Other stuff!

The Dreamers Trailer

Monday, December 31, 2012

The Nightmarers Preview 1

Hey, there, everybody! It's been a while, but I'm going to start being a little more frequent with my posts. It's almost a New Year, so, I figured I would start it off right. (Or end 2012 right, either way!)

Exciting news! I just finished the final reading of The Nightmarers, and have sent it off to a copy editor! (Thanks to Amberly Beck for offering her services!) I really like the way it turned out, and hope you will, too!

For those who don't know, The Nightmarers is the sequel to my first published book, The Dreamers. I wrote it in 2010 for NaNoWriMo, and published it August 2011 at the age of 13. I will release The Nightmarers out to you guys in January or February. Look for it!

Of course, until then, I want to start something really EXCITING, and give you bits and pieces of The Nightmarers to hold you over until the whole thing is released. I'll start by giving you guys Chapter 1.

But first... I think we'll do a little giveaway/contest! How does that sound? Prizes will include an autographed/personalized paperback edition of The Dreamers, and several free Autographed/personalized eBooks! (See my post on Autographed eBooks). Let's get started! Below is the Rafflecopter giveaway. Complete small requests to be entered multiple times for a greater chance to win.



a Rafflecopter giveaway


I wish you all the best of luck! I will contact the winners via email and ask for any additional information, if necessary, to send/sign the books, and they will be on the way! Please note that I'm not responsible for items not received on the winner's end. I will send them, but again, I'm not responsible for anything that goes wrong after that. Just don't sue me, okay? :)
Now, on with the real goodness of this post! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... I present to you... The Nightmarers!

* * *
Hurry. There is time, but heaven knows there's never enough. I decided I had to risk thispublication, in the chance that it might fall into thecorrect hands. If you're reading this, I eithersucceeded—or failed.

I, well...we, need your help.

What's that? “We?” Oh, yeah, I guess Ishould fill you in. (That might be a good idea!)

After the battle with Malfix, my stay in thehospital, and the subsequent publication of “TheDreamers: A Story of Sam Kullen,” I started tofind them. Slowly at first, then a few at a time.

Kris and Andromeda—twins. Then Sandi,Michael, Katie, Dean, Kyle, and Khasta, each fromdifferent parts of the globe. Each with a uniquetalent or ability. Slowly but surely, we re-established the Dreamers, our little cult of dream-inhabiting, creating, artistic teenagers. We werethe generation of tomorrow—the future of today. The ensurers that the sun rose the next dawn! After scrounging through the remains of Dreamers HQ, I found several important artifacts—if you can call them that.

First, a charred copy of The Dreamers' Handbook. I retyped it as best I could and printed off several copies for the new group.

I also found a copy or two of the software CD’s the former Dreamers would use to control ormanipulate events in real time. Fortunately, someof the new Dreamers are more electronically inclined than I am, and the software is up andrunning-keeping the earth safe. (For the mostpart).

I also found the bodies of some of the former Dreamers, those who fought against Malfixand his army. I collected 37 Dreamer rings fromtheir skeletal remains. I kept my grandfather's ring for myself, and put the rest in a small safe.

If you haven't read The Dreamers yet, you probably ought to. All this would make a lot moresense if you did. Of course, if you're an enemy,please don't, but I guess it's too late, now. All the same, I will do my best to make sense, even to younew readers.

Anyway, because of our efforts, not only isthe world a safer place, but good things continue to happen. Advances in science, technology, andmedicine occur in no small part because of our work.

It is strange, being “awake” nearly 24/7. I am awake for school and normal life on earth, butas soon as I fall asleep, I’m back to the Dreamers'HQ, in charge of finding new members, trying to save somebody's back from a mugger on SecondStreet....

I lead two different lives. One, like yours—school, homework, little sister, and Saturdaychores. The other—finding and recruiting moreDreamers like me so I can in one sense or anotherkeep the world turning!

Those were the days. Everything was easy back then. Yes—easy. Well, at least, compared towhat I have now.

Sorry, sorry—you're right. I’m getting too far ahead of myself. I don't really know where tostart. So, I guess I just will.

Brace yourself and get ready. What we fear most could happen any time.

* * *
Hope you all enjoyed it! Look for another excerpt this time next week! Catch your interest? Buy The Nightmarers now on Amazon.com!

*Please note that, while this is in its final storyline form, it has not as of date been copy edited, so it is likely that there are grammatical mistakes. I know.

Dream on!

Oliver Dahl & Sam Kullen



Friday, November 16, 2012

"LIES" Completion, Covers, and Thankfulness!

Hello, Dreamers! It's Thanksgiving Break, and that means I'm working on The Nightmarers for you guys, and then finishing up a few other stories I can't wait to publish! This includes Lies, my historical fiction novella about the Salem Witch Trials.

I finished writing it yesterday evening, weighing in at an impressive 25,000 words long! (Or over 100 print pages). Since I have written it for NaNoWriMo, that number was written entirely in 15 days--half of the month of November! Looking back, I am shocked that I was able to write so much! Proud, for sure, but surprised I was able to!

I can't wait to get it edited and out to you guys, (after The Nightmarers, of course!) I don't know if I have ever been so excited and firm about the storyline before... Everything seems to click with me in the story, and so I just can't wait for you guys to be able to feel that excitement about it, too!

In the meantime, I have created a few basic cover designs for this book. None of them are final, and all are certainly open to criticism and advice.

