It all started when…
Jess Brallier was first a publisher (book and online), a role he held at Funbrain, Poptropica, Planet Dexter, and Family Education Network. He also served on the executive team at Harcourt, Little Brown, and Abrams.
Jess won book publishing’s Literary Marketplace Individual Achievement Award in recognition of his marketing campaign for three New York Times bestsellers: Reinventing Government by David Osborne, Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bailey White, and Touchpoints by T. Berry Brazelton.
At Funbrain.com, he first published Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid two years before it was published in print. In 2013, Jess did likewise with the virtual graphic novel series Galactic Hot Dogs. He and Kinney also launched Poptropica.com to tell stories via a gaming literacy and it quickly became the world’s largest virtual world for kids. Books spun off from that property became New York Times bestsellers.
Jess started writing books 1) out of spite for his house’s own acquisition editors who disagreed with him (he can be a jerk), and 2) for extra cash (he foolishly spent 23 years restoring a 1789 New England farmhouse). Of the 30+ published books Jess authored or co-authored, half are children’s books.
His Lawyers & Other Reptiles landed on multiple bestseller lists. And his Who Was Albert Einstein for Penguin’s bestselling Who Is/Was series sold 480,000+ units, was translated into multiple languages, and was critical to Who Is/Was becoming a consistent New York Times bestselling series. His most recent picture book is The Olphabet (Running Press); forthcoming are The Unknown Solider (Charlesbridge) and a series, Booker: The Library Bat (Pixel+Ink).
Jess is a frequent podcast guest, including this one with the famed Illustration Department. Enjoy the listen!
A native of Ligonier, Pennsylvania, Jess is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh (B.A.) and Boston University (M.S.). He and his wife, Sally Chabert, reside in West Hollywood, CA. Their two grown children are the greatest.
Jess is repped by Kelly Dyksterhouse at The Tobias Literary Agency.
“Do you think I reference dinosaurs too much when I write?” I asked.
She was silent, like the p in pterodactyl, but it said everything.”—Nate Usher