Alan Bourgeois' writing career began at the age of 12 when he started writing screenplays for the Adam-12 show as a means of expressing his writing style. Although he never submitted them for review, this experience ignited his passion for writing. However, like many children of his generation, he was advised to study hard and earn a degree to secure a good job.
It wasn't until 1989, when he took a writing class at a community college, that he wrote a short story that was published, reigniting his desire to write. Since then, Bourgeois has written over 48 short stories, some of which have won awards, and published over 10 books, including the award-winning spiritual thriller "Extinguishing the Light."
With experience in the early 2000 publishing revolution, Bourgeois founded Creative House Press and Creative House Kids Press, which published 60 books over five years for authors and artists worldwide. This venture highlighted the need for better marketing and sales strategies for fellow authors.
In August 2011, Bourgeois founded the Texas Authors Association to help Texas authors better market and sell their books, offering a book contest and opportunities to participate in programs and events to grow their readership. He then created two nonprofits in 2015, Drop Everything And Read Texas and the Texas Authors Institute of History, Inc., to promote reading and writing programs and share the rich history of Texas authors. This led to the creation of the first online museum of its kind, the Texas Authors Institute.
Bourgeois also created several short story contests and fundraising programs for Texas students and consolidated small-town book festivals into the Lone Star Festival, promoting Texas authors, musicians, artists, and filmmakers.
In 2016, Bourgeois founded the Authors Marketing Event, bringing together authors and marketing professionals, including film and TV professionals and podcast shows. In 2017, he added a Certification program, which allowed attendees to gain accreditation for their hard work in learning book marketing, helping them secure traditional book deals.
In 2015, Bourgeois created the Indie Beacon Show, which later became the ASB Authors Showcase, a podcast featuring guest authors from around the world. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Bourgeois had to adapt his programs and events to fit the online marketing world, resulting in a major setback for his organization's income.
However, this challenge led him to refocus his attention on authors' needs, creating the Authors School of Business, which offers programs to assist authors of all levels of expertise to become successful Athorpreneurs. Bourgeois continues to write and keep up to date with changes in the publishing world, recently exploring the potential of NFTs for future income opportunities. His determination and expertise have made the Authors School of Business a valuable resource for authors looking to grow their careers.
While Bourgeois is getting older, he continues to write and keep up to date with the variety of changes happening in the publishing world. This has led him to begin working with NFTs and helping authors to learn the value of this program for future income opportunities. What else will be around the bend? No one knows, but they can count on Alan to be aware of the changes and to help authors grow with them.