Everything counts, and published is published!
What was your poem published in? And for your book, I'd like to know what area in history you're planning on writing in. Do you have characters already decided for it? How far along in the planning stages are you? Or do you not plan it out and just begin writing once you think you have most of the pertinent data (

Personally, you seem more like a planner to me

)
Welcome! I'll be looking forward to reading more of your posts!
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The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the sower of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.
-Albert Einstein