|
What is The Sun Runner Magazine?
Conceived in 1994, The Sun Runner magazine was born during the revitalization of 29 Palms - when this quiet desert community, asleep in an economic slump, suddenly awoke and began to reinvent itself. Residents and merchants were busy creating the Mural Project, cleaning up the streets, remodeling commercial facades, starting new visitor-friendly businesses, and spawning new annual events and fund-raisers for 29 Palms. A vehicle was needed to “get the word out” to the community and to the world. “Something is happening in 29 Palms: Catch the Spirit!” was the motto.
Capturing the spirit of the renaissance, resident Vickie Waite founded The Sun Runner Arts & Entertainment Magazine, became its Publisher & Editor, and sought local writers
and artists to contribute to its pages. The first issue was distributed on January 1, 1995, offering photography, art, intelligent writing, and a social calendar to a culture-hungry community. By January
3, the community’s response to this new publication was overwhelmingly positive. Subscriptions began rolling in. Advertisers began to call. The rest is history.
Over the next nine-and-a-half years, Waite grew The Sun Runner’s coverage area, advertising, and distribution, to include all of the hi-desert/Morongo Basin.
But wanting to eventually retire, Waite actively sought out someone to take over the growing publication.
On June 1, 2004, Yucca Valley resident, award-winning journalist and musician, Steve Brown, joined The Sun Runner as Publisher and Executive Editor to continue the magazine’s growth. The magazine moved from a quarterly publishing schedule to a bi-monthly basis, beginning with the Oct./Nov. 2004 issue and increased its print circulation at that time as well.
In 2005, the Sun Runner Showcases were launched, intimate concert performances at the Hi-Desert Playhouse in Joshua Tree. A host of regional and even international musicians performed at the Showcases, prior to the Playhouse’s disastrous freeze in January 2007. The Sun Runner also began hosting Sun Runner Salons,
with featured guest authors and poets from around the region. A free, weekly e-mail newsletter, the Sun Blast, was also added, along with a weekly radio show Friday mornings on KX96 FM (heard throughout the
Morongo Basin). The Sun Runner began sponsoring arts events throughout the desert, from the Palm Springs Art Museum to Calico Ghost Town, while a new blog, Mojave Winds (see our Desert Blogs page), and
a My Space page (www.myspace.com/thesunrunner) have added to the magazine’s reach.
As of 2007, The Sun Runner had expanded its editorial coverage and distribution network to include all of the California deserts region, and publishes twice as many copies of
the magazine per issue as when Brown took over the publication in 2004, reaching more than 30,000 desert residents and visitors from El Centro and Borrego Springs, through the Coachella Valley/Palm Springs area and
the hi-desert/Morongo Basin, and on through the Mojave Desert to Ridgecrest and Death Valley.
The magazine has become increasingly involved with regional tourism efforts for the California deserts, as well as with its diverse cultural community, participating in efforts ranging from Operation Sun Runner (sending CDs from musicians around the country to our troops overseas), to speaking at engagements, and producing a variety of events.
Features such as the annual Desert Writers issue, give voice to creative spirits throughout the California deserts, while contributors to the magazine add to The Sun Runner’s regional
voice that makes it The Magazine of California Desert Life & Culture.
While we hope you’ll enjoy the new features we’ll be bringing your way, don’t fret - we have no intention of losing the magic that has made The Sun Runner the delight it has been over the past 15 years. As always, feel free to contact us with your ideas, comments and criticisms. We may put the magazine out, but it belongs to our desert community.
As of July 1, 2008, The Sun Runner entered a new phase in its life by moving to downtown Joshua Tree. The magazine’s new headquarters are located in the Art Queen complex. The new location provides the opportunity to work with the growing arts community of Joshua Tree, to take part in the inception of a new art gallery, and provides a location perfect for hosting events and gatherings. The new location also hosts visitor information as it is situated on Highway 62 (the 29 Palms Highway), just a block east of the Park Ave. turnoff to Joshua Tree National Park.
Tens of thousands of copies of The Sun Runner are distributed at more than 400 locations throughout the California deserts, and the subscription list includes hundreds of loyal subscribers throughout the country. In 2009, The Sun Runner began limited distribution outside of the desert region, with distribution to Orange County visitor-oriented locations, as well as to the Oceanside California Welcome Center, the Bakersfield Visitor Center, the Lone Pine Visitor Center and other locations. The Sun Runner is also now an active member of the California Deserts Visitors Association, and participated with the CDVA at the 2009 LA Times Travel & Adventure Show.
More than 250 writers, poets, columnists, artists and photographers have contributed to the magazine to date. With our website online since 1999, 100,000+ readers have visited our site from
all over the globe! And in June 2009, our companion site,
www.DesertFunCoupons.com launched with hot desert deals for desert locals and visitors alike!
As The Sun Runner Magazine enters its 16th year of publishing in 2010, it is more popular than ever.
The only desert-wide media in the California desert region, the magazine continues to expand to include more desert communities and reach more desert locals and visitors to the desert, now reaching 50,000+ readers per print issue, and thousands more online through www.thesunrunner.com, www.DesertFunCoupons.com, and our digital editions.
Starting January, 2010, The Sun Runner Magazine also began hosting offices for the California Deserts Visitors Association, the regional tourism marketing association for the California deserts (www.CaliforniaDeserts.org).
Look for more specialty desert publications and online content to come in 2010!
Who says there’s nothing to do in the desert?
Each issue of The Sun Runner brings you the people, places, and events that make the California deserts unique. To find out more about the complete print edition of the magazine, or to receive a free sample copy, click on Subscriptions.
|
