A traditional publisher with a non-traditional approach to publishing

Annie Oeth with Sartoris Publisher

Sartoris Literary Group was an exhibitor at the 2018 Mississippi Book Festival, where Vice President Mardi Allen represented the company and sold books in the tent reserved for that purpose. Signing books were Sartoris authors and friends, including Annie Oeth, James Bell, Joe Atkins, Rebecca Turner, Jim Ewing and Brenda E. Vaughn. Publisher James L. Dickerson was a panelist on the publishers’ panel.

Mojo Rising: Masters of the Art and Mojo Rising: Contemporary Writers, a two-volume set of short stories written by the South’s greatest writers, were launched September 23 at William Faulkner’s home of Rowan Oak in Oxford Mississippi. Seated on the side veranda of Rowan Oak are, left to right: James L. Dickerson, editor of volume 1, Ace Atkins, who had a story in volume 2, Sheree Renee Thomas, who had a story in volume 2, Margaret Skinner, who had a story in volume 2, and Joseph B. Atkins, editor of volume 2. Among the authors in volume 1 are William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Shelby Foote, Willie Morris, Richard Wright, Ellen Douglas, and Tennessee Williams. Also pictured is Dickerson, standing at the entrance of Faulkner’s office. You can see Faulkner’s typewriter in the background.

Sartoris Literary Authors in the News

Rebecca Turner, author of Mind Over Fork, was interviewed in the March 2016 issue of Family Circle magazine for a feature on wellness and in a recent issue of Today in Mississippi. Hannah and Caroline Melby, authors of Recipes & Road Stories, a high-energy memoir and recipe book, were featured in a recent issue of Country Weekly. Joseph Atkins, author of Casey's Last Chance, was reviewed in the Southern Literary Review. Kathryn Rogers' novel Memphis Hoodoo Murders was featured in Mississippi Magazine. James L. Dickerson's Good Girls, Bad Girls was featured in Country Weekly and his examination of life after death, What Does God Look Like?, was featured in the Clarion-Ledger. Bill Smith's suspense novel, Seven Turns, was highlighted in Mississippi Magazine along with Annie Oeth's cookbook, Living on Love.

Memphis Music Legend Don Nix Returns to Stax

Songwriter\producer\recording artist Don Nix was a longtime fixture at Stax Studios in Memphis during the 1960s, producing Albert King, touring with the Mar-Keys who later morphed into Booker T. & the MGs, working with Leon Russell, Freddie King, and many others.

To celebrate the publication of his memoir Memphis Man: Living High, Laying Low, Stax Museum hosted a sold-out book signing for Nix, who performed at the event. A longtime friend of Beatle George Harrison, Nix also wrote about their friendship and his visits to Harrison's mansion in England.

Joe Atkins Signs Novel

Joe Atkins signing his novel, Casey's Last Chance, at Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi. A very successful event, it was bolstered by the arrival of UAW workers who came to show interest in the book's theme—an assassination attempt against a labor organizer that was financed by a wealthy Memphis gangster. The following week, he had an equally successful signing at Square Books in Oxford, where he sold out of books.

HanaLena Headlines Second Annual Sartoris Literary Group Festival

Hannah and Caroline Melby will sign their book, Recipes and Road Stories, and perform at Lemuria Books in Jackson, Mississippi, on September 27, 2-4 p.m. They now live in Nashville, but they are originally from Starkville, Mississippi. Also participating will be: Darden North, Wiggle Room; Annie Oeth, Because I Said So! Life in the Mom Zone; legendary FBI agent Jim Ingram's sons Jim, Steve and Stan will sign their late father's memoir, The Hero Among Us: Memoirs of an FBI Witness Hunter; Liz Stauffer, Thursday Morning Breakfast (and Murder) Club; James L. Dickerson, Nicole Kidman: A Kind of Life and Memphis Going Down, a 100-year history of Memphis music; Mardi Allen, Sons Without Fathers: What Every Mother Needs to Know; and Joe Woods, Secrets of the Spiral Tower. Refreshments will be served.

HanaLena also will have book signings in Nashville (October 2 at Parnassus Books at 6:30 p.m.), in St. Louis (September 12 at the Focal Point), in McComb (September 19 at the McComb Theater), in Charleston, Mississippi (September 20 at the Gateway Music Fest), in Starkville (October 24 at Book Mart at 3 p.m.), in Kosciusko (October 24 at Josephine's Gifts at 11 a.m.), in Rolling Fork (at the Great Delta Bear Affair), and again in Jackson (October 25 at Smokin' on the Rez).

Annie Oeth will sign her book, Because I Said So! at Book Mart in Starkville on October 10, 3-5 p.m.

Elvis, Scotty and Bill will live forever in Library of Congress!

The Sun Records sessions of Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore and Bill Black have been selected by the Library of Congress for permanent archiving in the nation's library because the recordings have been "deemed so vital to the history of America." These recordings will join those made by Thomas Edison and the "Fireside Chats" recorded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Notified of the Library of Congress's decision, Scotty Moore said he was greatly honored to be included. Also honored to be included is Sartoris Literary Group publisher James L. Dickerson,  a leading authority on Memphis music history, who was asked to write a text to accompany the recordings. Dickerson is co-author of Scotty Moore's memoir, Scotty & Elvis.

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In other publishing news, Sartoris Literary Group is pleased to announce it is teaming with Books Crossing Borders of New York for foreign rights representation of its fiction and non-fiction titles, and with  The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency of New York for representation of film and television rights of all titles published by Sartoris Literary Group

Under the watchful eye of Mona Lisa, Annie Oeth surveys a line of eager readers with books in hand.

Annie Oeth signs her new book, Because I Said So! Life in The Mom Zone for SLG author Allen Guy, author of Playing to Win: The Sport of Selling and How You Can Win the Game. The signing took place at Lemuria Books, a legendary independent bookseller located in Jackson, Mississippi. Because I Said So! Is the first in a series of books by Annie Oeth scheduled to be published by Sartoris Literary Group.

Photos by Emily of the Rez