Atticus Gold Winners Profiled in Independent Publisher

It’s not every day that a publisher has an author win a gold medal for fiction. So imagine how amazing it was when indie publisher Atticus Books learned it swept four regional gold medals this year!


That’s the subject of an article in the most recent issue of Independent Publisher. Jillian Bergsma interviewed Atticus Books CEO and founder Dan Cafaro and 2012 fiction gold medalists John Minichillo, JM Tohline, and Tommy Zurhellen … and yours truly.

“My goal with Atticus Books is to create a new publishing paradigm that elevates great literature far beyond the classroom and outside the pages of a static book,” Dan Cafaro said. “There's a thrill in knowing that the writers whose works we support are creating a legacy that will outlast all of us!”


JM Tohline: “The Great Lenore came to me the same way any other story ideas had come to me in the preceding years, and have come to me since: it just sort of showed up. First, it was the seed of an idea. Then, it began to grow. And soon, I held a whole story in my hands.”


Tommy Zurhellen: “The Badlands are a desolate but magical place, and after visiting them over and over it became clear to me that this book really couldn't be set anyplace else.”


John Minichillo: “Moby-Dick was a wealth of inspiration and the story I got out of it was a joy to write and a gift. So the idea to do a retelling of Moby-Dick came first, something I'd kicked around for years without a good ‘way in’ to the story.”


Eric D. Goodman: “A local on the literary scene made the case that all good fiction begins as regional fiction. I took his advice to heart and began setting my stories and books in concrete places—the real sights and restaurants and cafes in Baltimore and Chicago. I think that helped ground the stories.”


Dan Cafaro: “The authors we sign have a knack for writing visual, compelling narratives whose characters and story lines are quirky and timeless. I'm elated to have our books connected with the IPPY awards. Publishing needs the IPPYs as much as the film industry needs Sundance.”


Read the entire story and find out what these Atticus Authors are doing next at


http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1550&urltitle=Atticus%20Books%20Takes%20Home%20Four%20IPPY%20Gold%20Medals