How I Wrote & Published a 4,000-verse epic poem

How I Wrote & Published a 4,000-verse epic poem | World Poetry Day 2021

Рет қаралды 6,754

3 жыл бұрын

It's World Poetry Day ... so here's how I wrote a 4,000-verse epic poem and got it published. First in paperback, and now in glorious hardback.
If interested ...
Order your hardback copy of 'Haestingas' here: mxpublishing.com/products/hae...
Get your copy of 'Haestingas' on Paperback or eBook via Amazon today: www.amazon.com/H%C3%A6stingas...
________________________________________________
Visit my author website: www.jamesmoffettwrites.com
Follow me on INSTAGRAM:
/ jimbrewingbooks
and on WORDPRESS:
atolkienistperspective.wordpr...
________________________________________________
MUSIC for video
Nowhere Known by Your Friend, Ghost
/ yourfriendghos. .
Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported - CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/l-nowhere-known
Music promoted by Audio Library • Nowhere Known - Your F...

Пікірлер: 83

@tomsleeckx409 3 жыл бұрын

Wow this book looks stunning. So much respect for writing such a long story all in verse . I'm definitly interested in buying a hardcover copy. Just as I was planning not to buy anymore books for the moment after investing in a complete Tolkien collection overhaul thanks to your videos 😅👍

@brewingbooks 3 жыл бұрын

Oh cheers Tom for your kind words. No pressure here hehe. Between this and Tolkien - even I would suggest you go for Tolkien first ;)

@tomsleeckx409 3 жыл бұрын

@@brewingbooks Well I did. I bought all the deluxe editions that were ever released and bought the new illustrated books as back up/spares. So it's complete but that costed me quite some money, but hell all worth it.

@lougaboux 5 ай бұрын

Tolkien Rules!!!

@Bradford.C.Wallsbury 2 ай бұрын

Dropping by because I'm planning an epic of my own based on the Book of Jeremiah. I will definitely buy this book soon! Brilliant stuff

@melhurrell5837 2 жыл бұрын

Just ordered a copy, looking forward reading it and adding it to my ever growing Tolkien collection. I'm just going through all your videos and and big 👍I'm now hooked on getting the deluxe edition's 😁

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Oh wow thanks Mel for the kind words. And thank you for your support in purchasing my book :) I’m hoping to be able to add more video reviews in the coming weeks.

@WitnessTrueSorcery 2 жыл бұрын

Congratulations for writing and publishing your book! It looks and sounds very interesting, and I love Anglo-Saxon poetry in a historical setting (especially about the events in 1066). I read and admireTolkien a lot, so I see the quality in your work. I'll definitely buy the hardback edition when I get the chance. As someone who wrote and published his first book recently (both hardcover and on paperback), I can understand the hard work and the joy of seeing your final creative work out in the world. Great videos by the way, and spot on approach in creating book reviews and presenting important works of literature. Been following your channel for maybe a year now and I can honestly say that I am very impressed! All the best to you! - Borislav

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Most kind words, thank you! Always glad to meet a fellow Tolkien reader and Anglo-Saxon history buff :) Wish you all the best in your publication too and thanks for your support 😃

@knightonart8886 3 жыл бұрын

I've been worldbuilding for a sci fi story for some time now, and seeing a fellow Tolkien fan publish his own work is very inspiring :)

@nicolasrumpf761 3 жыл бұрын

Absolutely brilliant...definitely going to buy your book!

@brewingbooks 3 жыл бұрын

Oh wow thanks!

@unholymetaphor Жыл бұрын

I am dying to read this fascinating book! I love poetry so this is definitely going on my TBR

@brewingbooks Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!

@gameofsymbols9661 2 жыл бұрын

just found your channel - but this looks incredible - I will be picking this up

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Oh wow you're the best, cheers mate :D

@pepemymail1 2 жыл бұрын

I have to say I've just received a hardcover copy, and I'm greatly satisfied with its feel, I'm very eager to start reading it this very night and I find the idea for this book a very brave topic and a very brave format (to be written in verse I mean). Great job, and best of luck to you.

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Oh wow thank you so much for supporting my work and for your wonderful words. It was a great project to work on and I loved every second of it. I hope you enjoy! 😁

@mr.underhill7072 2 жыл бұрын

Just got my hardcover today, cannot wait to get stuck into this :)

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Oh wow cheers! Thanks so much for your support :D Enjoy!

@ocdtdc 5 ай бұрын

That's so awesome! I'm working on my own epic poem of sorts, so, seeing this is very motivational! The hardbook looks great.

@brewingbooks 5 ай бұрын

Thank you very much! And you should certainly go for it 🙂 best of luck!

@bentomedeiroschediakstg8185 2 жыл бұрын

SENSATIONAL

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Many thanks!

@jmalko9152 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome!

