Fascinating discussion between Barry Eisler and JA Konrath at Konrath’s blog.

Barry: Here’s something that happened about a year ago. Anecdotal, but still telling, I think. My wife and daughter and I were sitting around the dinner table, talking about what kind of contract I would do next, and with what publisher. And my then eleven-year-old daughter said, “Daddy, why don’t you just self-publish?”

And I thought, wow, no one would have said something like that even a year ago. I mean, it used to be that self-publishing was what you did if you couldn’t get a traditional deal.

The smell of oil is in the air, and so is murder, when eighteen-year-old Eddie Tipton arrives in a small Texas town with his widowed mother in 1950.  Eddie and his teacher mother take rooms in the home of Texas oil widow, Faye Ruth Collier.  Eddie spends time with handyman Ned Cotton and soon learns that Mrs. Collier’s late husband was murdered a few years earlier.  Ned Cotton warns Eddie to stay away from Faye Ruth and to ignore the murder of Lawrence Collier.  Eddie, of course, cannot resist.

Making his way in a new school, dodging the stigma of […]

HOW TO TALK TO FAMOUS PEOPLE AND MAKE YOUR GRANDMA LAUGH

A Randomly Organized Book About Life and Comedy

Through a collection of humorous and random observations, “How to Talk to Famous People” is ready to shatter your comfort zone. Get ready to embark on a journey that finally reorganizes your passions in the right direction. With a new book, Tommy Leonard is sneaking into the book world with a new fresh look at comedy. Check it out on amazon.com.

Tommy’s desire is to wake you up to your dreams, make you smile, and help you become socially less awkward. […]