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Emma Jean always dreamed of becoming a published author. However, she had to wait until adulthood to make her treasured goal a reality. In order to help young authors achieve their dreams earlier, she recently founded the I’m an Author Academy.
The entrepreneur is the bestselling children’s author of several books, including Charles McCheese and The Childhood News Network, in which the eponymous character is modeled after her own son. The project evolved naturally since her little one loved hearing stories in which he was the star character.
After telling him these made-up tales for years, and creating a whole world of characters to populate it, she realized that the narrative had mass-market potential. Over time, the story evolved into a middle-grade novel that extended to include characters inspired by her son’s friends as well.
But her best-known published work is Sleeping Beauty and The Cursed Code, an outstanding STEM fantasy novel starring female characters that earned headlines across the country for its inspiring storyline.
In this book, Jean places a contemporary spin on classic fantasy characters like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. In her version, however, all the main characters are tech-driven heroes.
Working with Kids
It’s not an accident that Emma Jean is excellent at spinning tales that modern kids love. Sure, she is naturally gifted but she also worked in the childhood mental health space for years, a profession that provided her with unique insight into what makes today’s kids tick.
Her mental health work included jobs serving youth in schools and therapeutic settings, both in the United States and abroad. Before hitting it big with her full-length books, she also crafted a series of short story titles for kids. These include The Doctor of Dunce, Emma Jean Imagining, and The Bathroom Monster.
Her long-held love of books and dream of publishing her own original stories is what led her to found her online academy, dedicated to helping talented young writers create and publish their own original books. The I’m An Author Academy is now accepting its first class of students. The course allows students to move from book outline to draft and publication. Of course, at the end, when they ‘graduate’, they leave holding their very own book in their hands.
Bringing Together Book Lovers
Emma Jean has loved books since her childhood, describing herself as a bonafide bookworm.
“Reading is like breathing for me; I can’t survive without it,” she said. “I understand the world through stories and books that don’t just take me everywhere in this world but to every other universe that anyone’s ever taken the time to imagine. No one, kid or adult, should have to miss all that.”
What is most appealing to Jean about writing and reading books is the storytelling aspect. She sees sharing stories as among the most important communication tools in the world – one that can be used to teach, learn, shape values, influence views, and inspire all at once.
The I’m An Author Academy provides a way for up-and-coming storytellers to get their stories out to the world.
The school will initially assist only teenagers in working toward book publication, but Jean hopes to work with younger aspiring authors as time goes on. What the enrollees get from the program is expert guidance through the worlds of writing and publishing from a best-selling author who is also trained at teaching young people and understanding them.
In addition to her technical writing guidance, Jean also created her new platform to help simplify and demystify the sometimes impenetrable world of publishing.
“The journey to becoming an author isn’t an easy one. The amount of rejection required for me to have figured out how to guide others to best-seller status is almost overwhelming, but knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t change it for anything,” she stated. “Being able to feel that sense of accomplishment from my students is the best.”
In founding her academy, Jean hopes to help more inspiring stories reach the market for young readers, as well as provide skills to the country’s next generation of writers. But, at the heart of her mission, she simply hopes to bring together writers and readers that love powerful storytelling, especially those tales that teach as well as entertain and inspire as well as awe.
About Emma Jean
Emma Jean is one of America’s most popular children’s best-selling authors. She has written two best-selling books and founded the I’m An Author Academy to transform students into published authors. She has been featured in Next On Scene and Indie Book Talk Podcast. Click here to join the I’m An Author Academy: imanauthor.com
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