Monday, July 28, 2008

Fever, Camping, Squeaky the Frog, Comic Con, Newspaper

Originally posted HERE

Life is still busy, but I thought I'd post what's been going on lately. I just got over a week long fever. I rarely get sick, so it was frustrating. I also just got back from a 5-day camping trip with my family. I played a joke on my boys this morning. Yesterday they caught a bunch of tadpoles. After they went to bed I found a frog (I named him "Squeaky" because his croak was more of a cute little squeak). Well, I hid all of my boy's tadpoles, and in the morning I told them that the tadpoles ate each other (which they do) and only one survived. I then showed them Squeaky. You should have seen their eyes!

On another note, I got invited to be the guest author at a comic book convention (Tri-county Comic Con) in Florida. They'll fly me down and pay for my stay there. It should be fun. I had to miss the last comic convention I got invited to because of my North Carolina book tour. I've never actually been to a comic book convention, so I'm excited.

Last but not least, here's a great article in the Daily Herald (a large newspaper in Utah) about one of my school visits I did in American Fork.
http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/274370/

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Honorable Mention at the Hollywood Book Festival!

Originally posted HERE

I had a fever for nearly a week (got up to 104 degrees), and it just ended today (I hope). Yeah, I probably should have gone to the doctor, but I had other things I had to do instead (like take my family to Sedona for a vacation). I've never been sick for so long before, so I'm glad it's over.

I just discovered that my fantasy book, Paraworld Zero, got another honorable mention this week (that's four now!). This latest one came from the Hollywood Book Festival in the "Teenage" category. Have you heard the phrase "Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride?" I feel like my book is "Always an honorable mention, but never a winner..." It's nice to be honored, but it would be nicer to... well, you know... win!

I'm going to enter my audiobook into a couple of contests next month. I really think it has a chance at winning. I won't find out until next year, of course. That's the problem with writing contests: they take forever! I entered these book contests over 6 months ago. Out of the 6 contests I entered, I received honorable mentions in 4 of them, didn't place at all in 1 of them, and am still waiting on the results on the last one. Not bad, really. I shouldn't be complaining.

http://www.hollywoodbookfestival.com/winners.htm

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Dropped my publisher, Sony Reader, Audiobook, NY

Originally posted HERE

Wow! A lot of things happened in June.

1. I cancelled my contract with Windstorm Creative. Yep. It's true. Things just weren't working out with distribution (lots of orders were not getting fulfilled), I didn't get paid, and I didn't get my complementary books. It was time for me to leave and find a new publisher that could handle large book orders. Several publishers said they'd get back with me in July or August, including publishers in India, Estonia, and Canada. Several agents are looking at my book as well. No contracts have been signed yet. I'm a little frustrated with the whole deal, but I'm crossing my fingers that a big publisher will pick me up. My book was a bestseller and placed in several contests, after all.

2. I signed a contract with Sony for the eBook rights. Paraworld Zero will be on Sony's website and their Sony Reader soon. I just sent them the files today. Two other eBook companies have approached me.

3. I finished the audiobook of Paraworld Zero! It has about 100 character voices in it and is very professional. For the next two weeks, I'm selling the MP3-CD's for only $5 and the DVD-MP3 for $8. I'm shipping them for $1.50. Believe me, I'll never do this again, so buy them while they're hot. The price is going up to $30 next month. To participate, go to http://ParaWorlds.com/sample/ (ignore the coupons and prices on that page) and use the following codes when you check out: newsletter08cd for the $5 CD and newsletter08dvd for the $8 DVD.

4. Since Paraworld Zero got an honorable mention at the New York Book Festival, I decided to fly over to New York and sign books at the festival. It was fun, frustrating (my flight was delayed), but exciting. I'd never been to New York before. I couldn't believe how green it was.