Publishing Portal--January 9, 2024

The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.

*Happy Birthday!

=Eckhartz Press author Jeanne Bellezzo celebrated her birthday yesterday (January 8). Her book Rantings of a Bitter Childless Woman came out in 2016. I did a Q&A with her when it was released.  That's Eckhartz Press co-publisher Dave Stern with her at her Chicago book signing.

*Shoeless Joe

=This is a big month for our recently published book about the Shoeless Joe trial. That trial took place exactly 100 years ago this month, and until we published the transcript last year, it had been out of the public eye for nearly a century. Learn more about it here.

*The Loop Files

=I’ve been blown away by the great reviews of my latest book The Loop Files. This may be my favorite one. Thanks so much, Christopher Sutter.

=The publicity tour continued last week with an appearance on The Average Joe podcast. I'll post a link when I get it.

=I'll be out and about for another book signing on January 21st. Really looking forward to this one. I'll be at the Chicagoland Record show from 10am--2pm. 

*Leaving Glory for Greatness

=Lou Macaluso will be signing and selling his Eckhartz Press book Leaving Glory for Greatness at the Thornton Distillery Book Fair, 400 E. Margaret Street, Thornton, IL on February 4th from Noon to 5pm. Mark it on your calendar now.

*Surviving Sue

=Author Vicki Atkinson is now part of the CWA Speaker's Bureau. To find out what her presentation is all about, click here.

=She is also appearing at a virtual event. Register here. Details below.

*Righteous Might

=In 2020 Eckhartz Press published the debut novel of Keith Conrad, Righteous Might. It's a science fiction exploration of the Pearl Harbor attack. Well, Keith has a new audio project to share, Dimension of the Lost. Here's the description.

    Pop culture over the past twenty years or so is riddled with stories about pioneering scientists visiting new worlds. In the 1990’s there was Sliders, there was also Stargate SG-1 with a different planet every week. In this week’s story "Dimension of the Lost," three scientists visit three different dimensions. Two of them have life-changing experiences, while the third ends up solving a mystery that has haunted humanity for generations.

*Doin the Cruise

 =This week in 2018, West Suburban Living reviewed Mitch Michael's book.

=Rod Stewart is celebrating a birthday this week. You may not realize that Doin The Cruise author Mitch Michaels played a key role in Rod's song "Maggie Mae" becoming a big hit. He tells that story in the book. (That's Mitch in the middle of the pic below)

*We Have Company

 =Bobby Skafish's 2016 Eckhartz Press book We Have Company: Four Decades of Rock and Roll Encounters is a rock and roll lover's dream. Bobby has met and interviewed them all. Two of them have birthdays this week; the late David Bowie and Dave Matthews. Their stories (and these photos) are in the book.

*Behind the Glass

 =Randy Merkin's 2021 book Behind the Glass: Stories from a Sports Radio Producer is the sports equivalent of Bobby's book. For instance, three Hall of Famers who were born this week in history, Bruce Sutter, Bart Starr and Dick Enberg, are featured.

*Monkey in the Middle

 =Dobie Maxwell's gripping personal story about a bank robbery was reviewed this week in 2017. Dobie's book remains one of our best sellers. 

 *Records Truly Is My Middle Name

 =John Records Landecker's book was a finalist for CWA Book of the Year in 2013. When John was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2017, we re-released the book with additional stories and photos. Among the new photos...this one of John and his daughter Amy with the richest man in the world (at the time), who happens to be celebrating a birthday this week.

*Back in the DDR

 =My latest novel came out for Christmas of 2022. This week in 2023 (that was already a year ago?) I made my first book club appearance. Excellent snacks, if I recall correctly.

*The Balding Handbook

 =We sold out of the book, but before it went out of print, The Balding Handbook helped countless balding souls. Eleven years ago this week author David Stern was on Mancow's television show talking about it.