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@fgdj2000 3 жыл бұрын

I just bought the paperback. Although I didn't use the affiliate links, because I'm buying in the German store. You made me really curious. And with something as cool and outrageous as this I wouldn't mind double-dipping. ^^

@brewingbooks 3 жыл бұрын

Oh my, thanks so much for your support :) Hope you enjoy reading it

@scoutdarpy4465 Жыл бұрын

This is really cool! Something I enjoy doing is taking snippets of my favorite epic poems, the surrounding intricacies and delicacies of small sections within the story, and writing in verse my own spin and take on them, typically in iambic pentameter. When it comes to my favorite epic poem, it'd have to be 'The Iliad'. It's a shame epic poetry has lost its place in the modern age. There is such verve and spirit to it!

@brewingbooks Жыл бұрын

Thanks! And what a fantastic suggestion 😃

@nurrizqyuzain9488 2 жыл бұрын

Omg this is soo cool! I want to buy it 😍🙌

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! You most certainly can buy it :)

@jonahnolastnameneeded3130 Жыл бұрын

This is awesome

@brewingbooks Жыл бұрын

Thanks very much!

@lougaboux 5 ай бұрын

I don't know if I'll succeed with writing my own epic style poem, but you have certainly inspired me and I was super impressed with the sample of yours you read. Hope some day to be able to get the book and hope you did well with it.

@brewingbooks 5 ай бұрын

Thanks so much! All I can say is, if you have the passion to write it, go for it! It’s what will keep you going to finish. And look up others who have done something similar. It always inspired me to push a little further to get it done. It might not be my finest work or anything remotely well-known, but the satisfaction of having completed it and having a few readers comment on having enjoyed reading it has been truly rewarding 🙂

@richardglady3009 Ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing of yourself and your creative process. Thanks for reading, aloud, a part of your book-that action sold me. Thanks for the direct link to Amazon, I have vision issues, so I need a Kindle book. Great price! Off to check out Tolkien’s “Beowulf.”

@brewingbooks Ай бұрын

You are so welcome!

@cliffordduhh45 3 жыл бұрын

I’ve been on a Tolkien spree lately, getting back in touch with the stories of my youth and then diving further into his works. Recently I’ve reread Beowulf and some other poetic epochs from history. I just found your channel in exploring the world of Tolkien, but now I’m just as interested in your new book! Ordering a copy as soon as I can. Thanks for your efforts on this channel, it’s all a joy to watch. Is the cover of the hardback you show in this video the same as the final print? It looks great! When does it ship?

@brewingbooks 3 жыл бұрын

Hey sorry for the late reply, and thanks for your query! Hardback cover is the same as the video and is now available for purchase here: mxpublishing.com/products/haestingas-a-retelling-of-the-valiant-fall-of-england-in-verse

@cliffordduhh45 3 жыл бұрын

@@brewingbooks The response is appreciated! I ordered myself a hardback copy a couple of weeks ago. Looking forward to it.

@brewingbooks 3 жыл бұрын

@@cliffordduhh45 Oh wow thanks!

@cliffordduhh45 3 жыл бұрын

@@brewingbooks received and started reading. There’s a big crease in the jacket, but other than that I do love the hardback and am enjoying the early parts of the story.

@brewingbooks 3 жыл бұрын

@@cliffordduhh45 So sorry about the jacket crease! Hopefully that doesn’t tarnish your reading experience. In the meantime, thanks again for your support :)

@johnorr8094 2 жыл бұрын

Have you any plans to publish an edition of this epic poem in Old English?

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

That would be the ultimate dream! But I’m not very skilled in Old English. Perhaps I could find someone much better than myself to translate 🤔

@RealAmericanSicko Жыл бұрын

Impressive. Very nice.

@brewingbooks Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much 😃

@darktech6497 2 жыл бұрын

I really enjoy epic poetry, and Haestingas, with that stunning hardcover, seems right up my alley! Does it ship to India?

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Oh wow thanks! I’m pretty sure it does ship, though best to check in the publisher website to make sure.

@abdulkarim2857 3 жыл бұрын

5:09 it was my birthday 🥳

@Timdalf1 9 ай бұрын

If readers like this subject in a literary rather than non-fiction historical form, then see "The Golden Warrior, the Story of Harold and William" by Hope Muntz published in 1951... a historical novel that gives the full story of Godwin Earl of Wessex and his son Harold the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.

@brewingbooks 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the heads up 🙂

@stephy_c Жыл бұрын

It looks incredible. Just a few questions; Did you have a strict syllable count, or is it all random? Also, do you have a personal connection to history, and is that what also inspired you? Thank you

@brewingbooks Жыл бұрын

Hi thanks! Basically the rhyme scheme was a series of octosyllabic couplets and I tried to adhere to that strict measure, sometimes- admittedly- at the cost of more effective and clear descriptions. I have a great affinity for British History and Hastings’s was always something I found attractive - the story behind it, the events leading up to it, and the major characters at play.

