When I finished my manuscript and found a publisher willing to take a chance on me, I thought the journey was complete. After all, I had written a 250-page manuscript and was proud of my accomplishment. I even had a title — “Maxed Out: The birth and death of the Tamms supermax.” It’s time to rush the book to press and make some money. Not so fast, my publisher said. Marketing, the part authors don’t like, is the name of the game. Without marketing no one will read your book.
Been there, done that. What a devastating thought.
I can’t tell you how many titles and subtitles we explored. In the end, the publisher suggested the obvious, Supermax Prison. Of course we needed a subtitle for additional information on the book. I told the publisher that “control” was the original reasoning for a supermax, and that prisons were out-of-control. Hence, the subtitle was born. Controlling the most dangerous criminals.
Next we needed book blurbs from people who are smarter and better writers than myself. It helps if they are experts on the prison scene. We have three blurbs from writers familiar with the incarceration of violent inmates.
As a member of the FBI Swat Team that put down the Atlanta prison riot in 1987, I recognized the need to separate the average inmate from the violent prisoners quick to instigate a prison uprising as the killing of a fellow inmate. Supermax Prison does a remarkable job of informing the reading public of an important and little known subject. Highly recommended.
Jack Owens, Special Agent of the FBI (Ret.) Author Pock Trilogy
Rarely does a book come along that truly shows the final point in the life of a violent criminal. Supermax Prison does just that. It brings the reader into the lowest depths constructed for human life in the United States: incarceration for the human being too violent to live with others, even other convicts. A must read for everyone interested in criminality, law and order and well written books.
Terry Turchie, Special Agent FBI (ret)Unit Dir. Unabomb Task Force
Supermax Prison is a splendid work. The authors have captured how civil authorities have managed to separate the bad from the very worst. This book captures the soul, if that is the right word, of a place in this world where those who inflict carnage on their fellow man are prevented from doing so again. To the authors, I say “well done.”
John Monaghan, Capt. NYPD (Ret.) Author, forthcoming novel : Head On: NYPD Takes on ISIS.
In the meantime, I’ve received some nice reviews and will include a couple of them in the Foreword. Others will appear in various outlets like Amazon when the book is released on August 1, 2017. Good or bad, the reviews serve as a learning experience for me. Please keep them coming. Let me know if you are interested in receiving an advanced review copy of the manuscript.
Many thanks to those who support my writing.
Larry L Franklin
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Published by llfranklin12
Larry L Franklin holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University. He performed in the U.S. Navy Band located in Washington, D.C. from 1967 to 1971. From 1972 to 1975, he taught music at Southern Illinois University. In 1976, he completed requirements for a certified financial planner designation and maintained a successful investment business until 2007 when he retired to devote his energies to writing. In 2003, he received an MFA in Creative Non-Fiction from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland.
Franklin is the author of “Mnemosyne: A Love Affair with Memory,” published by Xlibris; “The Rita Nitz Story: A Life without Parole,” published by Southern Illinois University Press; “Cherry Blossoms & Barron Plains: A woman’s journey from mental illness to a prison cell,” published by Chipmunka Publishing Company; and “Supermax Prison: Controlling the most dangerous criminals,” published by History Publishing Company. He currently resides in southern Illinois with his wife, Paula.
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