I met Jessi through Copper Dog Books, where they are the Social Media and Marketing Coordinator, leading cutting edge creative initiatives online and in store. Jessi lives, works, and plays in western Maine! Their mission is to boost and promote marginalized authors’ works and help kids find books that mirror their lived experiences. After coming out as nonbinary and queer, they have found a community of other queer folks that love to read and create, and their goal is to help their friends build the life they want.

What is your book craft? I offer website building and design, brand building, graphic design, marketing, and social media writing! Here’s a sample of one of my recent favorite website builds: https://www.bridgtonbooks.com

How did you get started offering these professional services? After a few years of frontline bookselling, I burned out from pandemic stressors and wanted a job where I could sell books from home. In 2021, I decided to start my own freelance business and work with independent bookstores to sell books online through social media and email marketing! I’ve been doing it ever since, while also slowly getting back into in-person bookselling.

What fulfills you most about working with your clients? I love getting to yell about books I’m really excited about. My favorite genres to sell include sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and romance, but I also have a soft spot for graphic novels.

What is the ROI that your clients can look forward to by working with you? I can promise you hard results! I’ve run wildly successful pre-order campaigns and sold hundreds of copies of niche books. On social media platforms, I’ve boosted engagement by over 1000% for one of my clients. Your brand will gain visibility that seems impossible – one of my clients got featured by Oprah’s Book Club!

What makes you, and your services, unique? Due to my bookselling experience, I am a pro at selling books, and translating that experience into online sales has been incredibly successful. Aside from creating curated book lists to fit your needs, I also know how to build a following and am an expert at curating the online presence and audience that aligns with your brand. An added bonus is that I’m super creative and have been known to pitch novel ideas (no pun intended), create a campaign around it, and generate record sales. I helped create the Be Gay Read Books clothes line for Copper Dog and even formed a virtual book club featuring queer sci-fi, fantasy, horror and romance books!

Who is your ideal client? I would love to work more with authors to build websites! I always love working with indie bookstores and would enjoy continuing to do so but building websites for authors and getting their books out into the world would be really fun, especially if it’s an author who writes sci fi and fantasy.

What is one of your memorable client engagements? When Copper Dog got featured by Oprah’s Book Club, I SOBBED and was so incredibly grateful. Through my events work with Copper Dog, I have also gotten to interview one of my favorite authors, Shelley Parker-Chan.

How do you hold yourself accountable and achieve the goals that you set forth? Once a week, I meet with my clients virtually and talk about goals for the week ahead – whether it’s events marketing, preorders, sales, or something else. Also, I get anxious if I fall behind on a project, so I am constantly checking in with clients to make sure I have all the information I need.

How can people get started working with you? Please contact me at jessholleranwrites@gmail.com or https://linktr.ee/holleranaboutbooks. I would love to work with you.

What else would you like people to know about you? I am a trans nonbinary person, so if it’s a priority for you to work with queer creators, I’m a great fit. I also LOVE getting queer books in queer kid’s hands. It’s my true calling in life to find a book that mirrors experiences perfectly.

Image Courtesy of Jessi Holleran