If you guys would tell me which of them you like the best, that would be awesome! Any additional info abut why, of other advice would be great too, but isn't required. :)

 

Thanks for your support guys, I'm very thankful for it! Speaking of thankfulness... It's Thanksgiving Break here in Idaho, so... What are YOU thankful for?1, 2, 3 or 4? Any advice? Criticisms?

Leave your favorite cover's number, and/or what your thankful for in the comments below! I would love to hear what you guys have to say!

 

Oliver Dahl

 

Monday, October 29, 2012

NaNoWriMo and More 2012!

Wow! It's that time of year already! November! And with it, the holidays, and NaNoWriMo! I'll spare you an immediate explanation in this post, but if you want to learn more about what the heck NaNoWriMo is all about, check this out!

This November is a special time for me, because it marks two years since the initial writing process of The Dreamers. It is crazy to think that two years ago I sat down at my computer, locked myself in my room, and cranked out a novel in just a month! Something I failed to do the next year.

This NaNoWriMo also marks my 3rd year participating! I didn't learn my lesson the first time, I guess. Last year I wrote part of an unsuccessful draft to a book that takes place in modern days underneath the catacombs in Paris, France. I haven't done much ith that story since, but I am still really eager to really start on it and finish it up. I think it will show the best of my writing yet, and be an epic story, while being massively entertaining at the same time. I am just really excited in general to get that out to you guys.

Of course, there's also the series I began working on in 4th or 5th grade. I have done even less with this story, but I still love everything about it, despite it's 6th grade writing style. Due to its massive size, weighing in at over 100,000 words, or 550 pages, I am somewhat afraid of returning to it. All in due time, I suppose.

Though these stories are temporarily postponed and in the past, I have been working on getting The Nightmarers out to you guys. I am so close to finishing, I can see the end result! I am so excited for you guys to read it!

However, for NaNoWriMo, I am putting other writing aside to begin something else. (I will still try my best to get further editing complete, however. Don't you worry about that!) I am hoping to complete writing the first draft during NaNoWriMo, and then work on polishing it up in my spare time. Are you ready??

Lies - an in-depth novella immersing the reader into a world of witchcraft and trials, truth and lies, spectral horrors and shocking truths about Salem during the 1690's.

What do you think? I'm equally excited about writing this one, and seeing as I'm planning to make it shorter, I think it will be easier to control and edit, and will make a nice $.99 read on your kindle.

Off to other news, I am planning a very exciting progressive release party for The Nightmarers... Right here on TheDreamersAdventures! Every week or so, I will release a chapter excerpt from The Nightmares until its release, counting down the weeks with exciting new content until The Nightmarers becomes internationally available!

Before I end, I would like to thank Helena Martin for taking this picture of The Dreamers at a large bookstore here in Idaho (and a few surrounding states). It's always exciting to realize that your book is selling in a place you weren't aware.
 

I look forward to sharing my future writing with you!

Dream on!

Oliver Dahl

 

Thursday, August 9, 2012

1 Year Anniversary of The Dreamers!

It's hard to believe. One year ago, today, August 9th, The Dreamers: A Story of Sam Kullen launched into publication. It's been held on bookstores' shelves (online and off) for an entire year. And what a year it has been!

As the author, I have earned several awards from The Dreamers, including Top 50 Idaho Author, and Idaho Student of the Year, to name a few.



To this day, The Dreamers has maintained ONLY 5-star reviews on Amazon.com, and continues to get very positive reviews at places like Goodreads, and others.

TheDreamersAdventures has gained nearly 7,000 views since The Dreamers' publication, and the stats continue to steadily grow. Sam's blog has also had views from nearly 30 countries worldwide.

I've had book signings all over, as well, from Idaho to Colorado, signing books to people of all ages.

This last July, I taught two week-long writing and publishing classes on a college campus. See my post, CSU Writing Project for more information about this.

With over 11 HUNDRED twitter followers, nearly 100 Facebook Likes, and guest posts, interviews, and spotlights all over the Internet, The Dreamers is becoming more and more "famous" online! :)

With The Nightmarers' release looming ahead, this audience is sure to get bigger, and the series itself more popular. I am very excited to be able to say that I published the greater part of a series before finishing my first year of high school.

As I build my audience and platform, I plan to submit some of my other ideas to "mainstream" publishers, and lead myself to my ultimate goal, New York Times Bestseller.

As future years come and pass, I know that I will be getting closer and closer to that goal. I thank you so much for reading this post, The Dreamers, other bits and bobs about me online, or all three. Thank you for helping me achieve my goal, and getting closer and closer to living MY dream.


Thank you for the great year, and for many more to come!

Dream on!
Oliver Dahl
&
Sam Kullen

P.S. As a technical difficulty, my past post, "News and the New Look" has been deleted, along with its comments. Don't ask me why, it just happened. I am angry and sad about it too. It truly was a great post. It will be missed. Sorry, everyone.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Giveaway

Hey, everyone! I think it's about time I do a giveaway! What do you think? For those fans with eReaders--Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Sony, etc.--who would like a copy for their device, now is their chance to get one FREE! Not only that, but when you order now, we'll double your offer! ...Okay. That's not entirely true. I'm getting sales pitch-y. Sorry.  : )

Anway... The winner receives a FREE eBook edition of The Dreamers which ALSO will happen to be signed TO the winner in the eBook. They will receive an autographed eBook, just like a print reader would get their copy signed physically. How does this work? Click here to learn how!

