I took a break in September, returned in early October to post Teagan Geneviene’s feature, then decided I wasn’t ready to resume posting.
Why?
There is so much news; keeping up with it feels like a full time job.
I may limit myself to two posts a week during the impeachment.
Now to the point of this post:
A Skeleton in the Attic

I realized my goal of publishing a book of poems was unreasonable for a man with no experience in online publishing, so I took a break.
I started the break by evaluating different programs for self-publishing and discovered Ourboox.
Ourboox is a free platform and seems ideal for writers who are new to online publishing.
I researched the company and the founder, Mel Rosenberg, is exactly who he
says he is:
Mel Rosenberg is a microbiologist best known for his research into treatment of bad breath; he went to a children’s book fair in Bologna and came home with the idea of a free web based platform for publishing children’s books.
The template is limited but flexible.
If you’ve used WordPress Classic, Ourboox is easy.
The e-books I saw on the Ourboox site reminded me of chapbooks.
What is a Chapbook?
A chapbook is “a small book or pamphlet containing poems, ballads, stories, or religious tracts” (dictionary) The term is still used today to refer to short, inexpensive booklets. MIT

Chapbooks were the zines of early modern Europe and played an important role in the history of publishing and literacy. In the 17th and 18th Centuries, chapbooks were the most popular way to disseminate poetry and children’s books: they were easy to make and cheap. Wikipedia
Chapbooks are still a popular way for poets to publish, especially street poets, who distribute their chapbooks for donations.
The last page of the Ourboox template invites the reader to donate to your PayPal account.
I loved with the idea of using Ourboox to publish an online chapbook; it felt like a perfect way to begin publishing.
A Skeleton in the Attic is a short story about a little boy who finds a skeleton in his attic and makes friends with it.
I wrote the story in the 1980’s and revised it many times over the years.
I used VR to make the illustrations.
I suppose if I want to, I can release a Skeleton in the Attic on Amazon, but for
now, this ‘chapbook’ format on Ourboox is ideal.
If you read the book and like it, please leave a thumbs up on the upper right of the screen.
As I understand it, ‘likes’ will move the book into the featured books section.
Click the image to read the book
Images and text (c) Rob Goldstein 2019
Hi Rob – fascinating to read … love the Skeleton: he’s precious! Fun idea and thanks so much for letting us have the info re OurBoox .. I’ll be looking at it – good luck with more short stories – cheers Hilary
PS I came via Debby: https://dgkayewriter.com/introducing-my-first-chapbook-a-skeleton-in-the-attic-art-by-rob-goldstein/
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Thanks. I appreciate your comment.
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Congratulations, Rob! You have much to celebrate. 🙂 Your book was a joy to read. Amazing illustrations, as well. Bravo!
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I’m so pleased that you like it. Thank you for your comment. I’m also glad you like the illustrations. 🙂
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How exciting! I have clicked!
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Thank you, Joey. 🙂
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Congratulations for your first publication Rob. You must publish this as a kindle book. People have books with just few pages at Amazon. Just one short story and they publish it as a book.
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I’m getting there Balroop. I want to finish one more project in this format. I my reasons. But Amazon is part of the goal. Thank you for your encouragement. I truly appreciate it. 🙂
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I did enjoy your story, Rob. I popped over here from Debby’s blog. I would have had to create an account to ‘like’ your book so, sadly, didn’t. I wish you success with it. Norah.
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Thank you, Norah. I’m looking for standalone software so I can upload flip-books to my own blog. I don’t know why we have to open an account for every blog we read to ‘like’ something, but we do. I appreciate that you stopped by to let me know you like the story. You made my day. 🙂
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You are welcome, Rob. I’m sure you’ll find some software to suit. Best wishes, 🙂
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How cool is this, Rob? Congratulations. I’ve just recently learned about poetry chapbooks, myself. I’ll definitely checkout Ourboox for a look-see. I’m off to read your chapbook. ❤
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Thank you, Colleen. 🙂
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Rob, some how I missed this, even though I try and keep an eye out for your posts. I apologize for being late, because I know this was important to you.
I wasn’t familiar with the term chapbook, so your introduction here was interesting. And just look at all these comments! 😀 Wow!
I signed up at the site.
Your story is a gem, a lovely little treasure. The illustrations are perfect for it. Well done, my friend. Hugs on the wing!
