Between Good And Evil

Just released from Sunbury Press: Between Good And Evil

Buy it now:
Amazon    B&N    Sunbury Press

Praise for R. Michael Phillips: 

R. Michael Phillips excels at setting the stage for a good story. He beckons you inside with multilayered characters and artistic strokes of sensory details and then pulls you through dark hallways of motivation and revelation. An absorbing, riveting good read. 
D.A. Sarac, The Editing Pen

Small town suspense, big city crime.

June Lorraine Roberts, MurderInCommon.com

About the book:

      Years after the Willis Asylum closed, the secrets of its past lingered in its decaying halls as a reminder to the good people of Auburn Notch—when Evil closes a door, he also opens a window. Sheriff Promise Flynn was new to the town, and she was about to find out some windows should never be opened.

      Promise Flynn is an overly impulsive Metro Detective whose disregard for procedure finally resulted in her being shot and left for dead during an investigation. To repair her bruised ego and splintered confidence she abandons the callous dark alleys of Chicago to patrol the quiet, birch-lined streets of Auburn Notch—a favorite vacation spot of her youth. For two years everything was idyllic, until the body of a young girl found in the abandoned asylum outside of town awakens the insecurities she thought her new life would insulate her from. As the new Sheriff she begins her investigation refusing to accept the similarities between the young woman’s death and her own case, oblivious to being unexpectedly recognized and penciled in at the top of a clever murderer’s To-Do list. Her internal struggle intensifies when a discredited crime reporter from the past suspiciously arrives in town to resurrect his threadbare reputation, along with an FBI agent chasing down a lead in a cold case. Both men quickly become entangled in Flynn's investigation and her attempts to finally put her past to rest.

      Flynn reluctantly accepts the murder of the young girl might be the work of the two men responsible for her hasty departure from Chicago, but Agent MacGregor insists the evidence points to a man he’s been chasing. As the rising current of her past threatens to pull her under, Flynn finds herself unprepared for option three.

Meet mystery writer R. Michael Phillips at an event near you. Times and dates will be posted on Goodreads and at rmichaelphillips.com.


See you there!

Virtual Blog Tours

Get ready. Get set. Release!

So your new book finally has a release date, so what do you do next? Besides the local Q&A/book signing events don’t forget the power of the Internet. I’m talking Blog Tours. Get out there, fill out the questions, write a few posts about your writing experiences, characters, settings, etc., and get out there.

I don’t know about you, but any time someone asks me what my book is about I can go on for hours. You have to take that passion for what you’re doing and funnel it through an assortment of literary blogs. They come in all shapes and sizes, from a few followers to hundreds—if not thousands—all interested in one thing: your book genre. Do your research, find a few that fit, sign up, and introduce yourself and your books. Be selective. Don’t just sign up for the sake of doing it. Make sure there is a structure to the blog and they have a decent following.

So, you’ve done all this writing, researched a few good possibilities to sign on with, now what’s in it for you? It comes down to one thing—Exposure. Nothing more promised, nothing more to expect. But, exposure is really the name of the game. Think about how many billboards you drive by in a day. What were the products? What were the messages? Unless something on that ad captured your attention as you glanced out the window it was a waste of time on the part of the advertiser, wasn’t it? Not necessarily. The advertiser got the message out there, that’s all they were contracted to do. It may not mean anything to you, but what about the cars behind you? You see where I’m going with this. No matter what you do only the readers interested in your genre, or protagonist style, or similar works they’ve enjoyed, are going to be interested in your book. And of these readers a percentage may purchase the book. Once again it just comes down to exposure.

The lesson here is don’t get discouraged. Get out there and fight for those sales. And to keep your mind off the results, get to work on that next book. Exposure is one thing; exposure times two increases your presence. Do you have a website? Better get on that right away. A website is an authors best friend.

January 2014 Book Tour

I'm excited about the Virtual Book Tour this month. A number of top, exciting bogglers and book reviewers have been kind enough to include me on their sites. There is even a signed, hardback giveaway of my new mystery, Passage Of Crime. Listed below are the dates followed by links to the sites.

January 14- Christa Reads and Writes

January 15- Psychotic State Book Reviews

January 16- Kelly P's Blog

January 17- Readalot Blog

January 18- A Blue Million Books

January 20- Thoughts in Progress

January 22- Books-n-Kisses

January 23- Musings and Ramblings

January 24- Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

January 25- Dru's Book Musing

I hope you take a few minutes and visit these sites. I'm sure once you do you will find them as interesting and informative as I do, and continue to follow them.

A Book Review In A Forest

Have you ever wondered– If a book review was tacked up in a forest, and no one was around, would it make a noise?

The second best promotional tool an author has (I'll get to the best in a minute) is a good book review. As a first tier author this is an easy one, you pretty much have your choice of reviewers. But lets move a little deeper into the forest to the self-published or first-time authors published by small independent presses.

As you toil away at your first novel you begin to fantasize about your place on the New York Times Best Sellers list. You know if you could just get your book in front of the right reviewer it would be your ticket to the big time. They're out there, you can hear them typing away. They're just beyond the clearing. So you set your compass and begin to blaze a trail, fighting your way through the underbrush of obscurity. Easy, right? Not so fast. Before I get to the book reviewers, let me say a few cautionary words about the publishing forest.

As with any forest there are dangers. The sign reads Authors Beware! There are thickets of "Get Published Fast" schemes waiting in the shadows to ensnare unsuspecting writers. Cottages where evil "Self-Proclaimed Editors" lurk, tempting you with fame for the gold in your pockets. Fire-breathing "Critique Groups," beating down your prose with poisoned pens. And don't even get me started on the flying monkeys. But you're strong and stay on course, making it through the worst of it. The day finally arrives when your idea has become a published book. Now, what about those book reviews?

There are a multitude of sites/blogs willing to review books of every fiction genre. What you need to consider is– What is their visibility and what are you getting in return? By this I mean, if a blog touting itself as a book review site has a hundred or so book reviews but only 8 followers, what have you really gained by submitting your book for review? Were comments left by someone other than friends or family members? Were comments left at all?

You may regard this as cynical but there is a certain reality to it. I'm not saying ignore these sites/blogs; like anything else they should have a place in your marketing plan as part of a blog tour. What I caution is to keep it all in perspective. And, in case you missed it, I'll say it again, the important thing here is your marketing plan. This is an authors best tool. Without a solid marketing plan you can expend a great deal of energy for very little return. Getting reviewed should be a priority, but getting reviewed by a top reviewer should be a top priority. Set your sights high and go for it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. It won't be easy, and it won't happen overnight, but the greater the effort the greater the prize.

In this day and age of spider bots trolling the web, the more links you have out there the greater your exposure. So, in relation to our forest, continue to tack up small reviews as you make your way to the clearing, but be selective. Each one increases the chances of your book being stumbled on by intrepid readers passing by, but each one requires an effort on your part. Make that effort count.

Photo courtesy- dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net