The giveaway will last until July 31, and will start at the end of June. To get your name entered multiple times, you can follow the instructions in the giveaway. Best of luck to everyone!  : )

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, June 15, 2012

CSU Writing Project

This week, I was able to teach two separate, weeklong classes at CSU (Colorado State University) to students interested in writing. I was able to work with some great people, and inspire a lot of amazing young writers. I was flown out to Denver and taught two different age groups.




Students going into 4th and 5th grade were taught the writing process, as well as writing tips. They interviewed their characters, learned some pointers on how to brainstorm and prewrite, and got a taste of how to get published. They had fun learning about how to make their writing shine.



Students going into Middle School, (6-8th grades) were taught a weeklong, in depth discussion on how to get published. They were educated on how to prepare their work, publish it, and then promote it. (The Three P's). Lots of questions were answered, and information learned. These kids now have the knowledge they need to get published.

 I love helping and inspiring anyone, but especially fellow students. One of my favorite parts about my week stay in Colorado was hearing from two kids that I helped inspire them to co-write a book together and get it published! Hearing that you inspired someone, from the person you inspired, to do something as great as publishing a book is truly amazing! Since they both will probably end up reading this, I wish them the best of luck!





To any other young writer who didn't attend, or needs to hear the advice I shared again, I departed with some "words of wisdom" during the concluding day. This is worth repeating. Don't give up. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't. You CAN! You can always write! You can always publish! Nowadays, publishing is even easier than ever with the introduction and success of self-publishing. Don't give up! Keep to the Dream and stick in there! Seeing your work in print, or your name on a book or website is worth every hard moment, every button on your keyboard you press, and every minute past the hour that you spend laboring on your writing. Keep that in mind. Keep up the good work!

 Dream on!
Oliver Dahl



Saturday, May 19, 2012

Autographed eBooks

Times are changing, and with it, technology. Readers and fans of authors could get their books signed by the author, and have been able to for many, many years. Until the introduction of the eBook. Since this monumental invention, more eBooks have been sold than print books in some bookstore's cases. But...what does this mean to the fan, and the reader, who has a Kindle, or a Nook, or an iPad?

In some cases, readers had their favorite author sign the back of their kindle, or autograph their iPad case. But, as I said before, technology is changing. And in such a way that readers can still get their eBooks signed. Yes, really.

A program called Autography, and other apps similar to it, now allow the author to sign eBooks for authors, just as they would sign a print book. Readers can now have a shelf of their autographed books, just like they would on their print bookshelf!

This is how the autograph appears on my iPad's iBookstore:


Pretty fancy, right? I think it's pretty neat. If you think the same, comment with your email address, and a name to sign to, (the one above is signed to my name) and I will send an eBook your way.

eBooks are $3.99, but the signature can be accessed for free. You can share the signature with your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. To access the signature, you will receive an email with a subject like, "Oliver Dahl has sent you an autographed copy of The Dreamers". Open this email, and follow the link to Autography's website. At the top of the landing page is a link that says "Preview Signature". From there, you will be taken to another page that shows the signature I sent you. You should then be able to right click on the image and, "Save As", or share directly to Facebook and/or Twitter.

I will try to get the signature back to you within one to two weeks, although I can usually send it within the first week.

Thank you, Dreamers of the world! I hope you enjoy this amazing new feature for The Dreamers as much as I am!


Dream on!
Sam Kullen
&
Oliver Dahl

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Stereotypes Against Young Authors

The New York Times posted an article on the front page of their newspaper on March 31. I found that the article set up certain stereotypes against me and others like me. While many teen authors are relying on their parents for financial support, not all are. I myself payed for every aspect of the publishing process. If I had no money, I always payed my parents back. With enough stereotypes out there already about young writers, I felt that I had to do something. So...I sent this letter to Elissa Gootman, the writer of the article.

 

* * *

 

Hello, I read your article on self-published young authors, posted march 31st, today, and found myself, well... A little envious. I myself am a teenage author, and although I am sure you have gotten a few other emails from other young authors like me, I hope that you can read mine, and see my story as something different from those others that have contacted you, and those you sponsored in your recent article. I hope to give you something to think about.


To get to the point, as I'm sure you don't want to read my life story, I DID self-publish, but I payed the prices, at 200 dollars, myself, earning the required money after selling my own books! My parents were always there for support and editing, but did not pay a penny in my publication. This helped teach me valuable lessons, like money management, and hard work. Perhaps unlike Ben Heckmann, those 200$, compared to his 250$ got me in print, and eBook format in over 8 of the largest eBook retailers in the world. I have sold around 300 copies of my book so far, and has been out since last August, less than a year! My book has earned me the title of being one of the Top 50 Authors in my entire state! (Idaho). I was also chosen this year as my state's Student of the Year by the PTA.

As for the question you posed in your article "Paying to Get Your Child's Book Published", as to whether or not self publishing children's books is a good idea or not, my personal belief is YES! ...for the most part. I believe the book should show some merit, and definitely be able to compete with books written by adults, as my book, along with others, has. I found the comment about an Obligitory trophy at the end of a soccer game both true and stinging. However, you have to ask yourself, how many kids play sports?

The answer...well, a lot. :) most children, I would say, have played a sport. Then, how many kids end up writing a book that could potentially compete with books written by adults? Not many. In fact, rarely does a kid do this! I believe that, yes, DEFINITELY a child should be rewarded for doing such a feat! Again, only IF the book can compete with the adult world. If not, I don't believe it should be published. Self-publishing should be used carefully. This goes for adults, too. If the literary quality of any book isn't any good, it has no right being in the market, I'd say. To those kids that definitely have good quality writing, I believe they have just as much of a right to be in the industry as Suzanne Collins and James Patterson! Not all books will meet the standard set by these authors books, as is apparent with Adult-written books and teen-written books Alike.