@cesar_rojasbravo 3 жыл бұрын

Professor Tolkien would be proud :’)

@brewingbooks 3 жыл бұрын

Wow! hehe cheers

@cesar_rojasbravo 3 жыл бұрын

@@brewingbooks I promise I’ll buy the hardback edition in some months when I’m back in the US. Cheers! 🍺

@mrincodi Жыл бұрын

Hi, James. Congratulations on that amazing work. I’ll buy your book! Well, I thought I was the only one in the world, because I am writing an epic poem too. It’s written in Spanish, and I have written 8 cantos so far, with approximately 640 verses each one. I’d really like to show you my work. Let me know if you’re interested!

@brewingbooks Жыл бұрын

Absolutely! Sounds fantastic 😃

@Rum-Runner Жыл бұрын

That sounds very interesting. If you don’t mind, would you care to elaborate on the subject of your epic?

@tvesarathavrtraghna3688 4 ай бұрын

You should write in old english or old norse

@paoloquiesa9369 4 ай бұрын

Hello James, highly interested!! One question, is there any textual difference between both versions paperback or hardback?

@brewingbooks 4 ай бұрын

Thank you! There are some minor differences (the hardback contains the most recent revised text), but the changes are minor.

@paoloquiesa9369 4 ай бұрын

@@brewingbooks thanks! I will go for the hardback! Congrats!

@eduardmanecuta5350 Ай бұрын

If you would be to write another one, let's say, about King Arthur, how would you do it now?

@brewingbooks 13 күн бұрын

Mmm very interesting question. Arthurian lit is a mix of prose and poetry, but is follow Tennyson’s style and structure if I’m writing a new Arthurian piece in poetry

@eduardmanecuta5350 13 күн бұрын

@@brewingbooksWhat advice would you give to a person who works also to creat an original epic poem?

@lifewithk_yt Жыл бұрын

I hope you know that, one day, people will dedicate themselves to studying how you added some modifications to your second edition (hardback), vs. the first one. Very Hobbit-like, indeed! Now I gotta go get both 😉 And send them for you to autograph 😁

@brewingbooks Жыл бұрын

Oh cheers! Thanks so much for your kind words 🥹 And I’d be more than happy to sign the book 😃

@lifewithk_yt Жыл бұрын

@@brewingbooks Hey, I just might take you at your word! 😉 And, I just watched a video explaining why "autograph" is not the term to use when it comes to books 😁

@oceanpunch4723 Жыл бұрын

It is very impressive that you could write the story in 4000 lines of rhyming verse. How difficult was it to write in rhyming verse as opposed to a non-rhyming epic poem like Longfellow's Evangeline?

@brewingbooks Жыл бұрын

Hey! Thanks for the interest in this project :) It was quite a challenge ... but fun nonetheless. I guess the main thing I learnt about trying to write rhyming verse is that is does not always work. Sometimes you feel forced to write an odd verse just to make it work as a rhyme - sometimes, going for a non-rhyming scheme just liberates you as a writer. Something for next time I guess :)

@eduardmanecuta5350 Ай бұрын

That's why I think it takes more skill to write good poetry in rhyme compared to free verse. Precicly because of the creativity needed to make sense and use the beauty of the language, despite of being limited by the measure and rhyme. I'm glad you successfully finished the poem. I have 2 versions of your book.

@andrewlevangie2043 2 жыл бұрын

I am looking for a hardcover copy of this poem. I guess I am quite late for the party but if anybody has seen one for sale plwase let me know.

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Hi there! Thanks for your interest in Haestingas 😃 Hardback copies can be found here mxpublishing.com/products/haestingas-a-retelling-of-the-valiant-fall-of-england-in-verse

@andrewlevangie2043 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks. I just ordered one. Google was not helpful in this search.

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

@@andrewlevangie2043 oh wow thanks so much! Would appreciate an honest review of it once you read it. Cheers!

@theconsigliere5769 2 жыл бұрын

I imagine in a few centuries in the future kids in school will be forced study this book No that is not an insult

@brewingbooks 2 жыл бұрын

Haha thanks! 😃 people may start to wonder if the events in the book actually happened or not 😂

@asaphazais1648 Жыл бұрын

This seems like a facsimile of art. Why not write about something more personal or relatable? I missed if you explained your connection to the battle of Hastings. Seems like you are cashing in on nationalism and coffee table literature collectors.

@brewingbooks Жыл бұрын

Wow, this comment feels like a facsimile of an internet troll. Good job 👍

@Rum-Runner Жыл бұрын

When someone goes through the effort of composing an entire epic poem, is that not indicative that maybe they’ve just taken a great deal of interest in the subject matter? Like, does he need to have any more reason than that?