Wednesday, April 5, 2017

What-to-Know Wednesday : MY BOOK IS HERE!

Those of you who have been reading along over the past couple of weeks know that I've been nearing the due date of my senior capstone project: a book that I self-produced from start to finish - from the research to the interviews, from the writing to the design. It's been about six months in the making, and I couldn't be more excited (and anxious!) that the due date is finally here! (Today at 3:15, to be exact.)

So without further ado, I'm so proud to reveal my book: Playcheck: Navigating Work & Leisure in the Modern Hobby-Job.






From this sneak peek, I hope you've gathered by now what my book is about: people who pursue their hobbies as a business, job, career, etc. (AKA "hobby-jobbers") and their experiences in navigating through work and leisure in their lives.

Through this experience, I got to speak with the most interesting individuals: from professional video game players to Etsy sellers, from bloggers to home brewers, from musicians to metal sculptors, and even a well-known vegan lifestyle YouTuber. They were all so generous in sharing their stories and experiences, and above all, they were crucial in making this book a ton of fun to make.

It was amazing to come up with an idea I'd perceived as so obscure, and then to go down the several paths it ended up offering: from psychological to anthropological, from history to mental health. In the end, I hope that my readers (hey, Mom and Dad) are able to make this same realization: doing what we love for a living isn't as simple and shiny as it may initially seem. Rather, there's truly so, so much behind it. It was unbelievably rewarding to explore a topic in such depth and work to make it come to life, and as I've said many times before, it's an experience I'll always carry with me.

All of that being said, thank you all for letting me ramble on about senior seminar for the past however many months! In the end, I think it was worth it.

Be sure to stay tuned for the next Sum-It-Up Sunday on the 9th!




Let's Connect!
Instagram: @claire_cavanaugh
Twitter: @CavanaughClaire
E-mail: ccavanaugh2@mail.smcvt.edu

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