A Quick Summer Update

We are now officially into the summer and while Pennsylvania is getting a lot more rain than normal, it's been a good one so far.

Last Monday night, my wife and I enjoyed our first book club meeting where we discussed Wayback with Pat Webster's friends. We go to church with many of the members and it was a fun night. It was really neat to see how the scenes that had originated in my gray matter over two years ago came alive to those that read the book and to find out what they liked and disliked. It was very energizing.

Reviews are continuing to come out and you'll want to keep your eye on a "big one" coming from Christian Fiction Review over the next few weeks - Wayback will make an appearance there. Good reviews also continue to come in on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The Facebook Fan Site is also continuing to grow at a healthy pace.

I am diligently working on the sequel to Wayback, tentatively called MidCycle. I'm about 80% of the way done with the first draft and I like where it's going so far. Someone once said that a sequel must be similar to the original work to be considered a sequel and different enough so that it really is a different book. That's a challenge.

I will be in Denver on July 12,13 & 14 to attend the International Christian Retail Show, representing STL Book Distribution with Wayback. This is the largest Christian Book Show in the world, so I plan on making the most of it (looking for an agent, looking at different publishing houses, networking and even meeting some of the best Christian Fiction authors).

As more news comes out this summer, I will post it here. Enjoy your summer!

Blessings,

Sam

Book Sightings!

While my book has been available on-line for over a month now, it's finally starting to show up on physical book store shelves around the country. I received an email from a reader in Michigan who found one at Barnes & Noble and I got a note that Master's Mercantile was beginning to carry it. On Saturday, June 6th, we loaded the family into the mini-van and drove over to the local Master's Mercantile and found four copies.

This is the kind of stuff that puts a fire under me to complete the sequel as fast and best as I can. If you find a copy on a shelf and snap a photo send it to me and I'll post it here (sam at sambatterman.com - replace at with, well, '@')

Blessings,

Sam

A few early reviews from the Blogosphere

Now that we are a few weeks out from the launch, I have a few reviews that are staring to roll in. Here are three that I thought I'd share:

From Tammy Litke at Three Different Directions:

One can tell just by reading the first couple of chapters, that a lot of research went into this book. Some of the topics discussed kind of went over my head a bit (lol!) from a scientific point, but the writing is very good and kept me engaged throughout.

The book includes lots of action, a good plot and a great dose of science fiction all told with a creationist perspective. It's like Indiana Jones meets Stargate meets Answers in Genesis. Really!

Batterman's first novel can be considered a success. His writing skills should make him a popular author in the future. I'm sure we'll be seeing many more of his speculative fiction books to come.

Here's another from Glynn Young at Faith Fiction Friends...

"Wayback" by Sam Batterman is a novel, a thriller and a movie all rolled into one. I haven't had this much fun with a book since "Jurassic Park." 

Utilizing work developed by Nazi Germany as it was collapsing, a group of American scientists has succeeded in creating the means to travel in time. They've run into a problem, however; trying to go earlier than about 3000 B.C. ends in spectacular failure, with the deaths of the crew. More recent times don't represent the same problem. And so they confront a question -- what if the earth didn't exist before 3000 B.C.? Could the account of creation in the book of Genesis be accurate after all? So the scientists assemble of a team of experts, and travel to the approximate time of the biblical account of the flood. 

Enter some terrorists, bent on changing history -- recent history. They're aiming for the 1967 Six-Day War, when Israel smashed the military of Jordan, Syria and Egypt. The terrorists would like to change what happened. 

The two stories track and parallel each other, as the tension mounts in both and the reader is propelled into the action. Batterman has an extraordinary gift of describing settings and landscapes -- the reader can see and almost smell what's going on. And it doesn't matter if the landscape contains a gigantic boat or rows of fighter jets and tanks in the desert. 

The research undergirding the novel is mindblowing -- not only the sciences of geology, botany and physics but also the history of the Six-Day War and the speculative description of the antedeluvian world. The research makes the novel come alive in a way that's extraordinary. And "Wayback" would be a great basis for a movie -- it's that visual. 

What a story! And what a storyteller!

Here are a few more impressions from his great blog...

Here's a nice one that was posted on Amazon:

I picked up this book the night before boarding a 6 hour flight to the West Coast from back East. I literally had it completed 2 hrs after landing. My main complaint is that I started the night before the flight and did not get much sleep as it was such a page turner. It is a rare book these days that keeps you from turning out the light when you are exhausted. 

