I have been thinking quite a lot lately about my writing and my motivations behind it.

Legacy

People quite rightly describe having children as their legacy, and in a way that's how I feel about my writing.

I don’t have any children. For me my writing is my legacy - it’s what I leave behind when I’m no longer here. Parents tell their children stories and mold them in their image and that’s what I do with my poetry.

If you're thinking of taking the plunge and self-publishing your work - there is no better time. Self-publishing is becoming the most common way for writers to get there work out to a main-stream audience.

Please, please, please do not leave formatting your work to the last minute. I know it may seem laboriously lame, but actually it will make your life so much easier in the end. 

Key things you can do to format your work:

• Page: The page is the most crucial formatting you will do. This entails:​
  • Finding out the right size of page for your publication.
  • ​Setting-up margins.
• ​​Text - choose your font and font-size early! This will help you visualise your work as the finished article as you write it. Set-up styles for all relevant aspects of your work, i.e. Poem Title, Section Title, Sub-section title.
• Contents - use the 'Contents' option under the references section on the toolbar. Use the styles that you already created to pinpoint the right order and look and feel of your page numbers. Remember to uncheck the 'Link to previous section' box in the format footer/page number tab.
• Breaks - for each section of your book create a 'Section Break' rather than a 'Page Break' this helps when coming to do your contents page.
• Floor-plan - a floor-plan will help guide you when laying out your book. Think about what sections (if any) you'd like to have and what pages will sit where?

All of your formatting questions can be answered by the almighty guru that is, wait for it, yes...Google. Believe it or not when I first started writing I had no idea how a book should look, style it should have, how many pages are needed, what size the pages should be, etc. It has been a godsend - trust me it will be your best friend.

When writing think, where is this poem/work going? Is it a piece to be performed or is it a piece to go in a book? I know it sounds really simple, however, what it will do is it will allow you to really focus and produce quality for the right medium.

Performance poetry is great, but (generally) it does not transfer very well to the written page - obviously there are exceptions to this, but by continuously thinking about where your poem is going it will allow you to concentrate more on it's form, structure and style.

In essence, you will produce a more well-rounded piece of work.

There is no point producing something that is not going to see the light of day. What you'll need to do is to make a clear and precise plan of 'marketing' activity and initiatives to generate interest in your work.

This doesn't mean a quick Facebook post and a tweet out to your native audience (of course that goes without saying), but what is needed is a thoroughly researched approach to your marketing efforts. As a low-budgeted outfit you will need to be a bit more strategic in order to put your work in-front of the most relevant and interested audience/consumer.

Firstly, I would look at the content of your work - is there a theme? If there is, great, this narrows down your research and gives you a steer in the right direction. Use this to determine the following:

• The most active marketing channel used to generate topical debate around this subject area.
• Key interests and activities associated with this theme.
• Who is captivated and has a passion for this topic, i.e. what patterns do you come across in regards to their specific demographics - location, age, gender, socioeconomic backgrounds, etc.

You will also need to have ready/purchase some 'pre-release' copies of your book to help you garner interest around it. For instance, you may wish to send copies to relevant organisations who would look to endorse it and help you promote it to their networks.

A copy could also be sent onto key journalists and reviewers in order to, again, yes, you got it - help generate publicity around you and your work. Please do your research before doing this though, as targeting the wrong journalists who have no interest in your subject matter or product type would, a) be a waste of a book, and b) could harm your reputation - be sensible. 

You will need to tour your work so people can hear about it. It is the oldest and most effective marketing tool out there - and has been dating back to the dawn of man! 

A 'Book Tour' does not mean the Royal Albert Hall or The O2 Arena, it could simply be you in your local bookshop or cafe. Think. Tie it in with the theme of your book - this could make for some interesting and unique choices of places for you to use.

Approach the venue/location about what you are trying to do - and when I say approach I don't mean just send them an email, go and check it out. Sit there and take it all in and get 'the vibe' of the place. Does it feel right? Can you see yourself promoting your work there? 

Talk to the manager and show them the passion & enthusiasm you have for your latest creation. If they're sensible they'll feed off your energy and jump at the chance of supporting what could be, 'the next big thing'...

​Good luck!

​One of the key ways to get your work out to the masses today is to self publish, but what is self-publishing? What does it entail? How involved is it?

Before you do anything further - STOP! Grab a cuppa and think. Is self-publishing the right way to go for you? And do you have the capacity to take on publishing your own work?

If the answers to these are - yes, then great - read on. Hopefully this article will be of some help to you.

Below are four of my eight key points to help guide you and make your self-publishing journey easier.

Self-publishing can seem, on the outset, rather daunting, but trust me, if it is planned well - it's actually really easy to do.

When I say 'Plan' I don't just mean the content, but treat the book like an all encombassing project entirely. Below is a list of things that you would need to think about planning for when undertaking a new 'project' :

• Approach & Tactics
• Materials/Equipment/Software Needed
• Supporters
• Templates
• Marketing
• Sales - how to pitch and where to sell.

By doing this all before the project has even started will make your life undoubtedly easier. Don't miss this step out otherwise it will become harder and harder to plan further done the line!