All the same, I do not believe parents should pay for their children to get published, just because they want their little darling to feel good about themselves. I have found that if you value something, you can save up and get it. Using money earned from selling my book, I have been able to purchase the new iPad. If the young writers in question truly want to get published, and have the merit to succeed, I also believe they should pay for their own publication. It would give the author a better image than to tell people, my mommy and daddy payed to publish my book.

I love the fact that I can tell people I wrote and published my book on my own. The only part my parents payed in the entire writing and publication process was editing, which is, of course, necessary.

Again, I really hope that I gave you something to think about and consider. I found parts of your articles assuming kids were all published by their parents, somewhat stinging. I believe that I am a definite exception to this stereotype.

 

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Author Eccentricities

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you know that I said I was posting a post about how weird I am. Well...here it is. You also know that I mentioned doing 2 posts...in 24 hours. The other post refers to 100 years since the (Edmund Huntle sunk) Titanic. Also, if you're looking for the #TCWT blog chain post, you've found it. Thanks for checking me out. It means a lot. It would be way cool if you took the 15 seconds or less it takes afterward to check out another post, or one of my pages up top. Or you could watch my book trailer. Ok...if you did all of that, it would probably take more than 15 seconds, but it would still mean a lot. Please do me that favor. If you don't want to, at least check out my book, The Dreamers, and maybe buy it. :) Just kidding, you don't have to. But it is pretty good. In fact, it's awesome. And that's why you're here. Because I am awesome. ;)

But...I am also kind of weird. Wait, what's that you say? (or at least think amidst your thoughts of leaving this post). The reason you're hear is to here how weird I am? Not how awesome? Oh yeah...it does say eccentricities up there. Well, thank you for pointing out the obvious. I guess I'll get on with the post.

Okay. That was my strange introduction. I really want to thank you for checking me out. It really is awesome! If you couldn't tell by my introduction, I am kind of sarcastic. My thank you doesn't have a trace of sarcasm. Seriously. The fact that you are reading what I am typing right now is really pretty awesome. Think about it. O.o

I am told that I am actually not that sarcastic in person. I can see how that is true. It easier, and more fun, to be sarcastic in a blog post. I sound more like my main character, Sam. Maybe that's where I get it. Hmm... In fact, if I were to talk like this next to people who know me, they'd probably be surprised.

Enough procrastinating. (I'm good at that too.) On with the post.

I am fourteen years old, and published my first book when I was thirteen. I am one of my state's Top 50 Authors, and was also called to be Idaho Student of the Year for 2012 by the PTA. I like reading, writing, building, drawing, and most stuff that involves creating. Destroying can be pretty fun, too, though. If for some reason, you actually want to learn more about me, or my main character, (alter ego) check out my About Me page. Welcome to my blog. Welcome to this post.
First weird thing about me. I have a strange taste of music. I still like a lot of songs that most people enjoy, but I also like artists that not many people like, or at least, admit to, liking. As a writing tip connected to music, I have found that it is best to have music that matches the mood of what you're writing. For general inspiration, (and AWESOME music videos) check out the PianoGuys on YouTube. They did the music in both of my book trailers.

I don't play a lot of video games. Most kids my age, and older and younger, do, but I just don't. Lots of people think that's weird. When it comes to iPad games...well, you've got me. :)

Since another part of this post is my habits as a writer, I'll go into those.
I usually have a lot of water and snacks nearby when I write so I don't have any excuses to go out of my room and stop writing. I hole myself up in there quite a bit. But, if it results in two blog posts in one day, and two. Haters of intense editing added? I'd say it's worth it. At least, today... :)
Another habit I have is checking stats as I write. How many pages, words, etc. especially during NaNoWriMo. If you want to know why that is, I've added a link to a post where I explain it. Hey, look at that! I've added a few other links here! Check them out! They're pretty cool, I promise. Well, most of the time. :)
As I briefly mentioned before, procrastinating is definitely my worst habit. Yup. I have a shirt that says "hard work pays of later, laziness pays off now." Unfortunately... I tend to live by that shirt a bit too often. :)

Anyway, thanks again for checking out my post! While you're here, check out my other stuff, like I said before. It's not like you have anything better to do than support a young author on his blog by taking five seconds to click a button, do you? Haha...I'm so mean. I'll use reverse psychology as I have in the past. DON'T click around my blog. I'll bet you can't help it. :P

Maybe one of these ideas will pay off...
Dream on!
Oliver Dahl
(& NOT Sam Kullen this time, he has to do homework).

Titanic: 100 Years




Tomorrow, April 15, marks the 100th anniversary of the tragic event that changed the world. Possibly one of the most well-known ships to ever sail the sea, The Titanic, or Unsinkable, proved its name wrong 100 years ago, tomorrow. Only 705 passengers survived the event...leaving another 1523 out of 2228 under the waves.


The world knows the Titanic hit an iceberg, which then sunk the ship. When discovered in 1985, it was found that the ship had split into two pieces. Even with this information known, the scientific community of this area in history still debates on how it actually sunk. While other ships probably communicated with others, including the Titanic, telling them that there were icebergs ahead, the Titanic, thought to be "unsinkable," plowed through. Thus began the most famous maritime disaster in history. For more info about the Titanic, click here, as everything that follows is purely fiction.

