Self-Published Poem Project

FIRST ATTEMPT of self-publishing my poems: Post poems around campus at various spots

  Originally, I thought to post my poems at every bus stops since that's where people most likely to stop and read  while waiting for buses to come. I even thought of a way for people to give feedback after they read my poems so that I could prove there's actually someone out there who has seen my poem. And so I made a small envelope with some post-it notes in it so people could write down some feedback. I even attached a pen with the poem since I know people won't leave a message even if they want to without a pen.

After I printed out 10+copies of the two poems I wrote: "Another Day, Another Destiny" and "Growth" and folded 10+ envelopes and prepare 10+ pens, I was ready. HOWEVER, as soon as I got out there, I realized a problem: All the glass bus stops shelters, which were the ones I originally planned to post my poems on, have nothing on them... Not a Thing! It's so tidy and clean that I feared if I stick my poems up there, it would be taken down right away. So I changed my tactics and stick my poems at places that have other posts and ads around. I posted some at the commons block, a bulletin in front of a coffee shop on 10th Ave, a pole in front of the West Point Grey Library, which is still near a bus stop. I also didn't give up the plan of posting poems at bus stops so I went to the UBC Bus Loop and found some places that people have previously posted stuff on and posted mine there too.

    I know this is not the most effective way to get as many people to see as possible but I still decided to give it a shot. Also, I was seriously doubting there would be anyone reading the poem let along writing a comment. When I came back to check on each posts a few days later, I was disappointed at first when I found out that all the poems I posted near the bus loop got taken down. But when I got to the posts on 10th Ave, I actually found 5 comments in the envelops from total strangers! I was really surprised and happy to receive any feedback at all. Some commented, "Your day will get better!" on the poem "Another Day, Another Destiny"; some said, "Cool project! Are there other poems at other bus stops?"  And those comments really encouraged me. The next day I checked, I got two more comments that actually gave some advice to me on how to improve the poem. So in total I received 7 comments. Although it may not seem much, it was more than what I've expected. Some people might only read the poem but didn't leave a comment. If that's the case, since there are 10+ posts out there and say 4-5 people have read each posts, I expected I have reached 40-50 people by posting my poems around the campus.

SECOND ATTEMPT: Post a video on YouTube

I've decided to do this only until two days before the presentation day. I've decided to use my artistic skills (as Ms. Kwan urged me) to make a video on one of the poems I wrote to reach more views. I've drawn each pictures in the style of silhouette to make it look simple and clean on the screen (and a little bit easy for me to draw~)with the help of the app "Pen & Ink" on Ipad. Originally, I was thinking of making an animation so the pictures would look like it's moving. However, due to time constraints and lack of skills, I was only able to complete what's shown in the video above. After 9 hours of drawing and putting together all the pictures, music and voice recording on imovie, I've uploaded the video onto YouTube. And with the help of friends and family, the video has reached 200+ views within two days.

So in total, I was able to reach 250 people.