HOLLYWOOD BUZZ: How one woman turns her true story into a #1 Bestseller
The woman behind the computer is compact, petite and possessed of a certain seen-it-all attitude that well-applied makeup cannot hide. Remember the beautiful blonde star of the TV series, "Family Ties?" Wearing high-heel boots and a turtle-neck sweater, Sydney Newman Dotson looks like the actress Meredith Baxter Birney that we all know and love.
She's smart and sassy, yet tough and literate. Sydney Newman Dotson, better known as the author of, "No Greater Deception, a True Texas Story" - a series of books about her family, identity theft and a stepmother who is possibly a black widow serial killer - is in town for a couple of days.
In three short years Dotson, 53, has become one of the most sought after identity theft experts and motivational speakers in the country. Her books have quickly become case studies for the FBI, attorneys, detectives and criminal profilers. More than 10,000 copies of her first book were purchased in the United States alone.
She is in Houston to sign her book, to meet her armies of admirers and to counter a small group of critics who claim her stepmother is not the evil woman as described in her first book.
By 1 p.m. - an hour before the author starts signing autographs - the line of men and women is stretched out the front door of the bookstore and down the block. Having previously read Dotson's action thriller, some of the fans picked up on the author's favorite dessert and baked a pecan pie in her honor.
Before venturing out into this group just wild about her true story, she sips on a "café latte mocha" from a Styrofoam cup and thinks about how life has changed. And the ways in which it hasn't. Life three years ago was very different.
Her Destiny
Dotson knows about following a dream. From the time she was 6, she knew she liked reading and writing. "I loved reading the short stories in the Reader's Digest when it arrived in the mail. I even entered a couple of their art and writing contests. Unfortunately, my stories weren't selected," she says with a frown.
A bright student, Sydney attended public schools near the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston with children of the astronauts. She was a full-time mom to two sons while attempting to complete her education at a number of community colleges. When she finally earned her bachelor's degree in sociology, she was also working an internship at a juvenile probation department and as a volunteer fundraiser for several state and local political candidates she believed in.
She wrote a lot of stories as a child and while in college, but never attempted to have them published. She continued to write, first on a typewriter, then later on a computer. Although she dreamed of working for the White House, State Department or CIA, her husband, at the time, insisted they must live in Texas. But this Type-A overachiever didn't let the geographic restriction hold her back.
She viewed the invention of the Internet as a miracle and answer to her thirst for knowledge as a fundraiser and corporate information officer at EDS and IBM. She soaked up knowledge like a sponge and distributed high-level strategic information to Louis Gerstner, officers and senior executives. She was a sought after sales, marketing and deal making expert in many areas, including business intelligence, industry analysis, relationship management and leadership development. Her peers included Michael Porter, Tom Peters and Michael Hammer whose books she proudly displayed on her bookshelf. In her spare time, she practiced her golf stroke and eventually played on two ladies professional tours, including the LPGA Futures Tour.
Around the time her father was diagnosed with acute leukemia in Texas, she was at the peak of her career at IBM. She left that job to return to Texas and spend more time with him. When he died in 2000, she was working for Compaq and managing a large sales force in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Little did she know that her career would take a turn in a different direction. Seeking justice on her father's behalf became her full-time job when she learned her stepmother was out to disinherit her and her five brothers and sisters. She left her job at Compaq to continue to pursue her father's last wishes, and locate an author to write a biography about her family's experience with identity theft, forgery and a suspected black widow serial killer. She mailed her one-page overview to Ann Rule who promptly told her she didn't need her. The author told her she was gifted and must write her own book.
She contacted many agents and publishers to no avail. Although it appeared that one had to be married to, related to, or sleeping with them to be successful, she didn't allow their rejections to stand in her way. As rejection letters began to fill her mailbox, she pondered over where to start, what to put in the first chapter. It wasn't for a lack of dramatic events that stood in her way of writing the opening scene. In fact, most families don't experience the number of house burnings, insurance scams, forgeries and mysterious deaths that her family experienced. So, when she identified the one single event that gave her and her sister the strength to continue their investigation, the words began to flow like wine pouring out of a fine pitcher.
When she raised up to take a breath four weeks later to inform her sister about her writing, she found she had written over 200 pages and was only halfway through their story. It was then that her sister volunteered to be her first editor. The second time she stopped to call her sister, the document was up to 400 pages. When all was said and done, she found she had written 600 pages in three months. After a professional editor was called in to transform the rough stone into a polished diamond, she re-approached several of the agents and publishers with the news.
Upon receiving a second rejection, she decided to form her own company and self-published the book without them. Today, her first book, "No Greater Deception, A True Texas Story," is available on over 365 websites in 15 countries. It's the #1 bestselling true crime autobiography, true crime biography, women outlaws biography, and personal criminal memoirs. While Dotson's marketing her first book to major publishers and movie producers, she's writing a second book with plans for a third book to complete the trilogy. She's managed to knock down a number of barriers and has received some measure of success, but will not stop until Sydney Dotson Productions produces a motion picture and TV Series based on her true story.
