Times of the Civil War

There has been a word-of-mouth publishing boom for Times of the Civil War. It was self-published (through AuthorHouse) and has reached 37,253 in sales rank - more than respectable but less than the best seller this press release claims for it. (By way of comparison, the hardcover Battle Cry of Freedom today ranks slightly lower at 38,043.)

I do salute author Don Bracken for hiring a PR firm to give a little stage two rocket thrust to sales; however in his choice of two representative newspapers through wich to tell the ACW story, North and South, I find fault.

The two highest circulation papers should have been given pride of place on each side in a work like this. Neither the Charleston Mercury nor the New York Times came as close to national demand as certain of their competitors did.