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Teagan, thank you. Never apologize for missing a post. It is impossible to keep up with everyone, and properly reading a story takes time and attention, which is why I’m saving your blog for an overnight visit. I’m just happy you read the story and like it. Hugs through the bathroom window. 🙂
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Rob, you are doubly blessed – your a beautiful writer and artist. Your talent for art allowing you to compliment your words is a rare gift. I would love to see you follow through with selling it on Amazon and share your work to a bigger audience. It’s free to download your book on Amazon. I can just visualize a lovely and colorful paperback! You’ve already done the heavy lifting with writing and artwork all you need is to get it up on Amazon and learn the ropes there. And I admit, I suck at formatting, but I hear KDP looks after it as long as you have a Word doc to enter. I haven’t published a new book since they took over for Createspace. A most beautiful story and illustration. I’m glad that Peter was a comfort to the skeleton who didn’t want to die for nothing and skeleton freed Peter. I will be happy to reblog this for you on the next coming weekend ❤ Also, another reason I say to get more exposure because that site won’t let you ‘like’ unless you sign up. I’m sorry, I just can’t take anymore emails, I don’t sign up to a site just to comment or like. I’m concerned some others will feel the same, so I hope you’ll consider going wider. ❤ I for one, love your work. 🙂 ❤
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Thank you, so much Debby. You have made my day every day for the rest of this week. I’m so sorry it’s taken me two days to reply. It’s always a shock when I load my blog to see I’ve been gone for two days. But that’s my life. Regarding your comments: The books I publish on Ourboox will eventually wind up on Amazon. I want to master the form and Ourboox is a great way to practice. Just so you’ll know. The only email I got from Ourboox was a confirmation email. It really is an unobtrusive service. But I understand completely. I really hate having to join a service to comment on a post. Thank you, again Debby. This is such an encouraging comment. 🙂
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Straight from the heart Rob ❤ And yes, I imagine you do get a notification from them, but these sites capture our emails for their own personal use, has nothing to do with you 🙂 Set to reblog on Saturday 🙂 Never apologize for blog absence, we all have lives, and we all get there eventually 🙂
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Got it, Debby. No problem, and thanks for the reblog. I appreciate it. Even though the book is in an out of the way place, it’s kind of exciting to produce one. And I feel like I conquered one of my demons. 🙂
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You absolutely have! It’s truly wonderful Rob and you certainly should be patting yourself on the back 🙂
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Thanks. You’ve really made my day, Debby. And inspired me to make another one. I’m also going to learn how to use Amazon’s software. 🙂
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That’s fab Rob. You can create a collection of your wonderful stories and artwork and make a beautiful book! Sharing tomorrow 🙂
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Thank you, Debbie. I’m looking forward to it. 🙂
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My pleasure Rob. 🙂 https://dgkayewriter.com/introducing-my-first-chapbook-a-skeleton-in-the-attic-art-by-rob-goldstein/
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Many congratulations! Exciting times ahead.
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Thank you, Kally. It’s always good to bust a block. 🙂
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This is a wonderful story, Rob. I love the format and the illustrations are amazing.
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Thank you, Dan. I am working with support on a couple of bugs. I am excited by the idea of publishing this way, at least for now. The fact that the site is free, with no hidden costs, is amazing. The one downside is folks have to make an account to like or leave comments. So, nothing is perfect. I’m glad you like the story and the illustrations, Dan. I may post a larger size of some of the better illustrations to the blog.
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I am beginning to research/experiment with different publishing models. I had never heard of this.
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I’ve spent a week trying to find decent standalone flipbook software. The only one I’ve found is very expensive. Most online flipbook services charge steep fees. There is a WordPress plug in but if you install it, you lose your follow and reblog buttons. So I was lucky to find Ourboox. It’s completely free. The best part of this format is you can add anything to the page, including video. I saw that you had left a comment on the book, thank you, Dan. It looks like I’ve been gone for two days. I’m in catch up mode, now.
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That was a short but unique romp. It left me with a good feeling. Thank you for sharing!
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This is such a wonderful comment. Thank you. If it left you with a good feeling, I did my job. 🙂
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What a wonderful accomplishment, Robert. I tried to like the book but it wouldn’t let me. Sorry about that. Your images are wonderful, and I love how “love” gave the skeleton the meaning he needed. Congratulations, my friend. 🙂
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Thank you Diana. I’m so pleased you like it. I worried that the language was too simple, but it’s supposed to have the tone of a children’s book. I’m working on another one now. I genuinely like the flip book format. I think I’ll look for standalone software so I can upload the books to my blog.
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The format was great, and perfect for viewing with a child. I liked it quite a bit. 🙂
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Diana, that’s exactly what I wanted to achieve: a short fable that an adult can view with a child. Thank you for following up.
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Congratulations Rob on your new Chapbook. It is a great feeling to self publish. I have been self-publishing using Microsoft word, collecting my poems as I write them and saving them into one document. Then, I create a cover and an table of context. Office Max prints them up for me. They will do them in half size and then staple them together as well. All for five dollars or less for twenty five or more!
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You’re doing physical chapbooks. That’s great! Street poets in San Francisco leave their chapbooks on the buses or taped to the buildings. I love finding random poems.
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I just print enough for family and friends. The rest don’t really matter! :>) I have done some larger 100 page books as well. Office Max will print them half size, punch them and put plastic covers with spiral binding. These run from $9 to $12 each.
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It’s a great idea.
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I put my Haikai chap book on Amazon Kindle. https://www.amazon.com/Haikai-Poetry-Inspiration-Dwight-Roth-ebook/dp/B07V53W1ZS/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Haikai+book+-+Dwight+L.+Roth&qid=1572054295&sr=8-3
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I like the layout. The cover is beautiful.
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Thank you!
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It is a wonderful sweet hear-touching, wise story dear Rob, thank you 🙏😊👍
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Thank you for reading it and for leaving such a wonderful comment. 🙂
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Congratulations Rob! Really amazing! Thank you for sharing, and have a wonderful weekend! Best wishes, Michael
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Thank you Michael! I appreciate your generous comment.
