Don Johnston Receives International Recognition Through the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD®

Piggybacking on his win in the 2024 NYC Big Book Award, Johnston has once again racked up a distinguished favorite in the 2025 INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD. SUGAR LAND, TX, UNITED STATES, January 24, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD, one of the most prestigious book award programs globally for independent authors, publishers, and illustrators, recognized "By Means of Peace" by Don Johnston as a distinguished favorite in the Political Thriller category.

The competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. Selected IPA Award Winners and Distinguished Favorites are based on overall excellence.

"By Means of Peace"
In a world teetering on the brink of chaos, one man’s promise of peace becomes humanity’s greatest threat.

Reuben Rogov, a charismatic third-party President, emerges as a beacon of hope in troubled times. He brokers peace in the Middle East, faces down global superpowers, and conquers both the border crisis and a deadly pandemic. As the world hails him a sociopolitical messiah, Rogov ascends to unparalleled power–but at what cost?

Darien and Marisa, a young couple from Houston, find themselves caught in the crosshairs of a rapidly changing political landscape. As Marisa is drawn into the heart of the new world order in Washington, their relationship is tested by distance, loyalty, and mounting suspicions about the true nature of Rogov’s regime.

Don Johnston’s gripping narrative serves as a stark warning about the potential consequences of unchecked power and the seductive allure of false peace.

In 2025, the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD saw participation from journalists, well established authors, and small, medium and large publishers across the globe, including those residing in Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, India, Hong Kong, Japan, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Winners were chosen from publishers such as Amplify Publishing Group, Black Rose Writing, Blackstone Publishing, Calumet Editions, Globe Pequot, Finishing Line Press, Gatekeepers Press, Hachette Go (Blanco of Grand Central Publishing), HarperCollins Leadership, Ideapress Publishing, IVP Kids, Koehler Books, Mad Cave Studios, North Dakota State University Press, Oceanview Publishing, Old Stone Press, Pegasus Books, Post Hill Press, Red T Kid's Media, Rowman & Littlefield, She Writes Press, University of California Press, and University of Georgia Press.

“The 2025 INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD awardees included the excellence and diversity of global independent publishing,” said Gabrielle Olczak, IPA President and Award Sponsor. "There is no stopping independent publishing. It provides unparalleled content and quality to consumers worldwide and we are excited to showcase this year's honorees to the world.”

About the Author in his own words
I was born in East Texas a long time ago and grew up with a sister and a brother. When I was five years old, I found a tattered science book with several pages missing. The first intact page showed a monarch butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. I believe that incident was the ah-ha moment that drew me into the world of science. Upon completing high school, I joined the Air Force and served as a jungle survival instructor in Panama for three years. While in Panama, I wrote a weekly gossip column for the base newspaper. Following my military service, I enrolled in Stephen F. Austin State University and got married. After graduating with a degree in biology and chemistry, we moved to Houston where our only child, a son, was born. During the early years of my career as a chemist and biologist, I wrote numerous technical articles and research reports, some of which were published in trade journals. However, during that time, I wrote no fiction. Seventy-five years after the monarch butterfly incident, I retired from the corporate world and began to write fiction as a hobby.

For more information please visit independentpressaward.com; and to see this year's list of IPA Distinguished Favorites, please visit: https://www.independentpressaward.com/2025favorites

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The Independent Press Award is announced every spring and is open to independent authors and publishers.

The fall book competition, NYC Big Book Award, https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/ allows all authors, publishers, and includes submissions from the big five publishers.

Join us for the Awards Dinner on May 3rd, and at the BookCAMP event, May 2 - 4, 2025, https://www.independentpressaward.com/ipabookcamp

Gabby Olczak
Independent Press Award
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