Interview With Author Liz Fahey

 

1. What inspired you to write this book? My inspiration came from my father. He loved spinning interactive stories that kept us laughing, engaged, and on the edge of our seats. His favorite tales were about the NOLO—an 80-foot-tall, three-legged, furry giant who rescued lost kids. He brought these stories to life by encouraging us to shout, “NOLO!” or mimic the “THUMP… Thump, Thump!” of its steps. It was truly magical. My father penned the first draft of this book before he passed.  Because the NOLO is from his imagination, it was critical to me that this story start the series.  The next book, Flood in the Desert (August ‘25), is penned wholly by me. Transforming his draft into a published book was a labor of love. I dug into the NOLO history, finished the draft, took publishing steps, and worked side-by-side with an illustrator for ~5 months to create the creatures, 35+ illustrations, and cover.   

2. What exactly is it about — and who is it written for? Danger in the Hills is an adventure story about a group of young campers who are lost deep in the woods. As they struggle to find safety, the kids show bravery, lean on friendships, and use resourcefulness.  At their lowest, they remember a story from their Uncle Jerry about an 80-foot, 40-ton creature called the NOLO. In desperation, they call for help. Jake, the local NOLO, answers—but they’re unsure if he’s a friend or foe!  The NOLO series is perfect as a bedtime story and as a transitional read for kids ages 5-10, bridging the gap from picture books to chapter books. 

 3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? Oh man, I really hope children’s imaginations really fire after reading this.  I used to tell NOLO stories to my kids before bedtime, and it always resulted in them telling one back to me.  I think there is something magical about a creature that’s so clearly not possible, 80 feet? 3 legs? 40 tons? Crazy.  To help this along, I added in pictures of the NOLO species and it seems to be working as I already have kids begging for new books about their favorites!   

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? The book title stays true to my dad’s original title.   For the cover and the 35+ illustrations inside the book, I worked closely with an artist for ~5 months. First concepting the NOLO, exploring how they move, act, and live.  Then focusing to really enhance what kids were reading with the images.  I want kids to just go crazy with ideas and I hoped the pictures would help. For the cover specifically, it was important to convey how huge the NOLO truly are.   I wanted to make the colors pop off the page for “shelf appeal.”  Last, we devised NOLO specific iconography in the title, to show off the playfulness. 

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? Just write.  I have so many friends who want to write, but get stuck on the details before they even start, and then don’t actually create anything.  If you can get the first draft down, even if it’s really not good, then you have something to bounce off.  It’s always easier to react to something then start at zero.   

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? It would be remiss not to mention AI. AI books are flooding the market, whether through adorable but similar cover art or numerous books that feel a bit too familiar. Soon, AI in the market will find its balance. This early “spam” will transition into an enhancement for the creativity of writers, ensuring better-quality self-published books (editors and formatters are expensive!). Imagine a massive fantasy epic like Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin created millions of story strands. I suspect a ChatGPT equivalent, filled with his stories and lore, could help tie those threads together for a satisfying ending.  

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? Two things.   The first is obviously my father.  Whether it be playing D&D with us as kids, telling NOLO stories, or ones about other creatures… He always kept our creativity firing.  The second is my non-book career, Product Management.  I knew I wanted to do justice to my dad’s legacy.  This means I needed to make mistakes and test my hypothesis.  Thus meet, Pepper the Elephant.  I call it my beta book as I learned all about the process of publishing, working with illustrators, Amazon KDP, copywriting, marketing, and so on.  And oh boy, did I make a huge amount of mistakes, so I am glad I did.   

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? Cheeky.  I love weaving layers into my writing that catch kids in a sort of, “Wait what..??” and maybe inspire a giggle or ten.  My dad tended to slightly break the fourth wall with his humor, i.e. phrases like, “That’s a lot of pressure, if you think about it.” from Danger in the Hills referring to Jake trying to navigate a city without smushing someone. 

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? Figuring out what a NOLO actually looks like! My dad described the NOLO very differently to us than he did in his draft. I think he was making them more mainstream. I ended up interviewing everyone who remembered the NOLO, then used their varying descriptions to create multiple NOLO concepts.  Then I took those concepts and conducted a survey with kids.  Their favorite was Jake, our Mountain NOLO!  In his origin story, my dad talked about the Fuzz infecting all living things. In the end, I decided it actually enhanced the world to have each NOLO species look different. So, the NOLO species you see at the end are each an ode to someone’s memory from my dad’s stories.  

