal silhouette.  @poetfida Top 4 poetry book cover trends. ##poetry ##bookmarketing ##selfpublishing ##editing101 ##indieauthor ##smallbusiness ♬ Love - Cody Simpson,Ziggy Marl...

Hello Poetteers, As someone who has self published several poetry books my top tip is to diversify your distribution. Don't exclusively publish your book on KDP. They only distribute through Amazon. Smashwords is an ebook retailer and distribution site. They will distribute your book to places such as B&N Nook, Apple Books, Kobo and Scribd. Check out their site for more info. Other Ebook Distributors: Smashwords Kindle Direct Publishing Book Funnel Payhip Smashwords and KDP only distribute ebooks. I used to publish paperback through CreateSpace but that site is now closed. I go directly to Barnes and Noble Press to publish the paperback version. Other Distributors:  Barnes and Noble Press IngramSpark There are several self publishing services out there. Look for familiar authors and transparency on their website before working with them. This website does a great job rating and reviewing different services.  My self publishing guide is...

Hello Poetteers, Her Durian is now published! I dedicate the book to my aunts and uncles in Malaysia for teasing me that each experience I had was a poem idea. There is one uncle that deserves special recognition for inspiring the title. He jokingly told me I should title my next book “why I don’t like durian”. I did it in a way that fits my poetry aesthetic. ( instagram ). Blurb Her Durian is about Islaih's travels to Malaysia and her memories with family. These poems will make your mouth water with the different foods and dessert. It covers the topic of growing up in a multicultural home and experiences as a Muslim American. ( goodreads ). Poem The landscape gets smaller  a whole new view of a sunset  tiny lights twinkle the coming brings excitement  the leaving brings sadness  a part of me is everywhere. Available for Purchase Amazon | Smashwords Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers, In the beginning of the year I announced I would be publishing Her Durian in the fall. The day has come! I’ll be publishing it on November 5th 2019! The Blurb Her Durian is about Islaih’s travels to Malaysia. The poems will make your mouth water with the different foods, fruits and dessert. It covers everything from family and growing up in a multicultural home. Add it on Goodreads .  Sneak Peek It feels like I’m missing something  is this what being homesick feels like?  it feels like my life back home is on pause  despite it,  I’m grateful for my experience in Malaysia  it’s starting to feel like another home. More can be found on instagram .  I’m taking preorders for signed copies of my upcoming poetry book, Her Durian, for $15. Message me if you’re interested. Your purchase will help fund the book cover. Stay inspired,  Fida

Hello Poetteers, Don't have time to read right now? Download the PDF version .  Being an avid reader and writer I've seen both sides of how Goodreads can be beneficial. Sometimes you come across a book you can't find on Goodreads. Adding your book on there is easier than you think. The information is already there on the site but I'm here to make it even easier.  1. Join the author program . 2. You will have an author dashboard to update. One thing to do is link your blog or website.  3. Add your book 4. Fill in all the details 5. Save and it'll be a part of your dashboard 6. You can share the cover now or wait until after the reveal on your blog. When you have a decision, you are able to edit the book. 7. Share the link for others to mark it on their TBR list and later share their review. 8. Your dashboard is a place for readers to ask you questions. You can have giveaways. Lastly, you can add the option to...

Hello Poetteers, In the 7th grade I learned about poetry but I was turned away from it. A year later I was taught about poetry and fell in love with it. I enjoyed the assignments and wrote a bit extra but I didn't continue. Throughout the year I got into it and eventually started a blog. It was a place I could share all my poems. A year after starting my blog I had my first piece published . Towards the end of 2011 I started to learn about self publishing and read self published books. On Feb 2012 there was a independent author conference. Later that year, in the fall, I published my first poetry book . I called self publishing my business. My blog continued to be for me. Within the past year I've been working on my blog from being for me to being for my audience. stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers, Three years ago today I got to call myself a published author. Three years ago I published my first poetry book, A to Z Poetry. The journey was and still is full of discovery. It was the push I gave myself. It was the push that started it all. I'm so grateful for this. The connections I made with people opened doors for me. Those people shared their knowledge with me. For the first time there was a free online conference for independent authors. It covered everything from design to distribution. I got to teach myself what would have taken years in a matter of months. It was a lot of trial and error. It is all about networking and what you can bring. There is more to come. I'm excited and can't wait to share it with all of you! Stay inspired, Fida

Hello Poetteers, You may know this if you've read my much older work. My poems used to be dark and centered around frustration. I was vague and each piece didn't show much growth. My poems now are varied with darkness and hope. It's shows love and growth. I didn't push myself and now I really have to push myself/let go to be vulnerable in my poetry. It feels good to see depth and see its personable. I'm proud of my work. In a few days I will be reaching my third author anniversary!! stay inspired, Fida All my books are available on Amazon . 

