Dawson Vosburg - author: Blog

Incognito, Chapter Two: Peter James Connelly

2011-07-03T15:01:00.001-04:00

Peter James Connelly, born to George and Mary Connelly, was a very bored person. It’s difficult to find something to do when you’re the only twelve-year-old on the block, and no other twelve-year-olds would ever desire to play with such a nerd.

He was a rather small boy. He was short for his age, barely breaking five feet tall, and weighed much less than the average twelve-year-old. He was also incredibly smart, but this was ignored by both his teachers and his parents.

Peter was constantly hassled. At school, the bigger twelve-year-olds and thirteen-year-olds with more meat (or fat, as was sometimes the case) on their bones would hassle him to no end. The scrawny old teachers that smelled of rotten carrots and wore ugly sweaters repremanded him for doing insufficient schoolwork, although his work was usually superior.

His parents rarely had time to hassle him—always away at work until dinner. Sometimes Peter wouldn’t know where they were for a whole night, which meant the family didn't cuddle up on the couch to read books.

In place of parents to bother him, he had a sister to deal with at home. His younger sister, Annie (a deceptively sweet name), was always playing with his toys, many of which had personal memories and were easily broken. Annie constantly pestered, and, since she would whine to her parents if he did not, Peter would be forced to play with her.

Since Annie hated being outdoors, Peter found his solace in a tree in the family’s minuscule backyard in the city. There he would eat and read and do the vast majority of his thinking. Enjoyable though it was, it became difficult to find friends in an oak tree within a twenty foot square patch of grass.

So he spent most of his time looking at the roof of Mr. Barrow’s house, the neighbor who hated him when he sat on “his side of the tree” where acorns would drop on his roof and clatter down the gray shingles. Mr. Barrow complained that this would damage his roof, but Peter didn’t pay much attention to him anyway.

That morning, Peter Connelly was at school like most of the boys his age. It was late in Spring, in the month of May, and he was beginning to feel the warmth of the sun on his face through the classroom’s solitary window. He wished that his atrocious vomit-green collared shirt would disappear, and he could live in the world of the books waiting for him at home. But nothing could make school disappear, or the uncomfortable and ugly desk which matched the color of his shirt.

His scrawny teacher picked up a scrawny piece of chalk, and in wobbly, scrawny letters instructed the class to write notes on their next mathematics assignment.

“Your assignment numbers are rather, how would you say it, scrawny today, so you need not worry about having homework tonight,” the scrawny teacher said. The telephone (bulky, not scrawny) rang. The teacher picked it up with her scrawny hand and said in a rather scrawny voice, “Hello?”

Peter paid no heed. He didn’t want to hear the scrawny voice of the scrawny secretary on the other line. “Okay,” said the teacher. “Thank you. He will be down in a moment.”

She hung up the bulky telephone and said through scrawny lips, “Peter James. Office. Visitor.” Her voice was stern and cold.

“All right,” Peter said. Normally he would have loved to be anywhere but in his classroom. But of all places, he hated the School Office.

Peter made sure he walked as slowly as possible toward the Office, looking at each of the posters for choir events and fund raisers for the school paper until he stood before the heavy white door. Main Office, read a bland metal plate.

The superintendent was not scrawny. He was a thick man, great in stature with a heavy, jowly face. He always looked as if there was so much flesh contained beneath his skin that he was about to explode. The bald patch on his head (which covered most of the top) almost glowed red-hot.

“Peter Connelly?” he said.

“Yes?” Peter responded.

“That’s ‘Yes, Dr. Grodestack’ to you!” Dr. Grodestack said, the fat on his chin jiggling for few seconds after he said the words.

“Yes, Dr. Grodestack,” Peter said.

“You have some visitor—I don’t understand why they would visit during school. But that isn’t my business. Mr. Mattethias Milo.” Dr. Grodestack stepped aside, and there was an extremely tall and well-built man. He was wearing a shirt, a cornflower blue with extremely long sleeves, one of which was an annoyingly bright fuchsia.

His pants were so black and baggy that one couldn’t tell whether they were jeans or dress pants, and their bagginess covered his feet so Peter couldn’t see his shoes.

He was very old—his hands looked a collection of bendable twigs covered in dry skin. A pallid, thin face was framed by parted white wisps of hair, tied into a small ponytail in the back. He wore small, round, wire-rimmed glasses that made his gray eyes seem large. And Mattethias Milo had a broad smile across his kind face. “Hello, Peter,” he said in a small comforting voice.

“Uh...” Peter said.

“You’re probably wondering why I’m here,” the old man said. “You can call me Mattethias.”

“Mattethias,” Peter said absentmindedly. “What are you here for?”

“Yes. Well, I’m sorry to have to inform you, but your parents aren’t where you think they are.”

Peter was immensely confused. “What do you mean? They’re always at work during the day time and come home and make dinner at night. Where else could they be?”

“They are nowhere near here,” Mattethias said with a smile.

“They’re dead, aren’t they?” Peter said.

“Let’s hope not,” Mattethias said slowly, ever grinning. Dr. Grodestack peered from behind his desk with a deep scowl on his face.

“Well, then, where are they?” Peter said.

“The question is, where are you?”

“I’m right here in school.”

“Where do you want to be?”

“At home.”

“Well, then, let’s get you there.”

Mattethias beckoned. Peter hesitated. On one hand, he would love to get out of school. On the other, who in the world was this man?

“Come,” the old man said. His voice was so comforting that Peter could hardly say no.

Peter stepped closer to Mattethias. He reached a bony hand to Peter, who took it with caution.

Looking to the ground, Mattethias stopped abruptly.

“What—” Peter started.

Mattethias gripped Peter’s hand harder, and Mattethias led him forward quickly. Suddenly Peter heard Mattethias mumble something, and he found himself in front of his house, approaching the porch.

Mr. Barrow was standing out in his yard, pulling weeds from under his cement steps. He gave a wary eye to Peter. He was sure that he heard Mr. Barrow mumble something mean about boys skipping school.

“How did we get here so fast?” Peter asked.

Mattethias smiled. “Magic!”

Peter was used to adults’ sarcasm. “No, really, how?”

Mattethias looked at Peter quite seriously, and without another word he entered the house by the side door in the narrow alley between Mr. Barrow’s house and Peter’s. The old screen door smacked the side of Mr. Barrow’s house, but Mattethias showed no care about this on his thin and kindly face.

Peter felt insecure about Mattethias entering the house.

“Excuse me, Mr. Mattethias,” Peter said.

“You’re excused, but I won’t allow formalities such as Mister. You need only call me Mattethias.”

“Who are you? And what are we doing here?”

“We’re coming to your house to discuss something very important. And I am a customer of your parents,” Mattethias said.

“What do you mean?” Peter asked.

“I buy from your parents’ business. It’s a good one, too. Not only do I buy from them, I work for them as well. Best mapmakers in Tabbic—no, the whole island.” Mattethias grinned.

Peter looked on at him with total bewilderment. “But don’t they use computers to make maps nowadays?”

“Do you have any coffee?” Mattethias asked.

“It’s in the second cupboard in the kitchen,” Peter said. “Can we sit down? I’m quite confused.”

“No! No time to sit right now, not until I’ve brewed my coffee.” Mattethias swept across the room. He had a presence like a hawk, eyes darting in their sockets. Peter wondered if this man ever rested his gaze.

Mattethias opened the cupboard and put the bag of coffee grounds on the counter with flourish and agility unusual for a man his age. “I’d much prefer to grind whole beans myself….”

He filled a teapot with water and set it on the stove, closing the lid down with special flick of the fingers. He leaned against the counter.

Peter held an annoyed expression. “Well, are you going to explain anything?”

“Ah, yes,” Mattethias said. “Your parents have kept this hidden from you long enough. Tell me—where do they work?”

“At something like Bowie’s company—they’re in accounting I think,” Peter said. “I don’t pay much attention to it. Why?”

Mattethias chuckled darkly. “They definitely don’t work for any Bowie’s company.” His kind voice was firmer than it had been.

“Where could they work then?” Peter asked.

“I just explained it to you Peter! At Connelly & Connelly, fine map-making since 1972. They’re partners not only in marriage, but in business,” Mattethias said with great pride.

“Then why would that matter?” Peter said. “I mean, so what if they didn’t tell me that they were mapmakers. What does that mean?”

Mattethias laughed heartily. “No, no, no! It’s where they’re mapmakers that’s important,” he said. Mattethias appeared as if the soul of a giddy child had entered his frail body.

“Where, then?” Peter’s tone elevated.

“Your parents are indeed the finest mapmakers on the Island of Pimrise,” Mattethias said, “and they’ve hidden their real lives from you for years.”

Peter Connelly, who had considered his life abnormally dull, stared at Mattethias with the dumbest look he could muster.

“So you barge into my school and somehow got permission to take me out, then we go to my house (which was evidently unlocked) and tell me that my parents are mapmakers on some island?”

“Exactly.”

“And you expect me to believe you?”

Mattethias stroked his gray hair. “I don’t think you’ll believe me until I show you where they work,” Mattethias said. “Would you like to see it?”

Peter stared harder at Mattethias. “I don’t believe a word of what you’re saying. Who are you really? Get out of my house. I’ll call the police if you don’t.”

“I am exactly who I say I am,” Mattethias said. “I am Mattethias Milo. I myself have been the steward of a keep on the opposite side of the island where I live.”

“Yeah, right. Lunatic.” Peter felt defiant, now sure that this man meant him harm. He stepped back, thinking of what to do now, with a crazy man in his house.

Silently, Mattethias walked to the bookshelf at the end of the narrow, cluttered kitchen. He pulled out an old green book and flipped through it. Dust and little shreds of paper flicked through the air until…yes, in the center. A tri-folded piece of paper, old and yellowed, slid out from between the pages.

Mattethias unfolded the paper laid it flat on the counter beside Peter’s hand.

It was a map of an island, and the largest letters across the center said The Island of Pimrise.

“Look, in the corner,” Mattethias said.

Peter looked in the bottom right corner.

Connelly & Connelly, in his father’s signature, and below it, in his mother’s handwriting, Fine Mapmaking since 1972.

“I don’t believe it!” Peter.

Mattethias laughed. “You ought to.”

which story?

2011-07-02T11:23:00.000-04:00

Recently, I've been doing some radio interviews and some other sorts of small-time media conversations to promote Incognito, and I've come across a question in my mind. What story do I want to be told about me?

To be more specific, I feel like sometimes I completely miss everything in the book and only ever talk about how I wrote the first draft, or how I self published it, or how Kindle is a great avenue for reading. It's as if the book has no content itself--I'm only telling the publishing side of my story; the outside, whereas the whole story of the inside is being ignored.

I thought that the point of the book being there at all was so that people can connect with the characters and be taken to a different world. Why, then, does the general public only get to hear the "I published a book" part, and not the part where fantastic things happen?

Amanda Hocking and John Locke have been talked about in the news, sure. And even people I know outside of the writing world talk about them. But do they talk about the characters, the message in the books? The plot and the thrills that come with reading them? No...they talk about how Amanda Hocking and John Locke sold a lot of books.

I struggle with knowing whether I want to be talked about in one way or the other. On one hand, how I publish and write is an interesting story that a lot of people have asked me about. On the other, my goal for the books was that people would be interested in the plot and characters.

Any thoughts?

funny cover & incognito updates

2011-01-12T21:54:00.000-05:00

Book covers are getting a bit ridiculous. I saw this image and was inspired to make something...a-like a-this:

It's so true! I tried to make the cover as busy and obnoxious as possible.

Fundraiser's still got 50 bucks toward it--and my brother has volunteered to help me do a video that will be part of the Kickstarter promotion and a part of the redesign of my website that's coming up to celebrate the upcoming Incognito.

I'm going to have the cover come out around February or March--don't have it yet, but it's going to be something.

Dawson "Excited" Vosburg

kickstarter

2011-01-11T15:18:00.000-05:00

Hey! Guess what's going on. I'm getting funding for Incognito, right now through April 11!

What does that mean? Let me explain.

I'm using Kickstarter, a website for people who want to fund creative projects. I have a cash goal of how much I want to raise ($3,000) in a timeframe (90 days) and people can pledge to give whatever amount they choose to the project if it's successful. Here's the deal though: it's all or nothing. Either I raise the full amount in 90 days or I get no money. The great thing is, if I don't get the full $3,000, no one has to pay anything. People only pledge and don't give their money at the point of pledging. Their cards are not charged until the project is 100% funded. It's a win-win. So if you have any amount you wanna pledge any amount, as low as a dollar, every bit helps. Trust me. Trust me.

And plus, if you pledge $5 or more, you start getting cool rewards for helping out--the top-tier reward (for $100) includes a GIANT map of Pimrise, a free book, and your name in the acknowledgments.

Thank you for everyone who helps out!

Dawson "Fun-Raiser" Vosburg

encore

2011-01-08T13:58:00.000-05:00

I have a lot of writer friends, and if you're reading this blog, it's probably because you're one of them.

