Imaginarium 2019 is proud to welcome author, playwright, publisher, and entrepreneur Gene Rowley as a Spotlighted Guest! Gene’s Jumpmaster Press is the home of the The JumpCard® and JumpCardID™ , innovative solutions that have the potential to revolutionize the grassroots distribution of audiobooks and eBooks! Attendees are going to have an opportunity to explore these cutting-edge innovations and also learn from Gene’s expertise in many areas during our panel and workshop programming. We are absolutely thrilled to have Gene joining us this year!

About Gene Rowley:

Gene was born in New Hampshire, and as a child his family moved frequently. He started in radio by accident — literally. In High School, Gene was hired to dig a ditch at a local radio station in Dover, Delaware and fell into it about half-way through the project. The Program Director liked his voice so much that he offered him a job on the spot, sprained ankle and all. Gene went on to work at radio stations in Birmingham and Houston, TX, climbing the radio ladder to Los Angeles, where he worked at KKLA.

While working at Classic Rock 99.5 in Birmingham, Gene met his wife, Mandy. They’ve been married for 24 years and have 3 beautiful, incredibly active, daughters- Amanda, Samantha and Jessica. A constant of Gene’s life has been a love for acting and the entertainment industry. With his experience in radio, voice acting became second nature and he eventually becoming a nationally recognized voice actor, owner of Gene Rowley Voiceover. Ilko Drozdoski, owner of TGMD Talent Agency in Los Angeles once said, “If you’ve ever been to the movies or watched tv, you’ve heard Gene’s voice.” Gene has been nominated three years in a row for Audiobook Narration of the Year by the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences.

Also in High School, Gene heard the call to serve his country and the day after graduation left for Army Basic Training. Following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, he joined the Alabama Army National Guard serving in the 20th Special Forces Group, from which he retired in 2012. He was a Paratrooper, Jump Master, Master Parachutist, served 2 tours in Afghanistan, 1 tour in Iraq, finally being selected for Flight School and serving as the Platoon SGT for the first Special Forces UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) platoon in Alabama.

He returned to Alabama with a passion and determination to give back to Shelby County, started APH Radio, a local non-profit radio station in 2011. APH Radio went on the air August 1st 2014 and has been serving the Shelby County area ever since. The station’s mission is to be a voice for local small business, to keep Shelby County dollars in Shelby County and to grow the local charitable giving community by funding ministries, charities and civic organizations. To that end, APH Radio has helped over a hundred local organizations raise funds and awareness of their cause, all while receiving no personal compensation.

Gene unsuccessfully ran for Shelby County Commissioner and has since started two new ventures, Gene Rowley Consulting, a successful Technology Consulting Firm and Jumpmaster Press, a national publishing company, distributing innovative products to authors and readers while also creating a grass-roots distribution model for independent authors.

Gene is currently working on his fourth novel under his pen-name, E.G. Rowley.