Promoting 2 Exciting Kantara Books at Barnes and Noble
Arriving at Barnes and Noble
Spending an afternoon at a bookstore is by no means a bad way to spend the afternoon for a couple of authors. On Saturday, June 29, 2024, Stephen and Mary were invited to sign books at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore on Belt Line Road in Dallas, Texas. Much to their delight, they entered the store with a table set up near the entrance in front of the magazines and across from the cashiers. Several books were ready for readers to purchase.
Exciting Kantara books on display
The first thing Stephen noticed was that Kantara: The Traveler books had been updated with the number ‘1’ indicating that it was the first book in the Kantara Scrolls series. The book matched very nicely with book ‘2’, Kantara: The Captain.
Before taking their seats at the authors table, the husband-and-wife team, whom some affectionately call a ‘dynamic duo’, went shopping…after all, it is a book store!
They returned to their seats, set out some bookmarks and business cards, ready to promote their work. Both wore their B-29 Superfortress Doc hats. Two weeks prior, they traveled to Olathe, Kansas, where they flew in a B-29 Superfortress called Doc, a World War II bomber. This was done as research for their upcoming book, Kantara: The Prince. Read more here.
A visit by fellow authors
For a couple of introverts, sitting at a table and meeting new people isn’t exactly the most comfortable thing to do. Therefore, it is wonderfully welcoming when familiar faces arrive to say ‘hi’ and show support. In this case, Stephen and Mary were delighted to embrace another husband-and-wife writing team, J.L. Yarrow (John & Leanne), authors of Future’s Dark Past. Get their book on Barnes and Noble here.
The two sets of authors have much in common and coincidentally, both write time travel books. J.L. Yarrow explores the future of Artificial Intelligence, a fascinating subject (if you love the Terminator movies, check this out).
J.L. Yarrow visited for more than an hour. Both sets of authors had fun comparing notes on how they team up with their spouses to write books. There was a striking similarity between both approaches, where the husbands prepare the framework, but the wives make the stories great.
Meeting readers
As many authors can relate, readers come with many interests. Readers cordially greeted us at the door as they entered the store, and several engaged in conversations. Some were fascinated with the genre of Kantara (a Science Fantasy), while others were more interested in finding books for their kids to read, so gift purchases were made. Either way, we were happy to write notes encouraging young readers to enjoy our books and to keep reading.
One moment that had Stephen smiling involved a young man wanted to get the book, but had saw us after making his purchase and his friends were urging him to hurry up because they had to leave. Sometimes this is an act, but in this case, his interest appeared quite genuine, and it just leaves us grinning.
We spent a bit of time talking with a fan of horror books, something this store specializes in. She gave some interesting recommendations on books to read. We told her about the upcoming Texas AuthorCon and Book Festival, which has its origin with the horror genre, that was scheduled for July 26th-27th in Richardson, Texas. Needless to say, especially after hearing that the admission is free, she took down all the details to attend.
Back to promoting
As many readers of our blogs know, the last year has had its life challenges, whether it was to remove a tumor from the head and adjusting to the loss of loved ones, so coming back to the promotion scene is more than a pleasure; it’s an absolute joy. We mention this because we hope to bring a sense of joy, excitement, and thrill to other’s lives who are also undergoing challenging times. We try to accomplish this goal with our books.
The next half of the year book tour will kick off with the Texas AuthorCon and Book Festival in Richardson, Texas on July 26 and 27, 2024 (Learn more here). They will then head to Fort Worth at the Trinity Book Festival on September 14, 2024, and then partake in the Great Gathering in Waco, Texas from October 11-13 where they hope to reunite with animation artist Greg Peters (Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Rugrats, and more).
With book 3, Kantara: The Prince, coming out next Spring, there will be some exciting news about some re-branding of the Kantara series, involving the talented artist Sukesha Ray. Also in production is the audiobook for Kantara: The Captain in which Dakota Jaymes is reprising his acting and narration skills as the performing reader. If you haven’t already, get your copy of the audiobook, Kantara: The Traveler here.
Many thanks to Barnes and Noble
We can’t thank the Barnes and Noble Team at Belt Line Road enough for their wonderful support (see their event page here). They were kind as always and we appreciate them carrying our books in their store, so go see them first if you are looking for something amazing to read.