500 Eager Young Readers

Originally posted HERE

I just did my first presentation at a school yesterday: 500 kids in 5th to 8th grades. The PowerPoint presentation was a hit, and so were the hundreds of free audiobooks and bookmarks I brought (I practically got stampeded at the end). All in all, I thought it went pretty well, considering it was my first presentation, I was sick, and my computer refused to print the presentation, which forced me to do it all from memory. I literally finished creating the files seconds before leaving for the school (I just had to add my Yoda impression to the PowerPoint presentation!). I had a lot of fun, and now I know what to expect for my next school presentation (which will happen in a couple of weeks from now). As a side note, Paraworld Zero got a bunch of reviews this month, so I’ll share my favorite parts here:

"action packed" - VOYA

"Peterson writes an excellent cliffhanger that made me excited about the next episode." - BookLoons.com

"For a first time novelist Peterson shows a good grasp of what makes a book exciting, injecting his novel with a cracking pace, endearing characters - and the story's breakneck climax is well worth the wait." - Sci-fi Online

"Readers will delight in this first book in Matthew Peterson’s Parallel Worlds series..." – MyShelf.com

"This sci-fi/fantasy adventure pulls the reader in from the first sentence and keeps the pages turning. Filled with humor, cool new gadgets and spells, and an extremely original premise, this is one book you do not want to miss out on... Two thumbs up." - Book Chic

"Paraworld Zero held me in my seat from the first page. An exciting fast-paced adventure, chock full of magic and humor... While this book contains elements of Harry Potter and Star Wars it is still uniquely in a league of its own." - Word Weavers

"Amazing! Harry Potter step back, Simon Kent is a magic welder with a secret history.... fun adventures, cool characters, and laughable moments... Definitely a good read..." - Yellow30Scifi.com

Book Signings, Tours and TV/Radio Interviews

Paraworld Zero hit the top-50 BarnesAndNoble.com bestseller list for a couple of days! Not bad for a first-time author. The past couple weeks have been very busy for me. My publicist booked 18 radio interviews back-to-back (over 5 million people heard me on the radio). NBC in Phoenix did a little blurb about Paraworld Zero (view the segment here). I was the guest blogger on a bunch of websites like FreshFiction.com. I did my first solo book signing at Borders. Well over 100 people showed up, and we sold 70 books. The employees said they weren't prepared for such a large crowd and had never seen this happen before. Finally, I went to North Carolina to be the guest author at some book events at Cameron Village Library and Pomegranate Books. About 30 people showed up at each event. I was also interviewed on a Raleigh TV show called "The Artist's Craft." It will air on prime time in a few weeks, but you can watch it now online here.

My upcoming events include another TV interview in Arizona and some school events (I'm going to California next week as well). I'll be speaking to 500 kids at the first school, so that should be fun. It's a good thing I don't get nervous in front of crowds!