Dr. Miller’s “Politics” prevails among Sunbury Press bestsellers. Cli-Fi novel leads fiction.

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Sunbury Press has released the bestsellers list for September, 2015. Dr. William N. Miller took the top spot with his education memoir “The Politics of Prevailing.” Dr. Edward Rubin’s Cli-Fi novel “The Heatstroke Line” led fiction in 3rd place. Darla Henry’s “3-5-7 Model” was 2nd.

SUNBURY PRESS – Bestsellers for September, 2015 (by Revenue)
Rank	Last Month	Title	Author	Category
1	NEW	The Politics of Prevailing	William N Miller	Education
2	—	The 3-5-7 Model	Darla Henry	Counseling
3	NEW	The Heatstroke Line	Edward Rubin	Climate Fiction
4	4	Capital Murder	Chris Papst	Investigation
5	5	Where Elephants Fought	Bridget Smith	Historical Fiction
6	11	Call Sign Dracula	Joe Fair	War Memoir
7	NEW	The Alabaster Jar	Marie Sontag	YA Fiction
8	3	The Segregated Georgia School for the Deaf	Ron Knorr & Clemmie Whatley	History
9	NEW	The Penns’ Manor of Spread Eagle and the Grist Mills of the Upper Mahantongo Valley	Steve Troutman	History
10	—	The Sign of the Eagle	Jess Steven Hughes	Historical Fiction
11	—	Murder Run	Shelly Frome	Murder Mystery
12	19	Raising Monarchs	Sue Fox McGovern	Nature
13	10	Dead of Summer	Sherry Knowlton	Murder Mystery
14	—	The Wolf of Britannia Part II	Jess Steven Hughes	Historical Fiction
15	—	The Wolf of Britannia Part I	Jess Steven Hughes	Historical Fiction
16	7	The B Team	Alan Mindell	Sports Fiction
17	—	A Brother’s Cold Case	Dennis Herrick	Murder Mystery
18	12	Winter of the Metal People	Dennis Herrick	Historical Fiction
19	—	Head Over Wheels	Ken Mercurio	Medical Memoir
20	26	That Night at Surigao	Ernie Marshall	History
21	—	Beagle Tales 5	Bob Ford	Humor
22	15	The Bronze Dagger	Marie Sontag	YA Fiction
23	—	Dead of Autumn	Sherry Knowlton	Murder Mystery
24	—	Beagle Tales 4	Bob Ford	Humor
25	9	The Closer	Alan Mindell	Sports Fiction
26	—	Courting Doubt and Darkness	J M West	Murder Mystery
27	—	Dying for Vengeance	J M West	Murder Mystery
28	1	Jesus the Phoenician	Karim El Koussa	Religious History
29	14	Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last	Mike Campbell	History
30	18	Pit Bulls	Anthony Julian	History

Sales for the 3rd quarter just ended were nearly double sales in Q3 of 2014. EBooks were down about 10% over the same quarterly period. Hardcover sales are up 10x from Q3 2014. Year-to-date, sales are up over 92% from 2014. Comparing Septembers, sales were nearly 1.5x higher, year-over-year. The company is expecting its best 4th quarter ever.