I never realised how much admin would be involved just so I could publish and share my own work with others.

​Things that I never even considered important previously have now become paramount in getting myself and my work legitimised and legal.

The following pieces of admin will need to be monitored and conducted every time a piece of work is produced or a project is worked on:

• ISBN allocation and notification to Neilsen bookdata.
• Send a copy of the book to the British Library. Note: All books containing an ISBN needs to send a copy to the British Library in order to preserve the material for the use of future generations and to make it available for readers within the designated legal deposit libraries.
• Record all income and expenditure, as you will need to fill in a tax-return - I would advise setting up a business banking account to keep business away from pleasure.
  • ​In light of this keep all receipts and file away - they may become useful in the future when there's a query regarding finances.
• Set-up publishing of books and ebooks through Amazon's KDP self-publishing system.
• Set-up and monitor an Author dashboard on Goodreads to communicate with readers of your books.
• Monitor and engage regularly with colleagues and like-minded individuals on all relevant social networks.
• Obtain regular data on marketing performance across all platforms, including: website, social networks, Google/SEO, book sales, etc.

You'll be surprised at how much time this actually takes. That's where the planning is so important - plan when all this needs to be done, so that you leave yourself with plenty of time to write!

Gaining support for your next book or project is crucial in giving it the credibility it deserves. Although, support from friends and family is great it's not going to take your book to the next level.

What you need to do is focus and plan thoroughly which individuals and organisations would be most relevant to your book/project. This might be worth looking into the following areas:

• ​Press - look into not only the main focal point of the subject area of your work but also any other publications or sections within publications that may show an interest. For instance, if I was writing a poetry book about sport I would contact literary journalists as well as sports journalists.
• Charities - within most literary projects there are potential charitable organisations that would love to support and assist you with your work, but you must research this first. Neither you or the charity can afford to get this wrong!
  
• Companies - if you can get the support of a company or well established brand - then why not. Nationwide have recently taken the plunge and invested in poetry as a mechanism to market their brand to the general public. Not only is this helping them 'stand out from the crowd' it has also boosted the profile of the poets filmed within the adverts - it's a good partnership all round.
  

Please remember that the key for garnering support for your project is to plan, plan, plan! The more research you do before you publish - the more your project/writing will be seen by a highly relevant audience.

When looking to start any project it is always handy to have some premade templates for the work that you'll be doing.

Some useful idea's around what items to template are as follows:

• Book - template a word document. That way you all you have to do is open it up and start typing away on your next project.
• Flyer/Poster - this is one may vary, as each of your books will have their own unique identity, but actually when you look at it more deeply, it makes complete sense. Just by being able to change a couple of fonts, colours and images you can create a consistent approach/feel to your marketing assets.
• Supporting documents - things like press-releases, letters/emails to journalists, letters of support, etc. will all be needed at some point throughout the publishing process, so why not have these already prepped for you to populate.
• Digital assets - in this day and age digital communications has become probably the centre-point for putting yourself and your products out there. By creating templates of your digital communications you will be able to whip something together in no-time.

All these templates will enable you to efficiently publish your projects and to communicate your work to the outside world quickly and effortlessly. 

Is performance poetry key to the success of the continuation of this beloved art-form? I explore this further...

This is an interesting conundrum - and to answer it, we must first look back at poetry as an art-form and it's early days.

Poetry throughout the medieval period was written, but mostly it was spoken as a form of 'entertainment', then with the introduction and with the industrial revolution and the ease of accessibility to books within the late 19th and early 20th centuries poetry transferred from the mouth to the pen - and from the stage to the page.

What is clear is that even today, there is still a divide between written poetry and performance/spoken word poetry. Why is this?

So finally, I do honestly and truly believe that in today's poetical space there is room enough for a mic and a pen. The only thing I would say is that when we poets write something we pay a little consideration in its audience and how we would want it consumed...

On Thursday the 15th of June 2017 three of the biggest names within the female spoken word poetry scene serenaded the crowd at Union Chapel in Islington.

Both Salena Godden and Vanessa Kisuule took to the stage to support Ted Hughes award winner, Hollie McNish during her book launch for her new book called Plum.

It was a fantastic evening with the whole of the chapel filled to the brim with scintillating and hilariously funny poetry from all three amazing performers and icons within the women's poetry scene.

In attendance were poetry and spoken word lovers, mums with babes held to their chests and even a few people knitting. It certainly had everything.

As you can see from the video's above the night was energy filled with verse and laughter that rang high to the roof-tops: the acoustics were phenomenal.

Also, the juxtaposition of the venue and the words being spoken within it also added an element of intrigue to the night. Especially with a full house within a crowded chapel in the height of London playing host to some of the UK's best poetical talent was incredible.

What was evident from this event is that female spoken word performance poetry is at it's peak and stronger than it has ever been. With the continued success of the artists involved and other key poetical figures it's certainly paving the way for future female poets to make their way to these amazing heights.

Check out further dates on Hollies 'Plum' tour - definitely one not to be missed, you'll have a blast!

Book review of 'Plum' to follow soon folks...