Paula Jean Ferri started out as a pen name. It's easier to find than a name like Jessica Smith (my given name when I first started writing/publishing). Plus, Paula happens to be the name of my Tourette syndrome. I can't control sounds that come out of my mouth or movements my body makes. My noises have a LOT of personality, so they got their own name.
Some quick backstory, I started making noises at 17, and at 24 during my senior year of college, was diagnosed. I did a deep dive into understanding what Tourette syndrome is and wrote a senior research paper on how it affects communication. This became my first book.
Under the pen name of Paula Jean Ferri, I published four books.
Then a shift happened. I started to write fiction under my married name, J.S. Baehr.
However, everything business related had been put under the name Paula Jean Ferri. So all of a sudden, PJF became the business that I was going to publish under.
In August of 2023, I had a flash of inspiration hit me. If this was a business, who is going to stop me from publishing books for other people?
Then I had the idea... who says just books? Why can't I help artists "publish" their work and promote their art?
I want to help support my creative friends, no matter what their medium is, by taking care of the part they don't want to do. The marketing, the promotion, the websites... allowing them to simply create.
So quick recap: Paula is the overall name of the company for publishing purposes, the pen name for nonfiction books, and my Tourette syndrome.
