The Door Within opens in the Washington Post and Fox National TV

**Wayne Batson** · July 19th, 2007, 02:44 PM

Hey, all! I'm not back from the Fantasy 4 Fiction Tour yet! The Washington Post interviewed me about my books, and put the story on the FRONT PAGE!! Can you believe it? I fell out of my chair. This has led to a chain reaction of gigantic proportions--more below. Here's the link for the Post article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...071702182.html

Due to the Front Page article in the Post, Fox News network has asked me to be on National TV this Friday on their Fox and Friends Show. 8:30 am, Eastern time. Tune in if you can!

This has all been too amazing.

WtB

**kater** · July 19th, 2007, 03:44 PM

Fantastic, super stardom awaits .... and it all happened once you'd got an sffworld forum

Seriously congrats mate (live national TV would scare me senseless though) good things, good things

**alison** · July 20th, 2007, 04:57 AM

Brilliant, Wayne! Don't wear stripey shirts and I'm sure you'll be cool.

Keep us posted!

**fantastyfreak** · July 20th, 2007, 07:50 AM

Saw the interview! Very well done! Harry Potter did get me to read! No...I read the Young Jedi knight books before Harry Potter. I still love them! Anyway congrats!

**Kaellyn** · July 20th, 2007, 12:52 PM

I really enjoyed watching the interview. I think that it is great that you are getting this kind of publicity. I read The Door Within trilogy last and loved it and can't wait to read your new series. As a Christian myself I think it is awesome to see a Christian author get praise for his work from the media, and not just criticism because of his beleifs.

**Rob B** · July 20th, 2007, 08:46 PM

I made sure to set my TiVO to record it this morning. Great job and congratulations Wayne. Should be interesting to see what kind of spike your sales and Web site visits get because of the appearance.

**Rocket Sheep** · July 20th, 2007, 10:45 PM

What a great article! Very nice marketing.

So did you AIM to write sticking to Christian fundamentalist views or was that just good luck in hindsight?

I've seen loads of opportunities for writing Christian or Jewish children's/YA books in the US, but even if I knew what their religious views were, I couldn't pull it off decently/convincingly. I'd feel confined. You have to write from where you are, and what you know and feel, to write genuine stories, IMHO.

**Wayne Batson** · July 20th, 2007, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by kater

Fantastic, super stardom awaits .... and it all happened once you'd got an sffworld forum

Seriously congrats mate (live national TV would scare me senseless though) good things, good things

I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

But, funny thing, when the light went on, peace took over. I had hundreds of nice folks praying for me...that made a big difference.

**Wayne Batson** · July 20th, 2007, 10:54 PM

Originally Posted by alison

Brilliant, Wayne! Don't wear stripey shirts and I'm sure you'll be cool.

Keep us posted!

Avoided stripey shirts but even with make up could do nothing to avoid showing the bags under the eyes from two weeks of touring. lol

**Wayne Batson** · July 20th, 2007, 10:55 PM

Originally Posted by fantastyfreak

Saw the interview! Very well done! Harry Potter did get me to read! No...I read the Young Jedi knight books before Harry Potter. I still love them! Anyway congrats!

You are Da' MAN!! I was such a Star Wars geek. It was not uncommon to find me zipping around my backyard with a snowspeeder or a Tie-Fighter. lol

**Wayne Batson** · July 20th, 2007, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by Rob B

I made sure to set my TiVO to record it this morning. Great job and congratulations Wayne. Should be interesting to see what kind of spike your sales and Web site visits get because of the appearance.

Thanks, Rob! All of my books clocked in at the best Amazon ranking I've ever had. Prior to today the highest I've ever been on Amazon was @ 1200. Today all three of The Door Within books went below 1000. Even Isle of Swords (which hasn't released yet) came in at 10,000. National exposure is just staggering in its influence.

Question is, what will the long term impact be?

**Wayne Batson** · July 20th, 2007, 11:01 PM

Originally Posted by Rocket Sheep

What a great article! Very nice marketing.

So did you AIM to write sticking to Christian fundamentalist views or was that just good luck in hindsight?

I've seen loads of opportunities for writing Christian or Jewish children's/YA books in the US, but even if I knew what their religious views were, I couldn't pull it off decently/convincingly. I'd feel confined. You have to write from where you are, and what you know and feel, to write genuine stories, IMHO.

RS, I am a Christian, so I wrote what I was passionate about. But I'm also a public school teacher, so I set out to write something that would encourage the faith of believers but not be preachy. Good story matters everywhere, so I worked hard to make it so...still much to learn about the craft though. SFF has been such a cool place to hang and learn.

**Rocket Sheep** · July 20th, 2007, 11:22 PM

So it was purposeful but also from the heart? How lucky are you that the market is perfect!

I'm still waiting for the jaded, sarcastic, socially rebellious market to boom... then my YA will sell more.

**Regidor Dragon** · July 21st, 2007, 11:07 PM

well i did not get to see you on fox i was at work at that time what a bummer LOL glad you got to talk about your books and GOD ...God is so good to us!
i got a frend The Door Within book one will get her the others i know she hooked

**fantastyfreak** · July 22nd, 2007, 02:46 PM

When I went to Borders on Friday night to get Deathly Hallows, I saw Door Within on the display for What to read while waiting for Potter? What was even more cool was the fact that I got into a discussion with some other Potter fans about Christian Fantasy and some other people joined in on the discussion. I did not feel at all nervous and shy like I usually am, I felt empowered, it was a cool feeling. In the end, 10 copies of Door Within sold b/c of me. Heh! Heh!. Anyways, great to see that the sales on Door Within are at their highest. The interview and all the exposure was at the perfect time when people after reading the last Harry Potter which I found to be a bit lacking, want to find other stuff to read.