Basically we are a bunch of tech geeks that love books… especially the digital e-book variety. It’s great to able to take your virtual library wherever you go or read in bed without needing a nightstand lamp, but mostly e-readers are a readers best friend when it comes to bookmarking your favorite passages or defining a word on the fly.
We don’t judge hardcore traditionalists who love the smell of parchment or the touch and feel of a printed book. We get it… books are a beautiful art form. From the front cover design to the back cover overview and the text in between, books are magical things which have the ability to teach, entertain, and transport us to places we could never imagine on our own.
Our advocacy for digital e-books is simple. Traditional publishing is time consuming and expensive. Printed books aren’t going way anytime soon, but the future is digital publishing and the future is here.
The digital publishing revolution enables anyone with a dream to take a stab at becoming an author. Whether your book becomes a bestseller or remains a free download for eternity, the accomplishments associated with authorship are profound.
Our team is committed to promoting authors by recognizing their accomplishments through our Blog Talk Radio interviews, our book reviews services, as well as our annual digital book award contest. We also offer a variety of e-publishing project management services through our Wise Bear Media sister website. We look forward to hearing from you and hope to be a part of your future success.
And now, a little bit about our founders…
Quinn Barrett, Chief Bear
I’ve had a tremendous love for books since I was a young girl. Growing up in a tumultuous family, reading was a sanctuary for me. I’d escape into the Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie series eventually graduating to books like a James Michener epic novel, or great literary classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird or Atlas Shrugged.
In school, I received a lot of praise from my teachers for my writing skills and was encouraged to pursue it as a major in college. After graduating from UCLA with a degree in English, technology was booming and I caught the bug. I worked as a corporate business development strategist specializing in emerging growth technology, software and Internet companies. I was fortunate to have worked for numerous start-up companies who partnered with many technology giants including Intel, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Broderbund Software, and Sierra Online. After the dot.com bubble burst, I started an IT/Web Development firm that has been servicing the greater Los Angeles area since 1998.
Wise Bear was conceived from my love for books and technology. Writing has been a constant in any career pursuit whether it was a business plan, website copy writing, informational non-fiction, or novels, I am passionate about the written word. The Wise Bear family of websites represent the new paradigm in digital publishing which is the perfect fusion of words, technology, and media.
TJ Hulme, Tech Bear
I come from a large family of eight children. I am one of six sisters. I used to watch one my older sisters read voraciously and still remember how captivated she was by whatever book she was reading. In my desire to emulate her behavior, I became a book lover myself and continued my love of books as a humanities major in college. Many of the books I read created a desire in me to travel and see the world I was reading about.
In the 80s, my father introduced me to technology with the first Apple personal computer he brought home. It was love at first byte. I spent hours reading books to hone my skills as a computer consultant. I started out as a free lance computer technician, eventually consulting for some of the largest law firms, talent agencies, and business management firms in the Los Angeles entertainment industry. In 1998 I co-founded BusyLife Tech Support bringing on-site tech support services to women, high-end home users, and small businesses throughout the greater Los Angeles area.
To me, digital publishing is the perfect convergence of electronically packaged knowledge and information that has the potential to be instantly ubiquitous–you can’t say that about print books. Books and technology have a symbiotic relationship. Quinn and I created Wise Bear to teach and advocate for this dynamic union. In hind sight, I wish I had e-books years ago when I was learning about the very technology that is responsible for today’s digitally produced content.
