I wrote a poetry book!!
Aaaand I’m officially in the thick of the ongoing battle that is trying to get it published through KDP. If you’ve never wrestled with Kindle’s formatting system, let me just say: it’s an extreme sport. This time around, my main enemy has been margin sizing. (Margins! The most boring yet somehow most powerful force known to man.) A few of my poems that originally played around with white space had to be rearranged, which was honestly heartbreaking. There’s nothing like fighting for your artistic vision against a stubborn little “your margins are off” warning box.
But!! After many rounds of staring at my laptop, dramatically sighing, and reworking layouts, I finally got my proof copy in the mail today!
For those who don’t know, a proof copy is basically the version you get to lovingly (or not-so-lovingly) scribble edits all over before you fix everything and upload your final manuscript. I immediately busted out my pen and started making notes because, of course, the second you see your book in print, all your little mistakes jump out like “SURPRISE! You missed me!”
The book ended up being about 100 pages of narrative poetry, telling the story of a girl who lives in a cottage and her various adventures and conversations with the Carpenter (a stand-in for Christ). It’s cozy and intimate and feels like sitting on a creaky wooden porch, sharing life with someone who knows you inside and out.
There are poems about baking bread, going on little walks, asking hard questions, sitting quietly, making things by hand…all the small, sacred moments that make up a life of faith.
I’m honestly so excited (and so nervous) to share it when it’s ready. It’s one thing to write poems privately; it’s a whole other thing to send them out into the world and hope they land softly somewhere.
Either way, just holding a physical copy of something I made…even a messy, needs-edits version…feels surreal and really, really special.
Thanks for cheering me on through all the margins, the formatting fails, and the many, many sighs. I can’t wait to show you more soon! 💛
By the Brooke 
Oh my God, I’m so happy for you!! I’m in the beginning process of writing my manuscript, and I feel like I’ve finished half, but I feel like I need to start from scratch again. Anyway, I’m on vacation right now, so hopefully, that gives me time to think and do something about it. Also, congratulations on your first milestone. Can’t wait to see it released!🫶
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Thank you thank you thank you!! And I totally feel you on the scrapping a manuscript front. I have a draft of a fiction novel just collecting dust because I feel it’s useless and needs to be rewritten BADLY. I bet you’re manuscript is lovely though!
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Oh it needs some work done, hopefully I don’t procrastinate on it. But kudos to you for completing yours, you’re setting an inspiration for me by doing the same🫶
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Oh my word, congratulations!!! It looks so lovely! There is absolutely no feeling like holding your written work in your hands…and no feeling like futzing around with formatting and feeling more incompetent with every step you take 🤣 I ended up formatting using a template on Word because my sanity was teetering on the ragged edge. I hope your poems still look all right even if you had to change the margins around. I can’t wait to see them published!
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I’ll have to look into using a word doc format because it is a struggle over here! Thank you for the support and comment as always!
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Ahhh, congrats Brooke! I’m cheering you on with the KDP gauntlet (…yes, I do wonder how all those little mistakes pass us by until we get the proof copy XD.)
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Thank you so much! And yes. It’s a mystery how it looks just fine until it’s in my hands physically!
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