Stokes McMillan's self-published book, One Night of Madness, was named winner of the 2012 Mississippi Author Award. Inspired by articles written by his journalist father in 1950, McMillan’s One Night of Madness is the true story of how local, white citizens in the pre–civil rights South unite to hunt down racist white murderers in a small Mississippi town. A book with an unusual story gains a unique honor with the win. According to Mississippi Library Association’s vice president Lynn Shurden, "this is the first time that I’m aware a self-published book has won."
Published in paperback through Amazon’s CreateSpace in November 2009, the book has sold modestly with around 4,000 copies to date. “Due to my very busy day job, I have not been actively pushing it so sales have slowed accordingly. I have, however,signed a contract with a movie producer who is working to make it into a movie,” McMillan said.
Past winners of theMississippi Author Awardaward includeEudora Welty,Charlaine Harris, andKathryn Stockett.One Night of Madness previously won agold medal Independent Publishers Book Award in 2010. McMillan is represented by WendySchmalz of the Wendy Schmalz Agency.
