Day 27 in #BookSpine365. Visit a title a day from my bookshelf.
Chapbooks, by design were made to make literature available to all by making it cheap as possible; no cover, about 24 pages, and made with materials available to those surrounding them. In the 16th century (and beyond until newspapers and other mediums became available) chapbooks were crucial to getting news, entertainment and other stories which they held.
On the poetry end, chapbooks are still crucial today. Most chapbooks are made up to 40 pages, and can be an important factor with marketing your existing book, seeing if you have an audience, selling any poems at all, or building an audience. Chapbooks have come a long way since their creation and can be as cheap as or expensive as their materials, but still have the same anatomy of the book: up to 40 pages, and are bound with a saddle stitch, stapled, perfect bound, folded, or wrapped. You can use various publishing programs to create the chapbook for you, or fold and stitch yourself, creating a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" layout. This copy here, I received via a poetry slam in 2000 from the Twin Poets, Al &Nnamdi. Wilmington-based, which is my hometown. Met them a few times through my aunt who is really close to them, so that was cool beans. Their performance was absolutely unbelievable. It's signed, which I always try to do when I go to a poetry slam or reading. Poetry is divine. Words cannot describe what they can do to words-description and mere poetic devices alone were not used. It is truly an experience. I especially like "Swinging" and "All Too Often." The Twins have written so much more and have also performed on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and are members of The American Poets Society, Writers Guild, and performed in some of the most prestigious venues to spread their word.
On the poetry end, chapbooks are still crucial today. Most chapbooks are made up to 40 pages, and can be an important factor with marketing your existing book, seeing if you have an audience, selling any poems at all, or building an audience. Chapbooks have come a long way since their creation and can be as cheap as or expensive as their materials, but still have the same anatomy of the book: up to 40 pages, and are bound with a saddle stitch, stapled, perfect bound, folded, or wrapped. You can use various publishing programs to create the chapbook for you, or fold and stitch yourself, creating a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" layout. This copy here, I received via a poetry slam in 2000 from the Twin Poets, Al &Nnamdi. Wilmington-based, which is my hometown. Met them a few times through my aunt who is really close to them, so that was cool beans. Their performance was absolutely unbelievable. It's signed, which I always try to do when I go to a poetry slam or reading. Poetry is divine. Words cannot describe what they can do to words-description and mere poetic devices alone were not used. It is truly an experience. I especially like "Swinging" and "All Too Often." The Twins have written so much more and have also performed on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and are members of The American Poets Society, Writers Guild, and performed in some of the most prestigious venues to spread their word.
-brrivera
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