By Andrea K. Hammer
With the hand-crafted debut novel from Artsphoria Publishing proceeding through production, here are some of this book’s notable features and some hints:
- Freedom during pandemic travel advisories and lockdowns: Chapter settings in this work of reality-inspired fiction took shape after exploring images and information about destinations around the world. A real-life conversation with a loved one about missed travel opportunities inspired the idea for this book several years ago.
- News headlines shaping stories in chapters: As the pandemic filled this year’s news reports, this debut novel became a way to process and cope with massive loss. The impact of this crisis on artists and creative entrepreneur’s is also explored.
- Chapters as short stories building the unified novel: The massive task of writing a book became more manageable when approached in smaller pieces. Tackling each chapter as a short story offers readers the same approach as time permits.
- Memory book and tribute to woman inspiring main character: Although this debut novel is a work of fiction, some of the story kernels were drawn from personal experiences before imagining extended or altered possibilities. The work remains a tribute to an extraordinary woman who instilled my love of writing and the arts, with her enduring wisdom informing the pages.
- Original illustration as cover art: This project offered the opportunity to revisit an interest in sketching as a creative outlet and way to present personal cover art. While reworking a previous drawing in Artsphoria’s portfolio to express the current issues and themes in this book, the process of conceiving and integrating the title was a fascinating design project.
- Discovery of affordable book-binding techniques: As someone with a lifelong passion for books and decades working in the publishing industry, studying how they are physically created and assembled as well as developing an affordable technique was an intriguing process. Experiments devising these production options–including sewing pages and covers–incorporated another passion into this creative work.
- Complete essays and supplemental pieces contributing to novel development in deluxe edition: In the deluxe edition of this debut novel, multiple essays and other special items reveal the backstory behind the development of this work of reality-inspired fiction. Some of the bonus material includes original material from the woman inspiring the main character: a curated movie list with more than 500 entries as well as her handwritten recipes and “pearls of wisdom.”
Are you interested in exploring travel opportunities safely from your sofa or as you head back into the world? Stay tuned for additional hints and exciting news about this debut novel from Artsphoria Publishing.
Join Artsphoria Publishing as we bring arts- and business-themed books in multiple formats to life: ifundwomen.com/projects/artsphoria-inclusive-collaborative-publishing