In my opinion the "time travel" theme can be very campy, however this novelist did not get lost in the technology or predictable plot line of many science fiction genre writers. 

Very unique story, and strong character development make this a great summer vacation read that will appeal to those that desire a good fiction escape with a healthy dose of a positive message. 

At the end, you find yourself wanting more story (in a good way), and desiring to find out what happens NEXT. Clearly Wayback and the main characters have some franchise potential if done properly by the author. If you want a book that literally makes "time stop" while you are reading, pick this up and it will not disappoint.

There are more on the way, but wanted to share these out. 

Blessings,

Sam

What's going on?

Wow - it's been a busy two weeks since the books starting shipping. I've sent about a hundred and fifty influencer copies into the world (literally - some going to the Caribbean, Australia, Canada, etc.) and I hope to start seeing both reviews and "influence" on blogs, Facebook sites and even major Christian Fiction Review Sites.

The economics side of the book publishing process is very different from the solo-creative part that preceded it by over two years. It really is all about networking. Finding people who have a bazillion friends on Facebook and are willing to spread the word about your book, or finding that Reviewer that reaches thousands of people --- these are the people that can seriously impact book sales.

I'll keep you posted on reviews and such over the next two weeks or so as they start popping up, but hey, what about you? Will you write a review on Amazon for Wayback? Perhaps consider joining the Wayback Fan Site - it costs nothing - while you're at it, suggest it to your friends - again, totally free.

I had my first book signing at my church last Sunday night. I'm blessed in that my Senior Pastor, Scott Wendal, at vfbt.org is a big supporter. They are carrying it in their church bookstore.

Is yours carrying it? If not, drop me a line to find out how to remedy this: sam@sambatterman.com

Blessings,

Sam

It's Here!

After two long years, the day I have dreamt about is here. Wayback is now available to the public. I hope you enjoy it, but perhaps more to the point, I hope it creates a lot of discussion.

Today had a strange sense of finality to it - somewhere between the graduation of high school and college and less intense than the birth of a child. This is the end of the creation process and the beginning of promotion and sales. The book ended up better than I could have hoped.

Here I am opening the first box of influencer copies...

Two dozen "Waybacks" all nestled together!

The gratuitous "author and stack of books shot."

I even had a well-wisher on-line from my editor, Rachel Starr Thomson

Blessings,

Sam

The Timeline for Writing Wayback

Since this blog over time becomes a kind of diary, I wanted to post the timeline of events that led to Wayback being published. I know that during the process I always wondered what was next and how long that particular task would take, so perhaps this will help other writers who are curious.

Oops, blogger doesn't give us much space here - here's an enumeration of the events:

• May 2007 - Manuscript started, originally titled "Chronology"
• May 2008 - Manuscript submitted to Manuscript Submission Network
• July 18, 2008 - VMI Publishers extends contract
• Endorsements - from Aug 2008 to Nov 2009
• Edit - from late November 2008 to Feb 15 2009
• Web Site development - from December, 2008 to Feb 2009
• Typesetting - March 2009
• Printing - April 2009
• Available to the public May 1, 2009!

Blessings,

Sam

All Systems are Go! T-Minus 8 days!

I just got a note from the publisher that the books are almost done with printing and will be shipping out to warehouses and booksellers on May 1,2009 (which was the originally planned ship date).

If you've not already ordered your copy you can go to any of the following sites to order it...

• Amazon.com
  
• Barnes & Noble
  
• Target.com
  
• Tower Books
  
• Books-A-Million
  
• ChristianBooks.com (CBD)
  
• Powell's Books
  
• Cokesbury
  
• eCampus.com
  

...and many, many more.

If you'd like a signed copy you can click here.

If you enjoy the book, consider supporting me by doing any or all of the following...

• Send an email to your friends and encourage them to read the book.
• Write a review on Amazon.com
• Have your local church bookstore or private school library get some copies for their shelves
• Ask you local Christian bookstore dealer to carry some copies
• Join the Facebook Fan Site and socialize with other fans and read fan reviews.

If you enjoy the book, send me e-mail (sam@sambatterman.com), I'd like to hear from you!

If someone needs ordering information (a bookstore proprietor, etc.), here it is...

Contact STL Distribution (http://www.stl-distribution.com) 

Phone: 1-800-289-2772

Fax: 1-800-759-2779

Be sure to check back often at www.sambatterman.com for news of other books and how Wayback is doing.

Blessings,

Sam