Rich Leder's Blog: Laugh Riot Press Blog

If you're a self-pubbing writer, you're wearing more than one hat. You're also the publisher and the director of marketing and public relations. And the office manager. And the bookkeeper. It's a big job, and it takes a lot time and insight to do it right. There's so much to know, so much to learn. And that means staying connected to the pro bloggers, listening to what they're saying about the life and times, the ups and downs, the art and craft and business of self publishing. But time is the one thing you don't have. You have a career, a full-time job. You have a family. A house and kids and pets and friends and commitments and responsibilities. You volunteer in your town--PTA, Girl Scouts, church, Little League. Finding hours and hours each week to research and discover the indie blogs that could most help you sail through the self-publishing whirlwind is not in the cards. If you have free time, you're writing. It's that simple. And yet, you have to read the coolest, smartest, funniest, most informative, and most relevant bloggers. It's important. It's how you learn how to survive and thrive in this business.

That's why I publish The Laugh Riot Report.

Every issue, I'll send you the top 10 self-publishing blog posts of the month, book reviews, industry interviews, cover reveals, exclusive offers, giveaways, recipes (I like to eat), and other funny business. All that delivered to your inbox every month. If you're a writer, that' s sweet, right?

And if you're a writer, you're also a reader, and The Laugh Riot Report is great for readers too. Exclusive offers, contests, giveaways, and reviews of the funniest self-pubbed books in the digital marketplace.

Hey self-pubbing writers...want to write for The Laugh Riot Report? Want to interview an industry professional? Review funny books? Get your funny book reviewed? Reveal your cover? Get the word out about your sales and giveaways? Email me, and I'll make it happen.

The Laugh Riot Report. Built for you. Sign up now.

AN INTERVIEW WITH HUMOR NOVELIST JILLIANNE HAMILTON

 

Q.1. Hi Jillianne, let's start with you telling us a little bit about yourself.

A.1. Like a lot of writers, my writing habit began very early on in life. I was obsessed with Drama and Musical Theatre class in high school and took as many writing classes as the school could offer me. I studied Journalism and Multimedia in college and now I’m a graphic designer in my 9-5 life. I love, love, love funny movies and TV shows, especially ones made by or featuring women. Right now is an amazing time for women in comedy.
 

Q.2. What inspired you to start your writing journey?  Authors who have inspired you along the way?

A.2. I’ve been dabbling in writing since I was a kid. Since then, I knew I wanted to write first-person POV stories featuring a female main character… but I just couldn’t think of a premise that interested me enough to stick with it. I’ve started hundreds of novels over the years. Louise Rennison’s Angus, Thongs & Full-Frontal Snogging series was a huge inspiration to me as well as Meg Cabot’s humor novels.  
 

Q.3. In addition to being a terrific indie author, you also started the excellent Tomfoolery Press.  Tell us about that.  

A.3. Tomfoolery Press is a blog where I feature bookish articles and reviews, but only related to funny books and the writers that create them. Funny books don’t get the love they deserve. It’s a great way to learn what’s out there in a book genre I’m obviously interested in while promoting likewise authors. In addition, Tomfoolery Press is my personal publishing imprint.

Q.4. Okay, now let's get down to the book: tell us about your latest release, MOLLY MIRANDA: THIEF FOR HIRE.

A.4. She’s a professional burglar, hired out to steal high-end items like jewelry and art. She sleeps with her roommate who doesn’t know the real Molly. She’s also partnered up with a Scottish thief who specializes in hacking and using gadgets. There’s action and guns and disguises and so much more. Oh, and hilarity ensues.
 

Q.5. What came first, the characters or the story itself?  How did the book happen for you?

A.5. I was looking for a book to read- the main character had to be a woman. The book had to be funny and action-based… and I couldn’t find anything. (I’ve come across a handful since I wrote my book, but not many.) So, I decided to write my own. Molly Miranda was born. I knew I wanted her to be a criminal of some kind and even considered making her an assassin, but I thought that might make it difficult to make her likeable. The premise was the first thing to come, then the character, then the story.
 

Q.6. What about your characters surprised you while writing?

A.6. Molly’s Scottish partner, Rhys, was originally going to be the villain! Not to say he doesn’t do some evil things in the book, but I loved writing him so much that I made him the perfect partner in crime for Molly. I don’t want to give any spoilers away, but he made it into the sequel too.
 

Q.7. How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in your books?

A.7. Molly is basically the badass chick I wish I could be. Writing her wisecracking interior monologue was so much fun and very easy because it’s basically my own interior monologue. It never stops, it never shuts up. Neither of us are very skilled in the domestic arts, she chews her nails like I do and we find a lot of the same traits in people appealing.
 

Q.8. What can we expect from you in the future?

A.8. I’m currently working on the Molly Miranda sequel. I’m hoping the series will have at least five books in it, with a short prequel in there too. I have an idea for a comedy chick lit novel unrelated to Molly Miranda but that’s on the back burner for now. I’d love to write a book of essays (a la Chuck Klosterman) someday but that’ll be way down the road somewhere.
 

Q.9. What is something that people would be surprised to know about you?

A.9. I am a huge English history nerd, particularly Tudor history. (I’d also like to point out that I loved it before The Tudors made it cool. Just throwing that out there.) I may or may not have Henry VIII’s initials tattooed on my body. I would love to write a historical fiction novel that takes place in the period but the genre is so over-saturated and I think I’d be too picky about getting historical details right.

