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How Do You Prefer To Communicate?

August 17, 2015
Cultural Influence
2 Comments

Last week, I heard that futurists believe that within the next one hundred years, thanks to the increase in global communication, everyone will only be speaking three languages. English (because it is the language of global business), Spanish (because it is the language of the common people, and Mandarin Chinese (because, even though there is a one child limit in China, there will still be a lot of Chinese.) Since I now know both English and Spanish, and my middle son is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, my family has these languages covered.

I think that it would be sad to lose languages like French or Swedish, Hebrew or Russian or any number of languages that exist today. There’s an essence of individuality in all languages.  How sad it would be if the Normans had not brought the English poulet leaving us with the Anglo-Saxon word chicken. How rich our language has become with the addition of poultry and pullet. which are English adaptations of the French word.

This whole language thing keeps me returning to the idea of NewSpeak in George Orwell’s book: 1984.  If words for certain concepts do not exist, then the concepts will also disappear. Rather than voting or conversing on facebook, writing what I write communicates the freedoms that I have in writing in my native tongue.

My preferred way to communicate is through writing.

If you were to ask me how I prefer to communicate, Hands down, I would have to say that I prefer to communicate through the written word.

It  doesn’t bother me to write an email or write an article or even write a book. I love the fact that I can write down whatever I want, edit or delete it before putting it out for someone else to read.

. . .But I Hate Texting

I don’t know why, but I hate texting. Okay, actually I do know why. I don’t like all those tiny little buttons that I have to touch when I text. I don’t like the fact that I have to pick at each letter and sometimes hit the letter next to the one that I intended to poke at. My husband has voice activated texting, but I don’t have that. Maybe I would like that better, but I am just not into the learning curve that is involved with learning how to use that system.

Making A Phone Call Is For Me Is LIke Pulling Teeth

Another thing I hate doing is making phone calls. I would rather stand in front of a room full of strangers than I would to talk on the phone.

I would rather talk to anyone in person than I would to talk on the phone.

How about you? What is your favorite form of communication?

IMG_8330 final copy

If a picture is like a thousand words, then I like this type of communication as well.

Donna Brown is an ordained minister. As Author Cygnet Brown, she  has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues. Her upcoming book A Coward’s Solace will be available soon. Click here for more information about Cygnet Brown and her books.

Sure, I Would Rather Be Writing. . .

July 20, 2015
Total LIfe Makeover, Uncategorized
2 Comments

I'd Rather be Writing

I have a tee shirt that I made that says “I Would Rather Be Writing” I have worn this tee shirt when I have been out marketing my book, but I think I am going to stop wearing it. Of course, I would rather be writing, but I really need to market if I want to make any money writing. It is just a fact. All the resistance in the world is not going to change that.
I had a comment on one of my blog posts recently from my friend Bill Holland related to the subject of public book promotion. He said:

“You could post this blog once each week for an entire year, and about 99% of the writers who read it will nod their head in agreement but never do anything you are suggesting. For whatever reason, writers do not like to promote their own books in public. It is a phenomenon that I do not understand but it is very real. Anyway, all great suggestions here.”

I started commenting back, but then I realized that this was a topic that would be better addressed in a blog post rather than simply in a comment.
What I have found is that many of us writers start to believe our own happily ever after stories. We think that somehow we will be discovered and all of our marketing troubles will be over. News flash, they are not.
When I am thinking about waiting to be discovered, a scene in Shrek The Third comes to mind. In that scene, Fiona and the other fairy tale princesses have been captured by Prince Charming and Fiona is trying to figure out how to get out of the prison cell that they are all in. The other princesses assume the position of waiting to be rescued. Fiona’s mother on the other hand determines that they need to take the situation into their own hands and get themselves out of the cell. Like these fairy tale princesses, most writers will be waiting a long time before they are discovered.
Sadly, a lot of the advice that most writers are given is that they need to write the next book in order to get success. However, without marketing, you’ll have not just one book that no one knows about, but two.
A writer who isn’t marketing is likely to complain that they are not getting any sales. They will complain that the market is saturated. Although there are a lot of books on the market, saturation isn’t the real problem. The problem is that the writer has not done marketing its due.
Sure, I could continue to complain that no one is buying my books or I can wait until the publishing prince comes to rescue me from my writing tower, or I can do the things that I know are going to make a difference. I have decided that I am going to do the things that I need to do to make book sales.
I am conducting a book launch. I am writing my own press releases and sending them out. I am scheduling public appearances and radio interviews on my own. I am doing guest blogging. I am scheduling a blog tour.

I am marketing my own books.

 

IMG_8330 final copy

Donna Brown is an ordained minister. As Author Cygnet Brown, she  has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues. Her upcoming book A Coward’s Solace will be available soon. Click here for more information about Cygnet Brown and her books.

 

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