History of Joshua Tree Publishing
Joshua Tree Publishing has been in the media and publishing field since 1985. With the first edition of the Nevada Media Directory, Publisher John Paul Owles embarked on a career providing updated, comprehensive media information in the state of Nevada. For twenty-five years, the directory has been a self-publishing success story.
Joshua Tree Publishing has over 35 years of expertise and experience in publishing books. We offer authors access to our experts—while our authors concentrate on writing books. Publishing a book is a process. We guide our authors through that process: from the initial preparation of their manuscript, editing the book, designing the cover, formatting the text and cover for the printer, printing the galley proof, and printing the finished book.
But we do not stop there. We help the authors with promoting their books. We give our authors access to media lists which specialize in book promotion. We provide information on book stores, direct mail outlets, and alternative sources where authors can market their books. We design and host websites for authors and their books. We offer training seminars throughout the year which focus on writing, editing, and marketing books. We remain committed to our authors and their success. Because if they aren’t successful, we aren’t.
Joshua Tree Publishing’s books are available through the Ingram Content Group in the United States and internationally. We are on Amazon with Search Inside, BN.com and major online retailers. With the emerging eBook market, we convert our books into Kindle, iBooks, and ePub formats with distribution through Amazon, Google, Apple, and major eBook wholesalers.
A Publishing Success Story by John Paul Owles
“As a special project for my Masters degree in Journalism, I had developed a very primitive list of Reno news media for the Reno Rodeo and MS Society of Northern Nevada with my Commodore 64. As a new tech guy, I wanted to learn how to use a database. The information was well received, and my professors encouraged me to publish the information.
“As all writers know, research is very important to success. After a year, I decided to try to publish a statewide news media directory. In order to do that, I thought the best way to become an expert was to interview every news media outlet in Nevada…in person. I traveled the state and sat in the offices of over 100 newspaper, magazine, radio, and television station offices. By interviewing them, I discovered what and how they wanted to receive news and press releases, public service annoucements, and advertising copy. Without that experience, I would never had known what information was essential for my subscriber’s success. After six months, I was prepared to put the directory together when I experienced a very lucky break in the world of computers.
“With the advent of Apple’s Mac and laser printer, I was able to control the publishing of the directory and its contents without having to use typesetters. It was truly revolutionary. Rather than owning a typesetting machine costing several tens of thousands of dollars, as such, I was able to self-publish my directory. In those days, we designed the pages as 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2” sheets which fit into a binder with tabs. As we updated the directory, we reprinted all the pages and sent them to subscribers to replace the old listings. Within minutes, subscribers had an entirely new, up-to-date directory.
“However, just having the capability to print a directory was not enough. We still needed to find subscribers to support the directory. I had decided that the directory would be a reference book with no advertising. By offering a subscription on an annual basis, we were able to keep subscribers current with the fast changing news media. The question became: who would benefit from this information and how could we reach them? By knowing who our target audience was, we were able to identify them. After printing the custom binders and tabs, I made my first sales call with the directory. I made an appointment with a man I met through the school who was the public relations director at the main hospital in Reno. After handing him the directory and anxiously waiting for him to say something, all he asked was how much the directory cost. When I told him $100.00 for an annual subscription, he asked me who to make the check out to. I was in business.
“In 2012, we published the 25th Anniversary Nevada Media Directory, which now costs $200.00. Little did I know that first sales call would start a 25-year publishing career.”Â
Dreamland in Reality: Conception by John Paul Owles
“If you are searching for how to be an Entrepreneur by discovering who you are really meant to be, then you have been led to a place that will challenge you in that quest. I discovered insights into the criteria of being an Entrepreneur as I journeyed toward my true destination, which I call Dreamland in Reality.
“My experiences will help you examine the challenges in your life as you reach for your dreams and move forward on your journey. I hope my insights will nudge you towards acknowledging the life God wants you to really live.
“What was required of me was to be in the Moment. If I followed my Guidance, I was led in the direction God wanted me to go. And, to God’s amusement, I describe that path as an Entrepreneur.”
Excerpt from Dreamland in Reality:
After years of working towards becoming a research scientist and a medical doctor, in 1971 I left the hallowed halls of science at a major university medical school in Chicago to start a talent agency specializing in the music business.
Described by Billboard Magazineon June 23, 1973, as an Entrepreneur, a rare term at the time, I had expanded the talent agency to briefly include a rock club down the street from the famous The Second City comedy club. Eventually I became a rock promoter. Living in a penthouse on the Gold Coast of Chicago, I was leading the hedonistically inspired Playboy dream of single men in the early 1970s. All the perks of sex, drugs, and rock n roll surrounded me. As I gazed out the windows on the 52nd floor, I felt I had made it. I was a success.
On June 21, 1974, I was greeted with tornado warnings and ominous storm clouds as we prepared what would be my last concert…and yes, at the time, I knew nothing about Summer Solstice. Thankfully, the kids ignored the dire warnings from the television weathermen and were lined up waiting to get in. The groups performing were Styx and Kansas. I was at the top of my game in the music business.
And yet that night, just as the last encore started, a small voice inside me said that tonight would be my last concert. It was just a strange thought in my head because everything had turned out so perfect. I could not fathom never experiencing again the joy of giving such a wonderful night of entertainment to people. My Mom and Dad were there helping. My business associates and partners were congratulating me on a wonderful night. The audience loved it.
Deciding to skip the after-parties, I rode the elevator alone to my penthouse. Somewhere inside me, I knew this chapter of my life was ending. While I had dreamed of returning to the joy of promoting concerts that I had experienced years before as chairman of the Dance Committee at the University of Illinois Chicago, I really did not have a vision beyond my return to what I loved. At that moment on the night of the concert, I had accomplished my goal. I had achieved my dream.
Little did I know at the time that my Soul had a dream. A Vision. And that I was about to embark on a forty-year journey of discovering my innermost Being.