A Poetry Book
Publication Guide
A field guide from a poet who built her own press
If waiting for a press to choose you is the thing standing between your work and the world, there is another path. You can build the press yourself.
That's not a radical act. It's an increasingly well-documented one. Rupi Kaur self-published Milk and Honey in 2014 after a creative writing professor told her not to bother — that poetry never got published and that self-publishing would cause the industry to look down on her. She used a platform called CreateSpace to produce and distribute the physical book. Andrews McMeel picked up the rights within a year. The book went on to sell over eleven million copies across more than 43 languages. Her response to being told not to self-publish: "Do not self-publish is the best advice I've never taken."
What this guide describes isn't submitting your manuscript to a third-party press and waiting on their answer. It's also not vanity publishing — where a company charges you to produce your book, often retaining creative control or charging inflated fees for services that aren't in your interest. What Rupi Kaur did, and what this guide walks you through, is something else entirely: a legitimate, registered press with an LLC, its own ISBN block, its own identity in the publishing ecosystem, and a catalog that belongs entirely to you.
You're not waiting around for someone else to decide your work deserves permanence. Once you decide that, someone else just might agree.
CreateSpace was Amazon's print-on-demand (POD) platform and the direct precursor to what is now Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). It didn't edit Rupi Kaur's manuscript. It didn't own her rights. It didn't make a single creative decision on her behalf. She uploaded her files; it printed and shipped the physical book as orders came in. The press was hers. The ISBN was hers. The rights were hers. CreateSpace was her printer — the way IngramSpark functions for independent publishers today.
In 2018, CreateSpace merged into KDP, and that same process now lives there. If you've heard the two names used interchangeably, that's why. The platform changed. The model didn't.
Understanding this matters because it changes what you think she did. She wasn't handed a shortcut. She was her own publisher using a tool — the same way you'd use any printer. That's the distinction this guide is built on.
"I went through every one of these phases building Aurora Cantus — my debut poetry collection under Scriptaluna Press. This guide exists because I took notes."
— Silvia Passiflora, Founder, Scriptaluna LLCSection 1
Entity & Identity Foundation
Before a single poem goes anywhere, the container has to exist. The press is the container.
Choosing a press name
The name should be distinctive, not generic. "Oak Press" is noise. "Scriptaluna Press" is a signal. Check trademark clearance via the USPTO TESS database before committing. Verify the name isn't in active use by another indie press. Confirm domain availability simultaneously — name and domain live or die together.
- Press name chosen and confirmed distinctive
- Trademark clearance checked via USPTO TESS
- Domain registered (.com first; .press is a credible extension for publishers)
- Defensive domain variants secured (.org if budget allows)
- All domain variants pointed to one canonical URL immediately
LLC Formation
An LLC — Limited Liability Company — is a business structure that legally separates your personal assets from your press. If something goes wrong — a contract dispute, a liability claim — your personal finances are protected. It also establishes your press as a real, searchable entity in every database and contract you will ever touch.
- LLC filed in your home state (Georgia: Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division)
- LLC name matches or closely matches the press name
- Registered agent appointed
- Operating agreement drafted before signing any contracts
- EIN (Employer Identification Number — your LLC's tax ID) obtained from the IRS: free, online, same day
- Dedicated business bank account opened — the LLC is legally meaningless if finances commingle
Contact Infrastructure
Most first-time filers don't realize how permanent this mistake is. Once your home address appears on a public-facing document — your press website, submission guidelines, distribution accounts, Bowker registration — data scrapers pull it automatically. It circulates through people-finder sites, skip-trace databases, and spam lists before you've even approved your first proof. The better move is to never put it there in the first place.
The U.S. Copyright Office form asks for two different addresses and the distinction matters enormously. Domicile is your actual legal home address. It is required. Put your real address there. Mailing address is the public-facing field that lives in the Copyright Office's searchable database indefinitely. Put your PO Box, UPS Store mailbox, or virtual mailbox address there — not your home. The mailing field is the one that follows you.
