Poetry Book Design & Formatting
Budget: $250 – $750 AUD
I am getting my first poetry collection ready for print and need a skilled designer who can handle both the cover and interior layout from start to finish.
Poetry book - What the book is about
This poetry book tells the story of a person learning who they are, falling apart, and slowly choosing to stay alive.
It’s written from lived experience — not to shock, but to be honest. The poems move through identity, trauma, collapse, and healing, showing how a life can fracture and still find a way forward.
⸻
Chapter I — Mirrors & Masks
Chapter I is about identity.
It explores the different versions of yourself you learn to wear to survive — the masks you put on for family, friends, love, and the world. These poems deal with anxiety, self-awareness, first wounds, early trauma, and the fear of being truly seen.
It’s the stage where you’re still functioning, still smiling, but already splitting inside.
⸻
Chapter II — Cracks & Collapse
Chapter II is the breaking point.
This is where everything the masks were holding together starts to fail. The poems dive into trauma, addiction, loss of faith, grief, rage, depression, and the feeling of being abandoned — by people, by systems, by belief itself.
It’s raw, confrontational, and uncomfortable — because collapse rarely happens quietly. This chapter doesn’t offer easy answers. It sits in the wreckage honestly.
⸻
Chapter III — Still Fire
Chapter III is about what survives.
Not dramatic healing. Not a perfect ending.
Just the quiet decision to keep going.
These poems focus on softness, love, connection, self-acceptance, and the small moments that make life feel possible again. Still Fire isn’t about burning brighter — it’s about a steady flame that guides you forward after everything else has burned down.
Cover
I’m after a clean, minimalist look. Rather than elaborate graphics, I want the focus on a high-resolution modelling photo of me - I’m in an electric wheelchair and have modelling photos so I want to use one of them to get people intrigued.
Interior - I have 40 poems and every poem I’ve bought an illustration for so I’ve paid around $3000.00 on illustration. I want it to flow with the illustrations. It’ll be an extremely cinematic poetry book.
Deliverables
• need a finished PDF so I can go get it printed (I’ll be printing first I already have 2 book stores who want the book already after reading poems plus look at all the incredible illustrations.
Acceptance criteria
The files must pass KPD
- please don’t bid if you’ve never formatted/designed the inside of a whole book.
- preferably looking for someone who has experience and has formatted/designed a poetry book already.
- don’t bid if you just want to do the book cover.
- if you can only do the interior that’s fine I’ll get the book cover afterwards.
If this sounds like your kind of project, please share a short note on why you think you’d be a good fit. - added the modelling photo that I want on the front cover also a few illustrations to give you an idea of the type of illustrations you’d be working with.
Poetry book - What the book is about
This poetry book tells the story of a person learning who they are, falling apart, and slowly choosing to stay alive.
It’s written from lived experience — not to shock, but to be honest. The poems move through identity, trauma, collapse, and healing, showing how a life can fracture and still find a way forward.
⸻
Chapter I — Mirrors & Masks
Chapter I is about identity.
It explores the different versions of yourself you learn to wear to survive — the masks you put on for family, friends, love, and the world. These poems deal with anxiety, self-awareness, first wounds, early trauma, and the fear of being truly seen.
It’s the stage where you’re still functioning, still smiling, but already splitting inside.
⸻
Chapter II — Cracks & Collapse
Chapter II is the breaking point.
This is where everything the masks were holding together starts to fail. The poems dive into trauma, addiction, loss of faith, grief, rage, depression, and the feeling of being abandoned — by people, by systems, by belief itself.
It’s raw, confrontational, and uncomfortable — because collapse rarely happens quietly. This chapter doesn’t offer easy answers. It sits in the wreckage honestly.
⸻
Chapter III — Still Fire
Chapter III is about what survives.
Not dramatic healing. Not a perfect ending.
Just the quiet decision to keep going.
These poems focus on softness, love, connection, self-acceptance, and the small moments that make life feel possible again. Still Fire isn’t about burning brighter — it’s about a steady flame that guides you forward after everything else has burned down.
Cover
I’m after a clean, minimalist look. Rather than elaborate graphics, I want the focus on a high-resolution modelling photo of me - I’m in an electric wheelchair and have modelling photos so I want to use one of them to get people intrigued.
Interior - I have 40 poems and every poem I’ve bought an illustration for so I’ve paid around $3000.00 on illustration. I want it to flow with the illustrations. It’ll be an extremely cinematic poetry book.
Deliverables
• need a finished PDF so I can go get it printed (I’ll be printing first I already have 2 book stores who want the book already after reading poems plus look at all the incredible illustrations.
Acceptance criteria
The files must pass KPD
- please don’t bid if you’ve never formatted/designed the inside of a whole book.
- preferably looking for someone who has experience and has formatted/designed a poetry book already.
- don’t bid if you just want to do the book cover.
- if you can only do the interior that’s fine I’ll get the book cover afterwards.
If this sounds like your kind of project, please share a short note on why you think you’d be a good fit. - added the modelling photo that I want on the front cover also a few illustrations to give you an idea of the type of illustrations you’d be working with.
Related categories:
Graphic Design
Adobe InDesign
Illustration
Interior Design
Book Design
Print Design