1. What inspired you to write this book? During the pandemic in 2020 I began, as the months progressed and the lockdowns continued, to realize that what was happening was something that I had been teaching in our church the previous year. Changes were coming, deep changes and that all of us had to get ready and prepare. I noticed that the change taking place was really brought to the masses through screen time, meaning television, internet, cell phones as the only way to keep connected and stay informed. I searched my computer and found a number of sermons that I had preached and saw a connection between them and what was going on in real time. I decided to sit down, go over everything again and put it into a book format so that it could be published to reach a larger audience.
2. What exactly is it about and who is it written for? The Illusion of Choice reveals to the reader the position and importance information has in our society. It explains in detail how information is used to influence and shape public opinion and our personal decision making. Because of this controlled use of information, the book asks the question: Are we really free to make independent choices? It asks: What perspective do we live in? How do we arrive at the perspective/ opinion we have about any topic or situation? The book presents the revelation that truly free decision making does not depend on worldly information but encourages the reader to seek the divine call that God has placed on each person. Following this calling will lead all to be truly free and successful no matter what is going on around us. The book is written for all that seek encouragement in their faith experience with God and are seeking personal direction on how to follow God's call on their lives.
3. What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? The purpose that we have as individuals is not taught as much anymore. I deeply believe that our lives are not accidents and that there is much more to each person's life than to just go through the motions in life, trying to make ends meet, have a job or go on vacation every year. We are all very valuable to God and His kingdom and my hope is to encourage all that read my book to go on a journey that brings them first to seek God's plan and purpose for their lives, and second, live and fulfill this call. Once you are on that journey, your life will never be the same and you will have fulfillment that you can never achieve with anything that you can find in this world.
4. How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? The book design was very important to me as I wanted to present in the cover art the main theme of the book. The fingers point only in one direction and below them you can find a screen with all kinds of internet apps on it. It is showing to the person interested in reading my book the power that information has which we receive non-stop on a daily basis through our electronic devices. The title goes along with this image and brings to it the thought of do we have a choice or do we really only have the illusion of free choice.
5. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run!? I have learned through my personal experience that for me writing really starts with a vision. What really is the purpose of the book? For me it was not to become famous, it was mostly the desire to share the revelations I had received as I felt in my heart that they could help others in their walk with God and their personal faith experience. I would encourage other writers to clearly understand why they are writing their book and what they would like to accomplish with publishing it.
6. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? I mainly read the Bible of course, but mostly read and focus on older books, classics that have been around for a very long time. I have not read any modern books, but I can see that with the digital age and self-publishing now available to anybody with a book idea, I feel that it gives opportunities to more future writers that before might not have had a chance to publish their book, that includes me. I feel that this is a good development and would encourage anybody that has a desire and a vision for writing to just start and give their best.
7. Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? As a missionary that has now been on the mission field for 23 years, I must say that were it not for all the personal experiences I have had during these years, I would not have written a book, ever. Following the call of God in my life, together with my wife, took me away from my learned profession and helped me, at times forced me, to discover and develop new skills and talents that I didn't even know I had. This growth of new things in my life really prepared me for the step of beginning to write. Before in my 9-5 job, I had never even thought about writing, it was never on my bucket list of things that I wanted to do or accomplish in my life.
8. How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing similar to? I feel my writing style is a very simple one. I try to write as if the reader would be in front of me and I would simply be talking to that person. I first learned English in high school in Germany and later graduated from college with English being one of my majors. After I moved to Florida and then to Panama, I had to learn a third language, Spanish. I think that all the languages in my head and heart make my writing style unique as often when I write I look at something that I want to express in different languages, trying to find the right way to bring things across to the reader.
9. What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? Biggest challenge: I really did not know anything about writing or publishing a book. So, my first book was a big learning experience for me. One day I just decided to start writing with the vision I had for my book. Once I started it just kept flowing and I was amazed at how much fun I had writing and working on the chapters and the book. I then took some time off and let it sit, only to go back over the book several times, adjusting and "fine tuning" the chapters, the connection between them and the general flow of the book. At the end I was very surprised at the outcome and when I held the first print copy of my book in my hand, I was blown away by the impact this had on me.
10. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? I would always refer everybody to the Bible first. It was the first book that was printed (the Gutenberg Bible) and mass produced and is still the best-selling book year after year. You can find history, stories of personal suffering and victory as well as poetry within it. It is my daily book that I read and I would challenge anybody to at least once in their lives read this book from the first to the very last page. It is truly life changing. Additionally, I would refer people to my book for the simple reason that we live in times of great uncertainty. Everything seems to be moving so fast and the world is really changing in front of our eyes. Reading my book would give the reader a practical tool to refocus on their personal journey with God and the great things they could do by making true and biblical choices for their lives, families and future.
About The Author: Pastor Andreas Fischer, born in West Germany in 1967, immigrated to the US in 1991 to live the American dream. There, God called him to full-time ministry, and together with his wife, Kathy, he moved to Panama City, Panama in 2001. With the support of his home church from Florida, he founded a successful ministry and a non-profit foundation to work in the inner city, the slums and gang territories. Apart from producing short films that were broadcasted on national TV in Panama, he began writing books to share his experiences and helpful revelations for Christian life. Pastor Andreas is currently in the process of moving back to Florida to re-join his home church. For more info, please see: www.Pastorfischer.com.
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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. This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ 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, 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.
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