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? Why read the NOLO?  It’s the perfect transition book from pictures to reading.  The book is highly visual with just easy enough to read paragraphs.   The NOLO also really sparks kids' imaginations. As a parent of two, I know just how difficult it is to get kids off screen.  There is something about these massive, furry, oddly good smelling creatures that goes straight to your wonder and your heart.  Heck, even you might have difficulty not running around your house afterwards chanting, “THUMP…Thump, Thump!”    

About The Author: Liz Fahey is a celebrated creative known for her wit, imagination, and storytelling talent. Inspired by her father—fondly called Uncle Jerry—a master storyteller who captivated audiences, especially children, with his vivid, interactive tales. Liz brings the enchanting world of the NOLO he created to life through her illustrative translation of his stories and her own writing. For more information, please see: www.Liz-Fahey.com.

 

 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Brian Feinblum now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).  This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, he has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

Interview With Author Kellie Mickelsen

 

1. What inspired you to write this book?

I have always wanted to write a book, have started several over the years but life always seem to interfere.  When I sat down and started 'Mia Amata', it just seemed to pour out of me.  It seemed like a story that had to be told.  I wanted to show that people can either be a victim of their past, or a survivor.  So many people have suffered something horrible in their past, but how they choose to deal with it affects their life.  

 

2. What exactly is it about — and who is it written for?

'Mia Amata' is about a woman who escapes an abusive relationship and how she decides to go forward with her life.  While I hope the book delivers a positive message for people, I really wrote the book for myself.  I felt like it was something I needed to write, to show that I could write a book that appeals to people.  I was always the one carrying a book around at school and reading every chance I got.  Maybe someday a book I write will be carried around like that. 

 

3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book?

Enjoyment.  I want people to read my book and be drawn into the story and like the characters (or hate them).  Reading can do several things - give a powerful message or give people a way to escape into another life or world.  If 'Mia Amata' gives people a temporary release from their everyday life, then I am happy with that.  

 

4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design?

The title took me longer to come up with than actually writing the book!  When I finished the book and was working on my edit of the material, it just hit me what the name should be.  If I go into too much detail on the title I'll give away some of the book and I don't want to do that.  The cover design was something I found on an artistry site and it just fit the story so well I had to use it.  

 

5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!?

No, don't run!  Embrace it and just do it.  I wish I had written a book a long time ago, but working and raising a family were my priorities.  I have notebooks of unfinished stories that I am hopefully going to revisit at some point.  I would tell others to carry a notebook and pen with you at all times, keep one next to your bed.  Even if you jot down ideas only, you have started.  There are many nights when I have problems falling asleep because it is hard to shut my mind off when I can grab the notebook and make notes.  There are times I wake up from a dream and realize I know how the next part of the story should go.  

 

Just go for it!  Don't worry about what happens after the book is done until the book is done.  

 

6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading?

I love the fact that there are so many people out there who love having a real book in their hands versus eBooks.  I have an eBook reader, love that too, but the fact that real books are not going anywhere is awesome.  I'm pretty new to the publishing side of writing, but the fact that there are many ways for a person to get their book published now is great.  Everyone dreams of having their book picked up by a top publishing company, but for beginning writers having your book even looked at by one of them is impossible.  Even finding an agent is next to impossible.  There are other possibilities for new writers to get their books out there and published and I think that is important going forward.   

 

7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? 

Those that know me well know there are some things in the book that are similar to things in my personal life.  I believe those things helped me be able to write a book that people have been able to relate to. 

 

8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to?

My writing style is still a work in progress actually. As I mentioned, I have started several stories over the years and each one is different as can be from the others.  I've been told that my writing is similar to James Patterson or Nicholas Sparks - if that is true then I'm very flattered as I love their books!  

 

9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book?

I think the biggest challenge I had was feeling that my book was any good!  Personally, I loved the story I wrote and the characters I created - but it wasn't until I let a couple people read it that I started to realize maybe I did have a good book here.  As more people read it and the more feedback I get, the more I am feel confident that I did it!  I wrote a damn good book!  

