Submitted Photo JuLee Brand is the owner of W.Brand Publishing. She grew up in North Dakota and graduated from Magic City Campus in 1987. Now she has started her own publishing company to give people a chance to share their stories.

JuLee Brand has always loved books. She always enjoyed the stories told by others and it was a big part of her life. Now she has made it an even bigger part by starting her own publishing company: W.Brand Publishing.

Brand graduated from Magic City Campus in 1987. She grew up predominantly in the Westhope area, her father working at the border with Canada. Her father grew up in Minot and his heart was always there, so when Brand was in high school, they moved back.

Brand went into graphic design, but her love of books remained and was rekindled after she took a position at an elite publishing company. When she came back to North Dakota last year for her aunt’s funeral, she realized she wanted to start her own publishing company.

“I realized that we were losing stories from loved ones,” she said. “Everyone has a story to tell and I want to help them tell it.”

She started W. Brand Publishing in August 2018. She chose the name, W. Brand Publishing, to honor her father. He loved to read and write, but never got the chance to publish. It was his love of writing and reading that inspired her.

W. Brand Publishing has the simple mission of facilitating, producing and promoting positive stories of triumph, survival, diversity and compassion. The most important thing to Brand’s company is publishing people’s stories so they can be heard.

“I want to give people a chance who might not have a chance with big publishing companies a place to publish,” she explained. “We want to connect people through stories.”

The company is an independent publisher, so they work to offer a variety of different sources to help clients to publish their works in one of three ways: traditional, hybrid, or self-publishing. They work to offer services and options that will benefit anyone to tell their stories.

W. Brand Publishing uses the Print-On-Command structure, which helps get books out there for online sources like Amazon and Barnes and Noble and to bookstores that buy inventory from those sources.

The company offers different services to aid writers to create their best possible stories. They offer literary services, helping to write, edit and proofread according to the writer’s needs.

Since Brand has a background in graphic design, W. Brand Publishing offers original book cover designs and interior layouts to fit the story.

Finally, W. Brand Publishing will help writers promote their works. Around 80 percent of writers self-publish, according to Brand, and promoting can be difficult. The company will help their writers get their works out there on social media, blogs, podcasts and more.

Currently W. Brand Publish works to help produce memoirs, with many titles already under their belts. One author they have published is another Minot High School graduate, Cord Scott, who graduated the same year as Brand. His book, a book of comics focused on Canadian war stories in American comic books titled “Four Colour Combat,” came out in April.

Since the publishing company began, they have already produced six titles that are listed on their catalog tab on W. Brand Publishing’s website.

“It is incredible so far. We have had so much good response and things have just fallen in our laps,” Brand said.

W. Brand Publishing is planning to expand their topics to create a children’s line and a fiction line, expected in 2020.

They work hard to produce books and to stay up-to-date on the publishing industry to help writers achieve their goals.

Starting W. Brand Publishing has been an incredible experience for Brand and even though she has to work long hours, she enjoys every moment of it.

“When you find something you are passionate about and really love, it doesn’t feel like work,” she said.

Brand is now based out of Nashville and is expanding the outreach of her company to help out in different ways. She is working to get involved with Nashville schools and other community groups to work with and do some pro bono work to publish stories written by children.

W. Brand Publishing is also working to start a book mobile to go and talk with people, especially the elderly, to hear their stories and share their stories.

“We’re here for everyone,” Brand said. “We just want to help people tell their stories.”

Brand invites writers to reach out and see what all they offer or to submit their works to W. Brand Publishing. All of which can be done on their website at wbrandpub.com.

(Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Editor Mike Sasser at 857-1959 or Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944. Either can be reached at 1-800-735-3229. You also can send email suggestions to msasser@minotdailynews.com.)