Need book description help please! · Non-Fiction Author Lab

Need book description help please!

My Amazon ads bombed (both targeted and auto ad) and Chat GPT told me that my book description was at fault. So... here is my new one followed by my old (bad?) one. I would so appreciate feedback.

@Julie Broad

@Sarah Bean

. Also I got a recent bad 2 star review because it seems the reader was not notified enough of the edgy content so this version aims to fix that. Thank you!!

BTW, have mostly glowing 5 star reviews but still this one hurt although it was badly written and a little mean.

New: Art & Love: My Life Illuminated in Egg Tempera

"She paints the world she knows—taboo, tender, and utterly alive.”

Art & Love is an intimate memoir of a woman seeking to fulfill her artistic vision in the face of self-doubt and romantic intrigue, while committing herself to the demanding practice of egg tempera painting—a rare art form she considers her artistic soul.

The author’s journey through the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s and beyond traces experiences of communal living that range from the benign to the cult-like. In the 1980s, her work as a nurse during the AIDS epidemic becomes a defining force in the book, inspiring frank visual and narrative depictions of death and dying, intimacy, and bodily experience that will resonate most with unsqueamish readers.

Luminous artwork appears throughout the book, documenting the passage of time and adding a rich visual layer to the narrative. As the author’s growth as an artist unfolds, her pursuit of egg tempera painting becomes a metaphor for the resilience and self-discovery that sustain a creative life.

OLD VERSION

Art & Love: My Life Illuminated in Egg Tempera is the memoir of a woman's quest to master the ancient art of egg tempera painting, gain confidence as an artist and find lasting love.

It’s 1966 and unaware of the brewing counterculture tsunami, Lora arrives in Berkeley, California where she is introduced to egg tempera, a homemade paint that combines colorful pigments with egg yolk. She falls in love with the luminous medium but cannot find a teacher to unravel its mysteries.

Art and love converge when Lora falls for a tender, charismatic artist. But after their eight-month immersion in the great museums of Europe, she follows him into a commune that she later realizes has become a cult.

Set against a backdrop of huge cultural changes—from the counterculture of the 1960s and back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s, to the AIDS epidemic and sex underground of the 1980s—Art & Love is a journey of creative and emotional fulfillment that captivates, educates and entertains the reader.

Arbrador’s stunning artwork enhances the narrative, inspiring those grappling with their own artistic expression and longing for love.

Includes Arbrador’s bonus essay “Which Came First? A Taste of Egg Tempera History.”

Thank you!!!

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