- PO Box, UPS Store mailbox, or virtual mailbox obtained — a UPS Store mailbox gives you a real street address rather than a "PO Box" notation, which matters on some forms
- Google Voice number set up before registering anywhere publicly — Google Voice is a free service that gives you a second phone number completely separate from your real one. All calls forward to your actual phone. When spam floods in the moment your number hits publisher databases, it hits that number — not you.
- Domain email created: contact@yourdomainname.com — or submissions@ or editor@
- Standard Gmail set up as backup — some platforms reject private domain emails at account creation; you'll know when it kicks back
- Domain email forwarded to Gmail for unified inbox management
Section 2
Publishing Infrastructure
What is an ISBN? ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number — a 13-digit identifier assigned to every edition of every book in the world. It's what every bookstore, library, and distributor uses to identify exactly what they're ordering or shelving. No ISBN means no entry into that system.
Bowker is the official ISBN agency for the United States — the organization authorized to assign the identification numbers that make your book findable in every bookstore, library catalog, and distribution system in the world. Think of it as the Social Security Administration for books. Every ISBN traces back to a publisher of record in Bowker's database, which is how distributors, librarians, and booksellers know who published what. When you buy your ISBN block through Bowker and register your press name as publisher, that name lives permanently in the global book supply chain.
- Bowker account registered at myidentifiers.com as publisher of record — purchase a block of ISBNs (minimum 10; 100 is more economical per unit)
- Press name on the ISBN matches your LLC name exactly
- Copyright registration filed with the U.S. Copyright Office (copyright.gov) using Form TX for literary works — register within three months of publication to preserve your right to statutory damages ranging from $750 to $30,000 per work. Miss that window and you're limited to actual damages, which are much harder to prove. Same rule as music.
- Distribution channel decided: direct sales only, IngramSpark, Amazon KDP, or a combination — IngramSpark gets you into bookstores and libraries; KDP alone closes those doors
- LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number) applied for through the PCN program at loc.gov/publish/pcn — see the note below before applying
The PCN program (Preassigned Control Number) is the Library of Congress program open to independent publishers and self-publishers. It's free. It assigns your book a LCCN — Library of Congress Control Number — before publication, which libraries use to catalog the book. Apply at loc.gov/publish/pcn.
The CIP program (Cataloging in Publication) is a different, more restricted program that requires a press to have already published at least three titles by three different authors, each held by 1,000 or more libraries. Print-on-demand books are not eligible. Most first-time independent presses do not qualify for CIP — and that's completely normal. The PCN/LCCN is your equivalent path and produces the same number that appears on your copyright page.
Important — the two-step process: Creating your publisher account with the Library of Congress and requesting an LCCN for a specific title are not the same action. The account is your publisher registration — you do that once. The LCCN request is per title, submitted through your dashboard for each book. Submit the title request as soon as your publication date is confirmed. The number must appear on the copyright page before the book goes to print. You cannot add it afterward.
Section 3
The Manuscript
Build your manuscript in Google Docs
Once you've decided which poems are in the collection, move them into a Google Docs document. Use Google Docs for page separation and light structural organization — not for heavy layout or design. When you share it with an editor, their comments will line up with the actual page breaks, making the back-and-forth much cleaner.
Do not do heavy layout or design work until after the editorial pass is complete. Every comment that changes a line, adds a stanza, or removes a poem shifts everything that follows it. Final layout — the work you'd do in a dedicated design program — comes only after the manuscript is editorially locked. Doing it earlier is time you'll spend twice.