Above, it says, "the world knows." As Dreamers, we know that it wasn't an iceberg that sunk the Titanic. At least, not directly. At the time, the Dreamers were a small group, perhaps a dozen, not much more. Edmund Huntle, the so-called "founder" of the Dreamers was posting his findings in newspapers and magazines around the world, wherever someone was foolish enough to mistake it as a fiction piece. Those wise enough to mark it as truth and explore Edmund's "Dream Realm," became Dreamers. These men and women had enough creativity that they broke the psychological boundary that holds us back when we Dream. This gave them the ability to literally live inside of their dreams, as we do day-to-day. It also gave them the power to make whatever they dreamed become reality. Unfortunately for Edmund, and all of his fellow passengers on the Titanic, this was uncontrollable to the point where even nightmares could become reality. And so they did.

While searching the world for new Dreamers, Edmund boarded the Titanic as it left on April 10 to pick up passengers and mail in France. On April 11, the ship, with Edmund on it, left Queenstown, Ireland towards New York.

The night of April 14, three days into the voyage, a single man dreamed what would become a nightmare for everyone in the world. Edmund was haunted by the accounts and messages from other ships ahead of them, warning this enormous ship, and others near, of icebergs near their waters. His mind continued to worry, even as he fell asleep. This sparked the dream. A mere hour or so later, strange sounds echoed throughout the cabins. Passengers wearily awoke, worrying also, what the worst could be. Edmund, trapped in his dream, reminded unaware that the world around him was falling. And that he was falling with it.

The ship fell, and the scant number of lifeboats were filled. More than a thousand helpless passengers were left behind. One of these was Edmund, fitfully asleep until he fell beneath the waves, into oblivion.

Thankfully, these kind of things can be avoided nowadays, as Dreamers have developed rings that keep them anchored partway into consciousness as to allow them to control their dreams better, and use this ability to help the world, and inspire growth.

What would YOU dream if you had a Dreamer Ring?

Dream on!
Sam Kullen
&
Oliver Dahl

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Young Author Spotlight: Spencer Brokaw

Today, I have the honor of introducing to you a fellow teen author, and online friend Spencer Brokaw. I am going to be starting a series of blog posts that sponsor, or spotlight young authors around the US. I learned about Spencer when he did a guest post on a twitter follower's blog. I commented on it, we got in touch, and, as a result, you are reading this right now! I want to thank him for helping me out on his site as well, and hope this can be the first of many blog posts to follow.


Sunday, April 1, 2012

Interview with Oliver Dahl

This last month, I had the opportunity to connect with fellow young author, Spencer Brokaw. He offered to interview me on his blog. In exchange, I offered to spotlight him on The Dreamers Adventures. That post will come soon. As for now, the interview!

 

What is your book about? Where can it be purchased?

The Dreamers is about a kid named Sam, who becomes a Dreamer. This means that he can live inside of his dreams, and also affect events on earth through his dreams. He and the other Dreamers have to band and work together to help save the Dream Realm, (the place where all dreams take place) from an evil villain, Malfix. There always seems to be one of those little nasties somewhere, doesn't there?

 

As for where it can be purchased... I am always so thrilled to tell anybody the answer. Which is...well, practically anywhere online! Amazon has it in print for $9.99, the list price, and as an eBook for $2.99. Barnes and Noble has it in print and on their Nook eReader. Most online Print book stores have it as well, including Books-a-million, Powell's, and plethora more. To get links to these pages, check out Bookstores for print books, and eBooks for eBooks. Thanks to BookBaby, The Dreamers is available on 8of the largest eBook distributors in the entire world. This number will undoubtedly grow! In addition, it is available to most eReaders through GoodReads at The Dreamers



When did you begin writing in general?

I began writing when I was in kindergarten. In messy crayon, I'd take pieces of printer paper, write brief sentences and little pictures on them, staple them together, and call them books. Yep.

During my early elementary years, I didn't really write much, I did, however read a lot! (more on this later, I think). In the fourth or fifth grade I began writing what is now a 550 page epic...which has to be rewritten...again. :) When I first finished it, it was less than a hundred pages long...in a rather large font size. During middle school, I rewrote it to its current length. My writing abilities have since dramatically increased, and so I now see this book as not up to my current par.



What gave you the idea to write your book?

I originally got the idea for The Dreamers when I was still just starting to write my first book. I had a dream that I was running through a jungle, and some spies were chasing me. I hid under a tree, but one of the spies shot me in the leg. I woke up. When I did, I realized that my leg was hurting. Pulling up my pant leg, I saw a bruise there... In exactly the same place the spy shot me. This got me thinking. What if what happened in our dreams happened to us on earth? I wrote the idea down in my little notebook, and held it off. When I discovered NaNoWriMo, in 2010, I decided to use that idea to write for during that crazy month. (if you don't know what NaNoWriMo is, go check it out!)



How did you come up with the title?

I have to say, I didn't really think very much about a title. Sam was a Dreamer, and that was pretty much the main idea behind the book. I believe that most things you hear or see about a book from the author should be relevant and important to the message of the book. The Dreamers: A Story of Sam Kullen seemed to do the trick for me.

 



Who designed the cover?

To be honest...I have NO idea. I'm not kidding. I get a lot of comments about the cover, (hey, it does look pretty sweet!) and am asked this question a lot at book signings. I put the cover as a whole together, but I don't have a clue as to who made the cover image. As far as I can tell, someone made it for a desktop background. I wish I knew, though, so I could thank them!



