Publish Yours!

Maybe you'd like to put together a description of your organization or a directory of names and addresses that you want others to have; or a little booklet for and/or about family, friends, and others; or a small picture book that shares photos that you want people to see. What you want is a CHAPBOOK (also often called a journal, or a booklet, or even a zine!

What is a chapbook? Chapbooks are mostly small, paper covered booklets, usually printed on folded sheets of 81/2" by 11" paper into books of 8, 12, 16, and up to 24 (but not more than 40) pages, often illustrated with drawings or photos that relate to the subject. A chapbook can be a small collection of poetry, short-short fiction stories, or memoirs, that often center on a central theme such as poems or stories about dogs you've loved, or poems about love, or even your Auntie Margaret's best-loved recipes. It is typically stapled (or sometimes saddle-stitched) like a pamphlet or magazine, and is a format well-suited to smaller print runs. Because they are relatively inexpensive to create, many people produce and publish their own chapbooks. If you've never tried this before, however, Raves and Howls Publishing can help you.

A JOURNAL, like a chapbook, is a record of your thoughts, experiences and observations; it usually includes writing but might also be only sketches or small, quickly produced paintings or even collages, and/or a combination of these. You can write, draw or paint in your journal daily or only when you feel the urge. You can use a loose-leafed notebook or a fancy, bound, blank (and possibly expensive) book, or you can create your own chapbook. Again, there are no rules, no rights or wrongs. You might decide to share parts of your journal (online or in writing groups), but it is your choice, of course; your journal is for YOU. It is a space where you are free to express yourself in any way possible!

BOOKLETS, like chapbooks and journals, are small books consisting of a few sheets, typically with paper covers that, like magazine and other publications, hint at what your product is all about. Synonyms for the term booklet might include CHAPBOOK and JOURNAL but also pamphlet, brochure, leaflet, handbill, flyer, fact sheet, tract and so on and so forth. They all come in many shapes and sizes but are generally smaller than books, a maximum of 40 pages of so (usually much less), with paper covers and saddle-stitched or stapled bindings. A typical booklet style is a stack of 2 or more sheets of letter sized paper, folded in half. The number of pages is always divisible by 4, such as 4 pages, 8 pages, 12 pages, etc., some of which may be blank.

BOOKLETS, JOURNALS, and CHAPBOOKS can be used as small story books, or (most often) books of poetry, instructional manuals, or recipe books. They can be used as brochures, catalogues, and insert booklets for CDs and DVDs.

ZINES: Zines are self-published, small circulation, often non-profit books, papers, or websites that deal with controversial subjects and are presented in an informal layout and often unusual design. Anyone can be an author or editor or art director or publisher of a zine. Zines can be about anything; rules or special knowledge about a subject may not be present. Zines can be from the individual's point of view or from a group's vison, so they are often connected to urban movements and thus freedom relating to subjects like punk, or feminism, or transgender issues, for example, or any subject you can think of is fair game for a zine. Some zines have become so successful, they became regular magazines! If your zine is limited in scope (needing only about a page of material), a great place to learn how to create your own is at http://222.rookiemag.com/2012/05/how-to-make-a-zine/. Otherwise, you could just make a chapbook.

Do you have more than 20 poems or a short story you feel might be ready to be presented to the universe in booklet form? Maybe you want to include drawings you've done that fit the theme of your work. Would you like to have someone help you with this project? A chapbook is your answer. Maybe you'd like to brainstorm with someone about your ideas for presenting your work, finding just the right fonts, the best kind of paper, or the perfect color for the cover, and other such issues. Or maybe you also need an editor to clean up organization, grammatical, punctuation and other writing issues. Please consider Raves and Howls Publishing!