Manuscript preparation
- Final poem count confirmed — typical full-length collection: 48–80 pages
- Consistent formatting throughout: font, point size, line spacing, section breaks
- All poems titled, or all untitled — decide and hold the line
- Epigraphs cleared for copyright if quoting living authors
- Acknowledgments page drafted: list prior publications for any poems that appeared elsewhere
Front matter
- Title page: title, author name, press name, year
- Copyright page: © year, author name, ISBN, LCCN, press mailing address (not home address), "All rights reserved," country of printing
- Dedication (optional)
- Table of contents if the collection has named sections
- Preface or Author's Note (optional — the poems speak; trust them)
Back matter
- Acknowledgments
- Author bio: third person, 75–100 words
- Colophon (optional — and quietly powerful when done with intention)
Section 4
Cover Art & Design
- Printer's spine width calculator consulted before handing anything to a designer — spine width is calculated from page count and paper stock; design into the template, not before it
- Cover dimensions and bleed requirements confirmed with your printer — get the template first
- All three panels designed simultaneously: front cover, spine, back cover — distributors like IngramSpark require them together
- All cover files at 300 DPI minimum at final print size — "looks fine on screen" is not a print standard
- If commissioning an artist: written agreement specifies you own the final files, not just a license — this distinction matters for reprints, merchandise, and future adaptation
- If using your own artwork: provenance documented in your records
- If using a photograph: licensing confirmed for commercial print use specifically — standard stock licenses often exclude print-on-demand
Section 5
Printing & Distribution
This is the section most guides get wrong — or skip entirely. The confusion usually comes from treating printing and distribution as one decision. They're not. Who prints your book and who sells your book are two separate things. You can mix and match. Most smart indie publishers do.
POD — print-on-demand — means a copy is printed only when someone orders it. No boxes of unsold inventory. No upfront print run. The platform prints, ships, takes a cut, and pays you the balance.
The three printing paths
IngramSpark is the industry standard for reaching bookstores and libraries — it distributes to over 45,000 retailers globally including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and independent bookstores worldwide. A black-and-white poetry collection of around 80 pages costs roughly $2.50–$3.50 per copy to print. Setup is free; revisions after final proof approval cost $25 per file change — get your files right before you upload.
Amazon KDP is easier to set up but largely limits your distribution to Amazon's own ecosystem. Using KDP alone closes the door on most bookstore and library distribution.
Lulu is a strong option for direct author sales and is considered the gold standard for POD print quality.
Best for: online availability, library distribution, no inventory riskYou commission a physical print run — as few as 10 to 50 copies — from a local or regional digital print shop. You own the inventory. You sell direct: at shows, readings, through your own website, at full margin, cash in hand.
Look for shops that offer perfect binding (the standard glued spine of a paperback) or saddle stitch (folded and stapled along the spine, suitable for collections up to about 52 pages). For online short-run printing, Printkeg, Greener Printer, and Gorham Printing are all legitimate options. Turnaround is often days, not weeks.
Best for: live shows, launch events, signed copies, full-margin direct salesTraditional large-run printing. Lower cost per unit at scale but requires a minimum of 1,000+ copies to make economic sense. Not the right entry point for a first poetry collection.
Best for: established presses with proven demand and warehouse capacityThese paths are not mutually exclusive
The most practical strategy for an independent poet-publisher is to run Path 01 and Path 02 simultaneously. You print locally for your live show economy — physical copies, signed copies, direct sales at full margin. You upload to IngramSpark in parallel so the book exists on Amazon, BN.com, and in library catalogs for anyone who finds you online. As long as you own your ISBN through Bowker, the two paths don't interfere with each other.
Local printer delivers. You're holding the book. You announce it, sell it at shows, ship signed copies direct. Full margin on every copy you sell. The people closest to you respond to this one.
IngramSpark's metadata reaches Amazon. The book appears in the world's largest retail catalog. A different audience finds you. A second announcement. A second wave of visibility.
Your LCCN is assigned. The book appears in WorldCat. Scholars, educators, and librarians find you there on their own timeline. This one doesn't need a social post. It just needs to exist.
On pricing
Your print cost per copy through POD for a standard 80-page black-and-white poetry collection runs roughly $2.50–$4.50 depending on platform and specs. A reliable working rule: price at least three to four times your print cost. If it costs $3 to print, you're pricing at $12–$15 minimum. Look at five poetry books you love and notice what they cost. Most 80-page collections retail between $14 and $20. That range has been stable for years and is a safer reference point than any specific number here, which platforms may update at any time.
