In 2021, I edited and published an on-demand-printed book of my grandmother’s poems and paintings titled, “The Beauty That’s Surrounding Me.” It’s sold dozens of copies via a bespoke Shopify store.
My role: Content design lead, publisher, visual designer, UX designer, e-commerce guru.
The situation
My late grandmother was a poet and painter throughout her life, leaving behind a rich archive of writings and works.
The complication
Most of these writings were gathered in a single three-ring binder at my parents’ home. No one else that knew and loved her could easily see her wonderful creative output.
The question
How can I get a bound volume of these works on my own shelf, and how can I get it in the hands of friends and relatives?
The answer
By self-publishing it on Lulu.com and selling it through a connected Shopify online store.
The process
This was a labor of love. I started work on the anthology during the pandemic, when she was still with us. She passed before I could put a bound copy of her life’s creative work in her hands.
The first step was to collect and transcribe all of the poems, and to rely on family members to capture images of the paintings. I wrote a foreword and a brief family history to set the context of the works.
Once gathered, I formatted them carefully into a paperback template for upload to the print-on-demand service.
While working at Shopify, I set up a store that detailed grandma’s story and offered the book for sale. I connected it to the print-on-demand provider. Soon, relatives and friends were ordering the book and welcoming it into their homes.
The results
It’s all available for view at krullbook.com.
Grandma would’ve been proud.