If your book was a movie, who would you pick to play the main characters?

I thought long and hard about this one. The 3 main characters in this book are Sam, Thep, and Flitch. I think that Sam, the ”mainest” character could best be acted by Alexander Ludwig, or Aaron Johnson. They don't really look alike, but a mix of the two of them would be good, I think. For Thep, Jeff Bridges was the only guy I could find that really matched the way I imagined Thep. Think of him as from the movie Tron, but a little younger. And Flitch... Well, he's his own character. I don't think any actor could really do his part the way I imagine him.



What books do you plan on writing in the future?

Wow. I could talk about this question forever, but I'll try to keep it brief. :) I have a sequel to The Dreamers in the editing process, and possibly a third one, though nothing solid yet. Another series called The Stone Chronicles,which. Consists of my 550 page epic. I hope to publish it through Shadow Mountain, but, like I mentioned before... It's still got a ways to go.



Were you an avid reader before you began writing?

Yes! I was a very avid reader! In elementary school, I think I was one of the top 5 kids with the most hours read. This was in 3rd grade! I remember in kindergarten, I was reading easy chapter books on my own, and writing down dreams I had while other kids were learning the alphabet! The fact that I was in challenge, (the gifted-talented program) also helped boost my creativity.



What TV shows, books, and movies inspire most of your stories?

Not many media sources really helped inspire The Dreamers. It was all kind of in my head already. However, after I had written the book, movies like Inception and Tron reminded me of my own book.



How did you go about publishing your book? Did your parents help you, or did you do most things on your own?

This is another topic I could talk forever about! You'll have to check out my huge blog post on it at Self-Publishing. If you threw in copyright law, you'd be in trouble! These kinds of things usually end up in what could be an hour long heated discussion about the difference between a copyright and patent, or a time when my parents just nod and agree with everything I say as I discuss the frustrations if making a cover or registering a copyright. Do yourself a favor and just look at this post if you're really interested. There's no way I can abbreviate it this much, though others undoubtedly can.



What kind of music do you listen to?


Music! I love music! When I'm writing, I LOVE listening to the Piano Guys. Go check out their YouTube channel right now! They do a ton of amazing, inspiring things that just suck the writing juices out of you into the keyboard. (If you play piano, their stuff is also a ton of fun to play!)

 

When I'm not writing, and even when I am, I listen to a lot of weird music. Stuff not a lot of people like. I won't go into artist names, or else I'll get infinite blackmail. :) some of the bands I like are: Owl City, The Fray, OneRepublic, Coldplay, and many others. I don't ever listen to songs with vulgarity in any form if I can help it. That stuff doesn't help creativity.



What are other hobbies you have outside of writing?

I have a lot of hobbies outside of writing. I'm involved in Boy Scouts of America, Nstional Junior Honor Society, (not exactly sure that's a hobby... :/ )

 

I enjoy playing piano, (watch me play an AMAZING song at About-Me)

 

I also enjoy reading, drawing, building, blogging, photography, and a host of other activities

Thursday, March 8, 2012

#TCWT March 2012 Blog Chain

Hello, and welcome to The Dreamers Adventures. If you are looking for the #TCWT March Blog Chain, this is it. Sorry for the late posting. This is a blog for my first published novel, The Dreamers. I wrote it for NaNoWriMo 2010. For those who have no idea what this is... that means I wrote it in a month. : ) Later, I became a Top 50 Idaho Author, and published it in eBook format. The following interview, (the real part of the blog chain... and what you're probably looking for) is with Flitch. Flitch is a secondary "side-kick" character in the Dreamers. Sam Kullen himself is present as a secondary interviewer during this post. If you pay attention to this interview, it will give you a substantial amount of what will happen in The Nightmarers, (The sequel to The Dreamers.) Alright, here we go. Are you ready? We now introduce to you... Flitch!

Oliver: So, Flitch. These people are probably new to this blog... and the Dreamers. Would you like to tell them what you are?

Flitch: **

Oliver: Um... Flitch?

Flitch:—Oh, yeah, er... Sorry. I was just thinking about Chuck Norris. How awesome he is.

Oliver: Yeah. Right, he is pretty awesome, I guess. *Clears throat* So... would you like to tell these nice people what Dreamers are?

Flitch: Yes! That is, if we can trust them. Can we?

Sam: Oh, yes. I think so. They visited our blog, didn't they?

Flitch: Yeah... I guess you're right. Well, anyway, people Sam, Oliver, and I are Dreamers. Dreamers are pretty much people who can live inside of their dreams. Pretty cool, right? Almost as cool as Chuck Norris. Especially when we race bad guys, fight them in mazes, and blow stuff up. If you like explosions, you probably need to read the Dreamers. There's this really big one, and—

Oliver: Don't give it all away, Flitch! Sam and I need to make some sales! We won't sell any if you tell them everything!

Sam: Flitch, just listen. Seriously, dude, you're being annoying.

Flitch: Sorry. Hey, wanna hear a knock-knock joke?

Sam: No.

Oliver: Ugh. Sure. Get it out of you.

Flitch: *laughs triumphantly* Yes! So there, Sam!

Sam: *groans* Get on with it.

Flitch: Okay, fine, jeez! ...Knock knock.

Oliver: Who's there?

Flitch: Samson

Oliver: Samson who?

Flitch: Sam's a natural meanie.

Oliver: *facepalm* You came up with that just now, didn't you?

Flitch: Yeah! Isn't it great!?

