Angelica Owens Capstone

​Abstract:

For my capstone project, I self-published a poetry book. With this project, I got in contact with a publishing company and started the process. I started a document with the poetry I wanted to be in it. I put them in order and put the table in contents so the publisher knew what poem to put where even though I put the poems in order on the document too. I emailed it to him and he kept in touch with me. I asked Amanda to do my cover because I heard she was a good artist and I told her the vision I had for it. After I received the books, I had a book release party at school where my family, friends and my two nurses who took care of me at Temple came since I am donating the money to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Temple as well. During the process, I learned how important it was to keep tabs with people who are putting together my product. It was very stressful at times because the publisher would be out of town a lot and not email me back and it was getting closer to when I wanted to have my book release party. I also learned how many people are supportive and think I am going places with my writing as well and how to plan an event since I planned it mainly by myself.


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​Annotated Bibliography: 


Beck, Allison. "25 Best Party Foods Your Guests Will Love." The Daily Meal. N.p., 31 Oct. 2011. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.


This source talks about what makes food good for parties. It states that if people will be standing up, make sure it is not too greasy and also make it look appetizing as well. I selected this source because it will help me figure out what I should and shouldn’t be looking for or doing when it comes to appetizers for the event. This source is useful because now I know what to do and what’s best for the event when it comes to food so people don’t make too much of a mess. A limitation of this source is that they don’t have a everyday list of appetizers, they only have like fancy ones and some people are very picky and don’t like everything.



Ben-Ari, Elia T. "Special Book Article: Electronic Publishing: Past, Present, and Future." BioScience 49.3 (1999): 229. Web.


This source talks about electronic publishing in the past, present and future. It talks about how things posted online can be easily updated which is a good and bad thing. If it can be updated, you can choose different things but at the same time, you can keep it the same way if you choose to. I selected this source because it gave me a look into the cons of publishing something online which will be half of what I do since I am publishing an online version and hard copy of it. A limitation of the source is that it doesn’t talk about the pros of publishing online.   



What Is a Chapbook. Dir. Christopher Brown. Perf. Christopher K.P Brown. 2011. Web.


This source was created by Christopher “K.P.” Brown. It describes what a chapbook is along with the what they expecting, and the basics of their process for the book. I selected this source because I didn’t know what kind of poetry book I wanted to publish. When I found the publisher, on the site, he was talking about a chapbook, which I had never heard of it. By looking at this source I found out it was a small collection of poetry which could be about a maximum of about 28 poems. This source helped me figure out the kind of book I wanted to do. While I have tons of poems, there are a lot that are touching on subjects I would not put in my book well not my first book. A limitation of the book was the price it would cost for a couple of 100 books and if you wanted extra, how much extra would it cost. That would have been helpful so I wouldn’t have even had to email him first about the price along with telling him I was interested in publishing through them.


Doskow, Minna. William Blake's Jerusalem: Structure and Meaning in Poetry and Picture. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson UP, 1982. Print.


This source was created by Minna Doskow and talks about Jerusalem and their interpretation of poetry. In this book, they talk about poetry and their set up of it. This source says that with a poetry book you could have different themes for the poetry. This source is useful because I was thinking of doing themes for my poetry book until I decided that would be messy and mess up the flow I wanted to have with the book. One limitation this source has is not to describe other ways someone could set up a poetry book.  




Giovanni, Nikki. "Mothers." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2016. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177837>



This source gives a poem by Nikki Giovanni, a well known poet. In the poem, she speaks about her mother, the last time she went home and her mother passed a poem to her. I selected this source because it reminds me of a poem I wrote for my grandmother in the way I worded it and not so much of the situations are connected. I find this source useful because it shows how I want to change the world with my words but also shows that my poems in the book are talking about real things in my life, good or bad and that they will be coming from the heart. One limitation of the source is that while it is a good poem, I won’t be able to model my work off her because I already sent my poems off.


Hunter, Maya Angelou - Poem. "Still I Rise Poem." Poemhunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/still-i-rise/>.


This source gives me a poem entitled “Still I rise” by Maya Angelou. I selected this poem because this is my favorite poem by her and by being a huge fan of her, she helped me start writing poetry. This poem is part of the reason why I am who I am when it comes to how I write. It is speaking real situations that has happened but saying that she could care less which is what I strive to do in my writing. This source is useful because it can show the audience why I choose to write and what I want to get across in my book that people are different and to respect their differences but also having a theme of family as well.


Hunter, Langston Hughes - Poem. "As I Grew Older Poem." Poemhunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2016.


This source is a poem by Langston Hughes entitled “As I Grew Older.”  This poem talks about his dream and how he could see it like the sun. I chose this source because it talks about his dreams and how determined he is to follow his dreams which very much reminds me of me and the whole purpose of my book release party which is to get my work published to start my career. This source is useful because it can show people the path of where I want to go and where I want my future to go.


Matthews, Curt. "Self-Publishing Success." American Libraries 43.5/6 (2012): 12. JSTOR. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.


This source talks about how self-published books be successful. It states that it’s all about how you market your book. If you market to more places and make it known that you published a book, it will be more successful. It also stated that if you publish it more than one place than people will be more likely to buy it because they have an option to purchase it online or in person. I selected this source because it can give me an insight into what to do in order to be successful. It reassured me that I am going down the right path. I am planning on publishing my book on Amazon for people who I don’t know that want to buy it randomly or if my family and friends can’t make it to my book release party. I find this source useful because it showed me I am going on the right path to make my book successful. A limitation this source has is that it doesn’t tell the average price that we should sell our books for to be successful.



"The Meaning of Poetry: Breaking Poetry." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6QToz8zYuU>.


This source is talking about the meaning of poetry and what poetry means for the particular speaker and just in general the meaning of people for certain people.  I selected this source as a way showing that the meaning of poetry is more than just writing stuff down but that writing poetry is an escape gateway for people and a way to express their feelings. I find this source useful because this describes my usage of poetry and the reason why I write. A limitation of this source is that it doesn’t speak more on why people who write don’t have a connection with their writing.


Free Verse. Digital image. Slide Share- All about Poetry. Natasha Walker Van Niekerk, 6 Mar. 2014. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.


This source was found on Google Images under it saying “Free Verse.” While going to the sight investigating it, I found out not only Free verse is majority of what my poetry book is but also that a couple of  my poetry is called Narrative poems which is just me narrating through a poem. This source is useful so I can identify the types of poems that are in the book which I didn’t know all of the kinds at first. I selected this source because it helped me to figure out the names of type of poetry used in the book so I knew.


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