Our Logo
Created by the Bulgarian illustrator Melina-Elina Bondakova
Our full name and logo are derived from “AzBukiVedi”, the three first letters of an old Bulgarian alphabet. The letters “ABV” in Bulgaria can be thought of as equivalent to “ABC” in America. Just as children learn their ABCs in America, ABV is the start of the alphabet in Bulgaria.
“AzBukiVedi” means “to start something new.” Adding the twist of a well-substituted letter “r”, the name “AzBukiVeri” plays on a Bulgarian expression that emphasizes the importance of literacy, relates to books, and implies truth (in Latin) while blending language and tradition from both America and Bulgaria—Adelina’s passion and the mission of ABV Publishing.
Our Story
What was a dream became a reality
We started as a family-based publishing agency, mainly focused on new and unpublished authors from Easter Europe and the Eastern United States. As we assisted these authors with book editing and beyond, our network of creative, motivated and talented writers and artists continued to grow, which helped the agency to grow as well.
Our Team
Melina-Elina Bondokova, illustrator
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ABOUT
Melina
After completing her degree in Animation in Sofia, Bulgaria, Melina-Elina has illustrated numerous books and comics in her native Bulgaria and abroad.. Her impressive portfolio also includes variety of short animated movies with a participation in several European film festivals.. She is one of the founders of the Pavilion Creative studio.
Jessica Kendall-Bar, illustrator
ABOUT
Jessica
Jessica is currently a PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at UC Santa Cruz, where she studies the neurobiology of marine mammals. At the interface of science and art, her illustrations include not only accurate details of the story’s characters but also show their deep feelings and expressions. Jessica’s work creatively communicates with diverse readers her message to love, appreciate, and protect the underwater world.
Gabrielle Del Pozzo Finkel, artist
ABOUT
Gabrielle
Gabrielle shares her life-long passion for drawing, coloring, and creating unique designs. A Brooklyn native, Gabrielle has traveled the world as a daughter of a travel agent and has had a career in travel and hospitality which has taken her around the country.
The simple pleasure of drawing has helped Gabrielle become mindful and calm in a chaotic world! As a result, her collection of drawings grew bigger, and we were fortunate to have thousands to choose from for this coloring book.
Gabrielle continues to travel the world and draw and plans to share more exciting original designs. Stay tuned!
Kalin Nikolov, artist
ABOUT
Kalin
For one of our projects, our agency was fortunate to work with Kalin - an established Bulgarian artist, art historian, curator at the Bulgarian National Art Gallery, illustrator with numerous individual exhibits in Bulgaria and Europe. Kalin’s reading of the project and his hyperrealistic style added an additional layer of depth to our collection of artistic expressions.
Angel Dimitrov, graphic designer
ABOUT
Angel
With his training in Computer Media Technologies and his experience working on numerous print and web. projects, Angel is a great addition to our team. He has used licensed models from Daz3D Marketplace to create some of our book characters..
Joshua B. Smith, editor
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ABOUT
Joshua
Joshua holds a Ph.D. in English from the Pennsylvania State University, where he specialized in early modern drama and object-oriented ontology. During his time there, he also began editing on the side, and he has been taking on projects ever since. His love of the language, for finding the right word and the proper rhythm of a sentence, has led him to edit pieces from dissertation chapters to Trauma-Informed Schools (a 2019 book published by Springer) to the rules of a Belgian boardgame. Joshua has been working with AzBukiVeri since early 2019 and can be reached at joshua.sanford.smith@gmail.com.
Adelina Hristova, ABV founder and owner
ABOUT
Adelina
My family of four moved from Bulgaria to this continent 28 years ago, first to Alberta, Canada, where our 5th family member was born, then to Moscow, Idaho, and finally, 16 years ago - to State College, PA. While my partner of 42 years Alex was working as a researcher and a professor in Bulgaria, Canada and in the US, I was raising the family, working as a teacher and volunteer, and taking graduate classes. I have master degrees in TESL and in Teaching and Translating Russian Language and Literature and a PhD in Lifelong Learning and Adult Education with emphasis on online and mobile learning. I defended my doctoral dissertation at PennState on Romani women's informal mobile learning in 2016 and started my online publishing agency in 2017.
Joshua Schwartz, CMO Consultant
ABOUT
Joshua
As a 13-year veteran of the book publishing industry, Josh has worked with every Big-5 trade publisher, dozens of major independent publishers, and thousands of authors within virtually every component of the book publishing supply chain (e.g. editorial, cover design, composition, conversion, printing, distribution, retail, marketing, publicity). In 2017, Josh has founded and continues to lead Pubvendo, a digital marketing agency for book publishers and authors.
In the fall of 2023, he joined our team as the ABV's Publishing Fractional CMO Consultant.
Stephanie Barton-Farcas voice actor
ABOUT
Stephanie
Stephanie Barton-Farcas is an actress, author and teacher. Her audiobook work includes the "Black cat Charlie" series of childrens books, "Make Oz Great Again: Correctly Political tales and her own books, :Acting & Auditioning for the 21st Century: Tips, Trends and Techniques for Digital and New Media: and "Disability & Theater: A Practical Manual for Inclusion in the Arts" as well as many others, both fiction and non-fiction. She is delighted to continue this narration journey with the Great-Grandma Mittie's Letters book series.
Chris Snee, voice actor
ABOUT
Chris
Chris has been behind a microphone in some capacity since 2000, starting in radio and later working his way into audiobooks and the world of commercial and corporate voiceover. He has narrated dozens of books ranging from memoirs to non-fiction to young adult and children's literature. When he's not recording, he's reading to his sons, taking in a sporting event, or enjoying all that the outdoors have to offer in the Pacific Northwest. You can see what Chris has been up to lately at: http://chrissnee.net
Naomi Rose-Mock
voice actor
ABOUT
Naomi
Naomi Rose-Mock is delighted to have had the opportunity to work on this fabulous project. Rose-Mock has narrated over 45 audiobooks in the last year. Prior to Covid 19 changing the world’s landscape, she was a veteran theatre director of over 100 shows, and worked as an Acting and Dialect coach with her studio of talented students.
Audiobook narration has become a new passion, combining her loves of reading and performing; and she is grateful to have found a new career.