Mystic Publishers Employee Bios: Jo Wilkins, President

            I started out as a closet poet in 1972 and over the years evolved into an author of Science Fiction novels (first one published in 2003). Because of the vanity press trap my co-author and I fell into, I also started helping authors self-publish that same year. That self-publishing aid, Mystic Publishers, also evolved. By 2013, it became the parent corporation of our new company, Mystic Publishers, Inc. Under this corporate name, we organized the three divisions of the company.

            Being associated with Mystic Publishers, Inc. has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my life. The other rewarding portion of my life was starting the Henderson Writer’s Group in August of 2000. Through the group, I became dedicated to assisting writers become published authors by starting the Las Vegas Writer’s Conferences. As president and founder of the group, I discovered there are good stories that were only in need of a little help. They were passed over because they are new authors and have no established audience to automatically bring in returns for a publishing house. So why not bring the publishers here to see these talented writers.

            As a publisher now, myself, I love finding authors that are 90% ready for publication and working with them until their manuscripts are print-ready. To hold the printed copy of that book, that we all helped produce, brings on a feeling almost as good as when I opened the first box of my first novel. It is an accomplishment that all involved work very hard to bring about. 

 

            Favorite Author: Isaac Asimov

            Favorite Book: The Foundation Trilogy and the books that preceded and followed it. The story arc incorporating the robot from The Caves of Steel was truly mind-blowing.

            Writing inspiration: Science, learning new things and thinking how they could be used in the future, the stars, creating future societies that have no biases against their fellow man.