“This doesn’t happen very often,” Michelle Price, Community Relations Manager, Barnes & Noble, Tri-Cities, Washington.

“…I’ve never seen anything quite like this…” Mark Lueshen, Store Manager, Barnes & Noble, Tri-Cities, Washington.

After a visit to Boise, Idaho where 200 books were sold in 2 days author Patrick Carman headed to Tri-Cities Washington last week. Carman, a Northwest native and Willamette University graduate has written a children’s fantasy novel called The Dark Hills Divide, the first of three books in The Land of Elyon Series. (www.landofelyon.com ).Carman continues his impressive schedule of talking to thousands of elementary school students followed by out of this world book signing events.

Carman spoke with nearly 5,000 elementary school kids last week and wrapped it up with an unprecedented event at the Barnes & Noble in Tri-Cities. 500 copies of The Dark Hills Divide flew off the shelves in less than 12 store hours over a 2 day period. Mark Lueshen, store manager of B&N in Tri-Cities said, “I can honestly say this is the most exciting single event I’ve been involved with…” Lueshen was impressed with Carman not only as an author but as a person. He credits the success of the event to a number of factors including Carman’s charisma. Another one of the reasons he calls this event his most exciting and successful ever is, “…because of the enormous number of people in the store and the excitement he (Carman) generates.”

“It’s truly a wonderful phenomenon,” says Lueshen. The Dark Hills Divide has now sold close to 1,000 copies in his store alone since January. Book sales were strong even before Carman’s visit. Michelle Price added, “for the past month Patrick’s book has been #1 in our store. That is very impressive.” Both Lueshen and Price, who set up the event, could not be happier. They both expect bigger and better things for Carman and The Dark Hills Divide. “This book is going to be big,” says Price. Lueshen echoes those thoughts and continues talking about a 1st time writer, “any author that can have this type of response… …it’s unheard of in the book community.”

Carman garnered interest from the press in Tri-Cities as well. Carman was featured as a headlining story on KEPR news on the Tri-Cities CBS affiliate on the 5, 6 and 11 o’clock broadcasts. Media outlets are increasingly interested in his story of self-published author to six figure deal with Scholastic. Carman started by self publishing The Dark Hills Divide and made such a large impact in the Northwest that several publishers bid for the book with Scholastic eventually winning out. Scholastic will re-release The Dark Hills Divide as the super lead title for spring 2005 in a hardback edition. Until then, fans can enjoy the paperback edition released by the author.

About The Dark Hills Divide
This enthralling new series is set in a fantasy world in which animals can talk and enchanted stones can predict the future. In Book I, The Dark Hills Divide, the heroine, 12-year-old Alexa, has spent her life living behind the four-story walls that surround her village and the three others that make up Bridewell Common. But Alexa’s curiosity for what lies in the hills and forests on the other side sends her on a daring adventure into a secret world in which nothing is as it seems to be. Originally released by Amped Media, the series was purchased by Scholastic in March of 2004.

ORDERING The Dark Hills Divide
The Dark Hills Divide is available through Partners West. To place an order, call 1-800-563-2385.

About Patrick Carman
A Northwest native, Patrick Carman lives in Washington State with his wife, Karen, and daughters, Reese and Sierra, now seven and nine. He grew up in Salem, Oregon, and graduated from Willamette University with a degree in economics. Carman then spent a decade living in Portland where he founded and ran an advertising agency. After selling the agency in 1998, he created a series of popular board games including “Applause,” and founded and built Mywebpal.com into the third-largest provider of online newspaper publishing in the U.S. before selling the company in 2002. In addition to speaking about his books the author speaks to youth and adults alike about the effect technology has had on culture and how reading can be used as an important (and entertaining) alternative to TV, radio and the internet.

For more on this story contact:

press@patrickcarman.com
www.landofelyon.com

Patrick Carman has been featured in the following print publications:

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Miami Herald
Tri-City Herald
The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
Everett News Tribune
The Dalles Chronicle
Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah)

TV appearances:

KTVB _ NBC Affiliate, Boise ID
KPER_ CBS Affiliate, Pasco, WA

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Over 1,000 people lined up over 2 days for Carman’s book signing event at Barnes and Noble in Tri-Cities, Washington (background). To the right, Carman with B&N staff.

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