A combination of words by the eminent news commentator and reproductions of oil and watercolor paintings by noted artist Ray Ellis evoke the fresh, natural beauty of an exploratory sea voyage from Chesapeake Bay to Key West

From a Spur Award-winning author comes a thrilling tale of faked deaths, runaway slaves, and revenge amid the Civil War. The only way to escape the purgatory that is the Florence Stockade is to die, so on February 3, 1865, Zebulon Hogan dies. Corporal Favour and Private Gardenhire, the only two soldiers of the 16th Wisconsin healthy enough to tote Zeb’s wasted-away ninety pounds, wrap him in a dirty, stinking, and damp blanket, and carry him to the Dead House. It was typhoid pneumonia that got him, the soldiers told the Confederate guards. Zeb is buried in the prisoners’ cemetery, but the grave is shallow and it’s likely that the hogs rooting around will soon be sinking their teeth into his rotting flesh. Then, young Ebenezer Chase, a runaway slave, sees the shadowy figure of a hand clawing through the muddy dirt over that grave, like it’s reaching to pull anybody nearby into the deepest part of Hades. Ebenezer’s first impulse is to scream, to warn the soldiers in the Stockade of what is happening, but nothing comes out of his throat. Zeb Hogan has a mission far beyond escaping from the Stockade. He has sworn an oath to other prisoners to pursue the traitorous Sergeant Ben DeVere, who traded blue for gray and is now a Confederate in Vicksburg, and kill him. The problem for Zeb is that he knows nothing of the surrounding country and is likely to be intercepted. Ebenezer, despite being a runaway slave and no less vulnerable to capture, does know the country. Perhaps they can join forces to get where each wants to go . . . Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction that takes place in the old West. Westerns—books about outlaws, sheriffs, chiefs and warriors, cowboys and Indians—are a genre in which we publish regularly. Our list includes international bestselling authors like Zane Gray and Louis L’Amour, and many more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

An interdisciplinary study of Katherine Anne Porter’s troubled relationship to her Texas origins and southern roots, South by Southwest offers a fresh look at this ever-relevant author. Today, more than thirty years after her death, Katherine Anne Porter remains a fascinating figure. Critics and biographers have portrayed her as a strikingly glamorous woman whose photographs appeared in society magazines. They have emphasized, of course, her writing— particularly the novel Ship of Fools, which was made into an award-winning film, and her collection Pale Horse, Pale Rider, which cemented her role as a significant and original literary modernist. They have highlighted her dramatic, sad, and fragmented personal life. Few, however, have addressed her uneasy relationship to her childhood in rural Texas. Janis P. Stout argues that throughout Porter’s life she remained preoccupied with the twin conundrums of how she felt about being a woman and how she felt about her Texas origins. Her construction of herself as a beautiful but unhappy southerner sprung from a plantation aristocracy of reduced fortunes meant she construed Texas as the Old South. The Texas Porter knew and re-created in her fiction had been settled by southerners like her grandparents, who brought slaves with them. As she wrote of this Texas, she also enhanced and mythologized it, exaggerating its beauty, fertility, and gracious ways as much as the disaffection that drove her to leave. Her feelings toward Texas ran to both extremes, and she was never able to reconcile them. Stout examines the author and her works within the historical and cultural context from which she emerged. In particular, Stout emphasizes four main themes in the history of Texas that she believes are of the greatest importance in understanding Porter: its geography and border location (expressed in Porter’s lifelong fascination with marginality, indeterminacy, and escape); its violence (the brutality of her first marriage as well as the lawlessness that pervaded her hometown); its racism (lynchings were prevalent throughout her upbringing); and its marginalization of women (Stout draws a connection between Porter’s references to the burning sun and oppressive heat of Texas and her life with her first husband).

