Jack Jones Literary Arts Founder Kima Jones Takes the Publishing Industry by Storm

From that point on Jones began to write in earnest, turning “anything into a story” and filling adventure notebooks. She found power in these stories which she said helped her for six years in the foster care system.

“You change schools two to three times a year depending on how often you leave home. You just don’t tell people you’re a foster child, ”she said. “You create a story around your life and what happens to it. “

In 1994, when she was 12, Jones reunited with her family and moved to Poughkeepsie, NY. She stayed there for several years and enrolled at Dutchess Community College before being transferred to Sarah Lawrence. For various reasons, a combination of financial problems and bureaucracy, Jones did not complete his education. “I like to learn, but I don’t like schools and I don’t particularly care about most institutions,” she said.

Jones went on to work a series of odd jobs: “Every working class job in America that you can possibly think of, I’ve done it,” she said. These included a nurse’s aide, a 911 dispatcher, and a seller of leather goods and luggage.

In 2013, she was accepted as a PEN America Emerging Voices member. In January, she moved to Los Angeles where she immersed herself in the literary scene and began to plan for her current career. The program only lasted nine months and, with a one-time stipend of $ 1,000, offered little financial support. But when his fellowship ended, Jones decided to stay in Los Angeles and continue writing.

Jones always knew she wanted to start a publishing related business. Her love of small press books, and her frustrations with how black published writers were often overlooked, led her to decide on advertising and marketing. This would allow him to choose his own clients and be his own boss.

However, despite the independence she can afford, advertising is a difficult space for a woman of color to break into because, like most of the publishing industry, it remains dominated by white women.

About Herbert L. Leonard

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