We recently connected with Jared Klickstein and have shared our conversation below.

Jared, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I was a homeless drug addict that went through a nightmarish decade, and after sobering up I decided to write a book. From actually writing the manuscript to getting an agent to getting a publisher to successfully marketing the book, it was a step-by-step process that took absolute precision. I knew nothing about the publishing world, and through non-traditional means set everything up around the book so it would be easily marketable. I did this by getting the right people to write blurbs for the back cover, hybridizing the manuscript into a half-memoir half-public policy book, and enacting a guerilla marketing campaign. It was a whirlwind of learning the business while deep in the trenches of executing what I was learning in real time.

Jared, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1989 to heroin-addicted parents. I spent his teenage years outside of Oakland, California after being adopted by my aunt and uncle. I then attended UC Santa Cruz where I got addicted to heroin, dropped out, and spent nearly ten years chronically homeless and addicted around the country. After a notorious run on Skid Row in Los Angeles and a subsequent jail sentence, I sobered up in 2018, wrote my first book, and. currently work as an independent journalist.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After nearly two years of getting rejected by every publisher, I realized that the manuscript in it’s current form wasn’t going to get anywhere. No one wants to publish another addiction memoir by a nobody. I realized my book had to be completely unique. I had to do something no one had ever done before, so I completely re-wrote the manuscript and turned it into a public policy book based on my actual experience with homelessness and addiction. After 6 months of writing this new draft, I completely switched gears and how I presented the book to publishing houses, and finally landed a deal.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mantra is “Turn your deficits into assets. Monetize your misery”. My life hasn’t been easy, given that I was raised in a broken home of drug addiction and then became a drug addict myself. I was homeless on Skid Row for years. These were massive deficits, I thought. But in 2018 I decided I was going to take my trauma and my deficits and convert them into a driving force for success. This has been my ultimate goal in my creative journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jaredklickstein.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jklickst
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredklickstein/
• Twitter: https://x.com/JaredKlickstein