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.

Eckhartz Everyday

 

*On this day in 2013, Eckhartz Press author Chuck Quinzio (Life Behind the Camera) appeared on the radio with the late Dick Kay (WCPT).

*On this day in 2016, Eckhartz Press author Brent Petersen (Truffle Hunt) wrote this piece about saving truffles.

*On this day in 2018, Eckhartz Press author Beth Jacobellis (Cameo) tried out for a role on WGN Radio's Christmas Carol.

*Today is also Peter Buck's birthday. The guitarist from REM is featured in the pages of Bobby Skafish's book, We Have Company. (Photo: Buck, Skafish, Mills)

Eckhartz Everyday

 *On this day in 2020, the Eckhartz Press novel Righteous Might was released. The audio book was released exactly one year later, in 2021.

*On this day in 2021, I was on the John Landecker show on WGN Radio discussing my book EveryCubEver. You can check it out here.

*Two big Cubs birthdays today: Randy Hundley and Carlos Zambrano. Both of them have appeared with Randy Richardson and Becky Sarwate-Maxwell while they were promoting their book Cubsessions.

*On this day in 2015, Truffle Hunt author Brent Petersen released this video from a farmer's market in Texas...

Eckhartz Everyday

*On this day in 2018, Eckhartz Press author Randy Richardson had a book signing at the Billy Goat on lower Michigan to celebrate his book Cubsessions.

*Also on this day in 2018, Eckhartz Press author Beth Jacobellis (Cameo) appeared on the show America's Most Haunted to talk about her book. You can listen to that here.

*On this day in 2017, Eckhartz Press author Brent Petersen discovered something called Synthetic Truffles, which he had featured in his novel Truffle Hunt, before they actually existed in the real world. Read his piece about that here.

*On this day in 2019, Dave Hoekstra paid tribute to the late Eckhartz Press author Pat Colander (Hugh Hefner's First Funeral) on WGN Radio. You can still find that here.

Eckhartz Everyday

*On this day in 2015, I appeared on WBEZ Radio (NPR) to talk about my book Father Knows Nothing. You can listen to that interview here. (Photo: Taken from outside WBEZ window)

*On this day in 2017, Eckhartz Press author Brent Petersen (Truffle Hunt) found a story about fake truffles that mirrored a story-line in his great novel. You can read all about that here.

Eckhartz Everyday

 

*On this day in 2015, the Eckhartz Press book Truffle Hunt was officially released. It's a great novel for foodies. Here's the author Brent Petersen with the first copy of his book. Since the book's release, Brent has become the editor-in-chief of the website Destination Eat Drink, and the host of the podcast of the same name. Highly recommended. He now lives in Portugal.

*Today is Eckhartz Press author Janet Sutherland Madden's birthday. Janet wrote the book Nose Over Toes about her recovery from a ruptured brain aneurysm. She is currently working on another book (details to come later this year!)

Eckhartz Everyday

*Today is Eckhartz Press author Alex Burkholder's birthday. He wrote the tremendous book about one of the most famous fires in Chicago history, the Our Lady of the Angels fire in 1958. The book, Death of the Angels, came out to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the fire.

 *On this day in 2015, Eckhartz Press author Brent Petersen released this video to promote his book Truffle Hunt. It includes a great truffle recipe. Worth your while, foodies.

*Also on this day in 2015, Eckhartz Press author Kipper McGee got a great write up about his book Brandwidth. To read that, click here.

*Today would have been Jimmy Durante's birthday. Only one Eckhartz Press book could have a story about Jimmy Durante. It's the finalist for 2021 Book of the Year, Mob Adjacent by Jeffrey and Mike Gentile. Still available here at Eckhartz Press.

Eckhartz Everyday

*On this day in 2015, Brent Petersen's Eckhartz Press novel Truffle Hunt (still available here), became available (pre-sale) for the first time. What is it about?

“Truffle Hunt” serves up a five-star gourmet feast of murder, hidden historical gems, deep family pride, a dash of humor and romance, topped with delicate slices of heavenly, golden truffles and a glass of nectar from the deepest Eastern European wine cellars. As a gourmand, mushroom hunter, animal lover and world traveler, I ate the delicious book up in just a couple of sittings. Now, all I need is a truffle hunting dog, a simian bartender, and I can I can bring the pages of this book to life in my kitchen!

Vesna Plakanis, Owner, A Walk in the Woods, Nature Guide Service

*Ken Frailing is celebrating a birthday today. Frailing has the distinction of being part of two Eckhartz Press books. He pitched for the Cubs, so naturally, he is in the book EveryCubEver. He was also a member of the 1972 White Sox, so he is also a part of our new Dick Allen book Chili Dog MVP. Both books are still available at Eckhartz Press.

Truffle Hunt Video

One of the great things about our new novel "Truffle Hunt" is that it makes your mouth water. Author Brent Petersen really makes the food in the book come to life on the page--there are even a few truffle recipes at the end of the book.

He's now doing a video series of those recipes to promote the book. The first one is Truffled Macaroni and Cheese...



Truffle Hunt ships next week! Make sure to pre-order your copy today.