Hi.
Welcome to Hasty Book List—your cozy corner of the internet for all things bookish. Here, I share the stories I’m reading, the ones I can’t stop thinking about, and a few literary surprises along the way. I’m so glad you’re here.
Welcome to Hasty Book List—your cozy corner of the internet for all things bookish. Here, I share the stories I’m reading, the ones I can’t stop thinking about, and a few literary surprises along the way. I’m so glad you’re here.
Please find below:
Sample headshot
Sample press photos
Sample photos of media interviews
Poster
Digital Press Kit
PDF Press Kit
1. Sample headshot
Headshots should capture your client's persona. Here is one of my client Jenn LeBlanc, romance author. I love how it showcases her vivaciousness and warmth.
2. Sample press photos
It's great if you can capture your client's in their everyday life. For example, one of my client's is an author and OBGyn. The photo below shows her just having delivered a baby. Women's Health featured it in an article about her.
If the book you're promoting has photographs, utilize them! A book I promoted titled La in the 1970s contained a photo essay by Rick McCloskey. I contacted him to obtain permission to share them and CNN ran them.
3. Sample photos of media interviews
Photographs of your client's interview with the press can be great for their social media! Below are pictures of my client Dr. Sheila Loanzon in conversation with Lisa Ling and my client Bea Koch, founder of romance bookstore The Ripped Bodice meeting Fabio for a joint segment with CBS.
4. Poster
I like to include posters with my book mailings, but they could be great for other products as well. Here's an example (high res version available):
5. Digital Press Kit for your book launch.
Almost Damned by Chris LeibigApril 1, 2020Koehler Books
https://www.amazon.com/Almost-Damned-Christopher-Leibig-ebook/dp/B08R6KWPFS
Synopsis of Almost Damned
Early praise for Almost Damned
Author Bio and links for Chris Leibig
Excerpt from Almost Damned
Q&A with Chris
Publisher Details for Almost Damned including pre-order link
Praise for Almost Mortal, the prequel, as well as Amazon link
Cover images for Almost Damned and Almost Mortal (available in high res)
1. Almost Damned Synopsis:
Defense attorney Samson Young has an uncanny ability to get even the so-called worst clients off the hook, as he ably demonstrated in Almost Mortal. In Almost Damned, little does he know that his most challenging cases are all leading up to one monumental trial, in which he will lay before the Court the visceral complexities of good vs. evil.
As Sam navigates his cases in Virginia and begins to examine DNA evidence, it becomes increasingly apparent that his clients – old and new - are surprisingly interconnected, especially when old clients rise from the dead. Literally.
In their pursuit of the truth, which has them searching from Miami to Mount Hermon, Sam and his staff are besieged by death threats and mysterious invitations, each one a clue that compels him to dig deeper into his own past, including the supposed death of his mother and the religion he had long since left behind. With each new discovery, Sam leads himself and his team into a nether world, in an attempt to bring redemption to his toughest clients of all - the fallen angels who have been walking the earth for centuries, unable to find peace.
2. Early Praise for Almost Damned:
"A story for the ages: A story born long before the time of man and captured by your writer, Christopher Leibig, who seems to be channeling his work from nether places, bringing you tales that promise to keep you up late turning pages!"
-John Ellsworth, Bestselling author of The Lawyer
"From a capital case with an outrageous defense to what is undoubtedly the trial of the millennia, Almost Damned is full of characters who would have been just as recognizable in the 11th century as they are in the 21st "
-Sean Jenan, author of Cipher
"An unconventional, absorbing legal thriller with elements of fantasy and the supernatural"
- Kirkus
3. About Chris:
Chris is often called on by media to comment on high-profile cases.
