Articles by Steve Semken

Imagined Success, Real Success and Commitment To Your Own Business

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Steve Semken

If you had asked me ten years ago would I still be in business as an independent book publisher I would have laughed and said, “No.” But I wouldn’t have meant it. I am determined to do what I care about and it would take a lot to talk me out of what I do […]

Author Events: What We Still Have Left To Offer

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Steve Semken

There is a part of writing and publishing that is entirely dependent on audience engagement. Like the tree that makes no noise if no one is there to hear it: that is, no writing is heard if no one is there to read it. In this case, it’s literally true, the book makes no noise […]

A Query Letter? What Can and Should It Be?

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Steve Semken

After someone finds out you’re a publisher, (the first question, “What do you do?” comes the next question–“What do you publish?” This second question, as is the third question to come soon, is oftentimes a thinly veiled trick question. The third question, as you may have guess, almost 95% of the time takes the form […]

Dreams, Books, E-Books, Writing and Other Random Thoughts From My Publisher’s Life

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Steve Semken

The start of random thoughts: I recently spent three days as a faculty member at the Midwest Writing Center in the Quad Cities and lots and lots of ideas floated through my mouth for both wanna be writers and established authors. The field of being a writer is truly vast and inspirational. Someone could be […]

Myths and Rumors About Book Cover Blurbs

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Steve Semken

Would I put a blurb on the back of book that was not positive? What do you think? People often say that they do not trust book blurbs? Readers, book buyers, reviewers even seem to wonder these days why publishers and authors bother. Worse yet, they do something even more peculiar, they believe that any […]

Future of Publishing

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Steve Semken

I am frequently asked what I think the future of publishing is. As a book publisher I am somewhat nervous about the answer I might give. I am do absolutely believe that publishing has a future. On the one hand I do agree that the physical object we call the book is taking a beating […]

Who published your book? The Publisher’s Life Blog

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Steve Semken

As a beginning author and a beginning publisher, the most dreaded, insecure question you can be asked is: “Did you publish it yourself?” As I wrote in the previous article, sure, being self-published leaves you in good company and there is really nothing inherently wrong with it. In fact, if you look at the facts […]

Becoming Real

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Steve Semken

We live in a frenzied world. Many of us find that the relentless pace and constant distractions of our lives greatly limit our abilities to do anything well, including forming an authentic identity. Being authentic is such a struggle that many people have given up the quest for an integrated, whole self. Becoming Real addresses […]

You Think Self-Publishing Is a Joke? Not So Fast

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Steve Semken

What do Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, even William Blake all have in common? Yes, they were each self-published. If you were going to choose some remarkable role-models these folks wouldn’t be the worst ones you could choose. So why the scorn for the self-published author? Much of it is warranted, but if […]

The Publishing Life, 3

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Steve Semken

Part Three: So I started my newsletter, got some remarkable feedback from some well-known authors and my confidence was high. I grew my mailing list to 500 for Sycamore Roots. I sort of used the newsletter as a business card really. That is, I presented myself in the writing world with it. It was something […]

Personal Experience of the Great Charleston Earthquake

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Steve Semken

During a hot, sultry, and eerie evening on August 31st, 1886, Isabella Strybing Klinck was preparing her family for bed at 134 Broad Street when her home began to shake and fall apart. Written with wit and detail, Isabella’s original account of the Great Earthquake offers a new glimpse of both Charleston’s history and natural […]

The Publisher’s Life #2

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Steve Semken

I left off Part One with deciding I would submit my newly thought-of newsletter Sycamore Roots to a variety of readers. The easiest part of becoming a publisher is actually saying you’re going to do it. The hard part, as it is with anything, is following through. Well, I decided that if I wanted to […]

The Publisher’s Life Blog

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Steve Semken

#1: I plan to introduce the beginning of my life as a Midwestern publisher on Midwest Living and Experiences in several short articles and then explain what I think it means to be an author and/or a book publisher in this day and age. I wouldn’t say there are any uninteresting jobs in this world, […]

Brother’s Blood

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Steve Semken

Update: Ice Cube Press true life murder mystery book Brother’s Blood: A Heartland Cain and Abel has been optioned by USA network’s Sirens star Michael Mosley. The book that is featured on Discovery Investigation’s television channel watch on YouTube Book available direct or through amazon.com, kindle, or nook A real-life crime drama recounted by Scott […]

The Juggler

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Steve Semken

The Juggler received a Silver Book Award from the Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MIPA) Imagine a young farmer…all wiry and tan…yearning to juggle. He can toss chickens, catch doors, juggle cabbages…but he wants to do more! Through the magic of rhythm, rhyme, and color author Jeanette Hopkins and artist Stormy Mochal capture young reader’s delight […]