Facebook / Ads

Today, the NEW facebook fan page is finished!  Looks really good.  I had been wanting to get a website looking fan page for awhile and finally I found a website that made it easy.  If you want to create a fan page and make it pop check out Lujure.com.  So easy to do yourself and it was free!  That's right free!  So cool. They have pay for services as well that give even more functionality but for what I needed to start with the free service was perfect fit!  Check out my page:  Steve Trek Adventures  If your not a fan of the page you should land on "The Adventure Begins Here" tab, if you are a fan and land on the wall tab, simply click on the correct tab in the left pane.  Again, Lujure.com if you need help creating fan page.  Its terrific!

Ok so today I started my first Facebook ad campaign as well.  If your a facebook user keep an eye out for it.  I'm trying it as a test to see if it will actually drive new likes to the fan page and ultimately new book sales.  Wish me luck.

Next step, update the website. 

Peace.

TR

New FaceBook Page!

Created a new Facebook fan page today!  Well not new but a new and improved welcome tab.  If you need to create a tab, let me recommend Lujure.com.  Its an incredibly easy to use tool to create fabulous tabs on fan pages.  Best of all....Its FREE!  I will be tweaking it some more over the next few days to get it just right, but wow so much better.  Check it out: STEVE TREK FAN PAGE

I'm working on book two.  This time around I plan on self publishing versus using the publisher of book one.  I think having more control over pricing and ensuring immediate kindle availability is more important.  It was a good experience with Tate Publishing but I don't think they really help on selling the books at all.  That 100% up to the author.

I will post a chapter in the near future of book 2!

Peace,

TR

New Giveaway! AND Book Reviews

On Goodreads.com I have just begun a new book giveaway for 1 Hardback Collectable copy of The Galapagos Islands-Steve Trek Adventures.  Sign up for your chance to win!  Drawing will take place on August 1st 2011.

Being a new author, one of the first things you want is to see people read, hopefully enjoy and then post a review of your work.  That is a double edge sword.  If, more likely when, that first bad review is posted it cuts like a knife.  Overall the reviews to date for The Galapagos Islands have been really good, 4.15 avg out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com and even higher on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.com. I am proud of the overall scores that the book is receiving.    My wish is that each of you considering reading my book or any book do so and judge the book for yourself.  Don't let others determine what you might enjoy.  Take the chance, read for yourself and make your judgement.

I hope that one day you read this first book, The Galapagos Islands and enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

Peace,

TR





 

Thank You

I wanted to congratulate all the book winners from the Goodreads.com giveaway.  I hope everyone has recieved their book.  I also wanted to thank all of you for checking it out and a special thanks to those of you posting reviews.  It is much appreciated.

I am working on the 2nd installment of the series now.  I will post some sneak peeks down the road so keep an eye out.

Thank you all again,

Peace  TR

New Book Trailer

Steve Trek Fans, here is the new book trailer.  Book is now available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble plus at Tate Publishing.com now.  Relases date is May 3rd.   You can follow me and find where I will be for book signings on the new website:  http://stevetrekadventures.com

Without any further ado here is the trailer:

Thanks for following me.  Peace TR

Getting the Word Out!

Now that the book is due for release in less than a month.  I am working on building that awareness that it is coming out.  I have been  researching opportunities to build the awareness.  One method I am using is Goodreads.com.  Its a wonderful site of avid readers and authors.  I am participating in a free book giveaway to build awareness and hopefully generate some additional reviews and recommendations.   I am in process of providing a review book to flamingnet.com.  This site is a teen/young adult site that provides reviews and recommendations to its membership.  I feel like this book fits well with this audience and I hope the reviewer(s) enjoy the book.  I am still working on finalizing the website ideas.  I have strong idea of what I want it to be like but trying to find someone to build it within a budget that works.

For all the fans, the book is available on tatepublishing.com now and it just started showing up on Barnes and Noble.com as a pre-order.

Additionally, I just started the process of the book trailer with the publisher so within the next 3 weeks or so we should have a book trailer for everyone to see!

If you wish to receive a limited addition hardback of the book, send me a email at steve.trek.diveadventures@gmail.com and I will tell you how.

