The birds and beasts are taking over my book!
I've always been a fan of fantasy literature, at least as long as I can remember. As I grew up, I found more and more to like about the genre and the incredible ways so many people can be inspired artistically. That has a lot to do with why I want to start a publishing house, so that I can make all the books that I wish someone was making, since, obviously, if I want it to happen, I'm going to have to do it myself.
Ever since I learned that they existed, I think in the second grade, bestiaries have fascinated me. My first encounter was actually a reprint of a Greek description of a unicorn that also had descriptions from a Italian and English scholars that was on a poster that my second grade teacher posted on a bulletin board. I have a few reprints and some books that attempt to sort of be encyclopedic in reference to imaginary creatures that have pictures and everything from scholarly descriptions to excerpts from modern works. They're often lovely and entirely fascinating, but I look at them sometimes and wish that they were better.
I would love to create a series of books that reprint classical bestiaries, complete with illustrations, then take it a step forward and make some beautiful hardbound editions of a modern bestiary that gives gorgeous illustrations, historical depictions, and scholarly descriptions as well as modern references. I know that I can't be the only person who would be interested is something like that.
I'd also like to see some art volumes produced that focused more on specific types of creatures, like a lavishly illustrated compendium of sea monsters and sea serpents.
Another avenue I want to persue is bringing back fantasy art collections by producing themed books, say one that focuses on mermen, one for mermaids, one for dragons, one with unicorns, you get the idea, and collect some of the most amazing and beautiful artwork available to be reprinted in collections that people could be proud to own and display. There are some very pretty books out there, several of them are volumes that I've been proud to add to my collection, but what I want to produce are the kinds of books that are going to make fantasy fans and art aficionados alike drool all over themselves in anticipation of the next volume. Some of them would have to be annual collections because there is so much great artwork being produced.
Naturally, it goes without saying that the head of the publishing house naturally gets the first copy of the first edition gratis...and I certainly don't see that as a bad thing!
Ever since I learned that they existed, I think in the second grade, bestiaries have fascinated me. My first encounter was actually a reprint of a Greek description of a unicorn that also had descriptions from a Italian and English scholars that was on a poster that my second grade teacher posted on a bulletin board. I have a few reprints and some books that attempt to sort of be encyclopedic in reference to imaginary creatures that have pictures and everything from scholarly descriptions to excerpts from modern works. They're often lovely and entirely fascinating, but I look at them sometimes and wish that they were better.
I would love to create a series of books that reprint classical bestiaries, complete with illustrations, then take it a step forward and make some beautiful hardbound editions of a modern bestiary that gives gorgeous illustrations, historical depictions, and scholarly descriptions as well as modern references. I know that I can't be the only person who would be interested is something like that.
I'd also like to see some art volumes produced that focused more on specific types of creatures, like a lavishly illustrated compendium of sea monsters and sea serpents.
Another avenue I want to persue is bringing back fantasy art collections by producing themed books, say one that focuses on mermen, one for mermaids, one for dragons, one with unicorns, you get the idea, and collect some of the most amazing and beautiful artwork available to be reprinted in collections that people could be proud to own and display. There are some very pretty books out there, several of them are volumes that I've been proud to add to my collection, but what I want to produce are the kinds of books that are going to make fantasy fans and art aficionados alike drool all over themselves in anticipation of the next volume. Some of them would have to be annual collections because there is so much great artwork being produced.
Naturally, it goes without saying that the head of the publishing house naturally gets the first copy of the first edition gratis...and I certainly don't see that as a bad thing!