- Printing path decided: local printer, IngramSpark, or both simultaneously
- If local: printer identified, binding style confirmed, proof copy ordered before full run
- If IngramSpark: files uploaded, distribution channels selected, compensation calculator run before setting retail price
- ISBN assigned to this specific edition before uploading anywhere
- Retail price set at minimum 3–4x print cost
- Launch timeline mapped: local copies → IngramSpark upload → Amazon listing → library catalog
An ARC is an Advance Reader Copy — a pre-publication version of your book sent to readers, reviewers, or fellow writers before the official release date. The ARC exists for one purpose: to generate quotes, called blurbs, that appear on your back cover, promotional materials, and press release.
Send ARCs four to six weeks before your release date at minimum. A PDF is acceptable. Be specific in your ask: release date, where the quote may appear, preferred length. One to three sentences is standard. You're not obligated to use every quote you receive. You're looking for the ones that speak to the work with precision, not generosity.
- ARC list built: five to ten readers whose voices carry weight in your genre
- ARC sent four to six weeks before release date
- Cover letter included: release date, intended use, preferred quote length
- Blurbs collected — select for precision, not flattery
- Approved blurbs placed on back cover, press release, and promotional assets
Section 6
Discoverability & the Permanent Record
When a book exists in the world, search engines and databases need to understand that the author who wrote it is the same person who appears on Instagram, LinkedIn, a personal website, and everywhere else the project has been discussed. The more consistently the author's name, press, and book appear across platforms — with the same identifiers, the same spelling, links pointing back to one home base — the stronger that signal becomes. This is how a book moves from "I published it" to "anyone searching for it can find it."
- Press About page live with press name, founding date, and links to all platforms where the author appears
- Book listed on WorldCat, Open Library, and Books in Print once ISBN is assigned
- LCCN obtained and placed on the copyright page before printing
- Book landing page on the author's website includes ISBN, author name, publisher name, and publication date
- ISNI registered for the author as creator — a permanent 16-digit number that separates them from every other person who shares their name across global databases
- ORCID registered if the work crosses into academic, research, or institutional contexts — free, optional, signals long-horizon thinking
The checklist above gets your book into the right places. This step tells search engines that all those places are talking about the same book, the same author, and the same press.
It works through a small block of code — called JSON-LD schema — that lives in the invisible header of your website. You never see it as a reader. Search engines read it constantly. It connects the dots you've already placed.
Here's the honest crystal ball: learn to generate this code yourself with AI assistance. Not because it's easy the first time — it isn't — but because as time goes by and your press gains attention, press coverage, new platforms, new listings, your JSON-LD code will need to be updated to reflect that growth. A developer can't do that on your behalf every time. AI can walk you through a new draft in under an hour, and it gets easier each time you do it.
The full sequence — generating the schema, placing it in your website header, submitting your site to Google Search Console, and requesting indexing — sounds like a lot. It's a one-afternoon project the first time. After that it becomes maintenance, not construction.
- List compiled of every platform where the author and book appear online
- JSON-LD schema generated — by a developer, or with AI assistance using the list as source material
- Schema code placed in the header of the author's website and press website
- Site submitted to Google Search Console and indexing requested
- Validated free at search.google.com/test/rich-results — green means it's working
This step is easier to show than to describe. Check back — a video walkthrough may be coming.
The Metadata Foundations Series — Scriptaluna
The thinking behind everything in Section 6 — identifiers, database listings, platform consistency, schema — is the same thinking documented in the Metadata Foundations series at Scriptaluna.com. The series was written with songwriters in mind, but the infrastructure principles are identical for any independent creator building a permanent catalog.
The vocabulary is different. The logic isn't.
Scriptaluna exists to show how to think about this infrastructure — not to turn every artist into an engineer. The map is the point. You decide how deep to go.
Explore the Foundations series at Scriptaluna.com →Reference
Registration Glossary
Every acronym in this guide, spelled out plainly.