Dr. William Miller’s “The Politics of Prevailing” rocketed to the top thanks to advance sales. Darla Henry’s “The 3-5-7 Model” placed due to orders for conferences in Canada. “The Heatstroke Line,” Dr. Edward Rubin’s first novel is pioneering in the “Cli-Fi” category, burning up to #3 due to author activities. Chris Papst’s “Capital Murder” held at #4 as the author appeared on numerous radio programs nationwide. Bridget Smith’s historical novel “Where Elephants Fought” stuck at #5 thanks to author appearances in Mississippi. “Call Sign Dracula,” the Vietnam memoir by Joe Fair, moved up again to #6 thanks to author appearances at veterans events. Marie Sontag’s new historical YA novel, “The Alabaster Jar,” debuted at #7 due to author appearances at schools. It’s prequel, “The Bronze Dagger,” also charted at #22. “The Segregated Georgia School for he Deaf,” by professors Ron Knorr and Clemmie Whatley of Mercer University, slid to #8, but continues to sell steadily. “The Penns’ Manor of Spread Eagle and the Grist Mills of the Upper Mahantongo Valley” by Steve Troutman ground to #9 thanks to advance orders. Jess Steven Hughes’ three novels: “The Sign of the Eagle” (#10), “The Wolf of Britannia Part II (#14), and “The Wolf of Britannia Part I” (#15) marched onto three spots on the chart in tandem with author appearances in Washington and Oregon. Shelly Frome’s recently-released “Murder Run” vaulted to #11 prior to author appearances in North Carolina. “Raising Monarchs,” Sue Fox McGovern’s instructions on saving these disappearing butterlies, flitted to #12 due to sales to bookstores. Sherry Knowlton’s “Dead of Summer” (#13), and “Dead of Autumn” (#23) held two spots thanks to author appearances. Alan Mindell’s sports novels The B Team (#16) and The Closer (#25) perservered thanks to continued interest in the author’s new website and blog and his appearance schedule. Dennis Herrick was another author with two books on the chart: “A Brother’s Cold Case” #17 and “Winter of the Metal People” next in line at #18. Dennis continues his appearance schedule in New Mexico. Ken Mercurio’s “Head Over Wheels” flipped back onto the chart at #19. Ernie Marshall’s account of the last conflict between battleships, That Night at Surigao, was #20, thanks to author activity. Bob Ford nabbed two spots with his hilarious “Beagle Tales 5” at #21, and “Beagle Tales 4” at #24. J M West also doubled with “Courting Doubt and Darkness” at #26, and “Dying for Vengeance” at #27. “Jesus the Phoenician,” Kareem El Koussa’s controversial history of the Son of God, held on the list at #28 as his US tour ebbed. Two mainstays, Mike Campbell’s “Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last, ” and Anthony Julian’s “Pit Bulls” continued their streaks on the chart at #29 and #30 respectively.

The company released eight new titles during the month of September.

SUNBURY PRESS – New Releases for September, 2015
Ionica	Catalina Petcov	Biography
The Heatstroke Line	Edwin Rubin	Climate Fiction
White River Monster IV	Keith Rommel	Thriller Fiction
White River Monster V	Keith Rommel	Thriller Fiction
White River Monster VI	Keith Rommel	Thriller Fiction
The Alabaster Jar	Marie Sontag	YA Fiction
Hairy Men in Caves	Marlin Bressi	History
High Passes	John Timmerman	Western

For a list of Sunbury’s best-sellers, please see the Sunbury Press web site:
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/BESTSELLERS_c3.htm
For a complete list of recent and upcoming releases, please see:
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/COMING-SOON_c47.htm

Read Full Post »

Who killed Confederate General Earl Van Dorn?

VICKSBURG, Miss. — Sunbury Press has released Where Elephants Fought: A Story of Murder and Intrigue During the Civil War, Bridget Smith’s historical novel about the death of Confederate General Earl Van Dorn.

For 150 years, scholars and amateur Civil War buffs have misinterpreted the infamous murder of the well-known Confederate General Earl Van Dorn. Based on twenty years of intense research, the author suggests that all is not as it appears. The real motivation behind the doctor’s decision to murder Van Dorn is not a story of jealousy between a husband and wife, but of loyalty and sacrifice. This story reveals one woman’s struggle with the blame for another’s crime and the secret that fractured the Peters family forever. Perhaps most compelling is the impact the tragedy has had on the Peters family, with the continued perpetuation of the 150 year old lie to this day.

Excerpt:
The soldiers lay down a section of split-rail fence for use in repairing the Duck River Bridge and tied the rails end to end behind an old mule. When the mule got stuck in the frozen muddy road leading to Columbia, they walked on the planks to avoid the flooded roadbed, balancing themselves on the beams like delicate ballerinas. They avoided getting wet at all costs. They understood frostbite. Just keep out of the water was all a fellow had to do. The camp doctor had preached this ever since a bunch of them showed up with black toes after the last march from Ripley.

Crossing the washed-out road had taken more time than anticipated. Most of them were exhausted by the time they reached dry ground, and though he was eager to reach Columbia by evening, General Van Dorn announced they would rest there till morning. They had but a few hours’ march remaining, but complaints had been rumbling up the line since morning. The general knew well the repercussions of pushing the men beyond their limits. The train of men and horses stopped abruptly as orders were sent down the line. A few men grumbled from within the ranks about wasting time now with such a short distance remaining, but Van Dorn ignored them. Better listen to the ones who moaned and complained. Better to stop the procession. Corinth taught him that.

A handful of men from Company E, Third Texas Infantry, warmed their hands by the fire near a grove of trees at the far corner of an old cornfield. General Van Dorn floated from campfire to campfire, making small talk with the men. He stopped just as he reached Private James Thomas who sat at the base of a large elm tree. The private propped his journal against the mass of bark, pulled a pencil from his coat pocket, and scribbled across the top line of the page.

“Private?” Van Dorn smiled at him and leaned forward.

“Yes, sir!” Thomas shot up off the ground and saluted his commander. His face turned red with embarrassment.

“At ease, soldier.” The general leaned against the trunk of the tree. He picked at a blade of grass as he spoke. “About your brother,” he said in a whisper. “He was a fine soldier, son. I want you to know that.”

Private Thomas looked away and nodded. “Yes, sir. Will was a fine soldier indeed. Mighty nice of you to say so.”

Van Dorn put a hand on his shoulder. “You can tell your mama, too. In that letter you’re writing.”

Thomas turned to the general and smiled. “Yes, sir. I’ll tell her. He was mighty fond of you, sir, I’ll tell you that.”

“Thank you, soldier. It’s not often I hear—” But he stopped there. “Give your mother my condolences if you will.”

The private smiled. “Yes sir. I’ll do that right now.” He picked up the notebook and finished the letter as the general walked away toward another group of soldiers.

February 21, 1863

Last night we had some biscuits cooked at a house close to our camp. Consequently we fared finely today… The railroad is close to a town named Columbia. This is the place where General Pillow lives who built the fortifications at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi. M. D. Cooper and D. Frierson & Company also reside here. There is a large female Academy in town. We traveled all day in a very hard rain. The water run in my boots. The weather got very cold and I came very near freezing. The Yankee pickets are in fifteen miles of our camp.

General Van Dorn has just spent a private moment with me to let me know his sorrow over poor Will’s passing. He bids me tell my dear mother what a fine soldier Will was. I believe he is the finest soldier and man in the whole of the Confederate army.

From your loving son,
Jimmie

About the Author:
Bridget Smith was born and raised in Columbia, a lush Tennessee valley town filled with antebellum homes and sprawling farms, a setting that both haunted and intrigued her until she could give it life in her Civil War era novel Where Elephants Fought. From the first glimpse into the lives of Jessie McKissack Peters and General Earl Van Dorn, she felt a deep connection to the story and soon found herself immersed in the world of research, a task that what would span nearly twenty years. After receiving her MEd in English, she soon married and moved to a quaint Mississippi town, a town not unlike her beautiful Columbia and equally as steeped in Civil War history. She has taught English for over twenty years and currently teaches English Composition. Though her life is a whirlwind with her four children, she has begun writing her second novel, a modern tale of sin and eccentricities set in her beloved South.

Where Elephants Fought: A Story of Murder and Intrigue During the Civil War
List Price: $19.95
5.5″ x 8.5″ (13.97 x 21.59 cm)
Black & White on Cream paper
336 pages
Sunbury Press, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-1620065983
ISBN-10: 1620065983
BISAC: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Historical

For more information, please see:
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/Where-Elephants-Fought-9…

Read Full Post »