South Carolina Publisher wins 3 indepenent publishing awards in field of 4,090 worldwide entries.

Swamp Fox
Peter Wentworth
May 29, 2009

Three Charleston authors won top awards in the Independent Publishers prestigious annual IPPY competition. Former Wall Street investment banker John Thompson won the gold for his thriller “Armageddon Conspiracy,” published by Charleston-based Joggling Board Press.

Post and Courier columnist Ken Burger won a silver medal for best regional fiction for his novel “Swallow Savannah.” David Cox, author of “Dirty Secrets, Dirty War,” won a silver for best history book. Both books were published by the Evening Post Publishing Company in cooperation with Joggling Board Press.

In one of the most competitive contests for independent publishers, the books were among 4,090 entrants from throughout the U.S. and Canada, plus most English-speaking countries worldwide. Medal-winning books came from 44 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, eight Canadian provinces, and six foreign countries.

Emerging as the top mystery/thriller/suspense novel, Thompson’s debut book also was named a semi-finalist as the year’s best novel by the Southern Independent Book Alliance. Thompson spent 25 years on Wall Street as an investment banker before cashing it all in to write full time. His first thriller, “Armageddon Conspiracy,” is receiving raves from reviewers to booksellers to readers alike and turning heads in the film industry.

Thompson’s novel follows Brent Lucas, a sharp, young money manager who must overcome an alliance between Muslim and Christian terrorist groups intent on assassinating the president and bringing down the world as we know it.

The second in the Bent Lucas Thriller series, “Hong Kong Deception,” will be released in hard cover this fall and the third, “Baghdad Vendetta,” in the fall of 2010.

“Dirty Secrets, Dirty War,” described by Publisher’s Weekly as “a riveting tale,” is about a newspaper family’s struggle to survive Argentina’s decade of brutal right-wing rule in the 1970s. Robert J. Cox, editor of the Buenos Aires Herald, did what few others were willing to do – he told the truth about what was happening, making him a hero to the families of the disappeared, but an enemy of the state.

“Swallow Savannah,” which takes place under the shadow of the Savannah River nuke plant, is the story of a rural southern community caught between one man’s all-consuming ambition and the dawning reality of civil rights.

Organizers of the 13th annual Independent Publisher Book Awards, conducted to honor the year’s best independently published books, will honor the winners at the annual IPPY Awards celebration on May 29 during BookExpo America in New York.

“Today’s readers are seeking diverse perspectives on hot-button issues,” said awards director Jim Barnes. “This year’s list represents a mix of established independents and bold new voices, and their messages echo the call for change and a straightforward approach to dealing with the world’s social, political and economic problems.”

For more information or interviews with any of these authors contact:
Marjory Wentworth, Publicist
[email protected]

Back To The Top