TWL makes top sellers listing

The White Lie made it to number three on the "Mississippi Reads" listing in The Clarion-Ledger on Sunday,  July 20, behind Greg Iles' Natchez Burning and Lisa Howorth's Flying Shoes.

Book launch tour started July 10

Stops at Lemuria in Jackson for the official launch, then in Mobile and Dauphin Island last week.

Book launch this week

The first scene of The White Lie was written in 1998. Once outlined and in draft form the book sailed along fairly quickly. It was a learning experience. A regional press wanted the book a couple of years later and I worked with their editor for a long time, but eventually internal company problems caused them to decide not to publish the book. I put the manuscript  in a drawer, moved on and finished three other manuscripts and published two books--a collection of short fiction (Jefferson Prize finalist) and a cultural history of baseball with David Magee (Triumph Books published it). Then Mindbridge Press wanted this book and we edited it once again. Now we're two days from release on July 10 at Lemuria Book Store in Jackson, Mississippi. 5 signing, 5:30 reading. A long journey for a book. I'm ready to see what folks think. A couple of good reviews have surfaced so far.www.philipshirley.com

New book giveaway on Goodreads

The last giveaway had hundreds of entries so I thought I should give away a couple more books, so go register if you want to try to win one.

Goodreads Giveaway of THE WHITE LIE

Book Trailer for The White Lie

Here is the first book trailer for my novel The White Lie that will be released at Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi on July 10. Will also be signing the next day at LoDa ArtWalk in Mobile on Dauphin STreet 6-9. And on Dauphin Island 25- on that Saturday, July 12, at Mac'n'DD's Emporium. Please stop by....http://bit.ly/1tTyDps

Book giveaway on Goodreads

 Goodreads Book Giveaway

       
  The White Lie  by Philip Shirley.  Giveaway ends June 20, 2014. See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
  Enter to win

The twin tugs of marketing a new book and writing one

The White Lie is now in the hands of the publisher Mindbridge Press. The Advance Reading Copies have been sent to numerous reviewers at places like Library Journal and Kirkus with the hope and wish they will find the book worthy. If you are publishing with a small publisher, make sure they schedule time to get gallies off 12-15 weeks ahead of release date. A few writers have agreed to read the book and provide blurbs if they like the work. Early news is that they seem to like it. It's a waiting game for reviews and blurbs, but mostly for the July 10 release when I can start making the circuit of bookstore signings, conference talks, and readings. As I sit here on a Saturday afternoon overlooking the reservoir, I'd love to be one of those boaters I see. I'd also love to be editing the other novel I recently finished and looking for an agent or publisher. And the other voice in my head insists that I do something to help make sure The White Lie finds readers.

So let's recount the day and see what I did:
Start with a couple of beers and hamburger at the Cherokee Drive-in with my wife & another friend. Check.
Ride around with the top down to put off working. Check.
Stop by Lemuria Bookstore to talk to Johnny about the book launch July 10. (confirmed.) Check.
Ask Johnny to see if Ingram has the book listed for sale yet to bookstores. (It does!) Check.
Walk the dog for the second time, to put off working. Check.
Spray the poison ivy in the garden to put off working. Check.
Update my Philip Shirley personal web site to list the two signings that were confirmed this week. Check.
Edit copy on the website. Check.
Open the file on a short story draft and write a paragraph or two. Check.
Reread a piece of flash fiction to see if it got better sitting idle in the file. (Nope.) Check.
Look up a couple of bookstore addresses to ask Mindbridge to contact for signings. Check.
Look up bloggers who might be interested in reviewing the book. Check.
Read the tutorial on Contribute 2 so figure out how to change leading in the website. (No luck). Check.
Send my publisher an email about the timing of the digital version release. Check.
Open another file to see if any of the half-started, dead-end short stories speaks to me today. (Nope) Check.
Get another beer and imagine selling thousands of copies of The White Lie. Check
Consider editing The Graceland Conspiracy manuscript. (considered, dismissed) Check.
Look up my blogs to see how long it has been since I blogged. Oops, too long. Check.
Write this blog about what book publishing feels like. Check.