Acorn Advisory Board Members
ANDREA FLECK-NISBET
CEO of Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)
Before taking the helm of the IBPA, Andrea was the founding vice president and publisher at Harper Horizon, a new nonfiction imprint of HarperCollins, based out of Nashville, TN. Prior to that, she served as the director of content acquisition for Ingram Content Group, where she developed initiatives that supported independent publishers of all sizes, using print-on-demand services to produce and distribute content.
Andrea spent her first 15 years in the publishing industry at independent publisher Workman Publishing, leading teams in special markets, sales, and digital marketing, including three years as executive director of digital strategy and operations.
JIM FOLEY
Business Solutions Consultant and Author
Two years ago, James was first introduced to Acorn Publishing at a writer's conference and the rest is history. With decades of executive experience helping some of the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and emerging companies, James is well-known for applying a unique people-centric approach to business growth. A new author himself, James' debut novel, TREASURE COAST, is scheduled for release in February 2025. He lives in San Diego with his wife, Suzanne and their amazing dog, Marley.
MARNI FREEDMAN
(BFA, LMFT)
Marni is the co-founder and programming director for the San Diego Writers Festival, the programming director for the International Memoir Association, which produces a yearly theatrical Memoir Showcase, and she teaches writing workshops for UCSD, conferences, and retreats across the state. She also runs the Memoir Certificate Program at San Diego Writers, Ink.
The award-winning author’s profound experience with her teachers at USC who were blacklisted has shaped the direction of her life and career. Her play, A Jewish Joke, about the Blacklist, appeared Off-Broadway in 2019. Marni serves as a therapist for artists and writers.
ANDY ROSS
The Andy Ross Literary Agency
Andy Ross opened his literary agency in 2008. Prior to that, he was the owner of the legendary Cody’s Books in Berkeley for 30 years. During that time, he sold more than 10 million books and hosted over 5000 events for some of the world’s greatest authors.
Andy’s agency represents books in a wide range of non-fiction genres including: narrative non-fiction, science, journalism, history, popular culture, and current events . They also represent literary, commercial, historical, crime, upmarket women’s fiction, and YA fiction. For non-fiction he looks for writing with a strong voice, robust story arc, and books that tell a big story about culture and society by authors with the authority to write about their subject. In fiction, he likes stories about real people in the real world. No vampires and trolls, thank you very much. He doesn’t represent poetry, science fiction, paranormal, and romance.
Andy also works as a freelance editor.