*The Living Wills

=12 years ago this week, Rick and Brendan discuss the tricky collaboration that led to the first Eckhartz Press book, The Living Wills.

 *Truffle Hunt

=Eckhartz Press author Brent Peterson is now a podcasting star...

Publishing Portal--January 2, 2024

 

The latest news from Eckhartz Press, and a chance to peek into some of the great previous offerings from our humble little publishing company.

EP News

*The Loop Files publicity tour continues

=Thanks to Pete McMurray and Steve Cochran for having me on WLS last week.

=The Chicago Writes podcast also features The Loop Files this month. 

=Thanks to everyone who bought it over the Christmas season. 

*A Peek Inside: Surviving Sue. Author Victoria Atkinson discusses the feedback she got at a recent book club event. Vicki also co-hosts a podcast called The Heart of the Matter.

*Eckhartz Press author Brent Petersen (Truffle Hunt) is featured in this month's Illinois Entertainer, talking about his podcast Destination Eat Drink.

*One of the questions I got asked quite often during my recent publicity tour: How do you choose the books you publish? We are a Chicago-based publisher, so we are looking for Chicago stories and/or Chicago authors. Our submission guidelines are posted on the website.

This Week in Eckhartz Press history

This week's look back at Eckhartz Press history gives some good examples of the type of stories and authors that we look for...

*In 2022, one of our top selling books was Chili Dog MVP, a look back at the magical 1972 White Sox season that featured the heroics of the great slugger Dick Allen. It was honored at the Book of the Year awards by the Chicago Writers Association that year.

*The Daily Herald featured the book this week in 2022.

*One of the other players featured in the book, the late Bart Johnson, was born this week in 1950.

 

*In 2012 we were a brand new company pushing our very first book. The Living Wills was a collaborative novel written by Brendan Sullivan and Rick Kaempfer using techniques we learned from the world of improv.

*We wrote it at The Catalyst Ranch, and they interviewed us this week in 2012 about our process.

*The Northwest Indiana Times also reviewed the book this week in 2012. 

*This week the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame celebrates its 10th year as a 501c3 Not For Profit. It's a great organization and we're proud to have the president and founder of the CLHOF as part of the Eckhartz Press stable of authors. Donald G. Evans wrote a wonderful collection of short stories called An Off-White Christmas.

*The notorious Chicago gangster Joey "the Clown" Lombardo was born on January 1st. Lombardo is featured in the pages of Mob Adjacent by Jeffrey and Michael Gentile. The Eckhartz Press book was a finalist for CWA Book of the Year in 2020.

 

 

*The former Chicago Daily News arts reporter (and Northwestern University professor) Jack Hafferkamp released his novel Sepsis via Eckhartz Press this week in 2017.

 

*In 2022, Eckhartz Press released Chuck Swirsky's memoir Always a Pleasure. It features some great stories about his life as a sportscaster, and some memorable photos as well. Here he is with this week's birthday boy Lou Holtz. 

*In 2018, Eckhartz Press released the final book from another great Chicago sportscaster, Chet Coppock. Your Dime My Dance Floor is a tour through the history of Chicago sports, told by someone who had a front row seat. This photo from the book features Chet with this week's birthday boy, former White Sox slugger Ron Kittle.

 

*In 2021 we released a book about all the American soccer players who had gone to play professionally in the Premier League. It's called Transatlantic Passage, and was written by Paul Banks. Here's what this week's birthday boy Dave Kerner had to say about it...

• “You’ll love reading about what it’s like to be a soccer (always going to be football to me!) fan from multiple perspectives. Thanks to Paul and this in depth look at the evolution of international soccer in the United States, in some ways negative for the men’s game, and in some ways positive for the women’s game.”

  Dave Kerner, Sports Anchor, WBBM Radio

 

And finally, this time last year I appeared on David W. Berner's podcast to tell him my New Years Resolutions. I vowed to finish a book I was writing about a certain radio station. For once, I lived up to my New Years resolution.