Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Geoff Habiger. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Geoff , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

The idea for starting our publishing company came from a desire to tell one particular story – the adoption of three girls from Ukraine, my sisters. My parents completed the adoption in 1997 and my step-mother wrote about the effort, tribulations, and joy of that process. This was the early 2000’s and self-publishing, as we know it today, really didn’t exist. However my step-mother found a couple of books that gave a step-by-step guide to making your own publishing company. It seemed simple enough, and way easier than trying to find an agent or go the more traditional route to publish a book. We brainstormed on a good name for our business, filled out the necessary paperwork to register, and then we had our very own publishing company.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up in the wild hinterland of the Flint Hills of Kansas. Every morning I woke up to the sounds of peacocks and roaring lions (no, really – we lived below the city zoo) and I would trudge to school, walking up hill both ways. (Again true, since we lived at the bottom of a hill, and the school was also at the bottom of a hill. Welcome to the Flint Hills.) I attended Kansas State University and got a B.S. degree in geology, which has really helped me work a variety of careers in fast food, retail, pharmaceuticals, and publishing. Actually, my time in retail was very helpful in becoming a publisher as I worked for Hastings Entertainment as a store manager. They sold books, music, and movies and this gave me some insight into the publishing world from the perspective of a retailer. I came to be a publisher through a round about way, with a book my step-mother wrote about the adoption of my sisters from Ukraine. This was in the early 2000’s and before self-publishing as we know it today. So, we learned to become a publisher. But we did it the smart way and we did not give up our day jobs. Still haven’t. I continue to operate Artemesia Publishing as a side hustle, putting in the hours in the evening and weekends to publish our titles.

I think that even though we’ve operated Artemesia Publishing on top of working a full-time job we have been very successful. Since our first book was published in 2004 we’ve now published over 50 titles from 20+ authors. While this may not be the output of one of the big New York publishers, or even some other small publishers in the industry, we think the boutique nature of our house gives us an edge. It allows us to focus on quality over quantity and that is reflected in the recognitions our authors have received. We’ve had multiple award-winning titles over the years and have managed, on occasion, to produce a bestseller or two.

Our focus has been primarily on fiction titles, though we have published a few non-fiction titles as well. We have two imprints. Kinkajou Press focuses on early reader and middle grade fiction, while Shadow Dragon Press focuses on horror, fantasy, science fiction, and speculative fiction. As a small, independent, traditional publisher we work in partnership with authors to bring their books to publication. I think this is the thing that I am most proud of with our publishing business. Because I work on every aspect of a books development I am as invested in the book as the author. Working in partnership gives the author much more control over their book, more so than they might get from another small or mid-size publisher, and certainly more control than they get from a big publisher. From editing, cover design, book layout, and marketing, we encourage our authors to be part of the process.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Well, we’ve been doing it for 18 years! I think that in itself, especially in an industry as outdated at times as publishing is, says a lot. Our first, oh… 12 or 13 years were pretty lean. Doing everything on your own, with no staff, means a lot gets left behind. We published great books but had no sales traction. Sure, we were on Amazon, and had distribution through Ingram Books, but it was always a struggle. A few big accounts that bought titles in bulk helped, but that didn’t make up for lean sales everywhere else. But in 2017 we got an opportunit to be distributed by a small distributor out of NY. That was a huge win for us as we’d had a hard time getting some of the distributors to notice us, and even when we did, often times the distributor would go under. (Publishing is a brutal industry at times.) And then, after we were picked up for distribution this small publisher was bought by one of the largest distributors in the industry. And we got to come along. That has been a huge boon for us and we’ve really seen our sales take off since 2017 and 2018. So, I think our resilience is partly due to being patient, to sticking with our passion to publish great books. That patience was rewarded and we’r not looking back.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Our mission as a small, indepentend publisher has always been to publish “quality books by quality authors that will inform, educate, and entertain the reader”. Our goal is to give unknown authors who have a story that needs to be told and shared with the world, a chance to share it when other pathways (agents, big publishers, etc.) may not be available or may be too large of a hurdle to overcome. I think that’s something that the larger publishers have forgotten – publishing isn’t about numbers and dollars and bestsellers – it’s about passion for the craft and exposing readers to stories from authors who may have never gotten the chance from the rest of the industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://apbooks.net/
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ArtemesiaPublishing
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/344496/admin/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtemesiaGeoff
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@artemesiapublishing8437

Image Credits
All images are credit to Artemesia Publishing.