: Re: How Many Poems Does a Chapbook Typically Contain? I'm sure it varies a bit (both in length and in number) but, on average, how many poems does a chapbook contain?

@Kevin153

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Most presses that publish chapbooks give a range of pages they require. The smallest size for a chapbook I have ever seen was ten pages. That particular press called for a maximum of fifteen pages which is unusual; some refer to a chapbook that short as a “mini chapbook,” and some small presses specialize in them. They are likely to be more like pamphlets than books at that size range.

The average size is from 20-32 pages, but I have seen a press call for submissions of chapbooks asking for them to be from 30-42 pages. If you are self-publishing, 42 pp is also considered full-sized book length by some presses. General guidelines that are not press-specific are only useful if you are self-publishing, but what I’ve given here are the perimeters I’ve seen in the industry. As to how many poems to fit on the page, the standard practice is one poem per page, allowing an exception for two or more haikus or very short poems per page. However, if a single poem runs even one line over a page, no poems are usually placed on that page which contains the extra line. In other words, each poem must begin on a new page.

Chapbooks can also contain prose or mixed genres. The entire chapbook can be one essay or creative nonfiction piece, one piece of fiction, or multiple pieces of any of these. In this case, it is still common practice to begin each piece of whatever genre on a new page, regardless to however much empty space is left from the preceding piece.

Length of chapbooks is measured in pages, not pieces, be they poems, flash, or anything else. They can contain the work of one or multiple authors. They may include visual artwork, or not.

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