Ted Saves the World Blog Tour and Giveaway

Aug

2011

Description of Ted Saves the World (Available for just $0.99):

A possessed cheerleader. A cursed gang of criminals. Mysterious telekinetic powers. An angry ex-girlfriend in gym class? One second, sophomore in high school Ted endures his first breakup in his favorite place in town. The next, a mysterious blue light turns him into a worldwide superhero sensation for taking down a posse of grisly murderers. As his views on YouTube increase and his friend Dhiraj tries to capitalize on the marketing potential, his dangers increase as well when a presumed-dead cheerleader begins taking a personal interest. Can Ted survive his first week as a superhero in the public eye? This novella is the first taste in a series of full-length novels about the adventures of Ted Finley and Erica LaPlante. The book is also available on Barnes & Noble and Smashwords for $0.99.

The Comfortable Writer

By Bryan Cohen

When I began writing my first book, I was struggling. Day after day, I would work my butt off to cobble enough money together to pay my creditors, rent and other bills. It was partly this struggle that helped me to press on through feelings of over work and under appreciation (financially) to get my books out into the world.

Here I am about a year after my first book’s release, celebrating the release of my 7th book, Ted Saves the World, and the impending 5,000th copy of my work sold. While I’m certainly not rolling in the dough, the struggled has ceased to a certain extend. There isn’t as much of a drive for me to be successful. In this way, I have become a comfortable writer.

Is it the early struggling that enables some writers to release a masterpiece of a first work? And if that is the case, has the onset of comfortability reduce their ability to produce subsequent masterful work?

Possessions have never been that important to me and while I yearn for the day when my debt is completely paid off, I’m not sure how much a huge house or luxury car could satisfy me. For me to not endure a slump when writing my future books (which will include future installments of Ted Saves the World), I need to tie my desire to write with something I care more deeply about. I think that one option is to make my goal an attempt to entertain as many people as possible.

I remember many times that I’ve felt completely satisfied from an accomplishment, but perhaps never as fully blissful as I felt after one of my first comedy shows. I absolutely loved being a part of jokes that the audience laughed at uproariously. I even had genuine compliments after the performance from people I barely knew. Picturing that moment and moments like it may be able to act as a driving force in my writing.

Years down the line, I can see myself walking down a beach and I’ll hear a chuckle or two. Upon closer inspection, maybe I’ll see a book with my name on it. If so, I’ll know that all the long hours and deep introspection of writing was worth it. What a wonderfully comfortable and entertaining thought.

–

Giveaway:

Bryan Cohen is giving away four $25 Amazon gift cards, one for each week of his month long blog tour. To enter, simply comment with your e-mail address (feel free to substitute @ with (at) or other tricks to stop spammers from getting it). Bryan will draw the four names at the end of the tour, picking one entrant at random from each week’s set of blog posts. Entries will be counted through Monday, August 15th, 2011. Enter on as many sites as you want, follow the tour at Build Creative Writing Ideas. If Ted reaches the Top 100 on Amazon at any point during the tour, a fifth $25 card will be added to the giveaway.

Biography:

Bryan Cohen is a writer, actor and comedian from Dresher, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 with degrees in English and Dramatic Art and a minor in Creative Writing. He has written seven books including 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More. Contact Bryan through his Ted Saves the World blog, his Build Creative Writing Ideas site or Twitter.