Self-publishing my first book

Paint & Poems
a lockdown project


Over the last year, I have been working on a series of local landscapes with accompanying poems. During the first lockdown of Spring 2020, I shared a few of my poems on social media with friends. I was quite surprised to receive such positive feedback on my poems and this spurred me on to do more. These poems usually come to me when I am out on my own walking. It seemed natural, therefore to combine my landscape paintings with my poems. In total, the series is 25 mixed media paintings, each titled with its what3words location. 

The paintings hope to capture some of the unique beauty, atmosphere and weather of the Lake District. I am drawn to the strong lines of paths, walls, ridges and streams that guide your eye through the landscape. This is reflected in my use of charcoal for mark-making.

Putting all this together in a book has been a welcome distraction over the last few months. I am delighted that it is now in its final stages and ready for printing. The book will hopefully be available from the end of Summer when you will be able to order direct from my website. 


The process of laying out and editing the book has been quite a steep learning curve and one that I have really enjoyed. I will be putting together my experiences of self-publishing and detailing all the software and tools I used in a future blog and YouTube video after my book is printed.

Have you self-published a book? Would you recommend it? Let us know in the comments below.

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