Zhana's Blog, page 5

Writers' Meetup Sunday 9th January 2022

You are invited to join us for our monthly writers' meetup. We look forward to seeing you there! Lazy Sunday Afternoon + 2 Hours' Writing + Social in Cyberspace

First we write, then we talk.

Plus: what's the best and/or worst writing advice you have received?

Please read this piece (if you would like to). It is excellent and we can discuss it at the meeting.
​What’s Needed is Magic: Writing Advice from Haruki Murakami

We may also discuss this:
Terrible Writing Advice from Famous Writers

Lazy Sunday Afternoon + 2 Hours' Writing + Social in Cyberspace

Black History Treasures/Quotes

As it is Black History Month here in the UK, I am sharing Black history quotes.

Here are just a few:

Nelson Mandela: No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate.
https://transformyourlife-zhana21.blo...

Harriet Tubman: Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.
Geniuses of Transformation: Wisdom from Harriet Tubman.

Harriet Tubman: Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Iyanla Vanzant: If you really want to live your life to the fullest and realize your greatest potential, you must be willing to run the risk of making some people mad. People may not like what you do, people may not like how you do it, but these people are not living your life. You are!

Michelle Obama: You can't make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.

Michelle Obama: Do we settle for the world as it is, or do we work for the world as it should be?

For loads more quotes and words of wisdom, go here to download my FREE ebook, Treasures of the Geniuses of Transformation.

21 Awesome Book Marketing Promotions and Predictions for 2021

As 2021 is coming to an end, it will be interesting to check out these marketing promotions and predictions.

I want to know your thoughts: How many of these predictions have come true?

I've also got lots of ways you can get reviews for your book.

Go here for more.

See also: 10 Free Things You Can Do to Promote Your Books .

Review of Of Water and the Spirit

I read this powerful memoir by Burkina Faso’s Malidoma Patrice Somé many years ago. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the effect of colonisation on the African psyche.

In the first half of the book, Malidoma lives a peaceful life in a village in which his grandfather is a highly talented shaman. After his grandfather dies, Malidoma’s father gives the six-year-old child to the Catholic priest. The father had given his children by his first wife to the priest, and the children had all died, as had his wife.

Malidoma and the other children are brutalised for many years. As we now know, Catholic priests have been accused of abusing children physically and sexually. As this book makes clear, this was happening in Africa as well.

When Malidoma eventually manages to escape from the seminary, he cannot speak his own language and has never seen a map of his own country. So how will he find his way back home to his village?

Perhaps the most important part of the book is the Introduction, in which Malidoma states that African leaders all went through the same education he did. This indoctrination programme was designed to separate leaders from their own people. The effect of this supposedly elite education is to encourage leaders to look down on their own.

The second half of the book describes Malidoma’s initiation, which he undertakes in order to be considered truly a part of his own village community. It is made clear to him to that the initiation is dangerous and he is risking his life by taking it on.

Anyone who wants to glimpse the strength and power of African traditions needs to read this book.

10 Free Things You Can Do to Promote Your Books

Check out this great article by John Kremer, 10 Free Things You Can Do to Promote Your Books.

Want to build a team who can help you promote your books with reviews and more? My FREE ebook, Book Marketing Genius, contains great tips from book marketing geniuses John Kremer and Alinka Rutkowska.

Want to become a U.S.A. Today bestselling author? Alinka has done so over and over again, and can help you to do it too! She has been featured in Forbes. Download my FREE ebook, Book Marketing Genius, for some of her top tips.

For more information on how to hit the U.S.A. Today bestseller list, pm me.

How to Make the Most of Your Book Reviews, by Ingram Spark

Book reviews can be essential in promoting your self-published books. I have lots of resources for getting your books reviewed, plus suggestions from Ingram Spark on how to use the reviews you have received to promote your books.

Check it out: . How to Make the Most of Your Book Reviews.

Plus I also have lots of tips about how to get book reviews here.

How to Get Tons of Amazon Reviews Without Breaking Amazon's Terms of Service

Check out my blog post: How to Get Tons of Amazon Reviews Without Breaking Amazon's Terms of Service .

See also: How to Get 1000+ Book Reviews.

What is your best method of getting book reviews? Please post on my blog. Thanks.

Derek Murphy on How to “Write to Market” (Plotting and Tropes)

In this blog post, Derek Murphy talks about the importance of "writing to market". He argues most writers don't really understand what that means.

Meanwhile, Hilary Mantel discusses How to Learn to Trust Yourself as a Writer.

What do you think? Should you write for your audience or for yourself? Please share/comment. Thanks!

Hilary Mantel on How to Learn to Trust Yourself as a Writer

Go here for a recent post by Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall and Wolf Hall / Bring Up the Bodies, on How to Learn to Trust Yourself as a Writer.

Should you write for your audience or for yourself? Please comment/share. Thanks.

Have You Experienced Empathy?

Have you ever given or received empathy? Have you ever stood in someone else's shoes? If so, I would like to hear from you. Have you written or read about empathy? Please pm me for details.

Go here for The Blogging Carnival for Nonvilence.

Go here for more Nonviolent Communication/Empathy Resources.