Chris Leibig is a full-time criminal defense attorney and novelist. He regularly handles serious, high profile criminal cases throughout Virginia and the DC area. (See www.chrisleibiglaw.com) He has presented at numerous legal symposiums at law schools in the United States, Caribbean and Europe. He appears regularly as a legal expert on national TV, including CNN and NBC, and in national press, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Fox and NPR. Chris earned a Bachelor's Degree from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor from William and Mary Law School. He also studied forensic science at a Master's Program in at George Washington University, where he studied forensic DNA evidence and forensic psychology. Chris’s novel Almost Mortal about a defense attorney whose case compels him to track down a biblical mystery was the number 1 legal thriller on Amazon in April 2017. It was nominated for the 2016 Chanticleer CLUE Awards and it won the Chanticleer International Book Awards Grand Prize in Paranormal Fiction for 2017, winning the first place category award in the Fantasy and Mystery categories. Almost Mortal also won Pencraft Award for Best Legal Thriller in 2017, the Next Generation Independent Book Award for Religious Fiction in 2016 and was selected as a finalist in the Religious Fiction category by Top Shelf Magazine in 2018. To learn more about Chris you can visit www.chrisleibig.com.
4. Excerpt of Almost Damned
AFTER A VISIT TO the business center, Sam sat at the Hilton bar in front of a cold martini.
“Hey there,” Juliana said. They embraced, and Juliana and a gray-haired gentlemen took seats next to Sam.
“William Pitts,” the man said, gripping Sam’s hand warmly. “Pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Likewise.”
“I wanted you guys to meet, but also, William works with me at U of M and is, in fact, a neurologist with an interest in neurochemistry.
Sam regarded William, an earnest professor type who was obviously really into Juliana. He smiled at the compliment, which he had not seen coming.
“Well, that’s probably what we need. You trust him, I trust him. Welcome to the Black Mirror, William.”
Juliana took a folder out of a backpack and opened it on the bar.
“First off,” William said, “as I’m sure you know, this is fascinating stuff. We could get famous with these profiles. You give me permission, I’d do a paper on this, which, I understand, is the kind of thing you may want. Also, it may interest you that I went to divinity school way back when. And I understand that there may be some, I guess, religious implications at play. But let’s start with science.”
“I’m listening.”
“What I have here are forensic DNA profiles of Camille Paradisi and Igor Alexi and four other results. Who are they?”
“Result one is a swab from a note from my client, Riker Lugnudsky; two is a swab from two items for a woman named Tawana Hightower. The third and fourth are from envelopes, one maybe from a guy named Esau Jacobs, the other unknown.”
“Okay, so first off,” Juliana said, “we already know about Paradisi. Alexi, Riker, Tawana, and this guy Esau, if these are complete results, are also homozygotic at all tested loci. Which, I’m guessing, you already suspected. Statistically, as you know, it basically can’t happen. Statistics can play with your head, though, so let’s just say, as I did in court four years ago, that Paradisi is a regular human who defied the odds, who happened to get the same genetic marker at all of the Powerplex loci. I mean, as odds go, the chances of this happening are remote, in the trillions even if her parents were identical twins, and scientists would normally be willing to call it impossible. But hey, she was alive, and these were government results from a blood draw, so, sure, whatever— it happened. No one is going to make the full buy-in that she’s not human. They’ll say, yeah, it’s weird, and everyone thought the gunshot killed her, but it didn’t. Just an odd occurrence—not a miracle.”
Sam finished his martini and glanced at his phone. Amelia, texting. Call me!! And again, As soon as you land, call me!! Sam ordered a glass of wine. One thing at a time.
“Okay,” Sam said. “And?”
“And even if people can accept this odd occurrence regarding Paradisi, it defies all logic to believe the same thing could happen to four other people that you know. Sam, what I am saying is that if these results are all legit, we have discovered a new species, and you have irrefutable proof if it.” Juliana looked at William. “Tell him what you want to do.”
“Sam, I’d like to get new genetic samples from a couple of these people and get Juliana to map them with a different sort of DNA testing.”
“Like what?”
“All you have here is forensic testing. It uses noncoding locations in our genes to identify people, but the locations don’t code for characteristics. The locations don’t tell us anything about diseases, personality traits, or anything else. If I have their entire genomes, I can look at locations on the gene to see what in the world these people might be like. What, in the name of God, is in this genetic mix? Even if I can examine two of these profiles, it would be enough to go public. I mean, I’m sorry to be so excited about this, but as far as evolutionary biology goes, I can’t imagine a bigger discovery. To say nothing of the global religious and political implications of a race of intelligent nonhumans among us. What I’m saying is, if we can map the genome of even two of them, I can make some determinations about what it means that they are not human. What are they?”
