Josh Noem writes award-winning book

Josh Noem, a 1994 graduate of Custer High School, has had an exciting couple of years. In a new position, he works at publishing the writing of others, and has even had the opportunity to  publish his own novel, which has received several accolades. Recently, he became the editorial director for Ave Maria Press, the publishing arm of the University of Notre Dame. On top of that, his novel, the The End of Ending has been accepted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Archives and won a major award.
Ave Maria Press is a major publisher of Catholic books and media and is one of the oldest continually-operating Catholic publishing houses in the country.
Noem began in his position at Ave Maria Press last summer. He says that he applied because he felt it was an opportunity he “couldn’t pass up.” He says it’s going well.
“I go to work giddy that I get to be part of a team that makes books. It’s a lot of fun to see a project go from an idea in an author’s head to a printed book on a shelf,” said Noem.  
Getting those ideas from the author’s head onto bookshelves can be quite the undertaking, taking many hands and minds, something Noem appreciates about his new work.
“It takes so much teamwork to make that happen, and that’s been the most rewarding part—working with a lot of great editors and designers and marketers, all rowing in the same direction,” said Noem. “A few things caught my attention about this opportunity. First, Ave is a small but mighty publisher—for a company our size, we have a big impact on people’s lives when it comes to finding and deepening faith. This is a publishing house with great leadership and an ambitious team—both of those things were clear from the get-go.”
“Josh brings a solid Catholic background, a deep understanding and appreciation of the Congregation of Holy Cross and strong management experience to Ave’s editorial department. He also offers the creative energy and vision to help our management team expand the reach of our books and digital content,” said Karey Circosta, publisher and CEO at Ave Maria Press in the announcement of Noem’s new position.
“I am excited that he is joining the Ave family,” said Circosta.
“I bring expertise in media and Catholic communications, and am learning a lot about publishing, which is fun,” said Noem.
Before starting at Ave Maria, Noem worked as the senior editor for Grotto Network, a faith-based digital media platform for young adults.
“Coming from the world of digital media, I knew that even the best stories captured readers’ attention for only a few moments. Getting a book in someone’s hands can change their life—I know, because it happened to me. The books that I was introduced to by Dorothea Edgington in the Humanities course I took at CHS, for example, opened up new horizons for me. It’s really exciting to be in a line of work that has that kind of potential,” said Noem.
Noem wasn’t always interested in pursuing a career in his current field, however. Initially, Noem was pursuing a degree in engineering, but then when that wasn’t going well, he remembered how he enjoyed the courses he was taking in the humanities field.
“In that period of time, I was searching for a major that I both enjoyed and that was important, and I couldn’t think of anything more important than studying the faith. God has continued to lead me to serve the Church with my writing. Christianity is a religion of the word, so written communication is an important part of our tradition—I’m grateful to have the chance to be part of the conversation God is having with His people through language,” said Noem.
Noem has also become an accomplished writer himself. His book, The End of Ending has received numerous accolades, such as the Catholic Media Association’s first place award for Best Novel— Escapism and has even been accepted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame Archives.
He had been tossing the idea of the book around in his head for nearly a decade. A big theme of the story is the resurrection of the dead, which as a Christian, Noem ends up thinking about a lot.
“That’s what Jesus experienced, and it’s the promise of our faith...I was interested in imagining what that might be like from a human perspective, ” said Noem. “What if the end of time arrived this week in central Indiana? That’s the basic premise of the story.”
Two other major pieces of the story are some things Noem also holds close to heart: baseball and beer.
“If you’re not a fan of either of those, then A. you’re missing out; and B. you can still dive into the story because it’s really a romance at heart,” said Noem.  
Although he now lives and works in South Bend, Ind., he is sure to remember his roots here in South Dakota. To the attentive reader, this will show in his writing. In fact, all of the characters in this book are named after towns and counties in South Dakota, like Estelline or Bryant.
The warm reception to his novel has been “really humbling,” he says. Thoughtful readers have also been a “gift” to Noem. They usually reach out to him when they finish reading part one of the book as the book takes a big turn at that moment.
“It’s been fun to see people responding to the story,” said Noem.
It hasn’t just been friends and other kind readers who have given the book their seal of approval, however. The book also earned a first place award for “Best Novel—Escapism” from the Catholic Media Assoc.
“I was grateful for this recognition and humbled that the story worked well enough to earn this award. Writing and publishing a book is a super-vulnerable thing to do...I had friends and family give me great feedback about the book, but to have an organization take an objective look at it and give it a thumbs-up was encouraging,” said Noem.
After writing the book, Noem discovered that he could send it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a donation. He did, and they ended up including it in their archives.
“It’s by far the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me outside of family life. To think that my words are sitting in that building with Ty Cobb’s cleats and Lou Gehrig’s bat is crazy,” said Noem.
The End of Ending can be bought on Amazon or “if you want to support your local bookstore, order it on Bookshop.org—they support independent booksellers,” said Noem.