Some High School students get inspiration from sports. Other students get inspiration from art or reading books. Chloe Henkel, a junior, was inspired by poetry. Henkel just self-published her first poetry book called Paper Scraps, which is now available online.

     Henkel said the process of writing the book took “a lot of support”. She says her supportive teachers, family, and friends encouraged her to write and pursue her book. Aside from her personal life, Henkel adds that other “beautiful and kind words” written by poets like Bridget Devoue, Madisen Kuhn, and Rupi Kaur had a major impact on her work.

        After Henkel had the pages written out, the publishing process was the next task on her checklist. “I submitted the book to a publisher, but I didn’t hear back, so I decided to self-publish it instead”. Henkel also says that self-publishing is “a lot easier” then people would think. “First, I set up an account on Amazon’s KDP (publishing site) and uploaded my book. After that, all I had to do was fill out book information (such as the price, description, etc.) and submit to publication!” Henkel says. When asked about her book cover, she says “I designed my book cover with the help of my dad”.

     The entire process of the book took a lot of long hours. The poems from Paper Scraps were written over the course of 7 months. Henkel adds that after the poems were exactly the way she wanted, the process of formatting text, editing, deciding whether to self-publish or not, and all the other technical things took a little over 4 months.

     As one knows, having a supportive and encouraging work environment is crucial. “My family has obviously been supportive in helping me when needed and listening to me rant about formatting errors and typos” Henkel says. “I’ve also had a number of incredible teachers who have taken the time to encourage and help me find my confidence with an amazing amount of kindness”. Henkel also adds “my friends were the first people to tell me that my words were something other people would want to hear and the ones who encouraged me to join social media and start sharing them”. Overall, Henkel says that everyone in her life as helped along the way and she “couldn’t be more grateful”.

     After going through a long journey of self-publishing, the moment finally came where her book was finally open to the public. “Holding my published book for the first time felt surreal” she says. “I was so excited because I’ve put so much heart into it, it honestly felt like I was holding a piece of me”.

     Henkel is excited to be able to share her hard work with her friends and family. She adds that she “can’t wait to see everyone’s reaction”. For future plans, Henkel plans to write more books and already has plenty of ideas for “a second book”. Henkel says she is also starting to do book talks and getting more involved with sharing her art and writing on social media. “I just can’t wait to have my life be full time writing!”.