 

The first two chapters of Molly Miranda are available for free HERE.


















AUTHOR BIO:

Jillianne Hamilton is a writer and graphic designer. She studied Journalism and Interactive Multimedia in college and her writing has been published in The Truro Daily News, The Sackville Tribune-Post, Macleans OnCampus and the PEI Writes 2013 Anthology. Jill grew up in Nova Scotia and now lives in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on Canada’s east coast. She enjoys corgi GIF animations and chocolate cheese cake.
 

About Tomfoolery Press:

At Tomfoolery Press, we LOVE funny books! We’ll even promote yours for free. We feature funny books within all genres and do featured reads, interviews, giveaways, crowdfunding promotion and more.

 

BUY THE BOOK:

KINDLE


KOBO


PAPERBACK


SIGNED PAPERBACK*
 

*signed paperback available in Canada only

2015 RESOLUTIONS FOR SELF-PUBBING WRITERS

By now, indie authors, you’re well on your way to a new, you-er you.

Dropping 10 pounds.  Being nicer to the jerk at work.  Going to bed earlier.  Calling your mother once a week.  Helping out with the laundry.  Fixing things around the house.  Waking up earlier.  Planning more date nights.  Paying down some debt.  Doing a little vacuuming.  Spending more time in the gym.  Taking a trip to the coast.  Working in the garden, planting roses, and then stopping to smell them.

Wonderful New Year’s resolutions one and all, no doubt, but where are the 2015 Resolutions for Self-Pubbing Writers?

Ah, here they are, five of them:

 

1. I WILL WRITE FOR A REASON OTHER THAN MONEY

If you’re writing for money, you’re writing for the wrong reason.  Statistics are clear on this: most indie writers make small amounts of money or less than small amounts of money.  Each year, it gets harder to get noticed by the global community of readers because each year more and more writers self-publish their own books.

Yes, the front end of that last sentence means more marketing is in your future, but the back end is Historically Awesome and means you actually have a future.  Self-publishing is the most profound thing to happen to books and readers and writers since the invention of the printing press.  Indie writers should rejoice in the freedom and control and privilege and honor of presenting their written work to the world.  Nobody can tell you your book is not worthy of public presentation.  That is entirely up to you.  And that is Historically Awesome.  Future, here you come!

Now, that doesn’t mean readers will buy your book.  They’ve got to find it first and there’s some mystical marketing metaphysics going on in the global digital bookstore—if you haven’t noticed.

Would it be nice to make money?  Absolutely.  I’m not giving back my checks; that’s for sure.  But I’m not writing to make money.  I’m writing because I’m a writer, because I love to make people laugh out loud, because I’ve got funny stories to tell, and now I can share them with everyone on the planet whenever I am ready to do so.

Most writers, me included, can and should make this resolution because we are full-life writers, meaning we have jobs and businesses and concurrent careers we’ve worked hard to build and are proud of.  We make money doing those things.  We’ve set up our lives so we don’t need to make money self-pubbing our books.  That would be sweet, no doubt, but we’re not selling our businesses or quitting our jobs or abandoning our careers because we love those parts of our lives too.

Our businesses, jobs, and careers make it possible for us to support our families, to coach Little League, to go to Girl Scouts, to volunteer at the hospital, to take care of our parents, to live full and meaningful lives...and to write and self-publish our own books.

Money is the icing.  Don’t write for the money.

 

2. I WILL STOP COUNTING MY WORDS

You’ve got to self-publish a boatload of books each year, every year, and that means write many tons of words, say several of my self-publishing heroes, to build up your bookshelf and make yourself more noticeable, more prominent, more important, more popular, more successful...happier.

Yes, that seems to be factually true and also utter nonsense—all at the same second.

Counting words is stressful for some writers, painful for other writers, and paralyzing for still other writers.  Not all writers have time to pound out a certain number of words each day.  Some writers are nurses and work long shifts and come home beat up.  Some are firefighters; some are judges; some sell real estate; some build houses—get the picture?  It might take them a day to mentally and emotionally recover before they find their voice again.  I think that scenario is true for all kinds of self-pubbing, full-life writers. 

And even if the normal wear and tear of living a full life is not an issue, some people are, well, slow writers.  They can’t keep the pace day after day.  Some writers are only good for one book a year...or every other year.

So what?  That’s fabulous.

I’ve got nothing against my self-publishing heroes.  They’re my heroes.  I admire them and respect them and read their blogs and books.  But I don’t want to be them.  I’m not trading my life for their lives.  I don’t think the way they do it—smashing out hundreds of thousands of words each year—is a recipe for my success.  My writing life is part of my already swell full life.  And I’m not going to change the rest of my life so I can force out more words than I’m naturally comfortable writing.

Don’t measure the success of your writing life by how many words you write.

 

3. I WILL WRITE WHAT I LOVE

You know the old saying Write what you know?  It’s not true in the sense that it’s not the whole truth.  Yes, of course you’ve got to know what you’re writing about to make that world read real.

But the full history of everywhere that has every existed and everyone that has ever lived and everything that has ever happened in the world for all of time is instantly available on the same small screen upon which you’re reading this resolution.

In a week’s time, you can know a whole hell of a lot about anything.  If you do enough research, you can be an honorary expert in whatever topic you choose.  You can certainly know enough to write about it convincingly.