And recently, they've had this tendency to go and become all famous on me. I'd like to outline just a few of these authors:

Sam Landstrom, awesome dude, wrote a book called MetaGame. Got picked up by Amazon Encore. I was lucky enough to get an interview before he was successful. You can hear that interview here.

Elisa Lorello, who I found out about through Stacey Cochran, has also been picked up by Encore with her book "Why I Love Singlehood." It was talking to her on Twitter today that made me start thinking about all these friends of mine who have a much wider audience than I do.

JA Konrath was a no brainer for this post. He's sold more books than most self-published authors can hope to dream about selling (and we're authors--we have quite large imaginations). And what's more, he helps out all his author friends. He's a mutual friend of mine with Stacey, and if I remember right we were planning on getting him for interview but it didn't happen.

Funny thing about Joe (JA Konrath)--I read every single book about publishing that comes into our library. Every day I come here (which is 4 or 5 days a week) I check 808.3 for writing and 70.5 for publishing. And recently I came across The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, and when I was reading the self-published chapter (and this one's a good one) there was a little section about Kindle sales, and their main example was JA Konrath.

This blew my mind, having talked to Mr. Konrath casually on Kindleboards.com.

Finally we come to Mr. Stacey Cochran, who is one of my close friends in the publishing business since I started. We hosted a Blog Talk Radio show (in which we interviewed Sam) and it was through him I met pretty much all of these people. He's also the reason I'm on Kindle. He has a Raleigh television show on which he reviewed my book.

This guy is amazing. And his writing is superb.

I mean, really--how are these people all of a sudden... *gets all teary-eyed* growin' up...and...and signing contracts and stuff.

These are all really cool authors, and you should check them out.

Sam
Elisa
Stacey
Konrath

Dawson "Not Famous" Vosburg

an update on incognito

2011-01-06T17:02:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, for most of you this book seems INCREDIBLY far away still. There's a whole semester of school until it's released! But it's coming soon, sooner than you think, and the deadlines scare you when you absolutely HAVE to have some things done three, even four months before the book comes out.

I'll let you know that I'm more than halfway through my edits on the book and I hope to begin editing with my good friend Elmore within the month, and have the advanced reader copies all printed and sent to reviewers by March 1st.

The review copies are going to be really cool. What I'm going to do is put the book and other materials in a box, and wrap that box in a giant print of the map of Pimrise (the island where the book is set), then tie it with twine and hand-calligraph the name and address to send the book to. So it would be sort of like the old packages that were tied with brown paper and twine that I've always dreamed of getting, and it will really stand out to the reviewers.

I'll post pictures (and perhaps video) of the packaging and promotional materials I send so if you want to know how to submit to reviewers you can.

Dawson "Re:View" Vosburg

google docs

2010-12-30T15:45:00.000-05:00

I've recently been using something really cool to write and edit my books. It stores all my Word documents for me, and I can even write on it when Word crashes on the library computers (it's been doing that all the time recently. Curse you, Microsoft.)

This thing is called Google Docs. It's been around for awhile now, and I've found it incredibly useful. Especially when you're collaborating with an editor.

First, you upload your final draft of the novel to Google Docs (or if you wrote the whole thing in Docs, then you don't have to upload it). Then you can choose to share this document with the email address of your editor. He can download the Word document and do his evil magic on it, and then he can add his version to the same Google doc. The cool thing is, you can download both your original and his edited version.

It gets really cool when you think of things like this. Your editor, when he finishes work for the day, can save the document and add a new version of the book every day (don't worry--you get more space on Docs than you can ever begin to use) and you, the author, can see his work as he edits, and if you have any comments you can email it to him and you can change things yourself.

See, Google Docs has so much potential for making your life easier as a writer. I can't wait to work with my editor on Incognito so we can just use it. It's phenomenal.

Well I've talked too much today. See you.

Dawson "Docky" Vosburg

do you ever get that feeling

2010-11-29T16:32:00.000-05:00

You know, that feeling. The feeling at the beginning of the week, where you just had a great time with a bunch of people, and now it's all over?

We had four more people at my house this year at Thanksgiving, and now that they're all gone, it's like the world is over. Do you ever feel that way? And it's like that for writing too. I have to write 4,000 words today and I don't feel like doing it at all.

I guess it must be done, for the sake of the people and for NaNoWriMo!

who is the incognito?

2010-11-28T19:56:00.000-05:00

One of the principle plot elements for the Incognito is (great surprise, I know) the Incognito himself. Or herself? Is it really a person? Who is it? What does it stand for?

My favorite analogy for imagination comes from J.J. Abrams (what's with initialed authors and great plots? C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, J.J. Abrams...maybe I should pick up D.P. Vosburg). When he was a child, he enjoyed mysteries, and magic because you didn't know how it worked behind the scenes. He had a box that he bought at a magic shop when he was a child when he bought lots of magic stuff. This box had lots of question marks on it, and it was a mystery magic trick. But Abrams has never opened the box.

He's had it since he was ten or eleven, and he's never opened the box.

And that box sits on his desk, and every day he looks at it and it is the inspiration for much of his plotting. If you think of that all of his plotting revolves around what you don't know.

The Incognito is that box in the Incognito. At least...in that first one. Who knows how many more there will be to follow?

Just some insight into the idea of mystery and how powerful the lack of knowledge can be.

Dawson "Tall, Pale, and Mysterious" Vosburg

imagination.

2010-11-26T13:52:00.001-05:00

I love my imagination. It's one thing that I'm thankful for every day (not just Thanksgiving, although that was one of the major ones for me this year.)

I want to hear from you. What's something you used to imagine when you were a child? Think way back...everyone used to have imaginary friends (I had Bob and Joe, who turned into Bob and David in the book, David being named after my brother). In case you didn't know, Double Life and Terminal Velocity are based on my childhood imaginings of being Agent 12 in the BLUE Agency and fighting against the evil RED Agency.

So what do you imagine? One of the things I did as a kid was to take old bricks we had in our yard and make medieval cities out of them. It was the most fun I'd ever had. We invented cultures, rituals, and battles. That's what led me into writing fantasy.

Your imagination doesn't stop when you grow up. Share your imaginary world!

Dawson "Agent 12" Vosburg

stacey cochran guest post: CLAWS 2.

2010-07-31T21:34:00.001-04:00

Today I'd like to introduce someone we've seen here before, promoting new book, CLAWS 2. So without further ado, Stacey Cochran!

--

Thanks, Dawson, for letting me visit your blog in the midst of my CLAWS 2 Blog Tour. More than anything else, I need folks to read and write reviews of my book.

So I thought I would write about my perceptions so far regarding two closely linked series books. As you may guess, CLAWS 2 is the sequel to CLAWS, which was an international bestseller on Amazon Kindle in 2009 and 2010.

So far, the month of July has been my most profitable month this year, and I attribute a significant portion of this success to the new $2.99 price-point and 70% royalty rate for CLAWS 2.

However, what I did not anticipate before the launch of CLAWS 2 was that its release would coincide with a large bump in sales for the first book in the series. Maybe in some dark corner of my mind, I had considered the possibility that this might happen, but if I did, it was certainly not conscious.

I just liked the idea of writing a series of novels like CLAWS, CLAWS 2, CLAWS 3, etc. I thought it would be cool, but I wasn’t thinking at all about how one book might affect sales of another.

An interesting thing to note is that the first book in the series has actually out-sold the new release nearly 3:2 during the first three weeks of the launch, and it is up nearly 400% over previous month-to-date sales.

The lesson that I’m learning with this is simple. If you have two (or more) closely-linked series books, many readers who discover you on your 2nd or (hypothetically) 3rd or 4th novel will first go back and buy the original novel. Many folks will buy the books together. Others will only buy the first book and see if they like it before moving on to other books in the series.

It’s worth noting, too, that I’ve maintained a lower price-point for CLAWS (99 cents), and that is likely contributing to new readers giving the book a shot.

Whatever the case, I now have hard data to support the hypothesis that publishing series novels with closely-linked titles can affect sales of all books.

In the months ahead, I may experiment by dropping the CLAWS 2 price-point to 99 cents, while raising the CLAWS price to $2.99. Or dropping both to 99 cents. Or raising both to $2.99. The point is that if you’re doing pretty well with a series, you can change the prices around every so often to experiment with sales #s and data to see what works best.

Well, thanks for having me at your blog today. If folks want to find out more about me, you can visit me on the web at: http://www.staceycochran.com

And, of course, more than anything, I need some good reviews of CLAWS 2 on Amazon. So check us out there, everybody, and please write a review. Thanks so much!

===========================

Stacey Cochran was born in the Carolinas, where his family traces its roots to the mid 1800s. In 1998 he was selected as a finalist in the Dell Magazines undergraduate fiction competition, and he made his first professional short story sale to CutBank in 2001. In 2004, he was selected as a finalist in the St. Martin's Press/PWA Best First Private Eye Novel Contest. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife Dr. Susan K. Miller-Cochran and their son Sam, and he teaches writing at North Carolina State University.

incognito

2010-07-11T16:12:00.000-04:00

I'm proud to announce my next novel, the first in the "Connelly & Connelly" series. Its full title will be:

Being the first part of
Connelly & Connelly
detailing the events of the
Incognito

Or...Incognito for short.

This will be my first fantasy novel released, and it will be the longest book I have ever written or published. It is yet going under the early-mid stages of editing, but I can tell you that it will definitely be a detailed, rich, and unique world. I have limited myself to using only one species (besides humans) that has already been invented. All the other creatures will be from my own imagination.

I will release more story details, maps, the cover, and perhaps even an excerpt of the book on this blog, so keep your eyes on it. What I can tell you right now is that it will be released Summer 2011.

For those of you (meaning "both of you") who are looking forward to the third installment in Josiah Jones, it will be released either December next year or Summer 2012. I've needed a break from it and needed new material to get my mind going, so I'll be releasing this book, the first in Connelly & Connelly, before the last in the Adventures of Josiah Jones. Stick around for updates on that too.

In short, you're not going to want to miss this book, and I'll keep you updated.

Dawson "Protector from the Shadows" Vosburg

thesixtyone

2010-06-19T15:31:00.000-04:00

If you've ever looked at my obscure music references on my facebook and wondered, "Where does Dawson find all these weird bands/songs/musical quirks?" then your answer is thesixtyone.

thesixtyone is a music adventure. New musicians make music, and you decide what's good by listening, giving songs "hearts," and commenting.

Here's a short list of bands I've met only because of thesixtyone:

State Radio
The Cog is Dead
Lemon Sun
Oh No Not Stereo
Joe Purdy
Fez
Faber Drive
Ideogram
Songs to Wear Pants To
Detektivbyran
Sigur Ros
Kate Earl
JKML

That is a very, very abbreviated list of new bands I've found. Some old acquaintances I've bumped into:

Mates of State
Free Energy
Glen Hansard
Asteroids Galaxy Tour

As you can see, this is an awesome website. Just FYI, you will become very addicted to it. But it's music--you probably already have music playing a lot anyway.

With all due respect,

Dawson "Man in the Hall" Vosburg

summer reading challenge

2010-06-08T12:26:00.000-04:00

My local library always has a summer reading program, and one that I participate in specifically for teens. Every successful year as I log my hours of reading (this time it's online!), I set goals for myself about what I want to read and how long it'll take me to read it, with some extra pleasure reading here and there. Of course almost all my reading is for pleasure, but...you get the point.

So this year I thought it would be fun to have a bit of a contest--one where everyone who meets their goal wins. The rules? Set a fair-sized goal for yourself, usually depending on your reading level (for example, mine is to read all three volumes of the Lord of the Rings), and then read all you can to meet that goal before July 31. If you meet your goal on or before that date, send me an email (in the "press" section) and I'll send you a coupon code to get Double Life and/or Terminal Velocity for FREE from Smashwords.

So, what's your goal this summer?

operation: e-book drop

2010-06-07T07:16:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone. I've been looking into a project that I've really found to be a great cause that can involve books, and I'd love for anyone who's written a book to get involved. It's called Operation: E-Book Drop. It was started by one of my friends and mentors in the writing business, Edward C. Patterson. It's a movement to give free e-books on Kindles to troops currently enrolled in the US military.

I'm going to be taking part in this cause because I believe that our troops are very important. I know, I know, it's cliche, but seriously, these people get killed all the time, and the only reason is to maintain your freedom.

I think those people deserve some good entertainment.

So this started as a post on my dear Kindleboards.com, and it exploded into a project involving 423 authors and over 400 books donated to troops in Iraq looking for something to do. So if you want to take part in this, check it out right here:

http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,13352.0.html

Your book will have to be available on Smashwords, so make sure you can do that in order to participate.

With all due respect,

Dawson "God Bless America" Vosburg

off the beaten path

2010-06-05T13:27:00.000-04:00

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm big into indie music. I just love it. And increasingly, turning to the pop station or hearing the latest Billboard Top 40 tracks pumped through the speakers at the bowling alley irritates me.

So then I look at the books I read, and I think, "Why not do the same thing?"

Yes, I very much enjoy some mainstream fiction and I understand that there are major differences between the music industry and the book industry, especially concerning fan bases and what people decide to purchase. But there are plenty of parallels I can draw between my choices musically and my choices with books.

Why not go off the beaten path every once in awhile and look at a book that no one else is reading? It's a crazy thought, and I know that you just HAVE to read the next vampire romance book, but why not just pick up something different and start reading it?

I did this a couple years ago for a book report in English class. I picked up a book--it was called Leaper--and I read the whole thing in a week (which is fast for me, I'm a slow reader). I found that just picking up a random, unpopular book led me to a great place. I found something great and fun and new.

Now, of course you can still read some mainstream fiction just as I like some mainstream music. I unashamedly love "Gives You Hell" by AAR, and also I love the Harry Potter series. But the point is not to abolish the mainstream. It's just to go a bit off the beaten path, to give yourself an individuality in what you read and the way you read it.

I think you'll find yourself a better person.

With all due respect,

Dawson "Author of Those Books Over There" Vosburg

a different direction

2010-06-04T13:11:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile.

A long while. I should really post here more.

But I've been up to doing some majorly unimportant stuff, so I'm guessing you won't mind.

I guess there's a danger in complacency for an author. I've been needing to work on so many things, but you know, it's very tempting just to be a normal 15-year-old kid. Well, as normal as a 15-year-old-kid can be. Okay, I'll admit it...it's just tempting to procrastinate your writing career away. Which is pretty much what I've been doing recently.

Yet somewhere in that worthless procrastination there have been a few nuggets of gold that I've found, and they've rekindled the writing fire again. And I'm going in a different direction.

From the time I was very young (about 5), I've always wanted to make movies. And now that I have ample material and creative flow and have learned some necessary skills for the journey, I'm able to make movies. Besides all the industry connections readily available to me through my fantastic brother David.

Also, I've decided that the next book I release will not be the concluding volume of the Josiah Jones trilogy of novels. It's also a different direction and a different series that I'm beginning, and I can't disclose anything besides the fact that it will be a fantasy novel (I've always loved reading and writing them, so now everyone will be able to read it!).

Music and design aree two other things I've been very into recently, and I'd really like to give those projects some time. Artistic endeavors are usually worth it.

So a ton of new stuff is going to be happening around here. New things that may not even be book-related might begin popping up on this blog. But my passion is still where it has always been: books and reading.

Watch for new things, because I'll be posting on a regular basis again. Glad to be back with you.

Dawson "Dyed His Hair Blonde" Vosburg

double life: a film by Dawson Vosburg

2010-03-01T17:40:00.000-05:00

Hey, everyone--sorry that I've been on such a hiatus. I haven't written a real post in months (Robert's post doesn't count since it wasn't my own writing).

Anyway. Here's what I've been working on.

Recently, I've been rekindling my passion with things I used to do all the time before writing was my life. One of them was cooking, which I find very satisfying. And the other is filmmaking. I've been doing that, in case you didn't know, for about ten years now (that's right, I made my first film when I was five. Sure it was terrible, but who cares?). And I've decided that I might make a film based on Double Life.

So as of right now, I'm currently 20 pages into the screenplay. This is some of the most significant screenplay work I've done in a couple of years. I'm getting kind of excited.

So this film would be made on a shoestring budget. I would make it independently, then try to shop it around to a distribution company, such as the Weinstein company or Lionsgate films; they would be the ones to get it into cinema, put out the trailers, make the DVDs, etc.

I think it could work, though. I'm really pumped about doing this.

That's all I can think of at any rate. Make sure to go to my facebook fan page (link is on the top bar) and discuss this on the discussion boards!

I really enjoy hearing from you!

Dawson

guest post: Robert Scarlato on beginning a story

2010-02-20T16:54:00.000-05:00

Hey, everyone. It's been forever since I've posted here--I'm sorry that I haven't been more proactive. In fact, I haven't gotten much of anything done for a couple of months, yet I feel like this is one of the most stressful times I've ever had in my life.

Well, that's high school for you.

Anyway--today we have a special guest poster named Robert Scarlato, who is the author of For What It's Worth (link at the bottom) about how to begin a story. Without further ado, Robert Scarlato!

--

It is always hard to find the right words to introduce a story. It's like a code that needs to be cracked. It is either obssesed over to the point where no work gets done or we simply give up. But I say don't use words. Use Images. Close your eyes and get a feel for the setting, time, smell, and characters that inhabit the scene. You are basically painting a picture so why not start with images than worry about words later. Does the scene open with a surprise, or is it more subtle than that? That is left up to you. But know that you must be drawn into the story first, then hook the audeince as well. Just to give you an idea, I will say that whenever I write a story, I like the begining paragrah to be like a kick to the face. The images I thought of was a doorknob, a suitcase, an old man, a record player and falling debris. In the excerpt below, Failing Upwards, I tried to focus on the setting first becuase it's the main character of the story. I wanted you, the audeince, to know just how wrecked this place is. The characters evolved from the people I thought would be living there and how they would act. Make your characters memorable, and your audience will not only get hooked but possibly read it again.

Here's the opening scene of Failing Upwards -

As I walk in, I can already see “Tex” sitting at the concierge desk. He’s in his underpants and a greasy shirt and, for some reason, is wearing a bellhop hat crooked on his head. Perfect. The guy is over seventy years old, owns the place, and yet he will never admit to his outlandish eccentricities.

The door handle rips off as I enter, the wood breaking away from the brass knob as easily as a rusty nail through a foot. I hold it in my hand for a few seconds. My mouth cringes to the right in annoyance. It’s like I was shaking a hand and the owner of it disappeared. I debate for a bit whether to put it back or not. But to put it back is like putting a bullet back in the wound. What’s was the point? I fumble to shove it back into the gapping hole and, when I finally have it in, the handle to my briefcase breaks and the bag drops to the ground. I bring my other hand with the briefcase handle still clutched tightly in it to my face.

This place is starting to rub off on me.

This place is a broken, rundown, abandoned, no good, filthy, unorthodox pile of rubble.

So why do I still come here?

Easy Answer.

Rent control.

The owner is senile. How he lives on it I’ll never know. But, geez, finding a place to stay is hard when you’re a loner in Chicago.

The year is 1953.

And it only gets harder from here on out.

My name is Charles Avery. You can call me Charlie.

“Tex” calls me “Mr. Bills”.

The dope.

It’s so hard to find a decent hotel around these parts. And I have to work my bony butt off to find the most decrepit eyesore just to feel relaxed.

Every day is an adventure trying to get upstairs.

You’ll join me in the madness, won’t you?

Already, as I’m tossing the broken handle away with a grimace on my face, I can hear “Tex” put on the same dang song that he always plays on that heap of a record player of his. In the Hall of the Mountain King. He always does that when I show up. Aside from the lowlifes, the down-and-outers, the hobos sleeping around the place, I’m the only one who decides to take the adventure of sleeping in a room and trying to reach the top floor of the hotel in order to do it.

So, like I said. Use images first, the words will take care of themselves.
Thank you for reading--I'm Robert Scarlato, author of For What It's Worth. Keep writing everyone!
www.twitter.com/robertoscarlato
www.robertoscarlato.blogspot.com

2010

2009-12-31T23:18:00.000-05:00

It's going to be 2010 in 45 minutes. It's pretty cool.

But for now, I sit at Phil Dragash's house and watch people play Halo.

2009 was a geat yeaqr full of so many different things in both my personal and professional life...I cannot express how much I will love this year and how eager I am for the year to come. 2010 will herald a decade to remember. Which includes both my high school and college graduations.

That's weird to think about.

Dawson
www.DAWSONVOSBURG.net

5 self-publishing resources

2009-12-29T13:37:00.000-05:00

Here are my top 5 self-publishing resources for all you self-publishing authors out there:

Dawson Vosburg
www.DAWSONVOSBURG.net

terminal velocity launch

2009-12-28T15:30:00.003-05:00

With all the hustle and bustle going on around me, I've not remembered to introduce everyone to Terminal Velocity, the sequel to Double Life. Terminal Velocity has been released unto the world!

Terminal Velocity, I can guarantee, is more interesting, intriguing, thrilling, and exciting than Double Life (and exceeding Double Life's length by 40 pages). In Terminal Velocity, you will get to know better Josiah, but also your understanding of Tom will grow exponentially. You will also get to meet the slimy, untrustworthy RED veteran--Lewis Trenton.

But certainly the most intriguing and mysterious of all aspects of the new novel is the appearance of a "mysterious third party" calling themselves by the alias GREEN, including a French general and a mysterious (and short-statured) savior to Josiah.

Here's the book trailer for the all-new novel, Terminal Velocity:

Terminal Velocity by Dawson Vosburg - Book Trailer from Dawson Vosburg on Vimeo.

As you can see, this is going to be an exciting novel in an exciting time. Pick up your copy of Terminal Velocity today!

Dawson
www.dawsonvosburg.net

2009-12-27T22:50:00.001-05:00

Hey, everyone--it's been a great time for me recently. I've enjoyed some time hanging out with family, with shopping, laughing, and as always, good food (more of which to follow tomorrow night; I'm making my famous pizza I've been perfecting for years).

I wanted to let everyone know that I have a newsletter that I'll be sending out every week to those who opt in to subscribe. Here's the form:

If you want to keep up on news beyond the window you get from this blog, you can sign up and get a couple issues. You can unsubscribe any time you want if you decide you don't want to have an email all about books in your inbox every week.

Thanks to those who signed up--look forward to the first issue later this week!

Dawson
http://dawsonvosburg.net

dawsonvosburg.net

2009-12-26T11:40:00.000-05:00

Hey. Hope you had a merry Christmas. I know I did.

Take a look at the web URL at the top of the browser. It isn't dawsonvosburg.blogspot.com anymore.

That's right, I finally have a website. It was my best Christmas gift from my brother David (who does a ton of web design). You should check out http://www.dawsonvosburg.net and see how awesome it can be.

And if you're stuck in a rut of typing http://dawsonvosburg.blogspot.com like I know I am, it will redirect right to blog.dawsonvosburg.net.

I know, most people have .coms, Dawson--get your head out of the sand. But http://dawsonvosburg.com is already taken. And if you look at it, it's pretty dumb.

Dawson

not your grandmother's book trailer

2009-12-23T22:09:00.006-05:00

Check out the book trailer for Double Life (made it today (finally) in two hours). The effect is best in full-screen. Even if it takes some extra buffer time, it's worth it.

This is not your grandmother's book trailer.

I did this with so much attention to it looking good and being short and sweet because so many people don't do book trailers very well. When I see a book trailer that has Windows MovieMaker effects on top of their Comic Sans-font text that fills up the whole screen, it makes me want to rip my hair out. Add in some Google image search results and you've got the average, made-in-5-minutes promo.

I like to call it a demotion, since you're lowering your audience's expectations for the book. Look, I know what they all say--book trailers move books. But really, if you can't make it good, it's going to end up hurting more than helping.

Dawson

today in books: trends

2009-12-20T23:51:00.000-05:00

If you haven't noticed before, there are a lot of trends in the book world. For six months a certain genre or idea for a novel will be very popular with bibliophiles, then it will shift to another.

In no other super-genre (it's not a regular genre--it's far too big for that) is this more true that Young Adult Fiction. Literary fiction comes in at a close second.

Let's look at this closely: when Harry Potter was king (and to me it's still fresh in my mind) there were tons of traditional old fantasy novel. And now, when Twilight's king, there is no end to what the vampire world will see. I can't imagine what way they'll find to take a classic creature, ruin it (or as they call it putting a "twist" on it) and make a girl fall head over heels for it.

But you can tend to notice a pattern with this. There's that one breakthrough novel, that one really good book that everyone wants to read and is many times excellent in writing and plot and description (exception, of course, being Twilight, which has garnered popularity through flowery writing people say is "good" and a "hot" male character). And the rest of books that go with this trend are usually low-quality, B-grade books or below.

The question that this gives is that as a reader or writer, what do you want to be: someone who makes a new trend, or one who follows another popular author to ride on the coattails?

By rule, a person who sets a trend has to go out of the current comfort zone and read what no one is really read about. This means risk. This means you might have to even self-publish or read books by authors no one has ever heard of.

Or you could be a trend follower, swinging along with whatever's going along.

Neither of these are always right, neither are always wrong. If what you legitimately want to read or write is not the norm right now, do it anyway. This is how all the trends we see today are set. If your passion leads you to somewhere that appears to be overdone, there have been great successes for revitalizing a genre that was once thought to be dead.

So just think about it when you next walk into the Barnes&Noble nearest you or sit down in that good-old Starbucks to pen the first words of your next work of fiction. Think about what you're going to do with what's out there, and you may end up setting the next trend.

Dawson

six

2009-12-12T21:59:00.002-05:00

That's how many copies of Terminal Velocity are currently in customers' posession.

You can get your copy right now right here. They just came out today, so they're fresh off the presses.

By the way, this marks my least successful book signing yet! I feel like I need to celebrate somehow.

But right now I'm bushed from doing a local production of A Christmas Carol, so I'll be off. Be sure to pick up a copy of Terminal Velocity, all of you who have been waiting anxiously.

Dawson

morning thoughts: stretched too thin

2009-12-02T07:09:00.002-05:00

First, there was this blog.

Then there was Twitter.

Then Facebook.

Tumblr.

Linkedin.

And you discover more every day. There are so many social networking sites, not to mention ones just for books like Goodreads and LibraryThing and Shelfari, that you try to sign up for all of them and get quite overwhelmed.

Don't let this happen to you, O writer. That is, if you are a writer.

If you're a reader, well...make sure to follow the author on every social network you both have. That will help him out. But let me ask, as a reader, does it get a bit cumbersome to follow the same person on twelve social networks when you could just follow him on the basic four?

Just a few thoughts about the social networking explosion.

today in books: kindle for pc

2009-12-01T14:41:00.002-05:00

Kindle has been advancing more and more--I've been nothing but astonished at how the technology is moving forward. Now there are several competitors, such as the Sony reader and the Nook from Barnes & Noble.

Now Kindle has come up with a really good idea--Kindle for PC. If you don't have the 270 bucks to shell out for a specialty eBook reader, now you can just download it for your PC (and there's a Mac version in the works).

Although I am unable to download it for normal everyday use (I use Suse Linux and not Windows) I think this is definitely a convenient idea. Especially since it costs a total of nothing compared to $270 for the reader. And since most people already have laptops that run Windows (unfortunately) this is a great marketing opportunity for authors.

I'd encourage you to download this. If you're tight on money it would really save you quite a bit (and for your favorite books, nothing replaces the real paper stuff, so you can use the eBooks for pretty much everything else). If you've intended to buy my book but you've been short on funds, this would be a good opportunity to buy the Kindle version.

Very interesting idea, though--will the other publishing companies follow suit? You can discuss it by commenting on this post.

Dawson

Double Life/Terminal Velcocity review contest

2009-11-22T16:20:00.004-05:00

Hey, everyone--today I would like to introduce a fun contest. If you don't already have a copy of Double Life, you are eligible to participate. There will be a contest in which you will win a free copy of Terminal Velocity!

Here's how it works: First, purchase a copy of Double Life. There are two versions on Amazon. One is Lulu, the other is CreateSpace. CreateSpace is cheaper, and honestly, I make a bigger royalty off of it, so that would be in your best interest.

If you have a Kindle, you already have two advantages in this contest: 1. The book comes to your hands quicker, and 2. you pay a tenth of the print price. (This will go up after T.V. comes out--a warning to all ye Kindlers). Although you DID have to drop a couple hundred dollars on that device, so your advantages are well-earned.

The way to win is to be the first to read and write a review of at least 250 words and post it on all three versions of the book on Amazon. As soon as the first review goes up, that person has won the prize of a free copy of Terminal Velocity shipped to you as soon as I have copies of Terminal Velocity. (I know, I'm behind...)

So please participate, and if you don't want to read my book (how great could it be anyway?) perhaps give it as a gift for Christmas for a significant youngster in your life.

Hoping to see a review soon!

Dawson

official review of Twilight

2009-11-12T07:12:00.004-05:00

All right, so today I'm posting a review I wrote on Amazon for Twilight. Now you can see exactly why I think that on a scale of 1 to 1,000,000, its literary merit is about a 3.

--

First I'd like to say she tried. She really tried hard to make this a great book. But that may be the root problem--she tried too hard and it came out truncated and overdone.

Second I'd like to say that I tried. I really tried hard to make it to the end of this book. But in the end I found out that staring at the page was too nauseating to think about (it's true, I can't read Twilight for more than five minutes without closing it in disgust). So I gave in and listened to the audiobook.

So without further ado, let's get the train wreck rolling.

The first thing you trip over is the most ridiculously flowery and pompous prose ever. Observe the (in my opinion) worst-written paragraph ever that falls on you like a billiard table so early (page 8):

"It was beautiful; I couldn't deny that. Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the air filtered greenly through the leaves.

"It was too green--an alien planet."

This is an example of every writing error and annoyance in this book. Let's put a microscope on it.

1. Semicolons. They're everywhere in this book, and every time she could have replaced it with a comma. These distracted the heck out of me.

2. Trying to say something and locking herself in a box. She doesn't realize that there are different ways of saying something so it sounds smoother, but she just tries to "make it work" the way she originally had it. This is very amateur.

3. "It." Their branches hung with a canopy of it. Of what? Who knows...there have been four nouns it could have meant. This happens too much.

4. She's so busy writing all the unnecessary details that she forgets their purpose. Notice that in the first sentence she admires the green. By the next paragraph, she dislikes it. What?

And that covers the writing. On to plot and character, which, in this book, are the same thing.

The plot is nonexistent. It's page after page after page of Bella gushing over Edward until there's only about 150 pages left. Meyer then suddenly rushes to find a plot and pulls out a stock bad guy who wants to get Bella and Bella alone.

Why? Same reason as why a praying mantis spends most of his day cleaning himself.

Because he can.

That is the entire plot. All of it. She finds out he's a vampire, gushes over him for 400 pages, and then spends the next 150 running from a cheesy villain.

Let's move on to the characters, beginning with Bella, whom you have to spend every moment of the book with. And what a character to tell the story...a whining, selfish, and ultimately insecure person who defines herself by Edward and spends all day talking about Edward, Edward, Edward. And it's the most repetitive thing ever.

My favorite thing to laugh at is the way she describes his face--she can't just say his face. She always has to attach something that says how wonderful it is. This is one of the things that has made it to my list of the worst things ever (don't worry--it's not hard to get on the list. All you have to do is comment on this review with teen fury).

And Edward is a girl personality in "hot" male form. That's it.

So to sum up, she wrote a story and her characters happened to be morons, her plot wasn't there, and she tried too hard to write it. And I need to go to Walmart, pick up a copy of Twilight and five red pens, and get to work.

--

So tell me what you think--you can vote for it as "helpful" or "unhelpful" right here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2L8ZGYJRAQ13P/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm and you can give your comments below. I love hearing readers' opinion!

Dawson

pre-order Terminal Velocity today

2009-11-09T19:42:00.003-05:00

Hey, everyone--Terminal Velocity comes out in just one month and five days. That's incredible to me. It's all gone so fast!

You can pre-order a copy of the book anytime before then and get the price of $10 plus the shipping charges (I'll probably standardize to $3 for the first book and $1 for every book thereafter).

To pre-order, email me at dawson@vosburgs.org. I need to have your name, the name you want the book signed to, your address, payment method, and whether you want it gift-wrapped or not. The book will be shipped out on December 11 so it can arrive on the 14th at the earliest. If you don't feel comfortable giving a home address, I'll send to PO boxes if you'd like.

Payment will be either via PayPal or check (which you send by mail). Once you email me the required information, I will reply with a thank you and either my address to mail the check to or the PayPal email address to pay to. I WILL NOT send a book to someone who has not paid.

Here's the official back-cover synopsis of the book:

The imaginary world is just as Josiah Jones left it, but it's all about to change.

Events surrounding the death of an agent have compelled Josiah and Tom to find the RED Agency's new headquarters, but things are more than they seem. A mysterious third party interferes, and no one knows whose side they could be on. The second installment of the Adventures of Josiah Jones is more exciting, more action-packed, and even more intriguing than the first.

Email me and order your copy of this book today!

Dawson

Short Post

2009-11-07T12:25:00.002-05:00

I know that this is an extremely short post, but I don't have much time on my hands what with NaNoWriMo and stuff.

Here it is:

A professional writer is an amateur that didn't stop.

That means that if you want to be a writer, then write. Duh.

Dawson

NaNoWriMo

2009-10-29T16:56:00.002-04:00

Hey, everyone. In case you didn't know, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo--I know the acronym doesn't make sense, but bear with me). This is about the most fun and extravagant month of the year. Where most people would embark on foolish endeavors such as Christmas shopping and getting sufficient sleep, over 100,000 people will be writing a novel in a month.

I want each and every one of you to at least sign up and try your hand at NaNoWriMo, even if you don't think you're a writer. It's great fun, especially if you can hook up with people in your area and get together in a write-in.

Go to www.nanowrimo.org to sign up. It's simple--50,000 words, 30 days. 1667 words/day. You could probably land that in about an hour a day. Trust me--it's not as terrible as you think it is.

This will be my third year participating, and if you live in the Anderson area, we're meeting for the first write-in on Sunday from 1:30-4:30 at Anderson Public Library's Carnegie Room on the third floor.

Hope to see you all on the front lines of NaNo! Remember, novels like Water for Elephants and my own Double Life were written as NaNoWriMo novels, so just because you wrote them in a month doesn't necessarily lower the quality. Good luck!

Dawson

Post #50

2009-10-04T14:14:00.002-04:00

If you have read each and every post on this blog, I commend you for plowing through.

Today I would like to talk about the wonders of publication.

Really, nothing is more satisfying to me than to talk to people who have read my book (some of whom have way more enthusiasm about it than I do). But it's not reviewers on Amazon (who are adults) that I take joy in talking to. It's the people my book is targeted at, the elementary, middle, and high school students who have gotten joy and delight from my novel.

But as I go once again into the publishing process, I remember what it was like last year. If you've gone the twisty, brambly, pothole-filled road of publishing before you know it's a tiresome process. As I begin to do that for Terminal Velocity, the one thing that has kept me excited is that people will read the second book and have tons of questions. I can't wait to talk to them.

If you're on that same treacherous path, then look forward more than anything to talking to the audience. That is the time you will have the most fun with, and it only comes with the process of publication.

This also goes out to those who don't wish to ever publish--you're missing out on the audience's reaction. It's a great part of writing, and it also can influence future books.

That's all I wanted to say today. Pick up a piece of cake for the 50th Post. Or just go to Walmart and buy a cake all for yourself--I don't ship cake to anywhere but my mouth.

Dawson

Refresher

2009-09-27T15:48:00.002-04:00

"You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head."
- Sean Connery, Finding Forrester

That is what you must realize when you write. That you are writing straight from your heart and you don't ever think for a single moment.

A lot, and I mean a lot of people try to find out how J.K. Rowling made such a success with Harry Potter. It wasn't because everyone loves a fantasy. It wasn't because of magic. It wasn't the fact that it was a classic kind of story. It was because it was from the heart, the deepness of the soul of J.K. Rowling.

If you watch a single documentary on her life, you can find that everything there is to love about the book is drawn from her life and soul.

Realize that this isn't about becoming a witty writer or selling millions of copies of your novel. Those aren't necessary results of writing. They're generally a result of writing a) what's popular or b) what comes from your heart. Which one do you want to do?

A great many authors, and successful ones at that, simply pump out what's popular. These authors make money, they get their fortune, their success, they get themselves in the public eye. At least for a fleeting moment until the popularity of the genre fades and the authors themselves fade into obscurity.

But people who have truly succeeded, people like Rowling and Tolkien and Lewis and Chesterton, all have written directly from their heart, and you can find no better fiction than this kind. I think that as a writer I have missed the mark in the past and I've tried writing what's popular instead of what's in my heart. But those are the manuscripts that gather dust on the shelf, their only use now being bookends for my better novels.

So ignore all other advice and write your first draft with your heart and ignore your head. Your head isn't good for much beyond the physical and observable, the math and sciences. Your heart is the place from which creativity springs, and make sure to not let one ounce of that creativity go to waste. Not everyone has it in the ample supply as you, and there must be enough to go around.

Dawson

I'm editing. Yep, it sucks.

2009-09-23T15:16:00.002-04:00

Most beginning writers hate the writing/word choice type of editing. I do. Because, you know, I don't have a passion for sentence structure or epiphanies about typos.

But you know, the first and second drafts were a great time, and it's all worthless if the prose itself is garbled gobbledygook. It's no fun to read boring stuff. So you need to remember in this dark slog that it will be over soon and the sweet bliss of being finished is on the horizon.

Power through. Pay attention. And most of all, keep focused. It will be over sooner if you concentrate on editing without distractions. I guarantee you, this part will be over. Just work as hard as you can to get the thing perfect.

Dawson

No, I won't read your WIP.

2009-09-13T16:15:00.002-04:00

Being an author is a lot of fun. I like talking to people who have enjoyed my book and I also like talking to those who didn't. The people I don't like talking to are those who ask if I could read their work-in-progress novel.

Seriously, I can't tell you how annoying this question is. And it's not even close to the most frequently asked.

If you're asking me to read your work in progress, you have not read anything about writing and it clearly shows that you are an ameteur. If you read any book ever written about writing, there will be 0 that tell you to ask people to read it before it's finished. In fact, most of them say to avoid this practice.

Other variations on this question are "is this a good idea", "should I keep writing this", and "PLEASE READ!!!". And none of them are marks of professionalism.

If you want to write a book or you're writing a book but you're insecure about what you're writing, you need to seriously reconsider this. If you're going to have to ask a professional author if the book is good before it's even finished, then this reveals to me that you don't have a true passion about the story you're writing. If you have the passion for your story and you're still asking me to read it, I will not read it.

Don't jump on me and say that I'm a mean old hack, a stupid windbag, an angry, mean writer whose only goal is to make you miserable. I only say this from experience. I've only written five novels in the span of two years because I wrote like heck to get the first draft done. Once you do that, you're golden. Just don't ask me to read it before it's done.

Sure, I'd be happy to give you a blurb for a finished novel. I'd also like to edit it (not for free, of course) once you're ready for an editor. But not now, not when your novel is so young and unfinished.

It's like asking someone if they'll babysit your unborn baby. You don't.

Dawson

Brothers

2009-09-12T20:12:00.002-04:00

In case you didn't know, I have brothers.

Three of them. Two of them have websites (and I don't, how sad). They're also artists and they're really cool. So you should check out their websites:

http://www.drewvosburg.com/
http://www.davidvosburg.com/

It's too bad that I can't carry on the tradition. http://www.dawsonvosburg.com/ is parked.

Dawson

Music

2009-09-06T14:28:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone.

Lately I've been procrastinating from writing. A lot. And I've been doing it by listening and creating music, which is still a creative endeavor, but it will not get a novel finished and selling by December.

Anyway--I've written a song I think is fairly good. Totally unedited, so if there's any mistake in it it's probably a couple revs away from being done.

I float, embraced by a ray of sunshine,
The last remaining in this nighttime.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.

Once in a lifetime, forever in memory,
As I remember sunshine, it remembers me.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.

Ray of sunshine,
Don’t pull away,
You’re the last in this darkness.
Until the brightness of day.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.

I fly, wings provided by a ray of sunshine,
Who casts off fears in this nighttime.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.

I die, for the ray of sunshine has let go,
The cold takes over, nothing else I know.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.

Ray of sunshine,
Don’t pull away,
You’re the last in this darkness.
Until the brightness of day.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.

I float, embraced by a ray of sunshine,
The last remaining in this nighttime.
Don’t let go.
Don’t let go.

So those were pretty much my feelings yesterday afternoon as I hung out at the library. I think it's pretty good, but again, I don't think it's done.

Don't worry. I'm getting to work on Terminal Velocity. Right now. Sorry...I'm a procrastinator by birth.

Dawson

Cue fireworks...Cue fanfare...

2009-08-29T13:27:00.002-04:00

I have finished the third and my final draft of Terminal Velocity! WOO!

This may not be as exciting to you, but this means that I send it off to Faith (my editor) and once she finishes I run a spell check and it's done. From there I format it and it goes to print, and then I have my launch event on Dec. 14. It's all going perfectly on schedule, folks.

You probably won't be able to make it to the book signing on the 14th. That's a-okay, because I will have a camera set up if I do a talk. If I don't do a talk, you will be able to buy the book online in hardcover for the same price as at the bookstore.

I'm very happy about this and will keep blogging with more exciting events and adventures in this book's life. If you haven't already bought Double Life, it's worth it to read it just because the second book is going to be even better. You can get your copy here.

Also, for some reason my blog's readership shot up over the past couple days. I'll keep watching that.

Dawson

Just To Let You Know

2009-08-22T14:29:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone. Today is going to be a bit different. I don't present many of my opinions on the world around me, but it has come to my attention that this is nothing to be "in the closet" about.

I am, as very few of you know, a Christian, born again, bona fide. Yes, I believe that Christianity is the one and only way to eternal life and the one and only answer to life's questions. But I can still be tolerant.

Society has twisted the meaning of the word "tolerant". It really means that you disagree with a person, but you don't cut the person loose because of it. You tolerate them.

What tolerance has come to mean in today's society is that essentially, everyone is right. If you believe in Islam, then great--that's the truth for you. If you're a Buddhist, then that's the truth for you. But that's not what real tolerance is. It's trying to make everyone feel right and everyone happy by saying there is no one way.

So then when Christianity makes a singular truth claim that Christianity is the only way (which I believe to be true), we are not tolerated, which is the opposite of what should be. Everyone should be able to live with everyone else no matter if they make an exclusive truth claim. You must learn to agree to disagree. For example, I don't believe that homosexuality is right, but that doesn't mean I discriminate against them. I don't believe in their lifestyle, but by being actually tolerant in the real definition of the word, we can get along.

I promise--my next blog post won't be trying to convert you. If you want to talk about that, send me an email. But please, hear me out and don't explode with angry comments on this blog.

I just wanted to let everyone know where I stand on things.

Dawson

The Publishing Insiders interview

2009-08-19T15:13:00.002-04:00

Hey, everyone. Yesterday I did a long-awaited BTR interview on The Publishing Insiders. It was a great interview and they really enjoyed having me.

I have already been asked by the producer to do an interview in their newsletter, which has 5,000+ readers. This will be an AWESOME promotional opportunity for both Double Life and Terminal Velocity.

Thanks for all your support and keep the comments coming!

Dawson

Why I Don't Outline

2009-08-19T07:16:00.001-04:00

Many a person spends all their time they wanted to spend writing their novel planning to write their novel. They outline and they scribble and they make notes and they create detailed character charts. That's definitely what you'll see me doing on a day of writing.

What you will see me doing on a day of writing is simply that: writing.

Because I don't like outlines. They never work for me. When I outlined my third book, Sequence (which rests in peace in my junk drawer), I thought it was going to be better because I outlined it. I had a whole bunch of details and bubble charts and graphs ready for my use.

But what happened? The novel turned out boring and truncated and hollow. I already knew what was going to happen, so the life was sucked out of me. There were no surprises. The characters were already there. They had already developed and I just had to tell the audience how, and I didn't like that. But I decided to be faithful and I plodded through the novel's 51,000 words with misery.

I decided that that outline was the worst thing ever and I gave it a ride in a trash truck.

But why was it so terrible? Why did that outline, which I spent a month and a half toiling over to make sure I had a good plan for the story, just kind of...die? I think it had to do with me being constrained and, effectively, my characters were stuck in a box. They had the limits of the outline and the chains of their character sheets wrapped around them, so I ended up with something hollow and devoid of life and joy.

I wondered if I had lost my touch, so when I set off to write the sequel to Double Life, I expected it to be really slow. And it did start that way. I began the novel mid-January and wanted to finish by mid-February.

Then, about halfway through, I stopped. I didn't want to do this anymore. I wasn't going to handle more of this dull sludge.

But fast forward to March--I remembered how I wrote my other novels, how they had felt so free and so good. I remembered that these characters were people and not furniture, and I decided to take off the imaginary pressures of stupid outlines.

I wrote the second half of Terminal Velocity in two caffeine-driven days.

So if you ask me if I outline, I will say no. Characters grow by themselves and subplots happen naturally and spontaneously. Build your plot on your characters, not vice versa, and you will find that you have a new freedom and color to your writing than you ever had before.

That's just my two cents. You can comment with your ideas and opinions on outlining.

Dawson

Terminal Velocity, Coming Soon!

2009-08-17T14:04:00.003-04:00

I am stoked, needless to say. Why? Because Terminal Velocity comes out in three months and four weeks!

I know it feels like forever from now, but let's get the buzz a-buzzing, because it's sooner than you think!

Waldenbooks of Anderson will be the place to be on December 14. They've agreed to let me have that spot (this is the good thing about reserving space early). I might contact another bookstore or two to see if they'd like to do a midnight release, which would be even more fun than just a regular book launch event.

If you don't live anywhere near Anderson or its surrounding cities, I hate you. That's not true, but I will film my introduction and the Q&A period and place that on YouTube for you to see.

There will be contests and videos and interviews galore in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned to this blog for the goings on. Terminal Velocity is almost done and it's a reason for excitement.

Dawson

Press Release for Terminal Velocty

2009-08-09T18:17:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone. Here's the press release I released via PRLog.com (a great website for any author--use and abuse it!). Sorry I haven't been able to post in a while. I've been about the busiest person I know for the past month.

Tomorrow I'm calling the local Waldenbooks to see if I could get a midnight release of Terminal Velocity there. That'd be really cool. There's a central stagelike area in the section of the mall where Waldenbooks is located, so it'll be a great place to have a speech and open the box!

Anyway--on with the press release most awesome!

Dawson Vosburg, Teen Author, To Release Exciting Sequel

Dawson Vosburg, the teenage author of the young-adult science-fiction novel Double Life, will release its sequel soon. Dawson says that this will be a much more exciting novel and the public will enjoy it even more than its predecessor.

Aug 08, 2009 – Dawson Vosburg published his first novel, Double Life, at age fourteen. Now, he's preparing for the release of its sequel, Terminal Velocity (December 14, 2009).

Terminal Velocity picks up right where Double Life left off, when the trio of thirteen-year-

olds, Josiah Jones, Denise Black, and KC McCaite, returns to the BLUE Agency. They thought the world was safe after they put a great dent in the RED Agency.

But things are more complicated than they appear. The RED Agency is back, and there is a mysterious third party who continues to interfere with the BLUE Agency's plans. The novel is a twist-filled adventure with surprises at every corner.

"Terminal Velocity is, in general, a better and more exciting novel than Double Life," Vosburg says. "More action, more excitement, and more emotion fill the pages of Terminal Velocity."

On writing the second book, Vosburg says, "It was even more exciting to keep developing these characters and throwing wrenches in the works."

The novel will be released on December 14, 2009.

###

You can check it out at http://www.prlog.org/10304875-dawson-vosburg-teen-author-to-release-exciting-sequel.html .

Thanks for reading!

Dawson

The Funniest Video Dub in the Land

2009-07-03T19:29:00.002-04:00

I just want to share with you THE FUNNIEST video dub I've ever seen. It's Ralph Bakshi's animated version of Lord of the Rings...Completely Screwed Over! I'll post it right here:

Watch it.

All of it.

It's worth it, I promise.

Dawson

Interview with Megalith Books

2009-06-25T11:01:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. My interview with Megalith Books just went up. I tried to keep my answers as pithy as possible.

I have been talking with the publicist of Cayla Kluver (fellow young auth0r) about an interview on my Blog Talk Radio show with Stacey Cochran, and she's very interested. I think we've got our guest for next week! Stacey already did an interview with her (that should be on www.onlinebookreview.org soon), but we're still going to have her on JJ Talk. I'll give you a date when I have it.

Dawson

The Bouchercon Problem, and a Landmark in Sales

2009-06-22T15:09:00.000-04:00

Okay...so I'm thoroughly convinced that I want to go to Bouchercon, which is the conference for mystery writers of America held an hour away from my house. I know that I can conjure up the $150 to go, but the problems are as follows: 1. How am I going to get there, 2. How am I going to get back, 3. Where am I going to stay?

I can't stay at home because it would be annoying and unthoughtful to ask my parents to drive four hours every day for four days to take and pick me up. I can't drive. I can't stay there because I don't have 300 extra dollars to drop on a hotel reservation either.

Until all three of these problems are sorted out, there's no way that I'm going to be able to go to Bouchercon. If you're going there and have any ideas, please comment here! I want to go so badly but I have no idea how I'm going to stay there for four days.

Also, today I crossed a landmark in my sales--300 copies of Double Life have been sold, and the ball is rolling faster. I'm thinking of setting up another signing at Waldenbooks in the mall--should be fun and I think I'd sell quite a lot!

Dawson

Books On the Knob

2009-06-22T11:05:00.000-04:00

After some date confusions and late writing on my end, we finally got my guest post on the Books On the Knob blog, a quite popular one with a lot of traffic. Today I talk about how to reach your target audience.

Make sure to post your questions or comments there!

Dawson

Bring On the Books blog tour post

2009-06-16T11:21:00.000-04:00

Hey, guys. Just had my next blog tour location posted on Bring On the Books. Today I talked about using Kindle as a book author and how you can make sales off of that.

I've also got a nibble from Penny Sansevari for her Blog Talk Radio show, Publishing Insiders. I'll give you a date on that as soon as I have it.

Dawson

Saul Marquez, Next Up On Tour

2009-06-15T15:19:00.000-04:00

I just posted my post about using Amazon's marketing tools on Saul Marquez's blog. Check it out!

Tomorrow is my last currently scheduled date, but I have a Blog Talk Radio show with Penny Sansevari that I'll be doing soon. We haven't scheduled a date for that, but I'll update you once that's available.

Dawson

Stacey Cochran Carries On the Tour

2009-06-14T07:36:00.000-04:00

Today I had a guest post at Stacey Cochran's blog as well as his blog on another website he owns, How to Publish a Book. Both posts are the same, but regrettably, there's no comment system so if you have a comment on the post you can put it on this post.

Tomorrow I visit my good friend Saul Marquez, who himself is a teen author, so keep following the tour! I still need more blogs to visit (five doesn't satisfy me) so any blog I can talk to would be good.

Dawson

Interview with Becky Sutton

2009-06-13T16:58:00.000-04:00

I just had a nice interview for my next blog tour location with Rebecca Sutton, a lady who lives in the UK and volunteered to do an interview with me. I think it went extremely well, and for you people who have read the first book, there's a teaser for the sequel at the end!

Check it out! And be tuned in tomorrow for a post about podcasting and blogging on Stacey Cochran's website!

Dawson

And the blog tour kicks off with Jeremy Robinson!

2009-06-12T10:05:00.001-04:00

Hey, everyone! Today the blog tour begins with Jeremy Robinson's website, www.jeremyrobinsononline.com. He's very kind to allow me to blog tour at his website, which I hear garners quite a bit of traffic. Today I talk about forum ettiquete and give a little bit about my book as well.

Stay tuned, because tomorrow I'm going to e answering some questions for Rebecca Sutton!

Dawson

Win a T-Shirt And a Signed Book!

2009-06-08T22:52:00.000-04:00

I'd like to announce to everyone a contest that I'm running to promote Double Life.

Anyone who makes a video book promo, book trailer, or convinces at least three friends to buy my book (and can prove it) will themselves win a FREE signed copy of Double Life and a FREE special Josiah Jones t-shirt.

So if you're creating a video, make it and post it to YouTube and comment to this post with a link. If you're convincing three people to buy the book, then email the proof to me at dawson@vosburgs.org. What constitutes proof? A picture of the books, an Amazon record, whatever that can prove that these three copies of the book were sold as a result of your influence.

Good luck, and I hope to see what you've posted soon!

Dawson

Blog Tour Begins June 12!

2009-06-08T21:54:00.000-04:00

Hey, folks...just would like to let you guys know that my blog tour will be commencing June 12 with a blog post at Jeremy Robinson's website. He's been very generous to allow me to guest blog on his site.

I have also been featured on two blogs without even asking:

A Kindle review blog
Books on the Knob

If you would like to be on the blog tour and feature me on your blog, you can still comment on this post or email me at dawson@vosburgs.org and we can set up a date.

The kindle book has sold about 80 copies so far! Keep it up!

Dawson

Kindle Kindle Kindle!

2009-06-03T21:17:00.001-04:00

Hey, everyone.

I have followed Stacey's advice on the Kindle and I have already sold forty-five books since May 30. Not bad. It is now a #5 bestseller in High Tech Science Fiction. You can see it or buy it for 80 cents right here:

Double Life

Thanks for reading this quick update, and let's see this book hit #1!

Dawson

Day 22: Special Guest Blogger Stacey Cochran!

2009-05-28T16:03:00.000-04:00

Hey, there.

Today I'd like to introduce to you our guest blogger, Stacey Cochran. This is his newest book, CLAWS, available now:

http://www.amazon.com/CLAWS-ebook/dp/B0024NL6QS

Dawson, thanks so much for hosting me today on your blog. As you know I’m in the middle of a 45-day blog tour to promote my new novel CLAWS, and it means a lot to me that you’d make space for me today. So I want to make this worth your (and your readers’ time).

I’d like to talk today about Amazon Kindle. In the past 48 hours, CLAWS and The Colorado Sequence have broken onto several bestseller lists on the Amazon Kindle. As I’m writing this at about 5 PM Wednesday, CLAWS is currently ranked #21 overall in the Kindle “Action & Adventure” category, #20 in the “horror” category, and #84 in the “suspense” category.

The Colorado Sequence is currently #5 in Science Fiction “Adventure” and #82 for “Suspense.”

You can see from some of the other names that I’m suddenly on charts next to Stephen King, Dan Brown, John Scalzi, Frank Herbert and other heavy hitters.

So what the heck is going on? How did a little known self-published author like me get his book ranked with legends like these?

First, I should say that Amazon rankings fluctuate a lot, and my books could easily be gone from the charts in a few days.

With that disclaimer in mind, there’s a couple things contributing to this recent surge. First up, the books are at price points that are very economical. TCS is currently for sale for 80 cents and CLAWS is listed at $1.59. Compared to better known authors whose books are listed for 10 dollars or more, this makes my titles competitive.

Secondly, the book covers look pretty good, and I’ve got fairly good reviews and a good description for each book. Kindle buyers see the books and think they’re worth giving a shot.

Thirdly, I started a single thread on the Kindle Discussion Forums titled “Books Under 2 Bucks,” and I encouraged folks to list examples of good books they’ve read on the Kindle that cost less than 2 dollars. This post has stayed fairly high on the discussion board, and I think is most directly the reason for why I’ve sold nearly 150 books in two days.

Fourth, Kindle consumers are sick of major publishers gouging them for 10 dollars (or more) and so they seem to be throwing their support behind little guys (like me) who have a good looking book at a competitive price point. This sentiment is driving a bunch of sales, I think.

Fifthly, Kindle buyers want books. They are the most die-hard book fans on the planet, and they’ve just shelled out 359 bucks for a digital reader… and so they want books that they can read. A book for 80 cents seems practically free after purchasing the reader for 359 dollars.

Sixthly, it’s too soon for me to know this except by way of a hunch, but once you start hitting a few bestseller lists, your book will become viral. That is, other folks are finding it on bestseller lists and linking to it on their sites. The longer you can sustain a high ranking, the more visibility you’ll have, and the more viral your book will be.

Like I say, I don’t know long it’ll last with my books. Sales may drop of precipitously by the weekend for all I know. What I really need are a few more positive and sincere reviews. I think the reviews really contribute to convincing folks to purchase the books.

Nonetheless it’s been a very exciting few days. It feels a little bit like emotional surfing.

*Edit: Since this post, I have made my own Kindle eBook of Double Life. You can see it here.*

Day 21--Blog Tour Time...I Need YOUR help!

2009-04-25T16:38:00.000-04:00

Hey, folks--I need your help. If you have a blog, perfect. Because I need you to.

I am beginning my blog tour for my book as soon as possible. My goal is to get interviewed on as many blogs as possible to increase exposure for my book, my blog, your book, and your blog. All you have to do is agree to send me a list of interview questions about me as a young writer and feature the interview with an introduction on your blog. Also, said post would have an Amazon Associates link to my book and a link to my blog.

How does this help you? Number one, you get promotion of your blog on my blogroll on the sidebar (and if you have a book, then I'll also pimp that link). Number two, you generate the revenue that comes with the Amazon Associates program. Every time someone clicks on the link for my Amazon book, as long as it's an Amazon Associates link, you make a percentage on that sale.

You'll also get some material to add to your blog if you're starving for something to write about. That's happened to me before.

Post a comment here to volunteer to interview me on your blog about my book, Double Life!

Thanks everyone.

Dawson

2009-04-23T16:51:00.000-04:00

Day 20--The Three Stages of Your Book, Stage 1: Writing

2009-04-13T12:57:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. Today I'm going to talk to you about the three stages of your book and go in depth about the first stage, Writing.

The Three Stages (not Stooges, mind you) are as follows: Writing, Editing, and Publishing. That's it. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Why? Because if you have too many phases of your book, it's going to look and feel tiresome to write it and you'll end up never getting it done. But these are the universal stages of writing, and even if you use a different plan than I do, all the parts of that plan are going to fit into one of these three stages.

Okay, so about writing. For writing, or any of the three stages, you need to set yourself some goals. The two main ones in this stage are:

A definite amount goal, in words or pages
A definite time frame, such as a month or three months

If you're like me, then you'll want to choose a modest goal for your word count, but still have it be a challenge. For me the perfect number was 50,000 words, but you can set yourself a word goal that lends to your story, or if you're doing nonfiction, however long you need to explain your topic.

For your time frame, you want something short. You don't want to go lax a month into your year-long writing period and say "I have eleven months left. What's there to worry about?" Next thing you know, the year's over and all you have is a few pages of manuscript.

I tend to set my goals around 1 to 2 months. Most of my work is completed in 1 month or less, with the exception of Terminal Velocity, in which I was extremely lazy. As a general rule of thumb, don't go more than three months. You'll lose your drive to write.

Also, another good thing to remember is to have your period begin at the start of the month and end at the end of the month, or the next month, or wherever you set your goal. That way you can have a better idea of how long you've been writing it and keep track of how many words you should be at each day.

Besides setting goals, you need to remember to avoid over-planning your book. You don't want to spend so many months coming up with the ideas for your book that you don't want to actually write the book. You want to give yourself a week to plan, two weeks as absolute tops.

Remember that your first draft can be anything you want it to be, so don't self edit as you go along. Just go for getting the words out on paper. This is the easy, seat-of-the-pants part of the writing process, and you should take advantage of that. Have fun with it and go wild.

You can find the best tips on writing a first draft from one of my favorite books on writing, No Plot? No Problem!. That's where I derive most of my writing rules, but I have added a few such as the stages of writing and more arbitrary time goal. However, I do set myself a rigid limit of 1 month and 50k words, but you can make your own idea of how your novel will be written.

I'll write back soon with Stage 2: Editing!

Dawson

Day 19--Promises, Sacramento Book Review, and the POD Journal

2009-04-07T16:53:00.000-04:00

Hello to all my readers, old and new. Today I'm going to talk about promises.

I'm not going to lecture about keeping promises. I'm going to lecture about making promises.

Often when friends buy a book, I talk to them a month or two later to ask if they've read at least part of it or if they've finished it, and I've been surprised with the response. Many of the people I ask look like they're about to break down and cry and promise me that they will get around to reading it.

The first time you think that it's just that one person that overreacts to the question that way, but as I've asked more and more buyers, they invariably say the same thing.

Please, PLEASE don't do this. It's tiresome and annoying, and it will definitely make me want to avoid you. It's a yes or no question. I'm not asking you to promise me anything, just to tell me whether or not you've read the thing.

Now that that rambling is out of the way, let's get down to business. I am going to be shipping off two copies of my book today to the Sacramento Book Review in (you guessed it) Sacramento. I hope to receive a good review from them, as it would get me some sales in Sacramento and San Fransisco, as people who are reading this review will probably be in that area. But also it will be a great thing to put up on my book's Amazon page in the Editorial Reviews section. It's a legit and big-sounding review service, and I hope that it works out okay for me.

I have recently set up a POD Journal blog that will document my many adventures in the POD business as well as provide for a site for authors to get reviews. They will be reviewed by my new review service entitled the "Anderson Book Review." My first book that I will be doing is The Nine Lives of Clemenza by Holly Christine. It's a good book so far, and I hope to be able to get the review out by the end of this week or the beginning of next (ironically around the time the Lulu Book Review gets around to reviewing my own book).

That's all for now, folks. Catcha later.

Dawson

Day 18--Terminal Velocity, More Amazon, and an interesting interview

2009-04-06T16:43:00.000-04:00

Okay...now that I've had the ceremonial napping done from finishing my fourth novel, I can tell you a little bit more about it (though I won't say a word concerning any of the plot secrets).

Terminal Velocity is the same continuing story from Double Life. In fact, you could put the two together and no one would notice. It picks up right where DL started and goes at a fast pace as the RED gets stronger, and the cover is green as you can see. There's a big plot point behind that, but I'm not telling you what.

Since some of you haven't read the first book, I'm not going to give you the plot summary (yet). It has a few things that are revealed in Chapter 18 of the first book...and they would spoil that chapter for all of those who haven't read the first book. Those of you that have, you know what I mean.

Next up is that I have made a total of 3 amazon sales! 3!

Well, that's not too great, but still!

I also have the product description and a review from www.kopek-publishing.com on there.

I also had an interesting interview Saturday night from a girl in college who had to do an interview with someone. We discussed self publishing and how it is attached with social networking, so basically Twitter, the publisher's forums, Facebook, bla bla bla. That was a really good time.

So...updates are coming soon. I have (so far) sold 115 copies of my book, plus a guaranteed 2 sales tomorrow because the people have promised to buy them.

Catch y'all later.

Dawson

Day 17--The Cover for the SEQUEL!!!!!

2009-03-31T18:29:00.000-04:00

I FINISHED THE SEQUEL TODAY!
Here it is! It's called Terminal Velocity!!!This has to be one of the coolest covers possible for the book, is it not?

Also, I apologize for all you who wanted to listen to the Blog Talk Radio show...the mic just died before the show started.

Too tired to write anymore,

Dawson

Day 16--BlogTalkRadio, Sequel is Almost Done, and Listmania My Book!

2009-03-30T10:57:00.000-04:00

First of all, I'm going to be hosting a show today at 3pm Eastern Daylight today! Go yon! http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Dawson-Vosburg You can call in via Skype (if you live in NY, you can just call in with a phone and not be charged for it). Skype only costs 2.1 cents/minute, and thus would be very inexpensive for calling into the show. You'll find the number on the page to call in when the show goes live.

Also, the sequel to Double Life is almost finished! I can't wait to reveal to the world the title and cover! It looks WAY MORE AWESOME THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE!

Here's something cool that you can do. Want to promote your book with a Listmania, but don't know what else to put in it? Are you just going to be nice and create a Listmania? Include my book in it! Just search in Books for Double Life when making your list and it will come up as number 2 on the list. It's that simple!

That's it for today. Hope you can call in/listen to the show today, and I'll be back on Wednesday for the cover of the second book!

Dawson

Day 15--Alex Rider, Website, and some Exciting News

2009-03-28T13:14:00.000-04:00

First of all, I want to say something--I never new of the book series Alex Rider when I went to write Double Life. However, I think it's a great comparison tool. Yesterday I was looking through the recommended book for "people who bought related items also bought..." and I saw Alex Rider on there. I looked it up, and a few minutes later we were watching the movie adaption of Alex Rider: Stormbreaker. I am now a fan of the series--if the movie was that well done, then the books must be infinitely better (sort of reminds me of Holes--the movie was excellently true to the book. Also, both movies' screenplays were written by the book's author, which I find very good).

Second--I finished the basic coding for my website last night. I have all the pages and they look decent, but I'm going for something a bit better than decent, so I'll keep working on it and then get some cheap web hosting. Thank goodness there are so few images on the site...image-heavy pages are expensive to host and take a long time to load.

Just a little while back on last Wednesday, I was contacted by a member of the PR Department. The message read as follows:

Dear Mr. Vosburg,

My name is Kim Smith and I work in the Public Relations department at Lulu.com. Your book, "Double Life" has caught our attention on Lulu.com's global marketplace. We would love to gain more information about you and how you came to write this book using Lulu.com's self-publishing services.

Attached is an author questionnaire form that we would like for you to please fill out. Please return it to me as quickly as possible so that we can store your information. This questionnaire will help us if we were to ever write a press release regarding your work or if someone from the media wants information about the author for your great book. It gives you the potential for some free press!

I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you!

Well, obviously my jaw dropped to the floor in surprise. This was DEFINITELY not something I was expecting, but it's something GOOD that I wasn't expecting. Anyway, I filled out the questionnaire and sent it back and I hope to get a message back about any news.

Also, I'm currently storyboarding a book trailer for Double Life that I'll shoot with my cover designer, Phil Dragash (who also is a filmmaker with a really good camera). I'm excited about that too.

I'll keep posting as updates continue to come in.
Dawson

Day 14--Borders Book Club, Sequel Coming Quickly: Pre-order Form Will Be Online

2009-03-24T19:46:00.000-04:00

Hey, there. Just a quick announcement. I've been talking on Twitter with Borders Media. I asked them what it would take for me to get an interview with the Borders Book Club, and they said that they only had a budget for a few people a year, and that I should keep them in the loop. It wasn't a yes, but it certainly wasn't a no either. I'll update you as soon as more info comes in.

Next up: The sequel should be finished by March 31. That is my deadline, and it is approaching quickly. Luckily spring break starts Friday with a half-day, so I'll have tons of time to catch up. Currently around 16-18k with that, hopefully breaking 20k by the end of tonight, and I'll have 30k to go in 6 days. Realistically, 5k a day isn't too bad. I feel like I am in pretty good shape right now. If I have to go longer with the story, 60k wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

Don't forget that Script Frenzy is next month! Go to yon website and look at your options for April to write a screenplay! Rest assured, I will have a screenplay for Double Life by April 30, and you will all be happy.

I will be posting with my sequel title announcement the cover of the sequel and an early-bird pre-order form with the regular discount of $2 off. The trade paperback for this one will be $12 (the non-POD one), and I will pre-order sell them for $10. Why'd I raise the price? This book is going to be looooongeeeeer. I'm aiming at 224-240 pp for the final draft including title page, ToC, back pags, bla bla bla...

So, there you have it. I'll be posting soon.

Dawson

Day 13--Antarktos Rising, Explanation about Twilight, and "Are you writing a sequel?"

2009-03-23T16:42:00.000-04:00

'Sup, gang? Good to see that I now have 3 followers: Phil (who happens to be my cover designer), John, whom I don't (think) I know, and Jim Grateman, whom I certainly don't know.

Anyway--Since I am just awesome like that, Antarktos Rising is now an official and permanent member of Anderson Public Library. In case you didn't know, I'm a huge fan of Jeremy Robinson. He's probably the best thriller writer I've ever read. He gives his stuff a new voice. Plus his covers are freaking awesome. Definitely look into that.

And for those of you who live in Anderson, sorry--I'm checking this one out today.

Continuing on, let's get to the next novel I want to talk about--Twilight. Oh, gee. This one's a downer.

First thing, it's beginning to wreck my social life with girls AND guys. Girls say, "You can't say that it's not good unless you finish it!" And, obligingly, I keep reading. Then, any guy sees me with the book and calls me a fruitcake for reading Twilight.

See how this book has caused more trouble than it's worth?

Second, it's a pretty poorly done book. I could understand someone who said (unless their a guy--then this would be kinda creepy) that they like the book because Edward is hot. Apparently, girls like guys who are dangerous (which is a common fact), are pale, smile crookedly, whose moods change "suddenly" and who talk like girls*.

But if someone talks to me about how they like it for being well-written, that's when I start to gripe. Let's face the facts: Stephanie Meyer is an ameteur.

Let's start with the beginning, appropriately. She put her hook line in the preface (which should have been called prologue, but again, this woman is an ameteur). But yet in chapter one, where most people start reading, she begins by talking about the weather. In Pheonix.

Because apparently, nobody knows that Phoenix is usually in the 70s or 80s.

Then it gets worse. She goes to a town named Forks (which I've heard is a real place) where it is perpetually raining. Now she finds herself somewhere with tons of green plants. She says that it's beautiful, then confuses the reader with poor pronoun usage, and then contradicts herself by saying that it was "too green, an alien planet."

In one paragraph.

It continues like this throughout the whole book. Semicolons and comma splices make appearances on nearly every page, plus unnecessary fragments that have no stylistic or grammatical reason for existing.

Then we get to Edward. Oh, gosh...

Bella WILL NOT SHUT UP ABOUT EDWARD. She keeps going on and on about how perfect and beautiful and awesome and angelic and heavenly he is, just to name a few adjectives. Everytime she makes mention of Edward's face, even in passing, she uses one such adjective. WE KNOW ALREADY THAT YOU THINK HIS FACE IS PERFECT.

Well, that's all I have to say so far. I'll have a follow-up report after reading the book. *steps off soap box*

Also, I seem to get asked the question "Are you going to write/are you writing the sequel?" This will be your official answer, out there for everyone to see. The answer is a resounding YES. I have been writing it for about 3 months and only have about 15k words. Pitiful, I know, but I'm banking on finishing it by the end of the month, at which time I will release to the public the title for said sequel and the planned month of release.

So that's about it. I'll post again soon, and I hope that you keep reading.

Dawson

Blog Day 12--Burst of Marketing Gusto, Extreme Happiness with Fans, Extreme UNhappiness with Twilight, and other such stuff

2009-03-19T16:59:00.000-04:00

Hey, I'm back after a long absence. I've been meaning to post here every day, so now I'll just say that I'll post when there's something worth posting about (or when I'm not tearing my hair from my head in frustration).

Couple things. First off, I'm doing the thing that I should have done MONTHS ago for my book, and that is a "marketing blitz." It usually happens at the beginning of a book's life, but since I was scrambling to get everything done at the launch of the book, I had no opportunity to do this. Now it's become apparent that this author needs to burst onto the scene of the writing world and really pack a punch with it, too. Here's the plan:

- Big promo emailing
- Website (finally)
- Book Signings (when it fully reaches all the distribution markets)
- Speaking engagements at libraries and schools
- And much, much more!

And soon you'll be reading this very blog on a slick new website designed just to be about me and the Adventures of Josiah Jones. I can't wait! The hard part is actually coding all this crap--that's what takes forever.

Also, I've been getting some tremendous feedback with a review by this guy and a person I hardly knew come to me at school to say he loved my book. Also, as I previously stated, an interview with the Lulu blog and an upcoming interview with Stacey Cochran.

So far, I've been disappointed with Twilight, but the details are for another time, as I have no time left on the library computer.

See you later!

Dawson

Day 11--Keep Taggin', Failpire, David Lubar, and Why You should Join ScriptFrenzy!

2009-03-12T16:52:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder for you, remember to keep tagging Double Life on Amazon. I'm at a standstill at 33 Sci Fi tags. That's not enough to get me onto the top four pages, which is currently my goal. I need a few more scores of people to click the little box (which shouldn't be too hard) next to the tags on my book's amazon page.

Also, Failpire, a comedy show by Samuel Proof, is live tonight at 6 o'clock Eastern time. Watch it--very funny, full of comedy sketches and music. You'll be able to watch it HERE.

Last night, I went to a "Read n' Feed" at the Anderson Public Library, at which I consumed pizza and watched David Lubar, a bestselling author, talk to us about writing, video games, and make funny jokes. I loved it as a whole, and afterwards he signed some books and everyone was happy. He was actually intimately involved in the creation of Frogger and Frogger 2 for the GameBoy. I was impressed, needless to say!

Also...something cool and good for you is coming up next month. What is it? Why, it's ScriptFrenzy of course! In case you don't know what this is, ScriptFrenzy is an amazing competition in the month of April. Your goal: write 100 pages of script (any kind) in the month of April. Why would you want to participate? You can write ANY KIND of script! Screenplay, stageplay, radio drama, comedy sketches, television shows, comic book scripts--anything. This is where I will be writing the screenplay for Double Life (as in the movie that I plan to make as opposed to a comic book or *blech* a stage version). You can check it out HERE.

Alright, catch you later!

Dawson

Day 10--Lulu Blog, Sorry about reVamped (or lack thereof), and Harry Potter

2009-03-09T20:38:00.000-04:00

First of all, sorry about not posting the Fancypants reVamped intro last week. I had one busy week and never had the chance to make it.

Second, the interview with the Lulu blog is live! Go yonder! I had a lot of fun talking with Dan London--he had some great questions and a good introduction.

Also, I have just started reading Harry Potter. I know, a bit late, but it's only been a week and a half and I just finished Chamber of Secrets, so I've got it pretty good. I'm starting Prisoner of Azkaban today. I hope that'll be a good one. So far I love the series--excellent and well written. You can expect to see my reviews on Amazon of all seven once I finish them.

Booksigning is coming up...that'll be about May 1 or 2 depending on what we work out. It'll be at the Waldenbooks in Mounds Mall for those of you who live around here in Anderson. That's probably most of you. So, come along and check it out. This "happens" to be the same night X-Men Wolverine comes out (I put "happens" in quotes because this was intentional), so we can catch the lines full of sci-fi enthusiasts right in front of my colleague, Elmore Hammes, and I signing books and making a killing (hopefully).

So, lots of opportunities for everyone in the very near future. Hope to post soon, and sorry I didn't post earlier.

Dawson

Day 9--Tagmybookonamazon Blog, LLBR review, Lulu blog interview, and 100th SALE!!

2009-03-02T17:22:00.000-05:00

First of all, I celebrated my 100th sale on Sunday. Let's all clap our hands for that.

Second, my book was featured on the blog (a very well-visited blog) Tag My Book On Amazon. You can find it on the Tag You're It! page, second from the bottom. Since then, I've gotten over 12 more tags for Science Fiction alone. That's pretty good for two days.

Also, the book will soon be featured on the Lulu Book Review (LLBR) in a review (hopefully a good one) and will also be placed on Amazon and Lulu.com. On top of THAT, I'm going to be interviewed by Dan London of the Lulu Blog.

So, three features on three very well read blogs. I can't wait.

Also, in other news, I'm going to be reading Twilight (the first book). Okay, I'm not a fan of these books. I have hated every word that I've read so far. I have the large print edition reserved at the library (the regular version had a 30-person waiting list. I didn't even want to go there). This is just to add another bad review on Amazon and to see what the heck the hype is all about.

That's about it for this post. See you later.

Dawson

Day 8--First Amazon sale, Lulu Book Review, and the Today show

2009-02-25T16:11:00.000-05:00

We have reason to celebrate, folks of America--I've made my first Amazon sale! *throws confetti everywhere and performs the ever-popular Irish jig*

Now that I've made the jig come back in style, I'm going to get down to the actual post. If you go to my book, you can clearly see that where once there was no sales rank that now it is in the 300ks. This isn't a great sales rank, but it's a sales rank and I've sold a book, and that's good enough for me.

Coming up in the near future--a review from the allegedly famed Lulu Book Review. This will be yet another great review on my review page of (currently) only 2 reviews. THAT will change soon, as my teen librarian has just reported that she read the book and couldn't put it down, and yes she would be happy to write up an Amazon review. I have a record so far of no reviews less than four stars. Let's hope it stays that way, because that would be a landmark for success. If I get up to thirty reviews and never have less than 3 stars, I will be satisfied.

And the Today show! No, I haven't booked it yet, but they are one of my top priorities. You will be seeing this face very soon on your morning television. *points at his own face then wonders why he keeps doing asterisk commentary*

A pitch letter and press release, plus a Q+A sheet and a free signed copy of the novel are in order for them. Hint: if I get booked on this show, I will be GOLDEN.

Anyway, 98 sales. Will you be the 99th?

That's all from Dawson. Remember, reVamped is coming next week. Don't miss it. *notes that it would probably not be hard if you are following this blog because it will be featured first thing that I get the vid up*

Dawson

Tag Double Life!

2009-02-24T20:37:00.000-05:00

Hey, folks--here's a quick update. I have read a blog about getting your book noticed on Amazon and have seen the value of getting my book in the top ranks of being tagged in "Science Fiction" on Amazon. I would like for every one of you to go over to my book's page and tag it as science fiction.

