Favorite biography of the year!

I'm pleased to announce that "An Arch Rebel Like Myself": Dan Showalter and the Civil War in California and Texas has been given the rare distinction of being named Favorite Biography for 2018 by Civil War Books & Authors! Co-author Gene Armistead and I were very pleased to read Drew Wagonhofer's very detailed review of our book earlier in the year; if you missed that interview you can get to it through this link to CWBA's list of favorites for 2018:

https://cwba.blogspot.com/2018/12/2018-civil-war-books-and-authors-year.html

You'll find us down the listing under "Biography."

Many thanks to those who have followed this blog and "An Arch Rebel" and wishes for a very happy and prosperous 2019!

Oops!

A small error has been pointed out to us on Pg. 57 of "An Arch Rebel Like Myself." In the discussion about the 1861 legislature's ballots to elect a U.S. Senator, we mistakenly show Dan Showalter being joined in support of Joseph Lancaster Brent by State Senator Pio Pico. In fact, it was not Pio Pico, but his younger brother Andrés, from Los Angeles, who was the State Senator at the time. Both Pico brothers had substantial roles to play in early Los Angeles and California history. Our thanks for this oversight being pointed out to us.

A first review

So the first review of "An Arch Rebel Like Myself" has been published -- and it's a fine one! Written by  Drew Wagenhoffer on his Civil War Books & Authors blog site, it can be found at https://cwba.blogspot.com/2018/08/review-arch-rebel-like-myself-dan.html. Please do take a look! It is truly an honor to receive this sort of mention.

Nice mention from review site

We have a nice mention today on the Civil War Books and Authors blog. This is a blog that serves as a review journal for book relating to the Civil War. Will keep an eye out for the actual review once its posted.

You can see the blog at https://cwba.blogspot.com/

"An Arch Rebel Like Myself" is now in print!

Wow, nearly three months ahead of the prospective release date!

Yes, we received notice from McFarland & Company today that "An Arch Rebel Like Myself": Dan Showalter and the Civil War in California and Texas is "just published" and authors' copies (the ones we get) are on their way. Sure enough, if you check McFarland's catalog page online (which you can do HERE), you'll see that it is indeed listed as being "in stock." Our page on Amazon (which can be seen HERE) shows that it is "Temporarily out of stock" (as copies are shipped), a publication date of July 19, 2018 -- and at least for the moment a discounted price. Preordered copies should be coming soon to those of you who may have made such orders (and thank you!).   

This release date was a really welcome surprise as we expected a Fall release date. We undoubtedly owe this to the truly exceptional review we received from Dr. Jerry D. Thompson, the dean of historians of the Civil War in the American Southwest, to all those who did make preorders, to McFarland's tremendous encouragement and assistance in this process, and in the bit of extra sweat we put in in making sure proofreading corrections and a thorough indexing, as well as any requested information along the way, got to them as expeditiously as we could.

All in all, it came to 246 pages, including extensive end notes, bibliography and index, 18 images, three maps and two charts.

Update on publication process

Things are proceeding really well with publication of "An Arch Rebel Like Myself": Dan Showalter and the Civil War in California and Texas. 

Gene and I have finished going over the publisher's proofs and sent our recommendations for changes/corrections, and have completely indexed the book for McFarland. These are the final steps before it is sent out for printing. At last notice, we have around 100 preorders (thank you, whoever you may be), which we are told is a high number of preorders. From indications we've received, we anticipate the book will be to the printer by August 1.

So all in all, it looks like we are well on schedule for the book's release date sometime early this Fall. With the index completed, it looks like the book will be right about 250 pages or so. It will also contain 18 images, three maps and two charts.

If you haven't checked it out, be sure to take a look at the book's page on our publisher's website: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/an-arch-rebel-like-myself/, or on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Arch-Rebel-Like-Myself-California/dp/1476674612/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1532052920&sr=8-1&keywords=arch+rebel+like+myself.

Publisher's Sale for Pre-Orders!

Just got word from our publisher, McFarland, that they will be putting all of their military history books -- including ours, even though still in pre-order -- from June 1 through June 15. The code for the discount is Military25 and it will give you 25 percent off. Not bad on a book that retails for $39.95, eh?

To order, go to McFarland's website.

If by any chance you've already preordered (whether there or on Amazon or what have you), you can cancel that order and then order again through McFarland's website between June 1 and June 15 to take advantage of this offer.

Getting more mention!

So word of our upcoming book is starting to spread!

A nice announcement for "An Arch Rebel Like Myself": Dan Showalter and the Civil War in California and Texas has come onto Andrew Wagenhoffer's "Civil War Books and Authors" blog site.

And then we've also made it to Amazon.

Things are shaking!

We're in the catalog!

Well, we're moving ever closer to publication. We've just been advised that "An Arch Rebel Like Myself": Dan Showalter and the Civil War in California and Texas has made it to our publisher's online catalog!

For a preview, take a look HERE.

Both Gene and I like the cover design they came up with very much. And as reported earlier, they went with our suggested title.

Will keep posting as we reach new milestones on the path to publication and release. 

Publication is on course! Big announcements!

We are pleased to announce that our publisher, McFarland, has agreed to title the upcoming book "An Arch Rebel Like Myself": Dan Showalter and the Civil War in California and Texas.This is particularly good news for us in that that was our own first choice of titles (publishers have the right of final choice on titles). The subtitle certainly identifies Showalter as the subject and highlights those historical arenas with which he is primarily identified, but the quote used as the title itself is Dan Showalter's own self-description, from a wonderful letter written by him to Anna Forman of California in 1864.

We have also received an endorsement of the book from Dr. Jerry D. Thompson. During our later research, Gene made contact and consulted with Dr. Thompson inasmuch as he is a noted historian of the Civil War and the Southwest (over 20 books published), a past President of the Texas State Historical Association, and the Regents Professor of History of the Texas A&M University system. After reading our manuscript, Dr. Thompson wrote:

          "This stunning historical inquiry into the pugnacious life and
          times of Dan Showalter is ambitious in scope and fascinating
          in its contents. The authors paint a panoramic view of the
          Southwest borderlands in those tumultuous Civil War years
          without losing sight of the details of the life of an absolutely
          fascinating individual. This meticulously researched and
          compelling story is likely to keep the reader captivated.
          Needless to say, this masterful and definitive study is highly
          recommended."

Endorsements of this type are typically used, in whole or in part, in publisher promotions to reviewers and booksellers, and may also appear on the back covers of books. Gene and I are extremely honored to have received such a strong endorsement from such a noted historian and author.

In addition to approval of the title, McFarland has also reviewed and approved the permissions we obtained for illustrations. McFarland is moving steadily toward publication; based upon Gene's prior publication experience with them, we remain hopeful that "An Arch Rebel Like Myself": Dan Showalter and the Civil War in California and Texas will be released prior to the end of this year.

This blog will continue to update you on the progress of publication of this first biography of Dan Showalter. Once again, if you would like personal notification upon the book's publication, please send a comment to this blog including your valid email address. All comments are moderated before being posted on this blog, and I will not post any comment received that contains email or personal identification information.