 

10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours?

I wrote a book that will draw you in from the very first paragraph and make you feel like you could relate to the characters.  You will find it very hard to put 'Mia Amata' down once you start reading.  It also has an ending that no one expects, in the words of my daughter after she finished reading 'Mia Amata' - "Mom - what the heck?!!!"  Trust me, you will enjoy reading my book and become one of the many that are asking me when book 2 will be available - which, by the way, is halfway done at this point!  

 

About The Author: I grew up in Nebraska, where my love of reading and writing was cultivated by my grandmother.  The two of us passed books back and forth all the time.  My grandmother used to write for the local newspaper and also wrote stories from her childhood.  I started writing stories as a child, dreaming of writing a book someday.  I currently live in Wisconsin with my husband of 30 years, Dan.  We have three grown children, Aric, Aaron and Alyssa.  We also have four grandchildren.   I enjoy cross-stitching, reading, writing, traveling to see our family, and outdoor activities with my husband such as kayaking and fishing.  

 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Brian Feinblum now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).  This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, he has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Happy Booksgiving Day!

 

Every Thanksgiving we reflect on who or what we are thankful for. Naturally, we quickly think of the loving people in our life and then look at what we have — whether it be a possession or an ability. Perhaps you are thankful for your wealth and health, or where you live, your pets, or even a hobby. Yes, express an attitude of gratitude for all of that. But there is also surging support (well, there should be) for an idea that must come to fruition: Celebrating Booksgiving Day!  

Yes, let us celebrate, dare I say worship, our books. On this day, it is declared that books should be enjoyed and treasured. Reflect on the joys and benefits of what you have read while relishing with anticipation of the books to come.   

Here is how you can participate: 

* Buy one or many books, especially from an indie bookstore

* Gift books to one or more people

* Donate a book to libraries, schools, senior centers, prisons

* Read a book — or two today

* Sit with a child or a blind person and read a book to another

* Teach another to read a book

* Volunteer at a library

* Post a book review

* Read about books

* Donate funds to literacy organizations

* Fight censorship and support free speech

* Speak out against banning books

* Display your books proudly to inspire readers

* Talk about books to others

* Join a book club

* Attend an author event

* Write a book — and market it  

Take a moment now to reflect on how thankful you are to be able to experience books and how books have been or can be integral to your life. Books inform and educate. They inspire and motivate. They enlighten us. They entertain. They allow us to discover so much — about the world and ourselves. They help us think of the forgotten, the dead, the historical, and the living. They let us ponder the future and fantasy worlds that we could never really live in except for when a book constructs it for us. Books alert us to what is possible and encourage us to pursue what is even the improbable.  

Put down your phones and step away from mindless and soulless social media. Tuck away the television remote control and silence the endless streaming. Close the laptop and tell work to wait another day. Pull away from tome-wasting web surfing on your desktop.  

It is Booksgiving Day, so honor it by living it. 

Yes, take this time to thank a parent, sibling, child or friend for being in your life, but also thank books for being in your life.   

Thank God or the powers of the universe for your life — and for books.  

Be thankful and feel lucky for being an American — and for being a book reader. 

Be in gratitude for all of the help and support you have received from strangers, charities, volunteers, and the government — and for libraries, authors, bookstores, publishers, printers, and freelance editors and cover designers, book marketers, literary agents, English teachers, and literacy instructors. 

And be aware of all the setbacks you returned from, challenges met, and injuries of mind, body, or wallet that healed or were averted. Heck, be thankful for what gives you pleasure and for the forces that give you the ability to see hope beyond a hopeless situation.   

And give thanks to books by buying, gifting, reading, and/or donating them today. Every day.  

Happy Booksgiving Day! 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).  This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Journalism Retires With This Anchor

 

When a New York City television fixture, WNBC News Anchor Chuck Scarborough, called it quits a few days ago, I could not but help feel that a piece of journalism will retire with him.

For those who are not familiar with this piece of local treasure in the nation’s largest market, Chuck lasted a half-century at the same job! Yes, 50 years with the same employer in the same position. That is unheard of in any industry. In fact, he even outlasted NBC’s parent company — not to mention any other journalist at the station.