Instead, you should resolve to write what you love.  If you love romance, then write that.  Mystery?  Write that.  Thrillers, westerns, cookbooks?  Write those.  Write what you love.  If you love what you write and put that love on the page, then somewhere in some market readers will love it too.

And you will feel so good about you’re writing.

 

4. I WILL READ AND THEN READ SOME MORE

Full-life writers have, well, full lives.  Carving out time to write is hard enough for most self-pubbing writers, but they do it.  You know what?  If that’s you, then you have to find time to read too.  Reading other writers is practically as important as writing your own books. 

It seems obvious because it is obvious: the more you read, the more well read you are.  And the more well read you are, the better-deeper-richer your writing will be.  Resolve to read more this year.  If finding time is tough because you always have a meeting to attend, then join a local reading group so that becomes the meeting you have to attend.

 

5. I WILL BLOW MY OWN HORN

Don’t resolve to tell the world your book is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  That’s probably obnoxious, likely a turn-off, possibly not true.

Instead, tell everyone you’re a self-pubbing, entrepreneurial writer and that you’ve got a book they might just like.  Tell them what your book is about.  Let them decide if it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. 

The important part of telling the world you’re a self-pubbing, entrepreneurial writer is that you’re also telling yourself you’re a self-pubbing, entrepreneurial writer.  The more you say it, the more you’ll believe it’s true.  And the more you believe it, the better you’ll feel about your writing and your writing life.  And the better you feel, the better you’ll write.  What a wonderful cycle to start in 2015.

 

No matter what happens in 2015, write anyway.

Rich Leder

CONNECT WITH RICH : GOODREADS | EMAIL | BLOG

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHTFROM UNDERGROUND BOOK REVIEWS

Underground Books Reviews has featured Laugh Riot Press writer Rich Leder in its weekly Author Spotlight. In this spotlight, Rich shares insights on his writing process and the complicated yet exciting and rewarding world of self-publishing. 

Just like Laugh Riot Press, Underground Book Reviews "puts a spotlight on the emerging world of independent, e-publishing and self-publishing. By providing quality, in-depth reviews, we hope to elevate deserving new authors and erase the boundaries between the traditional and non-traditional publishing worlds." 

About the Author Spotlight:

“Here at the Underground, our goal is to promote as many quality indie authors as we can. Toward this end, we’re continuing Author Spotlight Thursdays. If you are an author and like what you see, go to our Author Spotlight form for a chance to be featured on Underground Book Reviews!

Please welcome Rich Leder.”

READ RICH'S SPOTLIGHT ON UNDERGROUND BOOK REVIEWS















FIVE STARS FOR MCCALL & COMPANY: WORKMAN'S COMPLICATION  A great murder/mystery, fantastic!  December 3, 2014

“Kate McCall, a small time actress inherits her fathers private investigators business after her was murdered. Her father was investigating a life insurance scam and Kate decides to look into this case, as well as who killed her father. She finds herself in hot water when she lands in jail as a suspect in a murder. Will she get out of jail, prove her innocence and find the murderer?

A fast paced well written murder/mystery. I really liked Kate she is pretty much thrown into the investigation. The story has some twist and turns, that keep you guessing, anyone and everyone could be the murderer. I also liked Kate’s back story as an “aspiring actress” and the setting in New York City. I feel that lovers of murder/mystery will enjoy McCall & Company: Workman’s Complication.”

— Sheri A. Wilkinson

 

Quirky characters and great plot!  November 30, 2014

“Kate is an off-off Broadway actress, and like most in her position, she must take on other jobs to make ends meet. In Kate’s case, she’s done it all on the career spectrum of an unknown actress, including working as a private detective with her father, Jimmy. However, when Jimmy is murdered, not only is Kate confronted with the terrible news, but Jimmy left the PI business to her with the expectation that she’d pick up where he left off. Although Kate isn’t interested in being a PI, she does want to find out what happened to her father, but she’s also drawn into one of his unsolved cases as well.

There’s a lot going on in this story, there’s the murder, the unsolved case and an unexpected romance with one of the detectives working on her father’s murder. However, the author never confuses the reader and the story flows beautifully. It’s rife with quirky characters and funny scenes and dialogue, simply a really good read that keeps you turning the pages until the end. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this new series.”

— M.A. Stanley

 

Best Book Of The Year!  October 24, 2014

“ ”

— B.K. Walker, Author of the Wolves of Shadow Falls Series

 

It's a Diamond!  September 28, 2014

“ ”

— Felita Daniels
ONE MORE DAY TO ENTER THE GOODREADS GIVEAWAYWIN A FREE COPY OF

MCCALL & COMPANY: WORKMAN'S COMPLICATION

by RICH LEDER

ENTER TO WIN

( last day to enter is December 5 )

 

LAUGH RIOT PRESS WRITER GIVES AWAY 14 FREE PRINT BOOKS ON GOODREADS. YES, 14! YES, FREE !

In the spirit of giving thanks, Rich Leder is hosting a giveaway on his Goodreads page. Starting today (November 21) and running through December 5, you can enter to win one of fourteen copies of McCall & Company: Workman's Complication. It's super simple. Just click the button below, click the enter to win button on Goodreads, and then cross your fingers!