5. In Conversation with Chris
What is your relationship with religion and why/how did it shape what your story is about?
The Bible can be an allegory for a lot of things. Camille and Sam’s trial in God’s Council reminds me of the system we, on Earth, actually have. And have always had. At the end, the powers that be are certainly powerful, but far from good. Everyone is the same for the most part, but to have a structured society it's like we have to pretend differently. The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones are beautiful complex stories full of great characters and analogies to the way things really are. But the Bible, in particular with Hebrew Bible, is an infinitely more complex story where everything has a meaning and relates backwards and forwards in ways it would take more than a lifetime to understand. I don’t understand why more people don’t study it from a non-religious perspective.
Who, specifically, do you hope will read your book, and why? What do you hope for them to get out of it?
Anyone who likes legal thrillers with interesting characters, and is not afraid of a little magical realism, would like it. I like paranormal stories that are grounded in some realism (or history) , like Outlander, or even Lost. Vampires are part of our culture in a way, and people seem to love them. The Bible can work the same away, and has a way richer history.
There seems to be some commentary on what constitutes good, evil and redeemable in the story. Would you say there’s a clear line between good and evil, and does it ever become muddled?
Not believing in strict good and evil is an important component, in my opinion, to being a defense attorney. People who have done terrible things can amaze you with compassion and heroicism, and some of the most admired members of society are also some of the most selfish.
Did studying forensic DNA typing directly impact your story? If so, what element of it did you want to explore in your story?
Definitely. The Almost Mortal series brings a paranormal reality into view through DNA analysis. Forensic DNA analysis, meaning the kind of DNA analysis used in court to prove the origin of a biological crime scene sample in a court case, involves typing a certain location in our genome where individuals tend to have different DNA markers from each other. At each location, people get one DNA marker from their mother, and one from their father. Long story, but the markers are given a numerical label, and the comparison of the markers at these locations is what results in a person’s DNA being highly likely to be one and the same as, let’s say, blood or semen left a crime scene. The evidence is powerful in court because of the extraordinary unlikelihood of someone matching all the markers at all the forensic locations (usually 16-23 locations or so) and not being the person from whom the biological material originated.
Almost Damned is officially the sequel to Almost Mortal. Can you share a teaser about Almost Mortal for those readers who will want to read it after this book?
Almost Mortal is about a mid-thirties public defender who believes both of his parents are dead. He gets a new case which causes him to read an old journal that gradually brings him to a new understanding of who he is. The problem is, among other things, who he is is impossible for him to believe because it requires belief in an ancient biblical story. By the end of Almost Mortal, the defense attorney, albeit grudgingly, agrees to represent his family and others like them in a trial against God. Almost Damned takes it from there.
6. Publisher Details for Almost Damned
Media Contact: Sabrina Dax
sabrina@sabrinadax.com
Title: Almost Damned
Author: Chris Leibig
Publisher: Koehler Books
On-Sale Date: April 1, 2021
Binding: Paperback/Hardcover
Page Count: 210
Price: $10.15 (Kindle) $16.95 (Paperback) $29.95 (Hardcover)
Pre-order link:
https://www.amazon.com/Almost-Damned-Christopher-Leibig-ebook/dp/B08R6KWPFS
Genres: Legal thriller/paranormal/suspense/crime fiction
ASIN: B08R6KWPFS
7. Praise for Almost Mortal, the prequel, and Amazon link:
"It really gave me the kind of rush that a good thriller is supposed to do." - Confessions of Two Reading Freaks
"Almost Mortal had me guessing throughout the book. I tried to figure out who the murderer was, and I was wrong every time." - "Book Warrior of Nightcourt"
https://www.amazon.com/Almost-Mortal-Christopher-Leibig-ebook/dp/B01CZ6XLWK/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=almost+mortal&qid=1613331874&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
8. Cover Images for Almost Mortal and Almost Damned
6. PDF Press Kit
