At Genius Book Publishing, we spend a lot of time introducing you to the authors behind the books we love. But this time, we’re turning the spotlight inward.
Meet Steven W. Booth: author, artist, publisher, entrepreneur, founder of Genius Book Publishing, and, in my entirely unbiased opinion, the best boss ever.
Many readers know Steven as the publisher behind Genius, the person helping bring bold, unusual, thought-provoking, and sometimes deliciously dark books into the world. But before Genius became what it is today, Steven was already a writer with stories of his own to tell.
And one of those stories helped start it all.
The Hungry Series
Co-authored with Harry Shannon, The Hungry introduces readers to Sheriff Penny Miller, a tough, sharp, and heavily armed law officer facing an outbreak of the undead in the small town of Flat Rock, Nevada.
When a mutated virus unleashes zombies on the town, Penny has to lead a very unlikely group to safety, including her ex-husband, a dangerous biker named Scratch, and a not-exactly-perfect unit of National Guardsmen. With murderous bikers, military threats, and hordes of the hungry closing in, Penny does what she does best:
She aims for the brain.
The series is fast, intense, funny, gruesome, and full of the kind of grit and heart that makes apocalyptic horror so much fun to read. It is zombie fiction with teeth, but also with humor, intelligence, and a surprising amount of hope.
The Orchard
Steven’s The Orchard takes readers in a different direction, but with just as much tension.
Charlotte Wilson is an investigative journalist covering a mysterious global pandemic with no clear cause. When the COO of a multinational biotech company contacts her claiming he knows what is making people sick, Charlotte and her producer Nick realize they may have the story of a lifetime.
But as Charlotte digs deeper, she uncovers a conspiracy twelve years in the making, one that reaches into both her professional and personal life. Millions of lives may depend on her breaking the story, but the truth is so big, the question becomes: will anyone believe her?
And perhaps more importantly, will she live long enough to tell it?
Part mystery, part suspense, and part eerily plausible bio-thriller, The Orchard is the kind of book that pulls you in quickly and leaves you thinking about it long after the final page.
More Than a Publisher
What I love about featuring Steven is that he is not only the person behind Genius Book Publishing, he is also one of the creative minds who helped build the foundation it stands on.
He understands books from both sides of the desk: as a publisher working with authors, and as an author who knows what it means to sit with a story, wrestle with it, shape it, and finally send it out into the world.
That combination matters.
It means he brings not only business experience to publishing, but empathy. He knows the courage it takes to write a book. He knows the strange, wonderful, exhausting process of bringing a story to life. And he knows how much it means when someone believes in your work.
That spirit is a huge part of Genius.
So today, we are celebrating Steven W. Booth not just as the founder and publisher of Genius Book Publishing, but as the author of thrilling, imaginative, page-turning fiction in his own right.
And yes, also as the best boss ever.
Read Steven W. Booth
If you love zombie fiction with grit, humor, and a fierce heroine, start with The Hungry.
If you prefer suspense, mystery, and a chillingly plausible conspiracy, pick up The Orchard.
Either way, you’ll be stepping into the mind of a storyteller who knows how to keep readers turning pages.
Call to Action:
Have you read The Hungry or The Orchard yet? Let us know which Steven W. Booth book you’re adding to your list first.