Long and short form prose. Screenplays. Non-fiction (self-help, memoir, etc). Blogs. Articles. Reviews. He loves dark comedies and thrillers but is not limited to any genre.
The arts (music, film, books, etc). Stories about people from all walks of life. Vinyl records (which he collects and sells). Food. Whiskey.
Jacob attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and double majored in English and Communication Arts. He maintained a strong GPA and made Dean's list his junior year. During his four years as an undergraduate, he completed two full-length novels and studied abroad in Florence, Italy.
Jacob wrote countless blogs and articles for Mocha7, a marketing company that uses content in order to boost awareness of products before they launch. The blogs themselves would initially only relate to the product in a very broad sense and therefore Jacob was permitted to covers tons of different topics with virtually no restraint. Jacob was paid for each blog and the blogs were published on various sites around the web.
Teaming up with the CEO of a small company, Jacob ghost-wrote two self-help books pertaining to relevant topics in the business world. One book dealt with sales strategy while the other book detailed a unique job search strategy that could apply to pretty much any job market. Coming from an arts background, Jacob had much to learn about the inner and outer workings of the business world. In order to complete each project, he spent hours on the phone with the CEO and asked virtually every question under the sun. In addition, Jacob did independent research to help further contextualize the over-arching thesis of either book.
In 2008, Simon & Schuster published JENNY GREEN'S KILLER JUNIOR YEAR, a young adult novel co-authored by Jacob and Amy Belasen. The novel sold over 12,000 copies and was optioned by a director in Hollywood before it even hit the shelves. The novel is a very dark comedy that was pitched as AMERICAN PSYCHO meets CLUELESS. It's about the adventures of a young, materialistic girl constantly being disappointed in her search for Prince Charming. After a near fatal encounter with a crush, our protagonist turns into a viciously comedic femme fatale who murders her boyfriends one at a time.
After college, Jacob moved to Los Angeles to pursue screenwriting. He and a partner would end up completing over twenty screenplays. They were represented by one Hollywood's premiere management companies: Madhouse Entertainment. Jacob's experiences in Hollywood were filled with promise, but alas, only a few projects made it into development. One was a remake of an old Jerry Lewis film, THE ERRAND BOY, with director Gary Fleder attached. The other was a screenplay adaption of Jacob's own (co-written) novel, JENNY GREEN'S KILLER JUNIOR YEAR, though the screenplay version changed the JUNIOR (in high school) to FRESHMAN (in college).
Jacob co-owns an art gallery in Portland, Oregon with his wife, Stephanie. While Stephanie curates shows on a monthly basis and works directly with the artists, Jacob is largely responsible for authoring press releases among other duties. He also helps with writing materials such as artist bios and writes articles for his wife's online art publication (PLATINUM CHEESE).