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How to Make a Cover Page for Poems

Poetry is often published by the poet or publisher in 30 pages or smaller books called chapbooks. A typical chapbook will have a cover, title page, author biography with author photo, synopsis of the poetry, acknowledgment page, dedication page and table of contents. Allow for one or two pages at the back of the book for a well-wishes page to the reader, contact and ordering information and perhaps a list of other books that are also available by the same poet. The cover should be modest and eye-pleasing with a design, photo, art and always the title of the chapbook and the author's name. Creating your cover can take some experimentation to achieve the results you want.

Things You'll Need

  • Scanner
  • Art
  • Photos
  • Scissors
  • Blank paper
  • Glue stick
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Instructions

    • 1

      Scan in art, photographs or images you think would look good on your cover. Size the image to the approximate size you want and print out a copy of the image.

    • 2

      Open a word processing program and a new document. Type in the name of the chapbook and the author's name. Make several sets in different sizes of type and in different fonts. Print out your copies.

    • 3

      Cut out your images and words and arrange them on a piece of blank paper. Place one possible cover on each paper so that you have several choices. Cut the paper to the size of your front cover if the paper is larger. Glue your images and words in the best location using a glue stick.

    • 4

      Number each of your possible covers. Take your covers to family and friends and ask them to select their favorite cover among the choices. You are looking for the cover that they find the most eye-catching and interesting. Listen to their comments and feedback as they often have good suggestions for moving words or the sizes of images. Evaluate the results based on what you want to create.

    • 5

      Reproduce your cover using a photo software program. This type of program will allow you to position type over an image or place the type exactly where you want. Save your cover as an image file. This will allow you to position the single image in your book format when you are formatting the chapbook.

Poetry

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