I am Akosua Brown, also known as Jackie Brown. I am the founder and head honcho of What’s Your Story – Author Services. I have been working in publishing for pretty much all my adult life. Each job I have had was about getting information to an audience in a format best suited to it. I’ve worked on websites, newsletters, videos, and of course, books.
Many, many books that hundreds of thousands of people have read.
The first book I edited was for the World Health Organization. It was a book used to train doctors about environmental disasters and the medical lessons you can learn from them. Most recently I have completed several memoirs and self-help books, a couple of works of fiction, and a few children’s books. A compilation of thirty women was one of my most fun projects; many of women would not have called themselves writers until they completed their stories for the book. And I am in the process of ghostwriting two books while editing others and adapting the curriculum of two online web courses. The completed projects and list of satisfied clients continues to grow (please see my testimonials page for confirmation).
So I am a busy person. I am very happy to be in the best and most interesting industry there is!
Experience Gained in Traditional Publishing
During the course of my career, I worked with a literary agency in Canada, I’ve worked on fiction and non-fiction books, and I’ve worked with several publishers including Nelson Education and Rubicon. I also had my own publishing house for a while where I created a series of books about the Canadian prime ministers as well as other books celebrating Canadian history. I’ve written a best-selling book (Sir John A Macdonald: the rascal who built Canada) and I’m just about to publish a book called How to Write Your Story. It is in design right now, and a bit overdue (as they say, ” the cobbler’s children have no shoes” and I’ve exceeded my deadline on how to get a book out!).
I was recently on the board for a large Canadian writing collective, I have judged writing contests, and I am also a speaker. I am proud to be the co-founder of a magazine that celebrates, encourages, and inspires children on the autism spectrum. Outfox Magazine has been voted onto the list of “best for kids and teens” by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre for the last three years (2017, 2018, and 2019).
Being part of community of writers is a good defence against writer’s block. The WRITE NOW Club is full of people determined to finish their books within a year. We’ll keep you inspired and motivated to do the same. Click here for more information.