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY
An Interview With Rich Leder

Rich Leder was recently interviewed by Jillianne of Tomfoolery Press. Jillianne and Laugh Riot Press both have similar visions to discover and support indie writers who write funny books, so JIllianne was super excited to talk with the Laugh Riot Press founder and writer on her new website. Here are some highlights from the interview.

 

JILLIANNE: Tell us a little about your book: Juggler, Porn Star, Monkey Wrench.

RICH: I wrote movies in Hollywood for 15 years (18 of my scripts were produced as Network television movies) before moving to the North Carolina coast to write novels. Juggler, Porn Star, Monkey Wrench is more or less the story of my improbable life in LA. Some of it is exactly true, some of it is inexactly true, but all of it is true enough.

It’s the story of a screenwriter at the end of his personal and professional ropes who takes a last-gasp job writing a ridiculous porn flick while coming to terms with the women in his life—his estranged wife, who left him to be a juggler, a manipulative porn star, and the beguiling granddaughter of the ancient Chinese healer he’s hired to cure his headaches. As he attempts to navigate this rocky road, he’s hired to adapt the phone book into a movie.

It’s a romantic Hollywood sex comedy. I cracked myself up writing it.

J: You also have a book series called McCall & Company. How does that series compare? 

R: Set in New York City, my McCall & Company PI series is fast and funny fiction. I’ve written the first two books in the series: Workman’s Complication and Swollen Identity.

They’re mysteries starring Kate McCall, an off-off-off-off Broadway actress whose father, a New York PI, is found dead in an insurance company elevator. Kate inherits his business (pretty much the last thing in the world she wanted) and takes her first job, a workman’s compensation case—featuring a ballroom dancing con man—because her current job is walking dogs in Central Park—crap money, literally—and she needs the money. While she works that case, she sticks her nose in the middle of the multi-million dollar insurance scam her father was investigating before he was murdered.

Like Peter Graves in Mission Impossible, to help her solve both cases, Kate enlists the help of the eccentric tenants of the walk-up brownstone she lives in and manages (the House of Emotional Tics) and also calls on the crazy cast of her way-off Broadway acting troupe (the Schmidt and Parker Players).

Her son is a rising star in the New York City District Attorney’s office, so when she gets arrested for murdering a medical examiner, he’s not happy. The point is it’s not clear if Kate will get out of jail in time to bust the insurance scam, prove who really killed the examiner (and her father), and pull off the ballroom sting of the decade.

It’s funny, yes. But it’s a rocking good mystery too.

The second book in the series, Swollen Identity, features demonic billionaire identical twins and Bulgarian counterfeiters. Kate is up to her neck in trouble again, and her friends are along for the fast and funny ride. She gets arrested in this book too—this time pretending to be a hooker.

They’re super fun to write, and I think and hope they’re super fun to read.

J: Your publishing company is Laugh Riot Press, but it’s serving a second purpose too. Tell us a little bit about that.

R: In this dawn of the digital age of self-publishing, social media is the best and most cost effective way to cast the widest net and create the broadest amount of exposure for indie authors and their books—it’s also the most time consuming. There are readers in every corner of the global marketplace looking for books in every conceivable genre, and it’s become part of the self-pubbing writer’s job description to discover and connect with those readers. It’s important for self-pubbing writers to be out there every day establishing a digital presence, reaching out to readers in as many online outlets as possible.

The good news for me is that I recognized this fact. The not-so-good news is that I’m horrible-terrible-did-I-mention-dreadful at social media marketing.

So I founded Laugh Riot Press, a genre-specific social media marketing and self-publishing company to promote me and my funny books and the funny books of other indie authors. My co-founder is a social media marketing professional, which means LRP is everywhere readers are every day of the year. We market and promote funny self-pubbing writers and their books, creating a constant presence for them in the world-wide digital village of readers so that indie authors have more time to do the most important part of the process: write more books.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW
 

 

We’ve all heard the phrase diamond in the rough. It’s a phrase to indicate future potential but lacking refinement or polish. One of the reasons I started Lilac Reviews was to help new authors become visible to readers. I am so tickled to tell you about this book. The author has already looked over his story and decided on the perfect ‘cut.’ He has polished the edges and held it up to see it sparkle in the light. It is a diamond, period, end of sentence.

I loved the chapter titles, the formatting was professional, the cover is indicative of the content. It has been edited so that nothing slows down your enjoyment of the story.

Kate is the lead actress in this work. She helps her father Jimmy, a private investigator, on occasion. Most actors and actresses do other jobs to earn money on the side. She earns some rent by managing the apartment building she lives in. You get to meet the other tenants along with the folks in the play she’s currently rehearing in anticipation of an opening night. Her son is a district attorney. Unfortunately, her father is murdered. This is where the mystery starts. He hadn’t told her about a new case. The cops think she’s holding out on them. It may seem strange that a novel with drama and murder and mourning could be humorous. But life is like that too. I appreciate that you see Kate mourn her father throughout the book when something reminds her of him. I like that you see how much Jimmy was loved and respected by the way the other characters step in to help her. It takes a village, right?

Let’s talk about the humor. This isn’t the laugh out loud Dick Van Dyke falling over the furniture type humor. It’s more like the dialogue in Firefly. You chuckle to yourself, and maybe snort if you don’t think there is anyone around. I think this quote will get you curious without giving too much away.