The thing about him is that he was remarkably not special, even borderline bland. He actually did his job — he read the news, and reported on it; he did not become the news. No one asked for his opinion, nor did he give it. He was not a flashy personality. He has a good voice and spoke in a measured tone. He was on point and gave you the facts. You respected him, but you did not focus on him. That is how it should be.

Today’s news on television is a joke. Cable is horrible. The network evening news is formulaic and maybe 60-40 neutral where cable is 90-10 opinion and skewed in its voice. The network morning shows are just entertainment with a pinch of news. Local news is still good at doing crime-local politics-weather-sports, but it feels like it is run by the under-40 model class. I have little confidence that I am getting all of the news out there, nor do I feel what is reported is accurate and devoid of bias or opinion.

But Chuck exudes believability. He seems trustworthy and so passionate about doing his job in a way that doesn’t get him noticed. Except for when he played the straight man to co-anchor Sue Simmons.

They teamed up for 32 years until age, drinking, f-bombs, and behind-the-scenes rancor caught up to her. Anyone who lived in NYC in the 80’s, 90s, and 00’s would say they gave the best local newscast.

Chuck debuted as the news anchor on NBC in November 1974. Ford was president a few months removed from Nixon’s Watergate scandal, and Abe Beam was the unpopular mayor of a crime-riddled New York City. The Twin Towers opened a year earlier. SNL would debut a year after Chuck came on the scene.

So much history and news since then flash before me: Mayor Koch, Son of Sam, Studio 54, Crack Epidemic, AIDS, 80’s Wall Street, law-and-order Mayor Giuliani, 9/11, Covid… and thousands of other big personalities, disasters, scandals, storms, murders, sports and championships littered the screen for 50 years with a competent truth-teller helping us know and understand our reality. 

My friend, David, and I, went to NBC studios when we were 15. We just went right in, got upstairs and met Chuck Scarborough and several others who were on the newscast back then. We interviewed him for a good 15 minutes. He was generous with his time. I don’t recall if I ever got the interview published in our high school paper. 

Chuck, we are going to miss you.

Journalism is dying.

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).  This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Where Did Language Originate?

 

When did language appear on Earth? How did such linguistic diversity develop and evolve?  

We may take the idea of speaking a language for granted. After all, just about everyone speaks a language, except for those who have physical problems or those who choose to remain muted. Humans, first appearing on the African Savannah 2.8 million years ago, evolved into several different species until contracting some 40,000 years ago into Homo Sapiens. But it wasn’t until the advent of farming some 10,000 years ago did society really flourish. Populations grew and people dispersed to new lands. From this point on, language use grew and became crucial to society’s growth.   

In a fascinating book, The Language Puzzle, author Steven Mithen pieces together a fascinating look at how words evolved over time.   

He writes: “Some argue for a sudden emergence of language from a genetic mutation at 100,000 years ago, while others suggest phases of ‘protolanguage’ or a slow emergence of language over millions of years; some propose language evolved from singing, while others promote social bonding, storytelling, tool making and hunting; some cherry-pick a feature of language and claim its evolution was the transformative event, such as ‘displacement’ (the ability to talk about the future and the past) or ‘recursion’ (the way in which we can embed multiple clauses into a single utterance). No one seems to agree with anyone else.”  

But it was some 10,000 years ago that human languages flourished. He writes: “Population growth, technological innovation, economic change and social competition coalesced into the early civilizations of Mesopatamia, China and Mesoamerica. Within these a further step in the evolution of language occurred: the invention of writing.  

“The earliest writing took the form of marks imprinted onto clay tablets known as the cuneiform script of the Mesopatamian civilization. The marks begin at c.5,500 years ago as iconic signs known as phonograms and gradually became more abstract to represent the sounds of speech. This is the first definitive proof for the presence of a language capacity equivalent to that found in the modern world. Writing was independently invented in China and Mesoamerica, indicating the linguistic capacity was a feature of Homo sapiens throughout the world.”  

There are some 7,000 languages still spoken in the world. Some 96% globally speak 40% of the languages. Mithen says: “A quarter of existing languages - about 1750 of them - have fewer than 1,000 speakers. Some have no more than a dozen speakers and others may have a lone survivor… Much has already been lost: half a million languages may have emerged, flourished, and become extinct since people began to talk.”  