That's all for now!

Hoping for over 700 tags,

Dawson

Day 7--Fancypants reVamped, Rise of the Amazon Sales Rank

2009-02-24T17:12:00.000-05:00

Hey, there! Here's a first announcement of what is to come from my Fancypants813 YouTube channel (which you can see at the top of this blog). I am going to be starting something I call Fancypants reVamped.

What does this mean for your weekend? Details ahead.

What Fancypants reVamped is going to do? Well, you can already see by going to the Fancypants channel that I've made a channel look overhaul. And coming up next is an actual Fancypants logo, which I am excited to unveil. On top of all of this, we're going to be making an announcement video which will probably be funnier than all my current Dragon Talk videos combined.

Speaking of Dragon Talk, new episodes will be coming from eager questioners, resulting in 6 brand new Dragon Talk episodes! That's right, we're going to drive the episode number up from 9 to 15 in a matter of a couple weeks. Also, we'll be unveiling a new comedy show, which YOU, as the public, will be able to vote on a name for.

I've said too much already.

And coming up next is the "rise of the Amazon Sales Rank," obviously parodying "Rise of the Silver Surfer," the ugly sequel to an ugly first movie. But I digress. I am definitely going to be upping my Amazon sales rank because of the upcoming promotional campaign I am working on, which involves a media mailing campaign, bookmark giveaways, TV and radio campaigns, booksignings, and a Website that will feature this blog as a main part of it.

So, that's coming up in the near future. Be expecting more great things to come from this person in the future. I will continue to please all of you with my literature, videos, and this very blog.

G'day to ya then.

Dawson

Blog Day 6--2/23/09. Current sales: 97

2009-02-23T15:59:00.000-05:00

Hey, all. It's me here again. So, my Amazon profile got over 100 hits last month.

Yep. I really don't have much to talk about.

So, follow my Twitter and keep reading this blog. I'll post again when updates come about.

Dawson

Blog Day 5--2/22/09. Current sales: 97

2009-02-22T12:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, scratch everything I said about buying my book just from Amazon. I have something WAY more important than that, so PLEASE buy my book from Lulu during the month of March. If you have the sudden urge to buy it in February and can't wait til March to pick it up, please head on over to Amazon, but this is EXTREMELY important.

Lulu.com, the printer of my book, is running a contest through the month of March to see what three salespeople of books can sell the MOST copies of their book, directly from Lulu, in a single month. These copies cannot be purchased by the author of the books, so no cheating allowed. they also can't be bought outside of Lulu. That means that NO BUYING off of Amazon during the month of March.

I know, I know: you wanted to take part in Amazon's free Super Saver Shipping when you coupled your purchase of my book with another, but this can wait. The contest prizes are $1,500 for 1st prize, $750 for 2nd, and $500 for 3rd. Also, the 1st prize winner will recieve promotion in an email sent to ALL Lulu members, as well as an interview on the Lulu blog. This is a HUGE opportunity for my book. The money will be used to further my efforts with the book.

Now, on with the task at hand. I have expanded my list of people I want on the authors' retreat. The list is now:

- Christopher Paolini
- Eoin Colfer
- Jeremy Robinson
- Sara Gruen
- Jeff Kinney
- JK Rowling
- Chris Baty

These are all some great authors--you should read their stuff! Chris hasn't published any novels that I am aware of, but he HAS written 10 novels, I can tell you that. He's the founder of NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, which is the contest in which Double Life was written.

Also, I have made a big decision. I have dreamed from the get-go of Double Life becoming a movie, but I have made a decision: I want no one else but my cover designer Phil Dragash and I to be the head honchos--or at least intimately involved--in this project. I certainly will not allow any other Hollywood writer to be writing a screenplay for Double Life when I am perfectly capable of doing so myself.

Why have I made this decision? Because I want to protect the story. I want people to be able to watch the movie and say "Wow, I want to read the book!" Or if they are fans, I want them to say, "Wow! That was so much like the book!"

My pet peeve is that Hollywood ruins books when they adapt them into movies. They don't realize that the main audience of this film will be fans of the book who just want to see the movie put to the screen so they can SEE the characters and SEE the action in movie format, which generally gives them excitement and it makes the book come to life. Unfortunately, most book-to-movie adaptions don't give this, with the one exception (that I have found) of Lord of the Rings. Excellent book-to-movie. Instead, with films like Eragon, we get artsy fartsy adaptions that say, "No, we need to chop that necessary character and add some 'comic relief' (or some other equally two-dimensional character.)" This is not what I want for my book.

THAT is why I want to be deeeeeply involved in any movie version of my book that may come about, because it's movies like Eragon that while I discovered the book through the movie, I grew to hate Hollywood adaptions even more.

So, that was a great post. I liked writing it. That's about all I have for you today. hope to talk to you soon.

Dawson

Blog Day 4--2/21/09. Current sales: 96

2009-02-21T12:25:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I skipped a couple of days of writing in the blog. There are some good reasons for this. Number 1, I was writing up my marketing plan, and number 2, I called in sick for school on Friday. I think you can accept my apologies, so let's move on.

Amazon sales still are flat--0 people have actually BOUGHT the book on amazon. Plenty of people have SEEN the book on amazon--it shows the book at #5 on the searches (much better than the #18 that it used to be), but still the sales are slow. If you want to buy my book, either buy it direct from me if you want a signed copy and live in the local area (if you don't, email me at dawson@vosburgs.org and we can work something out) or buy it off of Amazon. Until I get a few amazon sales, Lulu sales are restricted.

Well, not really--it's just I wish that you would buy it off of Amazon instead. ;)

Anyway, I've been mulling over the idea of a writers' retreat either this summer or some other time of break when I have money. My invites are as follows:

- Christopher Paolini
- Jeff Kinney
- Jeremy Robinson
- Eoin Colfer

Pretty short list right now, but I'm guessing it would be a lot of fun, going to some remote and beautiful place with computers and typing our brains out. That would be fun. If you hadn't noticed, these are my favorite authors. Well, the ones that are still alive, that is. Tolkien, CS Lewis, and Charles Dickens certainly cannot attend.

That's still in the ideas stage, though. Just a thought of something I would like to do.

Now, I will rant about something that has nothing to do with books: the Pepsi logo redesign. In case you haven't seen a vending machine recently, this is what it looks like.

My question is: WHY??? Let's start off with my basic and biggest complaint.

They changed the freaking Pepsi globe.

Yep. They made the one of the most recognizable logos in the world into something that looks like a cheap Aldi grocery store brand. Apparently, that white crap is supposed to be a smile. WhatEVER. That wasn't what the logo was supposed to look like in the first place. It looks more like a Barack Obama advertisement.

Hey, that'd be kinda funny--put an Obama O on the Pepsi can.

Also, the stupid lowercase font. Everyone's trying to have the "thinnest font around." It looks like they took a good, solid-looking sans serif font and sliced everything off until it was this ugly creature that I would leave by the side of the road in a heartbeat.

Sierra Mist is unforgivable. It looks like that Walmart Mountain Dew knockoff called Rocky Mist. Seriously, go check it out. They look very similar. Besides the stupid font and stupid gaussian blur on the "Mist" part. That's what REALLY makes it look off-brand.

Then there's my least favorite: the Mountain Dew.

This is just irredeemable. Mtn Dew? What the heck? Whose idea was this? No. No. You're trying to keep up with a trend that died out years ago. Taking vowels out of words does NOT make them cooler. No.

Also, the logo really turns off the demographic. This kind of logo--especially the background--does not attract young people. It attracts its old main audience: hillbillies.

Okay, I've said enough. I'll be posting more when updates come along. Or tommorrow, whichever comes first.

Dawson

Blog Day 3--2/18/09. Current sales: 94

2009-02-18T16:19:00.000-05:00

So, I'm going to try to write in this blog daily to keep everyone updated on my book, writing, etc, etc. No real updates on what I discussed tomorrow, but a few more enjoyable and less technical goodies that I hope you will enjoy.

First of all, I am about 11k words into the sequel to Double Life. Yes, I have the title, and yes, I have the cover already made. No comment on what they are, but I can tell you: the cover once again looks fantastic. Phil's work is tremendous and I am glad to have him as a friend working in the business with. Trying to recreate the look of his work is impossible--trust me, I've tried. Don't.

Anyway, the sequel is going very well story-wise, and I've snuggled in some gems to answer some questions left hanging by the sort of drop-off ending that stopped the story in its tracks when you finished the first book. ;) Some character threads advance, and you learn a lot more about the characters you thought you knew. Also--well, I shouldn't say anything about THAT. Want to keep some surprises for you in the second book.

Anyway, as soon as this book is edited and ready to roll, we are going to do a pre-order campaign again. That's right. Another pre-order campaign. The first one--eh, sort of successful. I sold 17 copies on pre-order. But we're going to beat that this year, aren't we? This year, I am aiming for 500 pre-orders, at least 200. This will be easy (or easier than Double Life's campaign), as I will have a group of eager readers waiting for the sequel who would love to have it on pre-order.

Why do I need to have at least 200? Because I'm going to make them look--er, special. That's right. Matte, non-glossy covers with embossing. Yeah. It's going to be awesome. So if you want to feel the letters as you run your hand across the cover, please pre-order. I will announce it on this blog and on the forthcoming Dawson Vosburg website. It isn't done yet--in fact, I've hardly even begun yet ( I've only done the "index" page and have yet to enable the cool interactive features I want). But it'll be here soon, soon enough for the pre-orders.

I plan to have a midnight release for either the second or the third book. I really love midnight releases--watching the one for Brisingr on Youtube was a tantalizing experience. I really can't wait!

Well, that's all I have for now. Talk atcha later.

Dawson

Blog Day 2--2/17/09. Current Sales: 94

2009-02-17T16:27:00.000-05:00

Things have been relatively slow lately, but are hopefully going to start picking up when I reach the 100-sale mark. My book hit Amazon a couple weeks ago, and I quickly submitted a PDF for the Search Inside feature. So now, if you want, you can go over to Amazon and read (part) of the first chapter of my book. I need some sales, as I have made 0 of them on the Amazon page, so I'd like to see SOME kind of sales rank.

(Note: If you want to buy it on Lulu because it's cheaper, the postage will even it out. It's worth the extra 4 bucks, and if you order my book with another item you can get the Super Saver shipping.)

I have recieved my bookmarks from Overnightprints.com, which is a good printing website--I got 100 marks for about a quarter apiece.

I've been talking to a friend of mine about a signing at a Waldenbooks signing--as in the Waldenbooks in the Mounds Mall (a fairly tiny and run down mall in Anderson.) I am excited for more booksignings and events to be going on, starting at the small bookstores and then moving onto the big guns, like Indianapolis and Chicago stores. THAT would be something worth working toward.

I might be getting stocked in the Noblesville, Indiana Borders store--the one in the new Hamilton Town Center Mall. You know the one. The HUGE Borders store. It might make a spot in the local section, and that's just a stone's throw away from getting a signing booked. ESPECIALLY after getting a signing at Waldenbooks. Takin' it one step at a time.

In news about Cougar Press--we're looking at office space in the Union Building in Anderson. $7/square foot on the fourth floor--not sure if that's buying or renting. I hope it's buying. 7 bucks a square foot every month doesn't sound too good to me. We're still accepting manuscripts, so send 'em on over! I'd especially like to see submissions to D Productions. That'd be a really good thing.

So, in other words--things are going well after being slow for a while. I'll keep you updated if any updates come my way. Remember, I'm always working on my writing, always working on marketing, always reading.

Oooh! One more thing. I've been formulating a plan to host a writer's retreat this summer. Just a vague idea right now, but I'd like to invite some of my favorite authors--Christopher Paolini, Jeff Kinney, Jeremy Robinson, ladadadada...still just an idea, though. I'll keep you posted if it ever happens to come about.

Catch ya later. I'll keep you posted.

Dawson

Blog Day 1--12/23/08. Current Sales: 68

2008-12-23T12:18:00.000-05:00

Hello and welcome to my official blog!

On Saturday, December 13, the day of my release, I had a signing at the local Anderson Public Library in Anderson, Indiana. It was a huge success to say the least. I sat for four or five hours with five other authors from across the county selling books. The second-highest seller was Elmore Hammes, an acquaintance of mine whom I was happy to do a signing with. He sold 12 copies total of all his 4 books. I sold twice that, coming in at an astounding 24 sales the first day. I later sold in that single day 26 more copies, bringing my first day sales up to 50 copies. I was so happy with the numbers, and I celebrated duly.

To date now I have sold 68 copies of the book in a single week--I haven't made any sales since Sunday, as the book has not yet been made available on Amazon.com, which will be one of my major selling places. I am excited to see people buying my book!

Today, I am purchasing a box of 50 bookmarks for booksignings. I am also going to visit the Book Nook and Waldenbooks at my local mall to see if I can set up a signing there. From this point, I can move on to my local Borders, which already said that they would most likely let me have a signing there, and I have yet to contact my local Barnes and Noble stores and the Indianapolis B. Dalton.

I hope to schedule these things and have them posted up here soon!

Dawson