She's smart and sassy, yet tough and literate. Sydney Newman Dotson, better known as the author of, "No Greater Deception, a True Texas Story" - a series of books about her family, identity theft and a stepmother who is possibly a black widow serial killer - is in town for a couple of days.
In three short years Dotson, 53, has become one of the most sought after identity theft experts and motivational speakers in the country. Her books have quickly become case studies for the FBI, attorneys, detectives and criminal profilers. More than 10,000 copies of her first book were purchased in the United States alone.
She is in Houston to sign her book, to meet her armies of admirers and to counter a small group of critics who claim her stepmother is not the evil woman as described in her first book.
By 1 p.m. - an hour before the author starts signing autographs - the line of men and women is stretched out the front door of the bookstore and down the block. Having previously read Dotson's action thriller, some of the fans picked up on the author's favorite dessert and baked a pecan pie in her honor.
Before venturing out into this group just wild about her true story, she sips on a "café latte mocha" from a Styrofoam cup and thinks about how life has changed. And the ways in which it hasn't. Life three years ago was very different.
Her Destiny
Dotson knows about following a dream. From the time she was 6, she knew she liked reading and writing. "I loved reading the short stories in the Reader's Digest when it arrived in the mail. I even entered a couple of their art and writing contests. Unfortunately, my stories weren't selected," she says with a frown.
A bright student, Sydney attended public schools near the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston with children of the astronauts. She was a full-time mom to two sons while attempting to complete her education at a number of community colleges. When she finally earned her bachelor's degree in sociology, she was also working an internship at a juvenile probation department and as a volunteer fundraiser for several state and local political candidates she believed in.
She wrote a lot of stories as a child and while in college, but never attempted to have them published. She continued to write, first on a typewriter, then later on a computer. Although she dreamed of working for the White House, State Department or CIA, her husband, at the time, insisted they must live in Texas. But this Type-A overachiever didn't let the geographic restriction hold her back.
She viewed the invention of the Internet as a miracle and answer to her thirst for knowledge as a fundraiser and corporate information officer at EDS and IBM. She soaked up knowledge like a sponge and distributed high-level strategic information to Louis Gerstner, officers and senior executives. She was a sought after sales, marketing and deal making expert in many areas, including business intelligence, industry analysis, relationship management and leadership development. Her peers included Michael Porter, Tom Peters and Michael Hammer whose books she proudly displayed on her bookshelf. In her spare time, she practiced her golf stroke and eventually played on two ladies professional tours, including the LPGA Futures Tour.
Around the time her father was diagnosed with acute leukemia in Texas, she was at the peak of her career at IBM. She left that job to return to Texas and spend more time with him. When he died in 2000, she was working for Compaq and managing a large sales force in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. Little did she know that her career would take a turn in a different direction. Seeking justice on her father's behalf became her full-time job when she learned her stepmother was out to disinherit her and her five brothers and sisters. She left her job at Compaq to continue to pursue her father's last wishes, and locate an author to write a biography about her family's experience with identity theft, forgery and a suspected black widow serial killer. She mailed her one-page overview to Ann Rule who promptly told her she didn't need her. The author told her she was gifted and must write her own book.
She contacted many agents and publishers to no avail. Although it appeared that one had to be married to, related to, or sleeping with them to be successful, she didn't allow their rejections to stand in her way. As rejection letters began to fill her mailbox, she pondered over where to start, what to put in the first chapter. It wasn't for a lack of dramatic events that stood in her way of writing the opening scene. In fact, most families don't experience the number of house burnings, insurance scams, forgeries and mysterious deaths that her family experienced. So, when she identified the one single event that gave her and her sister the strength to continue their investigation, the words began to flow like wine pouring out of a fine pitcher.
When she raised up to take a breath four weeks later to inform her sister about her writing, she found she had written over 200 pages and was only halfway through their story. It was then that her sister volunteered to be her first editor. The second time she stopped to call her sister, the document was up to 400 pages. When all was said and done, she found she had written 600 pages in three months. After a professional editor was called in to transform the rough stone into a polished diamond, she re-approached several of the agents and publishers with the news.
Upon receiving a second rejection, she decided to form her own company and self-published the book without them. Today, her first book, "No Greater Deception, A True Texas Story," is available on over 365 websites in 15 countries. It's the #1 bestselling true crime autobiography, true crime biography, women outlaws biography, and personal criminal memoirs. While Dotson's marketing her first book to major publishers and movie producers, she's writing a second book with plans for a third book to complete the trilogy. She's managed to knock down a number of barriers and has received some measure of success, but will not stop until Sydney Dotson Productions produces a motion picture and TV Series based on her true story.
posted by Sydney Newman Dotson at 6:38 PM
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