Tag: wisdom

Writer’s Quote Wednesday – John Grossman

First, I want to thank Colleen of Silver Threading for featuring me in her Writer’s Quote Wednesday! I am so very humbled. Now, for this week’s Writer’s Quote Wednesday I draw inspiration from John Grossman. I came across this quote earlier this week and it stuck out to me:

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Silence is no easy task. But when done in its time, silence speaks to self-control. It speaks to discipline. It speaks to discernment. Silence speaks to the presence of humility and wisdom when used appropriately. It is just as damaging to be silent in the time to speak as it is to speak in a time of silence. Words are so fragile, and so vulnerable that they can easily become corrupt. They can abuse or be abused; be misunderstood or cause misunderstanding; they can hurt, tear down, and the list goes on. Words can also heal and build-up but they are like newborns, delicate and completely dependent on its owner. We, the owners of our words, have a responsibility to make sure they are properly cared for. That said, when used in its time silence is not, for instance, the absence of innocence. It is the presence of understanding.

I relinquish the mic
I relinquish the mic

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Click the photo below (or any of the highlighted links) to see how you can join Writer’s Quote Wednesday!

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Writer’s Quote Wednesday – Arundhati Roy

Good Afternoon Loves, this Writer’s Quote Wednesday is from Arundhati Roy:

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Arundhatiis is so pretty to me and this quote is one of my favorites. (I do feel like I’ve done this one before but who doesn’t like re-runs? lol) To me, this quote is a way of reminding me of the things that are most important in life: to seek joy, pursue beauty, respect strength and most importantly, in the midst of my goals, always to stay focused. To always notice my own insignificance, to never feel the need to over-complicate the simple things and to above all never forget who I am and what I do this for.

About The Author:

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“Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1959) is an Indian author who is best known for her novel The God of Small Things (1997), which won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997. The novel is a semi-autobiographical and a major part captures her childhood experiences in Aymanam and became the biggest-selling book by a no expatriate Indian author”.

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Silence

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An answer kept sacred inside the breast of nothingness. Thinking for the moment to have sent up hope into an empty sky. What becomes of silence? It ignores our hunger for answers and tugs away at anxious spirits. Uncontrollably the mind races to the next step, pondering what may become of lines uninterrupted by commas and periods. Of thoughts quickly running on to the “why’s” and “how comes”. Never once does it seek to ponder why silence makes such a covenant with our minds, commanding only a light breeze from the wind when not a sound is heard as it eases past our skins. Not once does the busy mind, always racing and so on edge care to ponder what is to be learned in the quite. Silence laughs at the foolishness of our impatience, grabbing time by the hands and together they leave us sick with questions. What is the next move to be made in the stillness? What revelation taps against the calm meditations of the heart? What revolution for our cries? What reproof must we seek to understand in the devastating muteness of the air?

The Application of Knowing

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Knowing is not enough. We must apply.

 

 

 

For those of you who are among my friends list on my personal Facebook, you’ve seen this before because I’m a big advocate of doing. This means I am really cautious of people whose actions do not match their words. I am also a big advocate of noticing the small progressions that take place in our lives so it’s not just about “doing it big”, but just doing in general and learning to appreciate the small steps as well as the large. How can we continue to move forward if we cannot value the small changes?

I believe like the quote says, “you are not what you say you’ll do, but what you do”. It is for this reason that I can appreciate transparent people and why flattery gets you nowhere with me. The problem with the world is that people claim to have great intentions. We walk around and we measure our knowledge up against others. We walk around and we water the insatiable appetite to know. And while I’m an advocate of education, I also recognize that knowing is just not enough. Learning is not about acquiring information; it is about applying information acquired. The world calls it Authentic Learning, I call it common sense. Authentic Learning is basically a term that describes learning through applying knowledge in real-life contexts and situations. It’s not enough to know about something if you can’t apply it to the real world. Everyone speaks of love, for instance, but only those who actually implement love into their lives can really claim to have possessed it.

Knowing something then, is very different from acting on what you know. And this basic understanding is what can often keep us from moving forward or even starting to begin with. I don’t consider myself a successful blogger, but I do take lots of risks. Sometimes they fail miserably and sometimes they don’t. I do this because of my desire to apply what I know to my life. And I suppose this is the purpose of this post. I thought about using my quote for a number of things, but settled instead on a simple thought, no prompts attached. Whether we are learning to blog or learning to write, as you move about your day, or rather your week, concentrate not on information you know, but the application of knowing because this is what will get us where we want to be in every aspect of our lives. Whether we are growing in relationships, building online communities or cooking a meal, understand that knowing is irrelevant and even stagnant without action, and that faith without works is dead.

Word to the Wise

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As we approach the month of August, when teachers return to work and students go back to school, I couldn’t help but to get excited that in just a few short weeks (mid August) I will be publishing another book. I’m really excited about this one and this excitement led me to a thought which in turn led me to something I think all Self-Publishers should take into consideration. I know that finances are a big deal to Self-Publishers and we are always looking for the most cost effective, yet professional, way to produce so here goes:

Never use POD (Print on Demand) services like LuLu and Createspace for anything other than Printing your books. Do not use POD editing services, POD promotional services, or POD book cover design services. Why? Because you can save a lot of money not doing so.

The most effective and creative action we can take as Self-Publishers is to use Print on Demand Companies as Printer Companies for our books, and then sell them from our own Author websites. Let people buy your books from YOU and you take a percentage of that income to pay the Printing Company (Createspace) to print the book AND if you don’t have the funds to buy your books in bulk from the POD, you can still send it to the buyer directly from the POD service. Remember to apply wisdom to everything that you do, so remember that you still have to pay the POD to print the book and to ship it so set your prices high enough to actually reap a profit but low enough to be reasonable. When people have to go to YOUR website this helps build you as an Author brand.

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However, there are some exceptions  to be understood when considering these methods:

  • You’ll never make Amazon’s Best Sellers List using this method because your buyers are not buying from Amazon they’re buying from you. If making Amazon’s Best Sellers list is important to your writing goal (which is understandable) I suggest you ignore this post, carry on and not use this method. (It would be wise to use Amazon to sell your e-books and your Author site to sell your print books, kill two birds with one stone).

*Here’s another secret*

Amazon, Createspace, Kindle Select etc., is extremely popular right now. When people hear your book is on Amazon they go and inquire, they get excited and you feel like you’ve accomplished something great, AND YOU HAVE. But, it’s not really that big of a deal. If you really want to build yourself as a Self-Publisher, invest in your own Self-Publishing Company and make YOUR name the one people get excited about. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just your name alone will do. (I will draft another post for another day on building a Self-Publishing Company and creating a name brand in the most cost effective way possible).

  • If you don’t buy in bulk and are shipping directly from your POD, you won’t have the chance to include promotional products with the book since it ships directly from the POD, which doesn’t help you with promotion.

BUT …

(OK so I’m really letting all the cats out the bag, gonna have to get a dog)

…you can send readers a separate gift with the money you saved AHEAD of the books arrival with these special offers (bookmarks, flyers, business cards, gifts etc.). Make sure to expedite the mail so that it gets there BEFORE the book for a professional outcome. Include a little note that thanks them for the purchase and that you hope they’ll enjoy the free gift. Don’t forget to include your contact information (business card) and to also inform them that their book is on the way! Readers will appreciate this, trust me. Why? Because, who doesn’t like to get mail filled with free goodies? Plus, if your readers are anything like yours truly, they’re extremely anxious for the book’s arrival and a little something ahead of time will help calm their nerves while they wait .

I hope this information has been helpful. Now, get off the internet and back to writing :).