Peace!  TR

Steve Trek Prologue

This week I thought I would share a book excerpt.  Below is the prologue to The Galapagos Islands, The first book in the Steve Trek Adventure Series.

Steve Trek, a divemaster aboard the dive boat Under the Sea, is twenty-eight years old with twelve years of diving experience.  He has diving credentials as long as any diver in the Dive Traveler Company, including full instructor certification. Steve is a natural leader, the kind of person people gravitate to, confide in and just trust implicitly.  He has the typical ocean buff look: the sun-bleached hair, the deep tan, the very fit muscular body. His presence simply instills safety and comfort to all those around him.  His charm and good looks lead to all the ladies that dive from the Under the Sea to love him and dream of rubbing his washboard stomach between dives and during the romantic nights that happen at sea.  Steve has been diving on the Under the Sea since he joined the Dive Traveler Company in 1999 after graduating from Pro Dive Instructor School.  He has become the top divemaster in the company and is well respected in all levels of Dive Traveler.  

The Under the Sea’s current assignment has it sailing and diving the beautiful and sometime treacherous waters around the Galapagos Islands. The waters there have unbelievable diversity. On any one dive the tourist diver can see the surreal sights of marine iguanas scavenging algae from the ocean floor, to schooling hammerhead and Galapagos reef sharks numbering in the hundreds, to the enormous sight of a fifty-foot whale shark cruising by chugging the plankton-rich waters like a sailor on leave at the local bar.  That’s why the divers pay in excess of $5,000 for the weeklong trip. These pristine waters can also be as dangerous as any in the open ocean.  Raging currents can come up at a moment’s notice, switch direction, and, before you know it, you’ve been swept miles away from the dive boat. The water here is also cold to the average tropical diver. The water typically runs around sixty-eight degrees, which is quite cold compared to the eighty plus degree water of the Caribbean.  Galapagos is located along the equator, where the warm water currents from the Pacific join and merge with the cold-water currents from the Arctic creating the swirling currents and upwelling of plankton-rich water that draws in all the amazing animal life that divers have come to expect in Galapagos.

The Under the Sea is a 110 foot swath design luxury dive boat. This particular design helps minimize the wave effects on passengers, so very few ever get seasick aboard the Under the Sea. The swath design sets the main deck thirty feet above the water’s surface.  The boat has a dive deck that is designed to raise and lower from the main deck to the water’s surface so the divers may enter easily. The boat features luxury cabins for twenty-four passengers. Each cabin has hot showers, king beds, and window views that rival any beach resort in the world.  The boat is truly a luxury hotel on the water. Other amenities that the passengers enjoy during their week stay include the ten-person hot tub on the top deck, the exquisite galley with meals that would rival any top restaurant, and full photo studio. The main deck is beautiful, with the teak railing that glistens in the warm sun. There are eight other cabins for the crew. As you might guess, the crew consist of the captain, first mate, galley crew, chef, two waitresses and the divemasters-Steve, Doc, and Jeff.  The divemasters also act as bartenders and photo developers in the full photo lab that is aboard. 

For Steve and the other divemasters, life is good.  They met back at Pro Dive instructor school. After graduation each went different ways.  Jeff went to the Florida panhandle to explore the caves that have always fascinated him.  Doc, on the other hand, went off to Cozumel and worked as a divemaster for three years at Paradise Divers.  In 2002, Dive Traveler needed additional divemasters, as the operation was expanding into new waters. Steve called his buddies from dive school and they reunited as the top divemaster team aboard the Under the Sea.  In the four years since they have had wonderful times diving together, seeing things they only dreamed of as little boys, but what they prided themselves most for was that they had never lost a diver and have had no serious injuries to divers in their charge.  Today is June 2, 2006, and they are returning to port with another happy group of divers that just finished a week of successful diving in the great Galapagos Islands.

The book is now available via the link here on the blog and will be released nationally on May 5th.

Other Characters in Steve Trek Adventures

The Galapagos Islands - Steve Trek Adventures is now available for purchase.  You can get your pre release paperback or ebook directly from my publisher at http://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-61739-970-1  .  The books official release date is May 5th but you can get your copy early by using the above link.   Thank you so much for your support!  

Now to this weeks post.  

Outside of the main character, Steve Trek, there are two other divemaster’s that play key roles in the book, Dave “Doc” Sighter and “Big” Jeff Hall.   These two are Steve’s best friends in the book.  Just as Steve is built with traits of real people I have encountered in my life so are Dave Sighter and Jeff Hall.  Both Dave and Jeff are built on my two closest dive buddies.  

The real life “Dave” was one of my early dive instructors and actually certified me as a divemaster.   He is so funny.  He is the life of any party he attends.  I think as you read the Steve Trek series you will feel his humor, and passion for life.  

The real “Big Jeff” is an amazing guy.  Without a doubt he is the most passionate diver I know.   For his 50th birthday, he set a goal to make 50 dives in 50 days to celebrate the occasion.  I was fortunate to on a few of those historic dives.  The real Jeff is an excellent cave diver.  He regular travels to Florida to dive the expansive cave system there.  He is very funny, warm hearted man.   He loves giving you are hard time in a playful manner.

The three of us have made 50+ dives together, from lake dives in Arkansas, to ocean dives in the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean.   Every trip we have every made has been memorable.  Our trip to Monterey, CA was no exception.  On that trip we dove the California kelp beds.  While the water is cold the views are so different than the tropical dives we have made elsewhere.  Huge Starfish, tall kelp flowing in the tides and seals that come out of nowhere to scare you to death!  I hope that the characters of “Big” Jeff Hall and Dave “Doc” Sighter can live up to the real divers and friends there characters represent.  

Down Under with Steve Trek!

In the Steve Trek Adventures, there are incredible diving scenes that I hope transport you into the undersea world.  Though, no words can truly do justice to the beauty encountered underwater. I’ve made hundreds of dives so far and each offered amazing sites.  Today I wanted to share a little about Scuba Diving.  I hear from a lot of folks when I talk diving, that they have snorkeled.  To me, snorkeling is more difficult than scuba!  I say this for two reasons, in my opinion breathing while scuba diving is easier than through the snorkel.  How many times have you had a wave pass over your snorkel filling it with water, gurgle, and cough or you simply dip your head and water goes down the snorkel.   Me and my dive buddies consider the snorkel a saltwater straw, though it does have its benefits I suppose.  In scuba those difficulties don’t exist.  Even though that first breath you take with a scuba regulator is nerve racking its also exhilarating.  The air is delivered almost effortlessly without the resistance of the snorkel and potential water issues that come with it.   I also find swimming under water to be freer and easier than fighting the surface tension and waves.  When diving you strive to be neutrally buoyant and when you are, your one with the sea.  You simply glide through the water column, easily maintaining your depth.  As you master buoyancy, you can hang motionless inches from the reef, rock, fish, wreck or any other object if you desire. 

Another common concern or fear some people have is about the pressure on their ears.  Probably all of us at one time or another have dove into a pool only for our ears to hurt when we reach the bottom, or pop violently.  While pressure does present unique issues for divers, pressure on the ears is a relatively small concern.  First in the pool example above, you are changing depth and pressure very rapidly and the air in your sinuses is at surface pressure.  When you dive into the pool the outside pressure on your ears is greater than the air pressure inside your sinus and ears creating that painful feeling.  In scuba diving, first you change depth very slowing, both descending and ascending and second the air you are breathing is constantly adjusting to the surrounding water pressure thus keeping a nice equal balance inside your sinuses and ears to the outside water pressure.  This equilibrium of air to water pressure prevents the ear pain people worry about with diving.  Your ears will feel the same as on the surface basically.  There are always exceptions, if you have congestion or head cold scuba diving is probably not a good idea as that congestion could prevent your ears and sinuses from equalizing properly.  However, in most cases, for people in good health, scuba diving will not be an issue. So don’t let that fear prevent you from giving diving a chance.  

Why I like scuba diving? Well, first I think it is very relaxing.  Though I see a lot of divers racing around the reef, flailing about, spending tons of energy and burning their air up, that’s not what diving is about.  When you dive you should just relax, enjoy the scenery.  All this helps control your breathing, tempo and gives you more time on the bottom to see all the things you came diving for anyway.   Second, its quiet.  All you can hear is the swish of air when you take a breath and the bubbles when you exhale.  If you really listen you can hear your heart beating.  That silence is golden to me.   Third, l love the views.  From the amazing macro animals you can see on a reef, to watching bass glide down a rocky ledge in the lake.  Finally, the excitement of seeing the unknown, when diving you never know when you might be nose to nose with giant Goliath Grouper, swim next to shark, or see a manta ray glide over an underwater peak.

  
My last dive was just such a dive.  I was diving with my son in Panama City, Florida on a sunken bridge span in about 45 to 60 foot of water.  We were the only two divers on the site.  The bridge span was teaming with bait fish.  So thick that our visibility was limited in the school to only a foot or two.  The fish bounced off our mask as we swam.  It was truly amazing.  Schools are mesmerizing as the fish dash to and fro seemingly as a single unit.  Eventually, we came nose to nose with a young Goliath Grouper.  Here is a fish, 7 foot long, 350 lbs, with a mouth big enough to swallow a full size beach ball.  Running into him was quite a shock.  Seeing something that big and being within a foot of him was awesome.  What an incredible fish the Goliath Grouper is.  

The Pictures here, while not pictures of the Goliath we encountered, give you an idea of what that fish looks like.  What was amazing to me about this, was how the thousands of bait fish swam all around this giant fish, within inches of his huge mouth, but didn’t seem to have a concern about being eaten.

Scuba Diving is an incredible experience and if you have ever thought about scuba diving, do it.    Find a dive shop near you, take the lessons, go dive. You will not regret it.  I think you will love it!

Steve Trek Publishing Process

Today I thought I would share the publishing process with you.  The Galapagos Islands Steve Trek Adventures is now just 90 days from being for sale to the public.  In fact I will have author copies within 3 weeks.  If you want an early copy email me at steve.trek.diveadventures@gmail.com   How did I get to this point?

Well, once I signed my contract with Tate Publishing the first step was getting in the queue of books being published.  It took about 3 months before actual work began with the publisher.  Once it started work was broken into month segments.  First was initial editing.  My editor read the manuscript and made typical corrections on spelling, grammar, plus gave me new ideas to improve the story and character development.   I found this very helpful and within the final book, Jenny’s character is much more robust than the original story.   I rewrote sections of the manuscript based on the editor feedback, reread the story and made additional changes to enhance the it further.  Next was final editing, again both the editor and I reread the book to capture any remaining spelling, word or grammar errors.  

Now we are 5 months into the process, 3 waiting in the queue, 2 in initial editing.  Now we are moving to cover design.  In this process, I don’t have a lot to do.  Simply talk to the cover designer, share what the book is about, thoughts I may have about the cover and then I just have to be patient and wait for them to get back to me.  Again this process is a month long.  About three weeks later the cover designer sends me three options to consider for the book, I make may choice and its on to the Book Layout.

In Book Layout, the layout editor actually puts the manuscript into font layout, including chapter and page graphics.  This again is a month process and when I get initial layout its a PDF of exactly how the manuscript with look in book form.  Once I approve this layout design initial layout process is complete.  Then final layout begins.  Final layout is when I receive an actual copy of the book.  Cover, dedication, the whole book.  Wow that was really cool to see the near final product.  From here its another read and the absolute last edits are completed.  Now the book is completed roughly a year since the process began and I am headed to the marketing phase.  More to come!

Who’s Steve Trek?

Of course in Steve Trek Adventures, he is the main character leading a adventurous life as a divemaster, sailing and diving all over the world with unexpected extreme endeavors.  But what I mean by who's Steve Trek is where did the character Steve Trek come from.  Is he a real person? Just totally made up or what?

Well Steve Trek is some of both.  The Trek portion of his name is made up and fits him perfectly.   As an adventurer who travels the world, Trek seemed like a great last name to fit this bigger than life divemaster. His first name however comes from a real person, my brother.   My brother was always bigger than life to me as I grew up.  Brash, confident, self reliant, athletic, successful, and a risk taker, even today 40 plus years later he remains one of my biggest heros.  All characteristics that my brother embodies are excellent characteristics for Steve Trek. 

So Steve Trek the brash, strong leader in Steve Trek Adventures is a compilation of all the characteristics that make my brother great plus some amped up attitude in a amped up world.  He's magnetic personality and confident leadership will be the things you will love in Steve Trek. So that's Steve Trek the character in a nutshell.  See what you think of him when you read The Galapagos Islands.

The Journey to Steve Trek Continues:

As I mentioned previously I thought I would share my story on how Steve Trek Adventures began.

Was I a English scholar, voracious reader, or long time writer?  Absolutely NOT!  I think the only books I’ve read since school has been Harry Potter.  So being a big reader was not the driving force.  Writing and English were never my best subjects in school either.  So how does someone like me end up a published author?  

Well I guess it all started out innocently enough one weekend.  I was looking at some of my diving pictures and the  crazy stunts my friends and I pulled diving. Who in their right mind at 110ft deep removes their scuba gear and rams his dive buddy just playing around.   Well we did.  So this gave me the idea to develop the story that end up being Steve Trek Adventures.

So I began a journey writing the Steve Trek Adventures.  I wrote all weekend for hours and hours. Typing it all out on my Mac.  By the time Monday morning came around and work started back up I probably had 30-35% of the story down on paper.   I still had the vision of it in my mind but as it turned out I didn’t get back to writing the rest of the story until many months later.  After I finished the whole story, it was still rough, had misspellings, forgotten words and such, but on the premise of the whole story itself was complete.  To me I thought it was really good, so I shared it with my oldest son, my mom and a friend from work to have them read it.  Of course my son and mom thought it was great but their family they are supposed to say that, but Gina from work also thought it was really good.  Many thanks to her and my family for reading this rough story and seeing the good in it.  They encouraged me to publish it.  

So I researched publishers on the internet, and came across Tate Publishing LLC based in Mustang Oklahoma.  I read their site carefully, what they offered, as I did not want to be self published because success as a self published author is very limited.  I was looking to be “published”.   After reading their site, I found out that less than 3% of all submissions to them are accepted and offered a publishing contract.  Still I really believed what they offered was the best available and not to be deterred, I submitted my manuscript on-line and waited.  What’s the worst that could happen, a  no thank you.  

Three weeks later I came home from work to a UPS envelope on my porch.  Inside that envelope was the news all writers want to see, a letter of acceptance and contract to publish my work.  My very first book submission, accepted.  I remember sitting at the kitchen table, feeling very proud, chocking back a few tears of joy.  It was a tremendous feeling being one of the less that 3% accepted.   

Check back next week for the next post on the Journey to Steve Trek Adventures.

Welcome to Steve Trek Adventures

The Galapagos Islands is my first book in a series of action adventure books, The Steve Trek Adventures. The book is well down the path to its release date. Follow me as I highlight the process in developing the story and getting the book published.

Since I was a little boy I have always been fascinated by the ocean, the fish, the unknown of the sea.  As a child my interest in the ocean and sea life resulted in my keeping aquariums.  For years I raised fish even selling some to the local aquarium shop. I spent hours sitting in my room in the dark just watching these amazing creatures and their behaviors.  Being landlocked in Oklahoma during my teens, aquariums were as close as I could get to the sea except for watching Jacque Cousteau on TV.

Later in life, I learned to scuba dive and actively pursued diving as often as I could. Including diving in the local lake virtually every weekend plus regular dive trips to Florida, Mexico and even California.  Starting a dive club in Northwest Arkansas called the Hogdivers, I met two great men that became my closest friends.  These friends are the basis of a couple of the key characters in The Steve Trek Adventures.  Their alter egos so to speak.   David and Jeff are incredibly passionate divers whom I learned so much from and have had such amazing times diving with over the years.  When you read the book I'm sure you will recognize their characters.

I have tried to capture my passion for the ocean and the amazing things that lie beneath its surface in this book.  It was exciting to weave real life diving experiences with dramatic action and ruthless villains, in the beautiful back drop of the Galapagos Islands.