When a handful of adventurous Austinites combined forces to dream up the South by Southwest Music & Media Conference in the mid-to-late 1980s, there was no guarantee it would survive past the first couple of years, much less blossom into the premier event of its kind in the world. Launched in March of 1987, SXSW quickly caught on as a sort of "spring break for the music industry" where deals were done amid waves of warm weather, Texas cuisine, and an endless parade of musicians from across the globe. SXSW Scrapbook takes a long look back at many years of highlights as South by Southwest celebrates its twenty-fifth edition in 2011. Those who were there share stories about how it all got started; memorable performances by major artists including Johnny Cash, the Black Eyed Peas, Iggy Pop, the Dixie Chicks, and the Flaming Lips; countless up-and-coming acts that got a leg up in their careers by playing SXSW; Sunday softball tournaments with Doug Sahm as championship-game announcer; goodie-bags decorated by renowned illustrators from Mike Judge to Daniel Johnston; and the convention's eventual expansion beyond music to include a film festival and an interactive media component. The book includes numerous photos, plus essays from SXSW staffers and participants including Dave Marsh, David Fricke, Jim DeRogatis, John Morthland, Ed Ward, Michael Corcoran, Jaan Uhelszki, and Thom Duffy.

Whether you're a startup founder trying to disrupt an industry or an entrepreneur trying to provoke change from within, your biggest challenge is creating a product people actually want. Lean Analytics steers you in the right direction. This book shows you how to validate your initial idea, find the right customers, decide what to build, how to monetize your business, and how to spread the word. Packed with more than thirty case studies and insights from over a hundred business experts, Lean Analytics provides you with hard-won, real-world information no entrepreneur can afford to go without. Understand Lean Startup, analytics fundamentals, and the data-driven mindset Look at six sample business models and how they map to new ventures of all sizes Find the One Metric That Matters to you Learn how to draw a line in the sand, so you'll know it's time to move forward Apply Lean Analytics principles to large enterprises and established products

“Action Comics #1000 makes Superman revisit the past in interesting ways.” -Entertainment Weekly “A powerful tribute to Superman’s enduring legacy.” -A.V. Club “There have been a lot of ‘milestone’ issues hitting the shelves lately, but none can really hold a candle to Action Comics #1000.” -Nerdist “It’s a big deal, for a lot of reasons-but it’s also a celebration of something worth celebrating.” -Polygon “The landmark Action Comics #1000 features a murderer’s row of talent, including the DC Comics debut of former Marvel architect Brian Michael Bendis.” dash Paste Magazine “There’s pretty much something for everyone in this issue… It’s impossible not to be moved by the many loving Superman tributes these creative teams have put together.” -IGN For over eight decades, Superman has been inspiring fans all across the globe. The Man of Steel has saved Metropolis-and the world-countless times over, but Superman’s not done yet! Begin the next chapter of the iconic superhero’s journey by celebrating 1,000 issues of Action Comics, with a lineup of top talent as they pay tribute to the comic that started it all. This unforgettable collector’s edition features stories and art by: Brian Michael Bendis, John Cassaday, Olivier Coipel, Paul Dini, José Luis García-López, Patrick Gleason, Butch Guice, Geoff Johns, Dan Jurgens, Tom King, Jim Lee, Clay Mann, Brad Meltzer, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, Scott Snyder, Curt Swan, Peter J. Tomasi, Marv Wolfman and more! Collected here for the first time is the celebrated, landmark issue Action Comics #1000, plus a host of extras, including a bonus story by comics legends Paul Levitz and Neal Adams, variant covers, scripts, cover sketches and the comic that started it all…the Superman story from Action Comics #1.

Samson Valentine is the best private eye ever to wear a fedora–or at least he was, before he became a washed-up booze hound. There simply isn't demand for a whiskey-swilling Welsh gumshoe who insists he's living in 1940's Chicago. Everything changes when a massive diamond falls into his lap. Before he's too sure of what's going on, he's swept up in the biggest case of his life. The mob will do anything to get its gemstone back, and they prove it when Sam's friend turns up dead. Now it's personal, and Sam sets out on a one-man mission to take down the Welsh crime syndicate. Armed with little more than his wits and his fists, the odds don't look good. Too much time at the bottom of a whiskey bottle has given him trembling hands and an addled brain. If he's to have any chance of bringing the mob to justice, he'll first need to come to grips with his worst enemy–himself.