“When I was fourteen, Jimmy told me that Miranda was his friend. “She’s there when I need her,” he said. “That’s what I like about Miranda.” Years later, I learned that Miranda wasn’t a woman that Jimmy knew: it was his right to remain silent, his right to speak to an attorney even if he couldn’t afford one.”

There are some quirky characters along the way but they aren’t stupid goofy. Next to Kate, my favorite character is Fu. He’s the maintenance man with a dark past. I really hope he’s in the next book, I want to learn more about him. In summary, I have a new favorite author.

I was given a copy of the novel free in order to read and write an honest review.

 

- Review By Felita Daniels


















 

From the moment I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down. When I had to, I couldn’t wait to get back to it, it IS that good. Leder does a fantastic job of drawing the reader in, not to mention keeping you entertained through the entire thing. It felt like an old time movie, you know? The good one’s they don’t make any more? I could see in my mind a young Katherine Hepburn playing the role of Kate, and Cary Grant playing as Detective Herriman. You may see someone else, but you will definitely get the feeling it should be a movie!

You will find yourself laughing out loud, and anxiously turning the pages to see what Kate and her quirky crew are up to next. I can’t say enough about how great this book was, and if you’ve never heard of Rich Leder, you don’t even have to worry about trusting your purchases of his books, because he’s that GREAT of a writer.

I can easily see his books landing on the NY Times Bestseller lists and if you haven’t tried them yet, I strongly suggest you do. I place him right up there with Dean Koontz, James Patterson and Nicholas Sparks! He’s fantastic!

The characters are easy to connect with, the suspense is at the right pace to keep you wanting more, and the humor is brilliant! I easily give it 5 Wolf Moons and Rich Leder is easily placed as one of my most favorite authors! Don’t wait, get right over to Amazon and grab your copy this minute! You won’t regret it.
 

- Review By BK Walker


















 

WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEW
 

CATCH UP WITH LAUGH RIOT PRESS AUTHOR RICH LEDER ON HIS DEBUT BLOG TOUR.

Going into the fourth week of his virtual tour, Laugh Riot Press author Rich Leder has been making the trek through book blog cyberspace. With interviews, guest posts, reviews, and spotlights marking the stops, Rich is halfway to the top, gathering a new following of intrigued readers and enthusiastic fans along the way. Inspiring fellow authors and connecting with other self-published writers with dreams and motivations to produce more funny books has been a bonus. 

If you want to follow Rich on the remainder of his tour, you can visit his Laugh Riot Press Writer Page to see a full list of stops. Here are some of the places where he's been so far: 

GUEST POST

INTERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT

GUEST BLOG

INTERVIEW

GUEST BLOG

GUEST BLOG

INTERVIEW

REVIEW

GUEST BLOG

INTERVIEW

INDIEREADER // July 23, 2014

SMASHWORDS // August 30, 2014

VBT CAFÉ BLOG // September 7, 2014

DEBBIE JEAN'S // September 8, 2014

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS // September 10, 2014

PUBSLUSH // September 12, 2014

A. LITERARY MAFIA // September 15, 2014

NO RULES JUST WRITE // September 16, 2014

LORI'S READING CORNER // September 17, 2014

BIKERS WITH BOOKS // September 19, 2014

LILAC REVIEWS // September 22, 2014

LILAC REVIEWS // September 22, 2014

TOMFOOLERY PRESS // September 30, 2014

YOU CAN JOIN LAUGH RIOT PRESS TOO.

If you have already created a publishing imprint and your books are professionally produced and you want to join Laugh Riot Press to be a part of our year-round social media marketing movement, that's great—we welcome you to our intimate community of indie authors.  

If your book is professionally produced and you have not created a publishing imprint and would like to be published with the Laugh Riot Press imprint and be a part of our marketing and promotion, that’s great too.  Welcome. 

If your book is not yet professionally produced and you want a bit of guidance to get you going on the self-publishing track, we can do that too.

We don’t want any of your sales revenue; it’s your book.  What we want is for you to join our community of professional indie authors so that together we can get our books out there in the most powerful way possible.

If you want to become a part of a genre-specific, social media marketing machine focused on self-published writers and their funny books, then contact us…and commence laughing.

MORE INFO

   

The first Laugh Riot Press books are officially part of the Amazon library. Now you can visit the Kindle Store and pre-order Rich Leder's e-books McCall & Company: Workman's Complication, McCall & Company: Swollen Identity, and Juggler, Porn Star, Monkey Wrench. After you pre-order, a digital copy of the book will be delivered to you on the day it is released -- September 7th. 

PRE-ORDER McCall & Company: Workman's Complication

WAY-OFF BROADWAY ACTRESS. MURDERED PI FATHER. NEW DAY JOB. 

BUY THIS BOOK



















PRE-ORDER McCall & Company: Swollen Identity

BEAUTIFUL BILLIONAIRE SOCIALITE.  COLD-BLOODED CORPORATE ASSASSIN.  MCCALL & COMPANY BACK IN BUSINESS.

BUY THIS BOOK



















PRE-ORDER Juggler, Porn Star, Monkey Wrench

My name is Mark Manilow. I’m a LA screenwriter. Here’s my recipe for a cocktail called “Romantic Hollywood Sex Comedy.”

BUY THIS BOOK



















INTERVIEW WITH RICH LEDERWhat are you working on next?

