Kai's Book "Periscope Heart" & New York

Update:  SEND KAI TO NEW YORK!!! got invited to The Pink Door!!!!!!! Oh my god!!!  Only 100 female poets across the country were invited.

The Pink Door Women's Writing Retreat in Rochester, NY July 24-28 hosts female poets from all over the country in the home of the incomparable Poet Rachel McKibbens. The Pink Door offers three writing workshops and six discussions curated by some of the fiercest writers/speakers in the country.

The money raised with will be split between publication costs and getting me to New York to attend The Pink Door Women's Writing Retreat in July.

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I think that my poems can raise the vibration of peoples’ hearts, and they should be out in the world.

My name is Kai Coggin and I am a full-time poet. I don’t really like to ask for help, but sometimes it is just necessary. If you know me, you know that I love to write, and I have been working on my manuscript for almost a year now. I have been writing intensively, editing, creating new work, editing again; every day has been immersed in this. Well, great news! It is FINISHED.

I'M ASKING YOU IF YOU BELIEVE IN MY WORDS.  IF YOU DO, LET'S GET THIS BOOK PUBLISHED TOGETHER!

My manuscript is called Periscope Heart. I am visualizing it PUBLISHED. I am seeing the book of poems in my hands and in hearts of hundreds of readers.

There is a long list of publishers that are calling for manuscripts right now and contests that are looking to grant publication to first time authors.  I cannot afford all of the reading fees that they ask for. When I send in my manuscript to a publisher, a lot of times they will charge a $15 to $25 reading fee each. I have over 30 possible places that I can send my manuscript; that’s $750. I need help covering these reading fees.

I am holding out hope that Periscope Heart will get picked up by one of these publishers.  If not, I will publish Periscope Heart myself.

After a lot of research, I found that it can cost upwards of $10K-$15K to self-publish a book. I am going to go about this with minimal spending and maximum spreading. Here is the breakdown of what I would need to publish Periscope Heart.

“You can keep the cost to self-publish down. Here is a breakdown that is reasonable for many authors:

<<< Smart spender – About $4,000 >>>

Developmental edit – $1,000
Copy editing – $500
Cover design – $300
Book formatting and layout – $300
Printing – free (Print on demand only.)
ISBN – $100
Author photo – $100
Total marketing spend – $1,000
Book Launch Event - $300
Website – $100 (Buy custom WordPress theme.)”



I am going into this without any experience in publishing, but I am determined.


I write with the voice of a woman under the gravity of a world that is struggling to evolve.

I write from with the heart of a woman who sees through mundane and can pull out Beauty.

I always end my poems with LIGHT.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support. If you cannot donate, can you please share this for me?