Meet Jess Michaels of Passionate Pen in Prescott

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jess Michaels.

Jess, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started writing in 1999 and sold my first book to a major publisher in 2004. Since then I’ve written over 70 books under three different names (Jess Michaels, Jenna Petersen, and Jesse Petersen). Most are historical romances set in the Regency period of England. In 2015, I went fully independent.

Since then, I have hit the USA Today Bestseller list ten times. My husband retired from his tech job and managed the business side of the publishing while I handle the creative and promotional side. Some of my bestselling series include the 1797 Club (which just ended), The Notorious Flynns and the upcoming Scandal Sheet series, which starts in January 2019.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I started my career writing for traditional publishing houses, but after a few years, I began to find the experience disappointing and frustrating. I wanted to write more and realized that no one cared more about my career than I did. That leads me to my decision to go down the independent publishing path in 2015.

It was terrifying making that leap, not knowing if I could succeed. But almost immediately I found huge success that I couldn’t have imagined via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (where I get most of my income and sales), as well as other indie avenues. My third indie book hit the USA Today for the first time, which was a huge accomplishment I had all but given up on.

Please tell us about Passionate Pen.
Our company is a publishing company (Passionate Pen, LLC) which is the publishing arm of my writing career. It publishes all my indie books, mostly historical romances under my Jess Michaels name. I am so proud of my books. I love writing stories that inspire hope in people during dark times. I’ve had people reach out to say they read my books during chemo or after the death of a loved one. Giving even a tiny escape, a moment of pure pleasure is worth a great deal to me.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
When I was 14, we went on a family trip to Disneyland. It was a very long day, and at some point, we staggered into the Tiki Room. Back then, they’d shut the doors, and there didn’t seem to be an option to leave.

So there we were, with that repetitive Tiki Room song playing. That night we were all silly and exhausted. Every time one of us would start to fall asleep, my brother or Mom or Dad would start singing the song again. My husband and I just treated my brother to a Disneyland vacation in November, and the Tiki Room was our first stop for nostalgia.

Contact Info:

• Address: https://www.amazon.com/Jess-Michaels/e/B002C1SFK2
• Website: http://www.authorjessmichaels.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JessMichaelsBks/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessmichaelsbks

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