First Book Signing

On April 4, 2009, I launched the first of many book signings at Borders Books and Music at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif. I am very thankful to the management at this store for allowing me the opportunity to sell Breakthrough in a public setting. They were more than willing to allow a first-time local author a chance to promote Breakthrough. I’m confident I reciprocated the favor by bringing in additional traffic to their store. I have second book signing at this location Saturday, June 13th from 1 - 3 p.m.

I sold some books and met many very interesting people. Those who stopped to talk and didn’t buy a copy of Breakthrough showed a great interest in the concept of the story, while many took the time to read a few chapters. I gave them my business card and let them know they can always order a copy online at my Web site www.stephentremp.com or online from Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

During downtime when no one visited my table, I navigated both floors of the store and talked to people about my book. Those in the mystery and science fiction sections took immediate interest. I then expanded my realm to other reading sections, such as business and other nonfiction areas, and found these readers also expressed an interest in this timely subject matter and the new and refreshing characters Breakthrough offered.

The concept of a breakthrough in Einstein-Rosen Bridges, or wormholes, in a modern-day setting such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., sets the stage for a realistic science fiction to quickly morph into an action suspense thriller the readers can wrap their arms around. The story is so engaging that the reader is guaranteed to keep turning those pages and putting off, at least temporarily, all other things as he/she visualizes the extraordinary events that many people believe is within our grasp in the not-so-distant future. After all, today, we see the sci-fi of comic books of the past materializing and becoming commonplace.

You can see reviews for Breakthrough at Barnes and Noble and Amazon:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Breakthrough/Stephen-Tremp/e/9780595710706/?itm=1

http://www.amazon.com/BREAKTHROUGH-Adventures-Manhattan-Stephen-Tremp/dp/0595710700/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238994572&sr=8-1

More reader and editorial reviews will be posted within the next few weeks. Stay tuned for more exciting information regarding national promotional happenings, not only for Breakthrough, but for the second and third installments, entitled Opening and Escalation, set for publication in late 2009 and mid-2010, respectively.

Lessons Learned: The event was held from 4 – 6 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. Almost all of the sales occurred from 4:00 – 4:15 p.m. The feedback I received was that people had already spent most of their money by this time. Future book signings will be scheduled for 2 – 4 p.m.

Writers, readers, and bloggers, feel free to post any questions or comments you have. The publishing industry is quickly changing in a dynamic manner. Publishing and promotional methods are changing, and power is shifting from the traditional dictatorial despots to the individual. I’d like to hear your input on what has and hasn’t worked for you, as well as have the opportunity to respond to you with my humble opinions and experiences.