Here are some fun things to share for your Monday afternoon. As most of you know, we’re making a serious effort to introduce Dekker stories to thriller readers who aren’t familiar with him. A huge part of that strategy is releasing his previous thrillers as mass market paperbacks. Those are the small format books that you find at Walgreen’s, in the airport, and your local grocery stores. The idea with mass market books is to allow readers to sample a new author without the cost commitment of a hardback. If they like the story, then hopefully we’ll gain a new fan.

I first became a Dean Koontz fan thanks to a mass market book I bought on the cheap. I’ve been a fan ever since.

Here are the covers for the first three titles to be released: BoneMan’s Daughters (already out), Adam (coming in June), and Thr3e (coming in November). You can order BMD and Adam by clicking on the cover images. Thr3e isn’t available for pre-order yet. But, soon.

Speaking of Thr3e…this is the first time the cover has been seen in public. Leave a comment and Facebook share it if you like it.

Since the introduction of the Kindle, the topic of eBooks and digital content has dominated the publishing world. As it should, because our livelihood depends on getting the big decisions right. The key question everyone is wrestling with is the when of the shift, because the if is now a foregone conclusion. It’s already happening.

I’ve been in a lot of discussions about this and, frankly, I think a good many people are looking at it sideways. They’re narrowly focused on today’s book consumer (primarily middle-aged females, statistically) and how to get them to migrate to a digital format either via the Kindle or iPad (or any of the bazillion other devices coming soon to a store near you). I think there will be a lot of migration, especially from the Millenials and Gen Xer’s, but we won’t be the tipping point.

My daughter’s kindergarten class will be. Continue Reading

Today’s the day. The music industry had theirs’ when Apple unveiled iTunes; now the publishing industry’s turn is up and there’s LOTS of debate about what the Apple tablet means for authors, publishers, and consumers. For all of the buzz and debate I can’t help but think that most of the naysayers are getting it wrong. They remind us that tablets have been tried before…and failed. They remind us how Bill Gates tried to revolutionize personal computing with a switch to tablets…and failed. But all of that misses the point in my opinion. Why?

Because the introduction of an Apple tablet isn’t about revolutionizing hardware (though I think it will certainly fuel innovation and do that just like the iPod did); it’s about revolutionizing content. I, too, love the feel and smell of paper. I like having books on a shelf in my office. We like book covers as much as we do the words they wrap around. They’re iconic and evoke a sort of nostalgia. Just last night my writer’s group talked about our favorite stories, some of which were published in the 1800’s. We like stuff we can touch. Continue Reading

We’re experimenting with something this month with the release of Tea with Hezbollah, the travelogue Ted Dekker wrote with Middle East expert Carl Medearis.

On January 28th, David Beasley with the Center for Global Strategies, Ted, and Carl will be hosting alive webcast called “Why Do You Fear Me?” They’ll be tackling the big questions that most people have about the Middle East, as well as the misconceptions most of us have about it as Westerners (and, specifically, Westerners of a Christian tradition). I read this book in manuscript form last year. When I opened it I had one, admittedly one-dimensional, view of the region and the controversy that swirls about Israel, the Palestine state, and the West Bank. When I closed the book I had a completely different take on it.

This really is a book that every Westerner should read to get a better grip on the Middle East.

But, back to this webcast. You can access it for free when you buy the book through Bookschristian.com. They’re offering the book for roughly the same price as Amazon, but you can also get access to the webcast ($12.97 on its own). It’s a good deal, and I think well worth it if you plan on buying the book anyway. Check out the offer HERE. Hope you can join in. The book and webcast just might change everything you think you know or believe about the Middle East and loving your enemies.