Sam: Um... I think it leaves a little to be desired. Or maybe a lot.

Oliver: Okay, you guys. Calm down. Let's ask another question.

Sam: Okay, but it's my turn.

Oliver: That's fine. Shoot. —Just keep it nice!

Sam: Darn it. Oh well. So, Flitch, what were you before you were a Dreamer?

Flitch: I was an Army Ranger, actually.

Oliver: Wow? Really?

Flitch: Well... kind of. I’m sort of an... Ex-Army Ranger. I was "fired," so to speak.

Sam: No surprise there.

Flitch: Hey!

Oliver: That's enough you guys, really! I would say that I expect better from you, but... to be honest, I don't. *facepalm* Anyway.... How did you become a Dreamer, Flitch? What talents lead you to break the border of extreme creativity and become a Dreamer?

Flitch: Are you kidding me? I thought you would know this one! I think it's obvious!

Sam: Well, spit it out then! What is it? *Shakes head in disgust*

Flitch: My amazing jokes, of course! I can get to be so creative with those! Brian Regan would be jealous of my amazing one-liners. You saw how amazing my knock-knock jokes are!

Oliver: Um, right.

Sam: Hold on!

Oliver & Flitch: What?

Sam: Just a second. Why are we doing this?

Oliver: I signed us up for a blog chain this month. You know, for #TCWT?

Flitch: Why?

Sam: Yeah, why? What's so interesting about Flitch that the world has to know?

Flitch: Hey!

Oliver: Hey, Sam. Behave. This is going on the internet. Flitch is an important character, too, you know. You're not the center of the universe!
Sam: *Gasps sarcastically* What?! Are you kidding me!? Since when was that the case!? Seriously, though, Oliver. I’m kidding. But why are you asking him these questions?

Oliver: What do you mean?

Sam: Well, you know. You are the one who wrote us. Don't you know everything about us and more? We don't have any secrets! And if we do, you're the only other person that knows them!

Oliver: 0.o ...Okay... if that made any sense I would agree with you. But, well, er... I guess you're right. Why don't we ask these nice visitors to The Dreamers Adventures to ask Flitch questions? Flitch could answer them personally, and we could get purge anything else of your sarcastic "humor," Sam.

Sam: Hey! That's not what I meant!—

Oliver: But it's still a good idea! Alright everybody. Do YOU have a question you want to ask Flitch?

Sam: —Or me!

Oliver: Sure. Or Sam, I guess. Have any character questions? Comment on this post and THEY will answer your question! (And while you're at it, be sure to check out my blog. I've got a video of me playing piano, publishing The Dreamers, reading the intro, and of course, book trailers. [LINK] Pretty much everything you could ever want to know about the book is here. Have fun, but don't get into anything. Just look. : )


Dream on!
Oliver Dahl
&
Sam Kullen
(& Flitch)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Self-Publishing

  This post was originally a guest post on TCWT's blog, http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/. It's a really great place to visit and highly recommend it to any young writer on this blog. Check out the full post, and more over there.
 * * *
  Your agent calls you, requesting that you call a big-wig in the movie-making industry concerning the film and production rights for your hugely popular book. Unfortunately, you have to put that off for a moment, as you are on the way to the airport to go on a national book tour for your book... all set up by your agent, and industrial publishing house. (First class flying, of course). While checking in on your multimillion followers on Twitter and Facebook, you discover that the enhanced, specially formatted eBook version of your book became #1 on the Kindle Bestselling list. You sigh contentedly, knowing that it was about time it joined its New York Times and USA Today bestselling print version. (It had been in the top one hundred bestselling for months... just days after its release). As you sit down on your plane, you open an envelope that contains your royalty check. With a long-practiced movement, you slide the paper out and examine the figures. (There's a lot of zero's.)

  ...Unfortunately for just about every writer and author out there, excluding the big guys, (James Patterson, Stephen King, Rick Riordan, Suzanne Collins, J.K. Rowling, and others) this wonderful, common day dream of mine is certainly not easy to obtain. But possible...? Perhaps.
  As I have heard, please jump up and disagree with me here if I’m wrong, but statistics show that only about 1-5% of all manuscripts sent into a mainstream publishing house are ever published. Simply put, its not easy. In addition, only 1% of all published books become bestsellers. Inspired for the day?
  But what if I told you there was a different way to publish, that changed the first one to five percent to a 100% chance of getting published? The method I will discuss here is called self-publishing.
  Self publishing is one of those words like "author interview," or "guest post." (aha, so clever!). It's when you publish by yourself. (Upon editing, my inner editor kindly reminded myself not to include the word in the definition.) Self-publishing is when you release your material generally on your own. Don't picture yourself running off copies in Kinko’s, stapling pages together and selling them at your school. It's not like that, fortunately. To be honest, when I first began reading up on these things, that what I thought self publishing was.
  Upon further investigation, and experience, I have learned that it is much different. Especially nowadays. Even 2-3 years ago, (especially as you go further back in time,) publishing was harder. To self publish, you had to invest thousands... even hundreds of thousands of dollars and hours to get published. That, or you could attempt, with no certain guarantee, to publish industrially. Nowadays, within less than a month, you can physically write, edit, and publish a book. This, however, I would highly suggest you refrain from. Even if you participate in NaNoWriMo, writing your book is the most you should do with a book in a month. Editing and publishing really should take longer than that. I’m just saying that its possible, with modern technology.
  But, if you already have your book written, it is quite simple to self-publish. It sounds hard, but to be perfectly honest... it's surprisingly easy.
  If your book is written, every scene and word, the first thing you need to do to get published is: EDIT! I’m telling you, this is THE most important step. I’m serious. Not even kidding. Its essential that you do not skimp out on this portion.
OK, now that you have that done, (or at least in your head,) we can go to the next step.
      1. If you want, you can pay some company 200 or more dollars to do most of the work for you. Be warned—look into the company a TON first. I would recommend NOT using companies whose packages exceed 5,000 dollars. Seriously. Don't spend that much. More on this later.
      2. OR you could sign up for a FREE account with websites like CreateSpace or LuLu. (This is what I did; with CreateSpace.)
        1. If you want, you can pay both companies to do specific things with your book. Need a cover? Need it edited or reviewed? Want to have illustrations? Both companies have varying packages that usually range from 50-1000$, depending on what you want done.
        2. Both of these websites also have various templates that help you format your book, and design a cover. These are free, you just have to do it yourself. Neither are very difficult to do, but will take some time and patience to get used to.
         
