This past Saturday I was given the opportunity to cover the book signing for author and poet Pierre Alex Jeanty’s latest release ‘HIM’. It’s his eighth release and one that people had requested after the success of the ‘HER’ series.
I was a bit hesitant at first since I don’t really do relationship advice books, but his aren’t that. In fact, they’re full of poems. Yes, you read that correctly. Poems. You know like the poems and quotes you often see floating around you feeds on various social media channels. Pierre Alex Jeanty was able to do something that not a lot other authors have been able to do and tap into the fact that the average attention span isn’t that long and it’s a bit easier for some people to digest content if it’s short and to the point. That’s one of the things that I love about his work. He has something for people who like traditional long-form text and for those who prefer something they can read 6 times in 2 days. In fact, that’s something that a fan told him!
Pierre’s drive is something that drew me to him as an author. He’s self-published 8 books and is working on the 9th, ‘Heart’. Of course you can order his books Amazon and on his website, but sometimes you want to walk in and pick up a paperback copy and throw it in your cart and you can do that because he’s made his way into big retailers like Barnes & Noble and Target! That right there is no small feat, especially for someone who doesn’t currently have the backing of a major publishing company. I would say that I’m shocked, but I’m not. Pierre’s not just a poet and author, but he’s an influencer, and entrepreneur who is devoted to making an impact through his writing. He also started his own publishing company, Jeanius Publishing, to help other authors who are choosing to go the self-publishing route like him. I got a chance to ask him about that, and wanted to know why he chose that route instead of the traditional brick and mortar route and he said that he didn’t know any other way. He wanted to get his message out to people so he did it the only way he knew. Well it worked and it’s paying off in a major way!
Pierre’s been heralded as a relationship expert on local and nationally syndicated shows, and he’ll be the first one to say that he isn’t, but I disagree. He’s not saying anything too profound or writing about things we don’t already know, but he’s doing in a way that’s easy to understand and digest. He read a few excerpts for ‘HIM’ and one of the poems he read really stuck out to me. It’s on page 40 of ‘HIM’ and touches on the fact that not all men see women as a conquest, that there are actually “kings in the deck”. Another nugget that he said that really struck me was “your experiences are your truth, but don’t let them be the only truth”. I almost did a church shout when I heard that. I definitely look forward to reading ‘HIM’ along with this other published works, and the excitement in his voice when he was talking about ‘Heart’ has me looking forward to that release. Do yourselves a favor and check them out and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and his website!