All posts by Steven Womack

Edgar and Shamus Award-winning author Steven Womack created the groundbreaking Music City Murders series, which was the first series to put Nashville on the map as a setting for the mystery genre. He is also the author of a number of other novels, including the New York Times Notable Book MURPHY’S FAULT. Womack holds the Master of Fine Arts in Writing degree from Southampton College of Long Island University. His latest novel, FADE UP FROM BLACK: THE RETURN OF HARRY JAMES DENTON, brings Harry James Denton and the Music City Murders series back into print. Also a screenwriter and a member of the Writers Guild of America, East, Womack co-wrote the CableAce nominated Proudheart and the ABC-TV movie Volcano: Fire On The Mountain. He was a founding member of the Tennessee Screenwriting Association and joined the faculty of Tennessee’s first film school—The Watkins Film School—in 1995. For the next 25 years, he anchored the screenwriting program there until the college closed in 2020. Visit his website at www.stevenwomack.com.
Indie Publishing, The Writing Life

WizardWorld Comic Con In Nashville

Fabulous writer and wonderful panel moderator Genese Davis invited me to be on a panel at WizardWorld Comic Con in Nashville last Sunday, September 10th. Joe Casey and Jennifer Chesak were also on the panel and it was a great day!

We talked about villains, one of my favorite subjects. Your story’s only as good as your bad guy…

Harry James Denton, Indie Publishing, The Writing Life

Why Everyone Should Consider Going Indie!

Few industries have changed in the past decade more than the publishing industry. There are some real, viable alternatives to spending your entire career begging for book contracts from mainstream publishers. If you’re lucky enough to get a contract, then you’ll turn to begging for marketing, attention, the next contract…

Not necessary anymore, as this article from Ryan Doughan demonstrates. Great job Ryan.  Check it out: http://bit.ly/2wx3bFh

 

Harry James Denton, Indie Publishing, The Writing Life

Harry James Denton Goes Live On Eclipse Day!

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Today is August 21st, the day of the Great American Solar Eclipse. We watched it from the deck and it was amazing. Coincidentally (as if the eclipse excitement wasn’t enough), this is the day the Spearhead Press Ebook editions of the second three Harry James Denton novels went live for pre-order on all major outlets!

Murder Manual has been republished under it’s original title Nobody’s Chain Lays Straight.  Murder Manual has also been retitled, now called A Manual Of Murder. And the last installment in the series, Dirty Money, has retained it’s original title.

Here are the covers. Look for them on all the major Ebook distribution sites:

While I don’t mean to favor one distributor over another, I will note that there’s a series page on Amazon.com, where all six books are on the same page. Nothing like making it easy!

Harry James Denton’s Amazon.com page

 

Harry James Denton, Indie Publishing, The Writing Life

SEMWA Online Interview/Podcast Is Now Available!

On Thursday, June 1st, I had a new adventure. I was the guest of a monthly gathering of the Southeast Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. Only it wasn’t an in-person meeting. We all checked into a website and it was all done over that new-fangled Internet thingy.

My thanks to the wonderful Beth Terrell for putting it together and my thanks to SEMWA for letting me put a link up so everyone can listen. It was a fun time and let’s all go support MWA!

https://recordings.join.me/ZKyd_G5G-0eXPFe4FvHu-w

Harry James Denton, Indie Publishing, The Writing Life

On The Beauty of Indie Publishing…

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I’ve been very quiet on the blog and news front lately, but only because I’ve been so busy on other fronts. The fourth, fifth, and sixth Harry James Denton novels are in the publication pipeline. The fourth, Chain Of Fools, is ready to go. The fifth, Murder Manual, is with the copy editor, and I’m putting together the files for Dirty Money.

My wonderful book cover designer, Dawn Charles at BookGraphics.net, is working on the covers as we speak.

And here’s the beauty of the independent publishing movement–twenty years or so ago, when the Harry James Denton novels were originally published by Ballantine Books, I lost two different battles over titles. My editor didn’t like my original title for the fourth novel, so he vetoed it and called the book Chain Of Fools. I think he was trying to maintain some kind of music riff after Dead Folks’ Blues and Torch Town Boogie.

But when I hear that title, all I can think of is the Aretha Franklin hit from 1968. In fact, if you Google Chain Of Fools, that’s what you get: All Aretha/All The Time…

So since I’m now the publisher as well as the author, I’m reverting back to the original title for that novel, Nobody’s Chain Lays Straight.

Hope everyone likes it. Same with the title to the fifth novel, Murder Manual. The original title for that one was Life’s Little Murder Manual.

So that’s what it’s going back to.

Enjoy…

Uncategorized

So What’s A “Shopping Agreement?”

A very good friend of mine, actor-writer Sam Dalton, has co-developed a possible episodic TV series with his collaborator. They’ve got a producer interested, but rather than a traditional option, the producer wants what is become increasingly common in the film business, a “shopping agreement.”

So what is a shopping agreement? In an industry that is as complicated and as laden with legal minefields as film and publishing, a shopping agreement is an attempt to move a project forward without the time, expense and hassle of engaging a crew of lawyers.

But as this article from FilmmakerMagazine.com reveals, it’s really difficult to get past all that:

Not an Option: The Ins and Outs of Shopping Agreements