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Independent press finds continued success in age of Internet

By Gigi Wood

Anyone can publish a book in today’s world.

With web resources such as lulu.com, anyone can write, edit and design a book. That doesn’t necessarily mean anyone will read it, let alone buy it.

“I don’t see it as competition one iota,” says Steve Semken, owner of the North Liberty-based Ice Cube Press, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.

The company publishes books with an environmental and Midwest bent.

“I like stories of place and how to best live with the natural world and the environment,” he says. “So if I could I would only sell books on rivers and trees and birds.”

Most of the authors who publish with Ice Cube are local. Semken receives about 100 submissions a year, but typically publishes half a dozen or less. This fall, he is publishing four books.

“Everyone wants to write a book and everyone wants to have readings,” he says. “I’m handling what everyone values in their life; it’s definitely a wish and a dream come true for them.”

The difference between web publishers and Ice Cube Press is Semken prints books that will sell, with a high-quality presentation, he says. All Ice Cube Press books are printed on recycled paper.

“A lot of that print on demand is poor quality,” he says.

As he celebrates 15 years of business, Semken’s job isn’t any easier. As he becomes better known in writing circles, he receives better submissions from more accomplished writers. He only has the resources, however, to print a few different titles a year.

“I’m on a quest to keep topping myself,” he says. “All of the books are treated equally but not all sell equally.”

He shops his books around at various bookstores, but tries to find other outlets as well.

“A bookstore isn’t a good place to sell a book because you’re competing with so many other books,” Semken says. “I just wish everyone liked to buy books as much as they like to write them.”

He already has book contracts signed with authors for 2009 and 2010. He spends the first part of the year editing and designing the books and the second half of the year printing and selling.

Semken started Ice Cube Press in 1993. He began by printing a quarterly newsletter with a subscription base of 500.

“I didn’t go through and do a business plan, I didn’t decide how much money I would need, I just did it,” he says.

He published his first book, his own, “River Tips and Tree Trunks” in 1996.

“I had always glorified the writing life, I always wanted to be a writer and would do other jobs and write during breaks,” he says. “I never planned it to last very long. It was just a way to experience an idea I wanted to be part of. When I started I just was very enamored with it.”

His goal has always been to make enough money on a book to cover the costs of producing it, which he has accomplished from the beginning.

“If I hadn’t made my money back with enough leftover to say, ‘wow, this is really cool,’ I wouldn’t have continued,” he says.

This article originally appeared in the Corridor Business Journal.