At 17 years old, Amélie Bouthillier has become a published author with the release of her new poetry book, Lost Poems.
In February 2022, Amélie Bouthillier went looking for something to cure her boredom. Google suggested she try to write a poem, and a few months later that one poem had grown to 60 pages of poems spanning all kinds of themes, from friendship to grief to self-love. Now, she’s turned those poems into a published book.
“In my own words, I would describe the book as something someone can go to for comfort when needed. The message that I’m trying to convey is that you are never alone in a situation,” Bouthillier said. “When I started writing these poems, I wasn’t in a good place. I thought I was alone. When people read my book, I hope it helps them feel less alone.”
Bouthillier has been writing since she was young, but she never thought she’d enjoy poetry. She enjoyed English and French classes, and she always kept a personal journal with her, but she said, “I don’t precisely enjoy reading poetry so it’s pretty crazy that I wrote a book in that genre.”
Although she had decided to publish her poems, it was easier said than done. Bouthillier went through many options and challenges for self-publishing, including some problems with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing program that almost made her give up. With a little help though, she managed to push through and reach her goal.
“Thankfully, a teacher at my school, Mr. Patenaude, published a book himself before, and he gave me the information of the place where he went. The company he used, First Choice Books, is only a printing service, but I got my books a few months later,” Bouthillier said. “Furthermore, I think contacting people was much easier than I thought. I am a true introvert so talking to someone is not my biggest strength, but everyone I’ve been in contact with was really nice and made the process a little less difficult.”
Now that her book is published, Bouthillier is planning on focusing on her university studies. Although she wishes she could be a writer full time and says that writing will always be an interest of hers, she also said that she sees herself owning a business in the future, and that she’s unsure of which career path she wants to take. No matter what though, she said she’d “absolutely love to write in a different genre … in the years to come.”
Bouthillier held a launch party for her book at l’École secondaire catholique d’Embrun on March 21, which was also International Teenage Girls and Poetry Day. Copies of the book were available for purchase, as well as sweatshirts and t-shirts on sale to help offset the cost of printing. Bouthillier fulfills orders herself through her online store at https://linktr.ee/authoramelie.b, although she’s trying to get her book into stores.