      3. Follow the steps for each publisher. They should be relatively simple. The steps vary for both companies, but are fairly similar.
      4. At one point, you will be asked to upload a PDF version of your book. Select it like you would if you were uploading a picture to Facebook from your computer or flash drive. It works the same way.
      5. At one point, you will also be asked to either upload, or create, a cover for your book. I used CreateSpace's CoverCreator program. (Are any of the CombinedWords with CaptialLetters annoying to you?) LuLu's is again fairly similar, though, to me, is a bit more difficult. It also lacks good solid templates and built-in pictures. Book design/pattern is also fairly limited.
      6. At another point, you should be asked to give distribution information. This is where it gets exciting. This is where you get to choose where you want your book to be sold. I found that at CreateSpace, Amazon.com comes as a free channel, as well as your eStore. For about a 40$ upgrade, you could potentially get into bookstores. (I got myself on both B&N's AND Border's online catalogs due to this upgrade. I recommend it. It also gets you into Ingram, so you can have book signings at most stores.)
      7. Order a proof copy. This is a rough draft of the actual book, what it will look like when people buy it. This is a very exciting, very influential day. I cannot simply express how wonderful a day it is when the package of your book comes. It's like Christmas... but better, in some ways. It's the very reason you've labored so many hours over the computer. And... it's awesome. : )
      8. Review the proof. Make sure everything looks good. Maybe do one final round of editing. Don't do too much. You shouldn't have to change very much, if anything at all, after your proof copy.
      9. "Click here to publish." I’m not even kidding. That's all you do in the end. Click a button. That's all you do. You click that the proof was okay, and then you click a button that says "publish." I’m not downplaying it, or anything. I have a post on my blog about it, when I Published my book. I was surprised that was all I had to do!
  Well. There you go. That's pretty much all you have to do. A long list, perhaps. Most things on there take a little while to do. Let me give you some averages for my book, The Dreamers, then I'll tell you a little bit about it.
  I spent less than a month writing it. (Thanks, NaNoWriMo!). I easily spent 5-6 months editing. This was not gentle editing, either. Entire pages crossed out, every other word corrected for paragraph after paragraph. (Thanks, Dad! You made it better!) And then I made the cover, and prepared sales channels while I was editing. Including that time, publishing in all probably took 2-3 months. Maybe more. Like I said, though. If you have a complete novel, and you are sure that it is perfectly written and formatted. After you make a cover, you can have your book published within the hour. On amazon.com within the week.
 
 
  One of the questions I was asked to answer was "are teens too young?"
I don't think so. Websites like KidPub have self-published authors even younger than 8 years old!
  "Is it too much of a responsibility?" is another question I was asked. This depends. You definitely have to do a LOT if you want your book to sell. But it's possible! More on this later. If you do nothing, then, chances are, your books wont sell as well as commercially published ones. Even if you do, this is unfortunately likely. (Just look at James Patterson! He even has people write his books!)
  For example, because I have communicated with principals, librarians, and bookstore managers, at nearby schools and book stores, I have been able to do booksignings up to twice a month at school bookfairs and local stores. At one of these events, (granted, my own school,) I sold over 50 books in 3 days, making over 400$ in profit. However, such book signings at "foreign" schools and bookfairs have resulted in as low as three to five books being sold... or 30 to 40$ in profit.
  One thing that helps all authors, though especially self-published ones, and me, is looking around online. You will find endless niceties on the internet. That's how I found this blog. That is how I partially found the Idaho Book Extravaganza, and how I was later named a "Top 50 Idaho Author". That was how I became acquainted with many professionals in the publishing world.
  If you are already self-published, things that I believe will help you are: Social Media, (an online presence), and having an eBook version of your book available.

  eBooks are a whole other world. After much research on the internet, I found that conditions are fairly similar, despite the many other differences out there. You can pay one company up to $1000 dollars to format your eBook, or you can do it yourself. I personally, found it too difficult to do myself, so I payed Book Baby, an eBook company, 120$ to do it for me. They gave me an ISBN, formatted the manuscript for each eReader individually, and give me 100% after Amazon.com, the Sony Reader store, the iBookstore, and the Nook Store, and growing market take their share. Their customer service was excellent.
  Well...this pretty much concludes my post on Self Publishing. It is a wonderful thing, that has revolutionized the publishing industry. If you would like to learn more, don't hesitate to email me at oliverdbooks@hotmail.com.

Dream on!
Sam Kullen
&
Oliver Dahl
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