About Us

Wildbound PR is a boutique literary PR and marketing firm, working with authors, publishers, and storytellers across the globe. In today’s diverse media landscape, we believe it's essential to embrace all forms of PR and marketing - traditional and online media placement, social media engagement, digital advertising, website development and optimization, video production and promotion, events, you name it. As a 21st century PR agency, we proudly claim our biggest strength is not only having a mastery of all forms of traditional toolsets, but the experience, working knowledge, and workflow necessary to cross the streams, track progress, and maximize connections while keeping messaging consistent. We get the pieces moving. All of them. Then manage them so they work together. We are wild and we love clients that move us, shake us, and enrich our lives.

Born in the Black Forest, Germany, the cradle of Grimm’s fairytales, Julia grew up telling stories to the townsfolk in exchange for candy. At the age of 19, her passion for storytelling and adventure drew her to Los Angeles, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in film production and screenwriting from UCLA film school and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts in screenwriting at the American Film Institute. She formed the feature film production company “Fireside Film,” with director and husband Jared Drake, and produced the cult independent film Visioneers starring actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), Judy Greer (Arrested Development, Archer), and Missi Pyle (Dodgeball, 50 First Dates), which won international acclaim.

Julia’s passion for exploring other types of storytelling led to various freelance writing endeavors for print and online publications, including multi-media projects for web-based companies, including Tours4Mobile, Cosmotourist, and Shmoop University.

In 2006, she finally shifted her focus to the world of books in founding Julia Drake PR, now Wildbound PR, which allowed her to combine her lifelong reading addiction, writing expertise, film production experience, and new media background to help storytellers and changemakers find creative ways to raise awareness for their work, expand their audience base, and generate a larger cultural dialogue around the subjects and themes of their messages and material.

Julia acted as president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Women’s National Book Association and mentored at the Los Angeles based non-profit organization WriteGirl. She has appeared as a speaker on literary industry panels, including the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC), the UCLA Alumni Association, the Lambda Literary Foundation, The Publishers Association of Los Angeles (PALA), Publishers & Writers of San Diego (WPSD), The California Writer’s Club, The West Coast Writer’s Conference, and Literary Orange.

When Julia is not in the office, she can be found roaming the great outdoors.

Originally from Snoqualmie, Washington, Jared left the Northwest to compete in track and field for UCLA where he participated in many national events and placed third in the PAC-10 for pole-vault. He earned a B.A. from UCLA’s School of Film and Television where he received the Alan S. Jacobsen Award, Peter Stark Award, and Rocco Viglietti Award for achievement in directing.

Jared’s latest feature film, Buried: The 1982 Alpine Meadows Avalanche (director/producer), was released nationwide in theaters from Greenwich Entertainment and premiered as the #1 Documentary on Netflix in November 2023. He currently serves as the president of the production company Realization Films where his recent film credits include Disrupted (producer); United States of Insanity (executive producer); and the upcoming Weak Layers (producer). Jared’s directorial debut, the feature film Visioneers, starring Zach Galifianakis, garnered a number of “Best Picture” awards and was domestically/internationally distributed. Jared has directed dozens of celebrities and top athletes in branded videos for companies like Sprint, Wrigley, Vaseline, Google, AOL, and others.

Jared’s unique background in film production and literary management informs his approach to every livestream production he undertakes. His work has been acknowledged across the industry and is thrilled be on the cusp of changing the game for broadcast work.

Helping writers tell their story is what Jared enjoys most working in books and applies this passion to storytellers in need of building their platform and sharing their voice via the multitude of video/photography/design, social media, and marketing/advertising tools available.

When Jared is not in the office, he can be found chasing Julia and their two sons around the great outdoors.

“How can you cut through the noise of the culture and get attention for deserving work? Hire Wildbound, for starters. They’ve got a lot of arrows in their quiver and their aim is true.”

- Steve Wasserman, publisher of Heyday and former books editor of the Los Angeles Times

“Within a matter of weeks, Jared and Julia of Wildbound Live took the National Book Critics Circle awards team from virtual production newbies to a superb virtual awards event, featuring several dozen pre-recorded videos and live hosting, all seamlessly interwoven. We were overjoyed with the intimate flow, the minimal stress, and the fact we could manage this all within a tight nonprofit budget. We'll always be grateful to our Wildbound angels.”

- Jane Ciabattari, Vice President/Awards, National Book Critics Circle

"Jared and Julia, Wildbound, have proven themselves again and again as an indispensable force, and an intrinsic piece of my storytelling brand. Their infectious energy, their committed spirit, and the consistent quality of their deliverables all exceed my expectations every time we collaborate. I am always looking forward to working with them on what's next."

- Obi Kaufmann, author of The California Field Atlas

“Working with Wildbound is a dream! They’ve taken our book festival to new heights through extensive press coverage and leading edge social media strategies, not to mention snazzy video production that achieves exactly our purpose. Their expertise, commitment to excellence, and joyful exuberance add tremendous value to our efforts. We look forward to having Wildbound on our team for years to come!”

- Cherilyn Parsons, Founder and Director, Bay Area Book Festival and Women Lit

“What makes the Drakes at Wildbound so special is they embody the essential qualities that are at the heart of a successful public relations team. And what are those qualities - insight and sensitivity - which translate into a talent to shape and frame the innate power and beauty of a book. Their dedication, effort and professional artistry has had a profound impact on our work and proven indispensable to our success.”

- Boston Teran, internationally bestselling author of Creed of Violence & God Is a Bullet

“Always energetic and resourceful, Julia Drake provides the perfect balance of creativity and perseverance in getting an author's work noticed.”

- Eliot Pattison, Edgar Award-winning author of The Skull Mantra

“Wildbound keeps a writer way too busy with innovative strategies and energetic pursuit of promotion all while maintaining a deep understanding of the sensibilities of authors...no matter how eccentric their personalities.”

- Peter Mehlman, Emmy nominated writer/producer of Seinfeld & author of It Won’t Always Be This Great

“Julia and Jared Drake are perfection. They are the consummate professionals who put their heart and soul into every client. I would not be where I am today if it weren't for their wisdom, genuine dedication and insight.”

- Dr. Nina Ansary, historian & author of Jewels of Allah: The Untold Story of Women in Iran

“Julia is a passionate book lover, and I came to see she was not only a superb publicist but a wonderful editor as well. Her energy and enthusiasm kept me going. I’d work with Wildbound again in a minute.”

- Richard Kramer, Emmy Award-winning writer/producer & author of These Things Happen

“I hired Wildbound to help me with the publicity for two of my novels and have found them to be well-connected, efficient and organized.  I heartily recommend them to anyone seeking competent and professional help with publicity."

- Margaret Coel, New York Times bestselling author of the Wind River mystery series

“Wildbound didn't just write a couple of press releases and call it a day. They read my book, understood everything I was going for with it, and worked hard to line up exactly the right placements and events around it. I could never have done that on my own.”

- Katy Towell, author of Charlie and the Grandmothers and creator of Skary.com.

“Not only was Wildbound highly effective getting me public appearances, press, and book groups, but they were also so responsive to my concerns. No sooner would I ask for something then it was done.”

- Susan Sherman, author of The Little Russian

“The New York Times publication is a direct result of Julia’s connections. I have never, in the months I employed her gone a week without a personal update from Julia.”

- Bruce Holbert, author of The Hour of Lead and Lonesome Animals