Can I Be Honest?.

by Katrina Simmons

In Katrina Simmons' new collection Can I Be Honest? the reader takes a journey through the stages of a deteriorating long-term relationship. Through realization, grief, and then renewal, these poems explore the loss of a romantic partner in a way that is authentic and relatable.

What she wanted...

Help putting all the pieces together to craft an amazing book.

What she had...

A document full of poems and a story to tell.

What we did...

Arrangement suggestions
Critique
Critique Letter
Proofreading
ePub development
Blurb Creation
Pricing Development

I break the braces that bind me . . .

Katrina’s work was strikingly honest and relatable, and we wanted to preserve that while also elevating her voice. To do this, we took a close look at how the poems spoke to each other and noticed the narrative seemed to fit into two sections: the moments leading up to heartbreak, the event itself, and time spent trying to process it, and then the journey from transition to acceptance and embracing independence.

my heart continued to feed my mind . . .

Once we got all the poems settled down and comfortable, we dove in and began our line-by-line edits along with some proofreading. The result was a bouquet of poems blooming in their prime and ready to grace the world with their beauty.

the beauty of this beast . . .

The next step was having our design team work with Katrina to find the perfect cover art for her collection, and we ended up exploring quite a lot! She originally came to us with a vision of a feminine figure standing as if swearing an oath, so we made it happen! We came up with an image and decided to play around with some color and font options.

tree branches hide. . .

While we were definitely on the right track, this didn’t feel as WOW as Katrina’s book! We wanted the cover to be as bold as her poetry, so we made the suggestion of focusing on the main aspect of the previous images: the hand. The result was an unmistakable dedication to honesty that makes an observer want to know more.

leaving what is known. . .

This was much further in the right direction, and with a few adjustments and color palette swaps Katrina found her cover! We even created an interior design based on it to pull it all together. With the addition of this final detail, her collection was finally ready to make its debut!

the clock strikes and the sun reveals itself again . . .

As a thank you to Katrina for allowing us to work with her, we crafted some marketing images using the cover she selected to help spread the word about her collection! Each piece of crafting this book came together seamlessly, and we are so proud to have been part of the process. Congratulations Katrina!

"Thank you so much through out this process. Hopefully this will be the first of many books to come. You and your team have been amazing thank you."

Stop making excuses. Make it happen.