I'm finishing another standalone called "Let There Be Linda." It's a dark comedy about two estranged brothers living in the San Fernando Valley who bring their dead mother back to life to clean up the mess they've made of things. As you're already surmising, that can't be a good idea--Monty Python meets Quentin Tarantino. When that novel is done, I'll write the third book in the "McCall & Company" series. All I can tell you about that one is Kate and her eccentric crew are in it up to their necks in lawyers and love and bars and bookies. Oh yeah, and the corporate killer who murdered Kate's father is playing a deadly game of cat and mouse. Kate's the mouse. After that, another standalone, and then another McCall. Shampoo, rinse, repeat.

Who are your favorite authors?

Oh man. So many. Too many. Richard Ford. John Irving. Donald Westlake. Phillip Roth. Sue Grafton. Carl Hiaasen. Janet Evanovich. John D. MacDonald. Edgar Allan Poe. Elmore Leonard. Raymond Chandler. Lawrence Block. Agatha Christie. James Elroy. Robert B. Parker...

What inspires you to get out of bed each day?

I have so many books to write and read, so many new friends to meet, so much great food to eat, so many movies to see, so many places to go, so many mysteries to unwind, so many corners to turn, so many lessons to learn, an awesome wife and three children to enjoy and love and cherish…and the clock is ticking, brothers and sisters. I don't want to miss a moment. For me, every minute of every day is a chance to create something special or make someone laugh out loud or laugh out loud myself or do those things all at the same time. keep reading...

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Around the middle of September, Laugh Riot Press will go live as the only social media marketing and self-publishing company focused exclusively on indie authors and their funny books. 

The only one.  Cool.

Funny books—that’s the thing to remember.  LRP is the only genre-specific company that connects readers who want to laugh out loud with authors who write funny books.

So far, we’ve got one writer...me.  That’s okay.  Every company starts somewhere.  Metaphorically speaking, we’re still in my parents’ garage.  My feeling is that once self-pubbing writers of funny books discover Laugh Riot Press and learn about the many awesome ways we help them get the word out about their books—freeing up more of their time for writing—I’ll soon have colleagues and company.  And the collective power of our community of writers will exponentially increase the reach and effectiveness of our year-round social media marketing movement and more readers will find more funny books.  It’s going to be a win-win-win for everyone.

Exciting times ahead, no doubt.

But what’s really got my heart pumping is that with the launch of Laugh Riot Press my three funny books will go public—as in for sale in the digital marketplace.

And that means...here comes Kate McCall.

The first two books of the McCall & Company series, a private investigator series set in New York City and starring off-off-off-off Broadway actress, boxer, and reluctant PI Kate McCall and a crazy cast of cohorts, are ready to go.

Here’s a first look at the covers—

WAY-OFF BROADWAY ACTRESS. MURDERED PI FATHER. NEW DAY JOB.

Off-off-off-off Broadway actress Kate McCall inherits her father’s New York private investigations business after he’s a whole lot of murdered in a life insurance company elevator.


A concrete-carrying, ballroom-dancing construction mule says he fell off the scaffolding, can never work—or dance—again, and sues the contractor for a whole lot of money.


Kate assembles the eccentric tenants of her brownstone and her histrionic acting troupe to help her crack the cases, and they stir up a whole lot of trouble.


But not as much as Kate, who sticks her nose in the middle of the multi-million-dollar life-insurance scam her father was investigating and gets a whole lot of arrested for murdering a medical examiner.


Will Kate bust the insurance scam, prove who really killed the examiner—and her father—and get out of jail in time to pull off the ballroom sting of the decade? She might, but it's going to be a whole lot of hilarious. 

BEAUTIFUL BILLIONAIRE SOCIALITE.  COLD-BLOODED CORPORATE ASSASSIN.  MCCALL & COMPANY BACK IN BUSINESS.

Way-off Broadway actress and NYC PI Kate McCall had promised the police and the Assistant DA—her son—that she was all done investigating any damn thing in New York...

Meaning beautiful billionaire socialite Brooke Barrington says someone has stolen her identity, and the corporate assassin who murdered Kate’s father has shot the eyes out of the CEO of Superior Press...

Meaning McCall & Company is back in business...

Meaning Kate enlists the help of the eccentric tenants of her brownstone—the House of Emotional Tics—and her melodramatic acting troupe, the Schmidt and Parker Players...Meaning things spiral hilariously and dangerously out of control...   

Meaning she is confronted by Brooke's demonic identical twin, Bailey, accosted by international counterfeiters, and arrested for impersonating a hooker...

Meaning will she stop Bailey from murdering Brooke?  Or will she stop Brooke from murdering Bailey?  Or will she figure out how to tell one from the other in time to survive the wrath of the Bulgarian mob men hired to protect the counterfeit cash?  And will she finally find her father’s killer?  

She might, but it's going to be a fast, fun, and furious ride.

 

For all of you who’ve signed up for the LRP mailing list, the first book of the series, McCall & Company: Workman’s Complication, is yours for free.  LRP will send you an ebook in the next few weeks.

If you’ll read it, write a review, and post it on Amazon, I’ll send you a signed paperback.

I know, I know: ooooh, wow, thanks, Rich, just what I always wanted...something autographed by you.

Still, it would help me out quite a bit if you’re up to writing a good review of my book.

Email me a copy of the review you post on Amazon (rich@laughriotpress.com), and I’ll mail you a paperback version of the book.

