GIG PowHer Press caters to readers who prefer physical books by adding handbound books to their catalog.
Atlanta, GA (Shawneda.com) July 23, 2020
Fifteen years after choosing print-on-demand to publish her first novel, Love Is…, author and owner of GIG PowHer Press, Shawneda began producing handbound books for readers. With years of experience with both CreateSpace, Kindle Direct Publishing, Ingram Spark, and 48HourBooks. Shawneda felt the connection to paperback readers wasn’t receiving the attention deserved.
As a lifelong crafter and DIY publishing advocate, Shawneda began studying handbound books while earning her Masters of Arts in English, Technical Communication. Many of her professors referenced the technological advances in how content and technical support for digital and analog projects as parallel to the technological advances in book production. Intrigued by the knowledge of bookbinding, book artistry, and the opportunity to focus on improving her print book reader’s experience, she began studying the history, technique, and technology required to produce print books for readers.
Once her graduate studies were complete, Shawneda immersed herself in books, videos, blogs, and online resources about bookbinding to discover if she had the manual dexterity to go with her technical know-how for handmade book production. Almost one year after she’d earned her Masters in English, Technical Communication she produced a quality double fan adhesive bound softcover copy of her newest release, Making Moves in Metropolis.
You can see snippets of her bookbinding journey when you visit Shawneda’s Instagram. Falling in love with bookbinding, Shawneda will also be making one-of-a-kind handsewn journals, custom handmade planners, decorative soft and hardback editions of her novels, and decorative soft and hardback literary classics by African Americans (recently released into the public domain).
While eBook copies of her devotionals are free for readers, handbound copies will not be complimentary due to the time and resources needed for production.