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Btw, I struck the same problem as Mary above and couldn’t log in to officially ‘like’ your story. 🤗
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I know–It looks like people need to create and account to leave likes and comments which is kind of a bummer. Thank you for trying. 🙂
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Love the illustrations and the simple and easy storyline. Although it can be classified as ‘easy’ to read, the underlying message of giving and receiving love is there for the reader. Thank you for the interesting explanation on Chapbooks. All the best for the book Rob.
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Thank you for reading the story and leaving a critique. I’m glad you saw the theme. I wanted the story short, simple and easy to read.
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Love the story, Rob. I tried to click on the Like button on the Ourboox site but it said I’d to be signed in and when I tried to do that it said my email was invalid so then I tried to creat an account – and in the end came back here to leave my comment. The illustrations are amazing.
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I’m sorry you had trouble — I will let the Ourboox team know about it. Thank you for coming back, Mary and leaving a comment.
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Reblogged this on Survivors Blog Here.
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What a darling story, Rob. Congratulations.
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Thanks John. I’m pleased with it. 🙂
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Congratulations on the new release, Robert. That’s exciting. Thank you for the hint with Ourboox. I am having three book projects in mind and thinking of another quote book, lately. I pondered which platform to use. I will definitely look at Ourboox. Thanks again.
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Hi Erika. Ourboox is an interesting platform and \a worthy way to enter the world of self publishing. Thank you for your support and encouragement over the years. You’re a gem. 🙂
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I am happy you feel encouraged, Robert, because you should. You are a wonderful artist👍
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Thank you, Erika. <insert blushing emoji here)
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😊
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Nice book Robert 🙂
Maybe you should write to click at your book to go to read it too.
Congratulations.
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Done and thank you. 🙂
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Your first release, how exciting!! Congrats, Rob. Wishing you much success!
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Thank you, Jacquie. I’m pleased with the result. 🙂
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Wow, Rob! How exciting! Thank you for sharing this information and I wish you awesome success with your Chapbook!!
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Thanks Jan. For me, at this point, success is overcoming resistance and getting it done.
Thank you for your support and encouragement.
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Congratulations, Rob! How exciting!
I hadn’t heard of chapbooks, thanks for the interesting information.
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It’s good to see you again, Danica. Thanks for the comment. I hope you’re well.
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So glad you printed, people will want to read and see. 🙂
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Thank you, Melinda. I think you’ll understand this as another survivor: it was a bit of a psychological ordeal to get this done because my stories come from ‘selves’ rather than characters. Peter, the child self who wrote this story, was reluctant to let it go, so I consider getting this done a huge success on so many different levels. Thank you for being so supportive.
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You are the strongest person I know, you are also very smart. That has helped you throughout life. I’m always here for you.
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Thank you, Melinda. The problem with chronic illnesses is they affect ones sense of self. With DID the ‘self’ is the part that’s broken so everything becomes a question of identity. Why do I write, how is my work different, what are my goals as an artist; these were the questions I needed to answer before I could publish an eBook . Different aspects of my personality write for different reasons.
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Those are hard questions and hard one to answer for different reasons. Don’t push yourself if the answers don’t come easy. Your work is appreciated by thousands everyday and when the time is right you’ll publish.
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Last night I watched a movie called ‘Permanence’. It’s about a tortured writer writing a tortured novel under the prodding of a lethal muse. It was weird to watch my process play out like a film by David Lynch–and kinda funny too.
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I bet
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At times, life is so absurd. 🙂
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Wow, I never heard of a chap book before, but can so easily picture one.
Your illustrations, as always, are amazing.
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Thanks Mae. I think I wrote the story through the animations. Thanks for the comment.
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Oh this is so cool! I’m working on a project now and was trying to think about what kind of format could incorporate longer text as well as illustration. Thanks for this post!
Also I really love the kid’s impulse to give the skeleton a jaunty hat. It tickled my funny bone.
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Thank you for reading the story and leaving a comment. I appreciate it.
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Reblogged this on The Light Behind the Story.
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Thank you.
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What an informative, interesting post! I am familiar with chap books and own two from the 80s. Each is by the same poet and was bound by one of his students who for a while printed and assembled chapbooks which the poet sold and signed at his readings and at our university’s Open Mike Night. I hadn’t thought about them for years.
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Open Mike night is how I began performing my work in the 1980’s. I published several chapbooks in the 80’s and 90’s and being true to their temporal nature, they are dust. Ourboox has its problems, but it’s a nice way to begin publishing books online. Thank you for reading the post and leaving a comment.
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Your posts are always interesting. I just don’t always take the time for comments.
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I completely understand. Truly.
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Ourboox, eh? Interesting. I could take a loot at it, too. While I don’t have anything to publish yet, it’s not a bad idea to look up how a work will be published to smooth the process out.
Thanks for this post!
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Thanks for the comment Jomz. It’s a great way to get your feet wet and it’s a multimedia platform so you can publish just about anything. I like the idea of ebook version of the chapbook.
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