I just wanted to share this with everyone. Last night, we went to the Southern Festival of Books reveal party. This is where they announce the authors who will be appearing at the SFB in October…
The event was held at the wonderful Parnassus Books in Nashville, and while there, I saw the print edition of Dead Folks’ Blues.
It’s the first time I’ve seen a real print edition of one of my books in a real bookstore in ages and, brother, did it feel good…
Just had to share it.
Thirty years ago, I sold my first novel, Murphy’s Fault. It sold in late 1988, but it didn’t come out until 1990. I remember being so thrilled when Mill’s Bookstore (a long-gone local independent) agreed to give me a book signing.
I sent out something like a hundred invitations (by snailmail, no less) and dozens of phone calls. Invited every friend, every family member… I was one of the founding members of the Tennessee Screenwriting Association, so everybody in that group got an invite.
The signing was on a Sunday afternoon. I was terrified. What if nobody showed up?
When I got there, I was thrilled. There was already a crowd forming. The staffers at Mills (one of whom, Michael Sims, would go on to become one of my closest pals and a writer whose success far eclipsed mine) were already bringing out more folding chairs. My parents, my brother and sister-in-law, my grandmother all came…
It was an amazing day. Mills had optimistically way over-ordered, but every one of the 130+ copies they had on hand were snapped up. By the time the signing was over, Michael and Ron Watson were reaching into the front windows to pull out display copies for people.
I was drained, exhausted, spent, but it was one of the best days of my life…
And I thought “Man, I got this nailed… I am on my way now.”
Then reality hit. I’ve never had a signing like that again, to this day. Nowhere near it…
In the 90s, when I was really working this business, I went on a bunch of book tours, almost all self-financed. Most of those signings were like the one that Sharyn McCrumb and I did at a Little Professor Bookstore in Birmingham, where we sat next to each other at the front of the store during a weekday lunch hour.
Most of the people who came in thought we worked there. I remember someone asking me what the special of the day was in the cafe…
So when I read Tom McAllister’s article today on a website I’ve just discovered called TheMillions.com , it really put me in mind of those early days. And how much I thought the world would beat a path to my door because I’d written a freakin’ book…
Every writer needs to read this. Take a look:
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
Wonderful mystery writer and great human being Jaden Terrell runs a website for mystery fans called Crimereaders.com. I was thrilled and honored to be her guest today for a short talk about the return of Harry James Denton…
You can check it out at: https://crimereaders.com/2017/04/04/steven-womack/
Torch Town Boogie
Are all back in print and available through all major EBook distribution outlets!
Thanks to everyone for their support and kind words. We all appreciate it!
Last Saturday, July 12th, Humanities Tennessee held its first-ever Release Party at the Brentwood Public Library. During the event, they presented a slide show of the upcoming list of attending authors. I was thrilled when this came up, and I thank my wife, Shalynn, for snapping this pic…
I’ve been a little busy lately on some time-consuming projects, so haven’t had a chance to send any updates or posts to the blog… But the signing at Barnes & Noble in Cool Springs went really well. A great evening, and my thanks to Robbie Bryan at B&N for making it happen!
My wife, Shalynn, snapped a fun picture at the event. Here it is:
Wow, what a great night at Parnassus Books. The signing last night went really well. A good crowd, lots of good questions, and the chance to catch up with some friends I haven’t seen in awhile. I’m grateful to all the folks at Parnassus for hosting the event. It’s a marvelous bookstore and I encourage everyone to spend their money there!
As for catching up with a few buddies, here are a couple:
Tomorrow, June 17th, is my first signing for RESURRECTION BAY. It will be held at Parnassus Books in Nashville at 6:30 p.m. We’ll also have copies of BY BLOOD WRITTEN for sale as well. I look forward to seeing friends, family, colleagues, supporters and anyone else who wants to come and support independent bookselling!
Here’s a link to the event:
http://www.parnassusbooks.net/event/author-event-steven-womack-author-resurrection-bay