Paper Cuts Self-Publishing Co-op

Independent poets face high printing costs and carry the burden of being their own editorial, design and marketing team. The Paper Cuts Self-Publishing co-op lowers your cost, improves the quality of your book and — while you keep the copyrights to your work and the money made from sales. 

We're not like other self-publishing vanity presses that want to make a buck off of struggling writers. We're nonprofit so poets like you don't have to be. 

If you have a poetry manuscript that's between 16 and 36 pages that you've been considering self-publishing as a chapbook, consider. For a lower price per unit than you would pay at a commercial printer, you'll not only get a print run of 25-100 books. Your co-op membership also gives you:

• below-market print rates on future print runs of the same book 

• peer review for revision & proofreading 

• made-for-you layout and cover template choices

• marketing plan development and pre-sale support

• distribution support for ebook and print-on-demand across major retailers 

• done-for-you release party with a dedicated vendor table and feature spot at the mid(we)st lit fest

Regional prices average anywhere between $4-8 for a card stock covered 24-48-page chapbook for a minimum run of 100 or more, Paper Knives gives poets the ability to print editions of as few as 25 chapbooks for as little as $2.00 each. This allows self-publishing poets to earn substantially more more on each chapbook they sell. It also ties them into the Poetry Movement's developing network of open mics, reading series, bookstores, libraries and other literary venues and organizations throughout the region as they plan their book tour and distribution.

To access the Paper Cuts Self-Publishing Co-op, poets need to first complete a FREE 8-week Chapbook Development Seminar. This ensures every poet's manuscript receives a peer review and proof-reading edit, professional layout, industry-standard cover design, digital and print-on-demand distribution, and a clear process for selling their book to maximize its audience. 

"What's the catch?" you ask. "Nothing's free." 

Our discount printing packages are available exclusively poets who have complete the course and are actively subscribed to our email magazine. We want you to join the Poetry Movement. Also, the below-market final unit price mentioned above does reflect a very slight markup that funds Paper Knives publications, marketing, and support authors.

Ready to apply? 

The Self-Publishing Co-op applications will open in June of 2027. A cohort of between 4 and 6 poets will edit, design and publish their chapbook in time for a release party at our mid(we)st lit fest in Racine, WI, the literary hub of the Chi-waukee region. Subscribe to Paper Knives and you'll be the first to know when applications open!