IN 2011, in the aftershock of unexpectedly being let go from his bartending job of 7 years (a mixture of someone else’s greed and politics and the unwillingness to play their twisted games), Joshua decided to take the time to finish a manuscript he had been working on since high school (and more dedicated throughout college). In the process of working diligently on his manuscript, he also started a writing and reading blog that documented both his writing journey and his exploration of other books currently on the market. He took breaks from writing to read other short stories and novels from other beginner and up-and-coming authors, like himself, in the realm of Speculative Fiction.

He dubbed the blog The Bearded Scribe, eponymously named for the hair that had donned his face since he could grow it. Shortly after he started it, he decided that the content would be much better by bringing on other content writers and book reviewers to the blog. One of those people he reached out to was his friend from college and choir sister, Elizabeth, who was a voracious reader with a Masters Degree in Library Sciences. Though the blog grew, its focus always remained writer-oriented. In fact, Elizabeth was the genius behind the standardized format of the Spotlights appearing on the blog—dissecting works into true literary elements (such as world building) from which a budding writer could learn—in addition to creating other countless special features, a passion for the blog which quickly turned her from contributor to Assistant Editor.

When the team got a review request from R.S. McCoy for her book, Sparks, the premise intrigued Joshua, so he opted to take on the review himself. The story was admittedly brilliant and inspiring—the editing, however, was far from perfect, so he reached out to the author with a proposal: knowing that she had two more books in that series alone, Joshua offered to edit her Sparks manuscript for free in exchange for payment to edit the next two. It was after editing the Sparks Saga trilogy that Rachel (RS) suggested that Joshua compile and edit an anthology—and from that moment came the inception of The Bearded Scribe Press and its transformation from writing and review blog to a full-fledged publishing house only made sense to the Founder and Executive Editor, especially with the addition of its Editing, Coaching, and Design Services.