JESSICA THERRIEN

From Imagination To Publication

Thursday, April 27, 2017

2017 LA Times Festival of Books!

What a blast. Every year I love this festival more and more. What's better than a gathering of readers, writers, book lovers, and all things books?!



It was a busy one...and HOT! I actually got heat sickness that first day and didn't think I'd be able to make the second, but I'm SO glad I did. Not only did the temp drop a blissful 10 degrees, but we walked away with 2 potential interns, dozens of submissions, and almost completely sold out of our books!

Usually our main focus at these events is to sell our books. My author friend and I are there to sign and meet readers, but that has sort of changed with the growth of our business, Acorn Publishing. It really was a different experience this time. We spent nearly the entire day (both days) talking to fellow writers who were excited by our company!

Over the years I've met a lot of aspiring authors who've come to me asking advice on how to get published. At Acorn we truly believe every author should shoot for the top. Try and get an agent and a major publishing deal that will land you on the NY Times best-seller list. If you don't try, you'll regret it. But many HAVE tried. Let's face it, it's HARD to get an agent these days. Near impossible if you don't know someone or have an insane amount of luck (not to mention a flawless, page-turning, polished manuscript). Anyway, my point is, it was so nice to be able to offer an option to GOOD writers who are completely discouraged by the process. If felt so good to say, "Sure! Submit your book, maybe we're the exact right place for you."

All in all, I enjoy talking to other writers about their manuscripts, so we really had fun.

If you're interested in how Acorn Publishing is different from the traditional publishing experience, you can find out more HERE.

We'll also be posting an FAQ on our website soon, or you can always email us at AcornPublishingLLC@gmail.com to ask any questions at all.

Write on my friends!!!

Friday, April 7, 2017

WonderCon Recap & New Release

WonderCon was last weekend. I'm still decompressing...it was an AMAZING event. It was my 3rd or 4th year attending as an exhibitor, and this was the best one yet. I don't know if it was our location or our growing catalogue of awesome books, but we almost sold out completely by the end.



All together we sold around 250 books for Acorn, which was a record for us. Granted, most of those books were Children of the Gods and Kingston Court because Holly and I were there to sign them. People really enjoy getting the author to sign their books. The other important thing to mention is that Holly and I both have custom bookmarks that we were passing out to EVERYONE, so even if they were just walking by, they usually came back to get the book. We were on our feet actively bringing people to our booth for the entire event. If you just sit behind the table giving off bored, lazy energy, people are less likely to stop and browse.

Anyway, THANK YOU to all of those who stopped and supported us, to all the aspiring and established authors who inquired about our company, and to the many amazing people who dressed up! So fun! Here are a few of my favorite pics of people who stopped to talk to us.












 Oh, and in unrelated book news...

I'll be releasing a companion coloring book to go with The Loneliest Whale in about a week. Inside you'll find 26 coloring pages of the characters in the story along with many new ones. Each picture corresponds with a letter in the alphabet and has a page for writing practice. Keep an eye out!!

Here are a few sneak peek pics: