Granny Boo Under Contract

Granny Boo~ Legacy of the Puma Man is scheduled for release in December, 2009. It has been a long journey, but one with many rewards.

I began writing Granny Boo immediately after Keechie was released in 2005 and continued the story, going back in time to Keechie's ancestors who first came to the southeast from northwestern Mexico in the early 1500s - after Cortez invaded and decimated the Aztec.

The story also continues the adventures of Brian and his family who are still living in Keechie's cave and struggling to survive after terrorists destroy the power grid and use biological weapons on the population.

My publisher is R.J. Buckley Publishing and can be accessed at R.J. Buckley Publishing . Click on the link, go to the bookstore under "Novels" to see the cover image. Pre-orders will be available soon!

Support your local Unknown Author and his publisher!

Update ~ Granny Boo ~ The Legacy of the Puma Man

Maybe I should change the name of this blog...

Keechie has been out since 2005 and for a first work, it has been fairly successful. I say fairly because I did all the marketing myself and just like writing the novel, I had to learn everything the hard way. I have received many great reviews and even won two awards from NewBookReviews - first it won the book of the month, and that same year it went on to gain the Book of the Year!

I have spent the better part of the last 18 months researching and writing the sequel/prequel, Granny Boo ~ The Legacy of the Puma Man, which continues the life of Brian and his family in Keechie's cave, and also goes back in time to Keechie's ancestors who first migrated from northwestern Mexico after Cortez invaded the land and decimated the indigenous Aztec people. They traveled across North America and eventually arrived in the southeastern states. Fast-forward from there, it was the descendants of these people who discovered the cave and escaped the forced removal known as the Trail of Tears.

Keechie was from a long line of Spirit Singers— medicine women who received the Gift of Singing only with every other generation of women, and was watched over by their spirit guide, the Puma Man.

Alexis, Brian's daughter plays an important role in the concluding chapters, where it is discovered that she is the great-granddaughter of Keechie, and is now the new Spirit Singer.

You will have to read the book to learn how all this came about, and what it will mean to the great Muskogee people who are now living in Indian Territory in Oklahoma.

Granny Boo has been accepted by a wonderful publisher and is now in the process of text formatting. It will be available late in 2009.

New Program from Amazon

Borders, teamed with Amazon has recently introduced their new Amazon Shorts Program for authors who have at least one book listed on their website. It features short stories by authors who want to not only keep their name “Up in Lights” while they are in between books, but also to get exposure on their writing style(s).

Some authors write “backstories” that expand characters, settings or events from their books. Some experiment by writing in different genres from that of their book. This is what I have done with my first story to be accepted by Amazon. It is in the Southern Humor genre, titled “The Good Ol’ Boys ~ Catfishin’”. I intend for this to become a series of the further adventures of the good ol' boys.

These “shorts” are downloadable from Amazon for only 49 cents each, and can be saved, printed or viewed via HTML or as an Adobe PDF file.

I also want to thank my good friend, Wayne Hurlbert, for his recent article in his award-winning blog, Blog Business World. He featured my recent “My Accidental Book Signing” blog entry, using it as an example of serendipity in his article titled “Serendipity: Happy Accidents". Wayne’s blog covers all aspects of successful blogging to help those interested in business, marketing, public relations, and SEO search engine optimization for successful entrepreneurs.

Keechie is doing very well in sales. Nine months of self-promoting, mostly via cyberspace, is beginning to pay off, but the single, most effective results have come via word-of-mouth recommendations from those who have already read it. Thanks to all of you!

My Accidental Book Signing

I just got home from a reunion of the "Valley Kids" who all lived in Pine Mountain Valley, Ga. community where I grew up. It is also the setting for Keechie. Luckily, I just 'happened' to have a box of books with me - LOL. I was asked to speak for a few minutes about my book and what caused me to write it.

Then they lined up and bought every book I had with me! 20 in all, and there was no one left out. Everyone who wanted one, got one.This was the best booksigning I have had yet, and it was totally unplanned. I am still in a state of shock, but I can deal with it! I have a scheduled book signing next weekend, and I don't have a single book to take with me... but I ain't complaining. I'll just try to make a rush order. They have arrived in as few as four days before.

My old friends really made me feel special today. One thing I did notice though... they had all grown OLD in the forty years since I had seen them!

PopCurrent

I just discovered that Keechie is now on the first page (of 206 pages) of the "Best Entries" on the PopCurrent site!

It seems to be based on number of "Pops", and the number one entry has 40. I sure wish that equated to book sales, but it has to help! I will know around the end of September just how many books have been sold. I have a sneaky feeling that I have personally sold more than Amazon and the other stores combined, and right now I have sold just under 200.

This reminds me of the old joke about the two guys who drove their truck to Florida and bought watermelons for a dollar each. They carried them back to Georgia and sold them for a dollar each.

"We didn't make any money at all, Billy Bob. Do you know what that means?"

"Yep," said Billy Bob. "We need us a bigger truck!"

Tags: Native American Novels, Books about Creek Indians,
Writing Historical Fiction, Book Marketing Techniques.

Spreading the Word

Looking back, writing a book seems easy in comparison to self-marketing your creation. Publishers, unless you are an established, best-selling author, get your book to print, list it on the major on-line bookstores like Amazon, then wait for the orders to come in.

It is then the job of the author, or his agent (if he can afford one) to drive potential buyers to look for, then purchase his book. The internet is the best tool for this, if one has the knowledge to use it effectively.

I am still in the learning process, but my recent discovery of a site called PopCurrent offers the type of exposure that I was seeking. On the surface, it looks like a place for friends , family, and fellow authors to high-five and back-slap the proud new, and virtually unknown author - and that is exactly what it is.

BUT: It is also a place where many shoppers... Wait... I'll let Popcurrent tell you.

From their site:

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PopCurrent is a new, democratic way for the people to decide what media becomes popular. The rank of a particular media link rises and falls on the front page depending on how may people vote for it -- or against it.

PopCurrent is site where you can:

• Discover new music, video, podcasts and pictures
• Submit URL's of media found anywhere online - your own, or someone else's
• Vote for media - you are the critic

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That is anly a snip from their "What is PopCurrent?" page. Take a look at the whole page HERE .

Now go back to my page on PopCurrent and read the comments that some of my readers have added, then add your own vote (Called a "Pop") for Keechie!

They use a verification e-mail to insure that you are a real person and not a spammer, so you must register with them to vote or add comments. They only require your e-mail address for this easy process. I would appreciate your "Pop" and comment!

I still have a few books left for your personalized, autographed copy. You can get one through my Keechie website via PayPal or an email directly to me at keechie@bellsouth.net .

While you're at my website, take a look at the ARTICLES/REVIEWS page. I have been honored by a local newspaper with a very well-written article and a photo of me. My latest reviews are there as well.

Tags: Native American, Creek Indians, Writing, Book Marketing.

Another Major Review for Keechie

My latest review, as of June 22, 2006, from New Book Reviews.org

Even more exciting... They named it their "Spotlight Book of the Week"!

New_Book_Reviews

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Phil Whitley’s Keechie is a tale of kindred spirits between young Brian and Keechie, an elderly half-breed lady. Brian and Keechie would realize why her spirit guide has brought them together, and how each one of them helped the other to realize their dreams that seemed unattainable in any way. Throughly enjoyed this historical fiction, well written and told, a tale that should make any reader smile and share the magic between the two main characters of this book. A Must Read! Story telling at its best!

Keechie is a great story, and author Phil Whitley has done a superb job of marrying fact with fiction. The final twist is unexpected and powerful!
Tim Donaldson editor4(at)Newbookreviews.org

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It all seems to be coming together now. When you send in your book to be reviewed, you take your chances on getting a bad review. Have faith in your work and submit your book!

The next challenge is to think of ways to get readers to find and read the reviews. Then hope they will follow through and actually order a copy!

Brew (Phil Whitley)

My website KEECHIE - A STORY OF SURVIVAL AND ADVENTURE