A Demopolis resident will have a book of original poems published within the year.

The rights to “It’s Crystal Clear Now,” a book of poetry by Demopolis’s Troy Martin, have been acquired by Maryland-based publishing group PublishAmerica. Martin said in an interview Monday that the contract between himself and the publisher will have the book released within a year’s time. A press release from PublishAmerica states that the book “will be available through all local bookstores as a trade paperback.”

“‘It’s Crystal-Clear Now’ is a well-written and crafted work of contemporary poetry that fits our specialty like a glove,” PublishAmerica Executive Director Miranda Prather said in the release. “PublishAmerica primarily publishes works by, for, or about people who face a challenge in life, and who overcome it by turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones. We believe that Mr. Martin is a promising talent in this field.”

Martin said that he began writing poetry approximately a year and half ago in order to grapple with a number of

“personal trials” he had been struggling with.

“I guess after enough of these trials,” he said, “I realized the best way for me to get them out was to write. It became clear to me that I needed to write to decipher them and let them go.”

Martin says that that while writing has always been something that’s interested him, it wasn’t until recently that he’s had the time and the drive to follow through on that interest.

“It’s always been in the back of my head,” he says,” to come out and say something to people. The cards I’ve been dealt in my life didn’t allow me the chance to write until last year. But it’s coming out now!”

Martin was able to have first poem, “A New Beginning,” published by the American Poets’ Society, with others published later by JMW Publishing Company and The International Library of Poetry. Once he had built up his collection of poems to book-length, Martin was able to find PublishAmerica through its website.

According to the release, PublishAmerica is “a traditional publishing company [that] pays advances and royalties while offering a distinct alternative to authors who would most likely be overlooked by larger, more commercial publishers simply due to their lack of experience.”

Martin says that any money made from his publishing adventure is–honestly–beside the point.

“I’m just willing to do anything to reach people and let them hear what I have to say,” he says. “The money is good, but it’s not what’s important.”

What I important, he says, is trying to help other people learn from his experiences via the medium of his poetry.

“My main ambition,” he says, “is to reach people’s hearts and make a difference in their lives, by them learning from my trials in life. If this book makes a difference in only one person’s life, it would make my time in writing worth the while. Some of poetry has been written to glorify God.

“After all, God is what life is all about anyway,” he adds.