What is a chapbook, anyway?
Nowadays, a chapbook is a small collection of poetry, usually from 20 to 30 pages, bound with some form of saddle stitch (as opposed to a flat spine). Many small literary presses hold chapbook contests, giving both new and experienced writers a chance to showcase a collection of work smaller than a full-length book. The smaller size and print-run (some publishers print as few as 100 copies) often allows for greater emphasis on design and aesthetics. Some chapbooks are even printed on hand-made paper and are hand-sewn. Others are simply photocopied and stapled for distribution to friends.
Chapbooks originated as small, inexpensively-produced pamphlets containing a variety of content, from religious tracts to nursery rhymes to folk tales, that were sold mainly to the common people on the streets of towns and villages around Britain from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries. The term is believed to have come from chapmen, who were peddlers of small trinkets and wares, including these little books and pamphlets.
If you are interested in learning more, you might want to click on the following link: Chapbooks: A Short History of the Short Book, by Sam Riedel.
Nowadays, a chapbook is a small collection of poetry, usually from 20 to 30 pages, bound with some form of saddle stitch (as opposed to a flat spine). Many small literary presses hold chapbook contests, giving both new and experienced writers a chance to showcase a collection of work smaller than a full-length book. The smaller size and print-run (some publishers print as few as 100 copies) often allows for greater emphasis on design and aesthetics. Some chapbooks are even printed on hand-made paper and are hand-sewn. Others are simply photocopied and stapled for distribution to friends.
Chapbooks originated as small, inexpensively-produced pamphlets containing a variety of content, from religious tracts to nursery rhymes to folk tales, that were sold mainly to the common people on the streets of towns and villages around Britain from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries. The term is believed to have come from chapmen, who were peddlers of small trinkets and wares, including these little books and pamphlets.
If you are interested in learning more, you might want to click on the following link: Chapbooks: A Short History of the Short Book, by Sam Riedel.