I think you’re going to love Kate McCall.  She’s funny as hell, street smart and tough, and totally flawed.  (I have the totally flawed part in common with her.)  She might have the worst romantic luck of anybody you’ve ever met, her father’s killer is trying to kill her too, the tenants in the brownstone she manages are dysfunctional and hilarious, and her acting troupe is certifiably New York crazy.  Did I mention that she enlists the brownstone gang and the acting troupe to help her solve her mysteries?

Yeah, it’s funny.

But it’s a swell story too.  Right to the end, you’ll have no idea whodunit.  And it’s a fast, fun read.  I hope you like it.

Anyway, I can’t wait for you to meet Kate McCall.  And I’m so grateful to you for joining the LRP mailing list.  Thank you.

Now, here’s another round of Laugh Riot Press 20 Questions.

Question #8: What does Laugh Riot Press do for its writers?

Answer #8: Here it is in a nutshell: minimize marketing time, maximize writing time, increase marketplace exposure.  Laugh Riot Press is for indie authors who want to be part—and want their books to be part—of a year-round social media marketing movement but don’t have the time or the expertise or the time (did we mention not having the time?) to make the necessary commitment each and every day to create that kind of widespread digital presence. We handle the social media logistics (okay, go ahead, call it busy work); so our writers can spend more time writing and connecting with readers.

Laugh Riot Press writers benefit from the kind of daily social media presence that drives genre-specific readers—looking for books that will make them laugh—to their publishing company website (that’s us) and to their LRP writers page (that’s you) and to the individual pages of their books. We get you out there every day, and you connect with readers. Kismet.

 

Question #9: Does Laugh Riot Press promote its writers in ways other than social media marketing?

Answer #9: Yep. We send press releases across the country and around the globe. We have a killer blog with which we promote and present our writers and their books and their virtual tours and their appearances and their special deals and giveaways. We e-blast almost everything to our mailing list—which we encourage your fans to join. We have a growing list of libraries and book reviewers that we contact every time there’s a new funny book to announce.

There’s also a significant and growing number of online bookstores and reading apps you may not know about. Uh-huh, believe it or not, there’s life beyond Amazon and Goodreads. Plenty of readers use these other apps, and it’s important to connect with every reader possible. Laugh Riot Press is in all these places --  Wattpad, Uncovered Books, Bublish, aerbook, BookBub, and Bookish, to name a few. When you join LRP, you don’t have to spend hours upon hours discovering these outlets, learning how to use them, and managing and monitoring them. We do the legwork and (here it is again) busy work for you.

 

Questions #10: On what social media platforms is Laugh Riot Press active?

Answer #10: We have a daily presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, and Pinterest. And we’re adding new platforms as they gain strength, numbers, and importance. We’re posting and commenting every day. Social media is our business. We’re everywhere writers need to be and everywhere readers are looking for books. If you know someplace we need to be and we’re not there yet, we'd love to hear about it.

 

That’s it for now.  The next time around, I’ll share the cover and tell you about the third book I’m self-publishing with the launch of LRP: Juggler, Porn Star, Monkey Wrench. It’s a standalone because it’s so crazy nothing could really follow it.

Thanks for reading the LRP blog.  I’d love to know what you think about all this stuff.  Email me at rich@laughriotpress.com.   I’ll email you back.

The more funny books in the world, the better.

Rich

CONNECT WITH RICH : GOODREADS | EMAIL | BLOG

Around the middle of September, Laugh Riot Press will go live as the only social media marketing and self-publishing company focused exclusively on indie authors and their funny books. 

The only one.  Cool.

Funny books—that’s the thing to remember.  LRP is the only genre-specific company that connects readers who want to laugh out loud with authors who write funny books.

So far, we’ve got one writer...me.  That’s okay.  Every company starts somewhere.  Metaphorically speaking, we’re still in my parents’ garage.  My feeling is that once self-pubbing writers of funny books discover Laugh Riot Press and learn about the many awesome ways we help them get the word out about their books—freeing up more of their time for writing—I’ll soon have colleagues and company.  And the collective power of our community of writers will exponentially increase the reach and effectiveness of our year-round social media marketing movement and more readers will find more funny books.  It’s going to be a win-win-win for everyone.

Exciting times ahead, no doubt.

But what’s really got my heart pumping is that with the launch of Laugh Riot Press my three funny books will go public—as in for sale in the digital marketplace.

And that means...here comes Kate McCall.

The first two books of the McCall & Company series, a private investigator series set in New York City and starring off-off-off-off Broadway actress, boxer, and reluctant PI Kate McCall and a crazy cast of cohorts, are ready to go.

Here’s a first look at the covers—

WAY-OFF BROADWAY ACTRESS. MURDERED PI FATHER. NEW DAY JOB.

Off-off-off-off Broadway actress Kate McCall inherits her father’s New York private investigations business after he’s a whole lot of murdered in a life insurance company elevator.


A concrete-carrying, ballroom-dancing construction mule says he fell off the scaffolding, can never work—or dance—again, and sues the contractor for a whole lot of money.


Kate assembles the eccentric tenants of her brownstone and her histrionic acting troupe to help her crack the cases, and they stir up a whole lot of trouble.


But not as much as Kate, who sticks her nose in the middle of the multi-million-dollar life-insurance scam her father was investigating and gets a whole lot of arrested for murdering a medical examiner.