English, the most spoken language in the world, has 150 dialects. Mandarin, like English, has over a billion speakers. Spanish and Hindi have over a half-billion speakers each. French, Arabic, Bengali, and Portuguese are also quite popularly used. “The majority of the world’s population are either bilingual or multilingual,” says the author, though only 20% of the U.S. is.   

The book never really answers the compelling question: Where did language come from? However, it offers an interesting look at language development beyond the point of creation.  

So why do we have so many different languages spoken in a multitude of ways? He provides the following analysis:  

“One reason is because any language is constrained by the anatomical and cognitive features that everyone shares by virtue of being a member of the same species, Homo spaiens. There are only so many sounds that can be generated by the vocal tract and distinguished by the auditory system we possess: the 144 sounds of the Taa language in Botswana are likely to be close to the upper limit; languages with fewer than ten sounds would struggle to communicate effectively and may be unfeasible.”  

He also says: “Second, while the vocal tract can generate over 300 distinct phonemes, only a fraction of these are required for a language. As we noted in chapter 3 when exploring linguistic diversity, the number of sounds (phonemes) within spoken languages varies from around a dozen to almost 150. There is nothing to say that a language with more phonemes is better or more advanced than one with fewer. English has forty-four phonemes, lacking a range of clicks and guttural chocking sounds that are prominent in other languages.” 

Language for humans is unique. Our last common ancestor -- chimpanzees of six million years ago -- do not speak like us, though they have communicated via the use of sounds.   

He concludes: “It was during the long duree of language evolution that we became entirely dependent on words for every aspect of our lives. To maintain such dependency, evolution not only gave us the joy of words but made language the life force of being human.”    

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

With 365 New Books Published Daily, Can Authors Still Buck Lottery Odds

 

The odds of winning the lottery are one in 292 million fir Powerball and a slightly worse one in 302 billion for Mega Millions. But that does not stop millions of people from spending over 100 billion dollars this year for a slim shot at a pipe dream. Writers should be able to relate, for the odds of getting a book published and getting it to become a sales success are quite slim as well.

Over three million books were published last year, according to a recent Publishers Weekly article. That equates to roughly 8,767 new books released into the marketplace every day. This includes weekends, holidays, and snow days. That is 365 books per hour – or one new book every 10 seconds. If it took you a minute to get this far into my blog post, six books just got added to the competition.

It breaks down to 563,000 books coming from traditional publishers and 2.637 million from the self-published class, which includes hybrid publishers. That is a ton of books. Don’t forget, the year before that saw three million books produced. And the decades prior to that saw tens of millions of more books published. In the digital era, nothing goes out of print.

However, just because getting an ISBN and making a book available for sale on Amazon as a print-on-demand product, an e-book, or an audiobook technically qualifies you to say your book is published, it is another thing to say it is marketed. The number of books actively marketed shrinks that three million number to well below one million. Still, that is a lot of books.

Now, to what degree one markets — for how long, spending how much effort or money, and how smartly one does it, further cuts down the number of active books by probably another two-thirds. Still, that lives you competing with 350,000 books, or almost 1,000 new titles a day.

Of those 350,000 books that are marketed effectively, there still may be deficiencies plaguing them. One could be the book’s price. It might be too high. Or maybe the title stinks or the cover is ugly. Or worse, the book is mediocre or even bad. Yes, books can be marketed effectively, even if they have warts, but eventually word-of-mouth catches on to sink a book if the criticisms are rampant.

So, what is the take-away here? The marketplace is flooded with books, many of which do not get marketed much or effectively. Of those that get the time and money to be marketed properly, many of those books aren’t that good. The great book with a great marketing campaign still has a chance to breakthrough.

I have said it across many of my 5000 blog posts over 13.5 years: For a book to have a chance at success, it must be marketed. Your book could have a cure for cancer, but it won’t get discovered without marketing it intentionally and forcefully. A so-so book outsells a great book if it is marketed better, but a very good book marketed aggressively and wisely will have the best chance to succeed.

Don’t be daunted by the number of books out there. Merely let the fact that you have competition provoke you to take marketing seriously and give it your all to find a path to your targeted readership.

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).  This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.