Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle, September 5, 2003
"...a veritable treasure trove of insider info on how the increasingly mad world of publishing actually operates."

Neil Walsh, SF Site
"The best thing about Rick is that he knows what he's talking about (most of the time, anyway)."

Sandy Auden, The Alien Online, February 4, 2004
"[I]t's all delivered in Klaw's smooth, chatty prose that reads like you're sitting with him in a bar somewhere."

Jayme Lynn Blachke, Green Man Review, October 26, 2003
"Geek Confidential sucked me in and refused to let go."

Mike Shea, Texas Monthly Online, September, 2003
"He writes with the heart of a book-lover and the brain of a bookseller--an unbeatable combination."

Book Description
A collection of RickKlaw's finest columns, reviews, and other observations. With two all-new essays, a comic adaptation of a Joe R. Landsale story, and an introduction by science fiction grandmaster Michael Moorcook, this book promises to become a must have for sclience fiction fans, booksellers, and anyone with an interest inpop culture.

About the Author
An award-winning editor, writer, and bookseller, Rick Klaw was the co-founder and managing editor of MOJO Press and the former fiction editor for RevolutionSF. One of the more opinionated people in an industry of opinionated people, Klaw produces the popular column "Geeks With Books" for SFSite. He has written for The Austin Chronicle, Weird Business, The Big Book of the Weird Wild West, Gangland, Michael Moorcock’s Multiverse, Science Fiction Weekly, Nova Express, Electric Velocipede and other venues. Rick Klaw lives in Austin Texas with his wife, one cat, and an enormous collection of books.

Excerpted from Geek Confidential : Echoes from the 21st Century by Rick Klaw. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Death Threats, Banned Books, and Other Facts of Life by Rick Klaw "I just remembered. Most of the death threats came from Texas." I turned and looked at Michael Moorcock. We were on our way to the release party for the 30th anniversary edition of his classic novel Behold the Man. (This was back when I was the managing editor for local pub MOJO Press.) Upon the initial publication, Moorcock received many threats and was even banned in several countries thanks to the perceived heretical nature of the story. Why do people feel the impulse to threaten or ban when they don’t agree with something? And who is foolish enough to think that it actually works? All it usually accomplishes is to make the book a better seller. Does anyone honestly believe that Satanic Verses would have become a best seller without the Ayatollah’s help? But it doesn’t take a fatwa to increase sales. When the Mitchell estate attempted to ban Alice Randall’s Gone With The Wind satire Wind Done Gone, they changed what would most likely have been a marginal seller to megahit. With their lawsuit, the estate managed to put Alice Randall’s book on everyone’s mind. In my editing/publishing days, we prayed for one of our book to be banned. Nothing increases sales more. Think of it as free advertising. Something that is perceived as wrong is always popular. (What else could explain Britney Spears?) The best way to "ban" a book is to let your pocketbook do your talking. Books that don’t sell cease to be. There is no more effective weapon. That doesn’t help much in libraries with titles that are considered "subversive," "pornographic," or "dangerous." Of course, in my book there is nothing more subversive or dangerous than forced ignorance. No idea is so dangerous that it shouldn’t be read about. How else can people make informed, educated choices? How can we know what is dangerous? A child learns how to not fall out of the tree by climbing the tree. So what happened with Mr. Moorcock and his heresies? We laughed it off and talked about who would take the bullet for him. The release party itself went off without incident and Behold The Man was a success. I’ll strike a deal with all you close-minded, ignorant people out there. You keep banning books, and I’ll keep selling them. And reading them.

FROM THE PUBLISHER