Will Kate bust the insurance scam, prove who really killed the examiner—and her father—and get out of jail in time to pull off the ballroom sting of the decade?  She might, but it's going to be a whole lot of hilarious. 

BEAUTIFUL BILLIONAIRE SOCIALITE.  COLD-BLOODED CORPORATE ASSASSIN.  MCCALL & COMPANY BACK IN BUSINESS.

Way-off Broadway actress and NYC PI Kate McCall had promised the police and the Assistant DA—her son—that she was all done investigating any damn thing in New York...

Meaning beautiful billionaire socialite Brooke Barrington says someone has stolen her identity, and the corporate assassin who murdered Kate’s father has shot the eyes out of the CEO of Superior Press...

Meaning McCall & Company is back in business...

Meaning Kate enlists the help of the eccentric tenants of her brownstone—the House of Emotional Tics—and her melodramatic acting troupe, the Schmidt and Parker Players...Meaning things spiral hilariously and dangerously out of control...   

Meaning she is confronted by Brooke's demonic identical twin, Bailey, accosted by international counterfeiters, and arrested for impersonating a hooker...

Meaning will she stop Bailey from murdering Brooke?  Or will she stop Brooke from murdering Bailey?  Or will she figure out how to tell one from the other in time to survive the wrath of the Bulgarian mob men hired to protect the counterfeit cash?  And will she finally find her father’s killer?  

She might, but it's going to be a fast, fun, and furious ride.

 

For all of you who’ve signed up for the LRP mailing list, the first book of the series, McCall & Company: Workman’s Complication, is yours for free.  LRP will send you an ebook in the next few weeks.

If you’ll read it, write a review, and post it on Amazon, I’ll send you a signed paperback.

I know, I know: ooooh, wow, thanks, Rich, just what I always wanted...something autographed by you.

Still, it would help me out quite a bit if you’re up to writing a good review of my book.

Email me a copy of the review you post on Amazon (rich@laughriotpress.com), and I’ll mail you a paperback version of the book.

I think you’re going to love Kate McCall.  She’s funny as hell, street smart and tough, and totally flawed.  (I have the totally flawed part in common with her.)  She might have the worst romantic luck of anybody you’ve ever met, her father’s killer is trying to kill her too, the tenants in the brownstone she manages are dysfunctional and hilarious, and her acting troupe is certifiably New York crazy.  Did I mention that she enlists the brownstone gang and the acting troupe to help her solve her mysteries?

Yeah, it’s funny.

But it’s a swell story too.  Right to the end, you’ll have no idea whodunit.  And it’s a fast, fun read.  I hope you like it.

Anyway, I can’t wait for you to meet Kate McCall.  And I’m so grateful to you for joining the LRP mailing list.  Thank you.

Now, here’s another round of Laugh Riot Press 20 Questions.

Question #8: What does Laugh Riot Press do for its writers?

Answer #8: Here it is in a nutshell: minimize marketing time, maximize writing time, increase marketplace exposure.  Laugh Riot Press is for indie authors who want to be part—and want their books to be part—of a year-round social media marketing movement but don’t have the time or the expertise or the time (did we mention not having the time?) to make the necessary commitment each and every day to create that kind of widespread digital presence. We handle the social media logistics (okay, go ahead, call it busy work); so our writers can spend more time writing and connecting with readers.

Laugh Riot Press writers benefit from the kind of daily social media presence that drives genre-specific readers—looking for books that will make them laugh—to their publishing company website (that’s us) and to their LRP writers page (that’s you) and to the individual pages of their books. We get you out there every day, and you connect with readers. Kismet.

 

Question #9: Does Laugh Riot Press promote its writers in ways other than social media marketing?

Answer #9: Yep. We send press releases across the country and around the globe. We have a killer blog with which we promote and present our writers and their books and their virtual tours and their appearances and their special deals and giveaways. We e-blast almost everything to our mailing list—which we encourage your fans to join. We have a growing list of libraries and book reviewers that we contact every time there’s a new funny book to announce.

There’s also a significant and growing number of online bookstores and reading apps you may not know about. Uh-huh, believe it or not, there’s life beyond Amazon and Goodreads. Plenty of readers use these other apps, and it’s important to connect with every reader possible. Laugh Riot Press is in all these places --  Wattpad, Uncovered Books, Bublish, aerbook, BookBub, and Bookish, to name a few. When you join LRP, you don’t have to spend hours upon hours discovering these outlets, learning how to use them, and managing and monitoring them. We do the legwork and (here it is again) busy work for you.

 

Questions #10: On what social media platforms is Laugh Riot Press active?

Answer #10: We have a daily presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, and Pinterest. And we’re adding new platforms as they gain strength, numbers, and importance. We’re posting and commenting every day. Social media is our business. We’re everywhere writers need to be and everywhere readers are looking for books. If you know someplace we need to be and we’re not there yet, we'd love to hear about it.

 

That’s it for now.  The next time around, I’ll share the cover and tell you about the third book I’m self-publishing with the launch of LRP: Juggler, Porn Star, Monkey Wrench. It’s a standalone because it’s so crazy nothing could really follow it.

Thanks for reading the LRP blog.  I’d love to know what you think about all this stuff.  Email me at rich@laughriotpress.com.   I’ll email you back.

The more funny books in the world, the better.

Rich

CONNECT WITH RICH : GOODREADS | EMAIL | BLOG