Hello Poetteers, What I'm Reading : I finally read and finished IF I STAY. I can't wait to read the sequel! In place of a review, I of course, poemed my thoughts on the book . I also read BORN CONFUSED. I gave it five stars. I know I'll be rereading it. It's a big book and I missed some things. Also it's going to have a sequel. I'm excited. I really love the world it shows. I'm finally going to attempt to read THE KITE RUNNER. What I'm Writing: The usual. DECIDING HIJAB and MAYBE LOVING YOU. I have made an official announcement already but it didn't get much buzz. I'm self publishing a third poetry collection this summer! What Inspires Me Right Now : Spring cleaning! Love and thank you, Fida

I think two weeks after my second publication ( HER OLIVES ) is a good time to make some announcements. A TO Z POETRY in ebook is on sale at Smashwords for their ebook week. A TO Z POETRY in paperback is no longer being sold. BUT... It has the same poems, just a new format and like the title says, A TO Z POETRY is getting a new cover!! Scroll... Scroll... Thank you Heather for designing it! It's available on Kindle . And will be available in paperback next week. Buy new edition: CreateSpace | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo Besides that I've been back to reading a lot! Dragonfly by Leigh Talbert Moore My rating: 5 of 5 stars I love all the characters and their artistic talents. I can't wait to read more! I kind of want Lucy and her (Anna) to become a better friends but for Jack to leave. But that's what makes the story interesting. I love all the little mysteries in the beginning and how a bigger one unraveled later on. Ahh!! Now I want to read the rest of the seri...

Hello Poetteers, Her Olives comes out tomorrow!! Here are some behind the scenes: 1. Other titles I was thinking of was JASMINE AND OLIVES, JASMINE AND HER OLIVES or HER OLIVES. 2. My sister almost made a cover for the book. 3. It took me three years to write all the poems. Poems require inspiration not force. 4. My drafts went from a collection of poems in order they were written to a story. Then back to a different order of collection will see when the book is released! 5. Until two months before publication I was still adding poems. The gray area of advantage and disadvantage of self publishing. 6. This was mostly inspired through twitter. The other half is my mind. I didn't meet anyone hinted in my poems. Except for my dad and grandmothers obviously.  Now onto the blessings of the week: • Had an awesome weekend on twitter with the Love-a-Thon. • My mom's homemade bread. • Last but not least the wake up calls/reality checks God gives us with all these news of ...

Hello Poetteers, It's day two of the blog tour. Besides the cover and poems I needed a title, too. Here's how I came to it: Jasmine and olives two beautiful things that make up Palestine Jasmine and her olives sounds like a picture book Her olives referring to Palestine as her and the olives, olives to me as her and olives as my poems. P.S. HER OLIVES is releasing exactly a week from today. Yet today is someone else's release day. After reading the six chapter sample on wattpad I knew I would have to buy it. SOLVING FOR EX is an awesome book by Leigh Ann Kopans and you can enter a giveaway! a Rafflecopter giveaway Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, It's the end of the blogfest, yet you can always go back. The link is open until the book's release. Today is the start of the blog tour. Finding the Right Girl First she was just a drawing changed to her dress was short needing too be modest found one but her seating inappropriate found a third long sleeved, skirt wearing girl in boots if you look closely she even looks Arab prefect the one for HER OLIVES. Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, We have reached the last day of OLIVE JAZZ, sadness. Today's prompt is simple. Write about the country you're from. You can always go back to old prompts ( day 4 , 3 , 2 , 1 ) and respond to them separately. Or... You can be cool and respond to all of them in one poem. Thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, We are reaching towards our last day of this poetry blogfest. Today will be Two for Thursday. Your second to last prompt is to write about a struggle and victory or struggle vs. victory, anything like that. You try and try keep being put down but finally one small thing done more done until something big you keep going. Option two is inspired by Janet Gurtler. Write about things you thought were true. Things I thought were true that I could know only one language that all flowers are real that your actual heart looks like a heart that everything is good Things I thought were true that I was confined that I couldn't get better Things I thought were true that my faith was only about physical things that love was hard to get. P.S. I'm adding new goal. I want to reach 15k in my WIP by the end of the week. Practically have three days left. Yet my WIP is already at 10k. That means I have to write 1k one day and 2k over the next two ...

Hello Poetteers, Today is day three of OLIVE JAZZ. The prompt is write about a stranger and an enemy. If you want to go back: Day Two . Day One . My goal is to write everyday and edit at least a page a day of MAYBE LOVING YOU. I finished my writing for today. I still need to edit today. I did get four pages done yesterday. P.S. You should check out the BLITZ team. In small, you spread love to bloggers. One blog I think you should check out is Cafuné , if you love poems, bookstore observations and intimate things. Love and thank you, Fida