Can You Walk Your Way To A Best-Seller?

 

As we get older, we become more aware about our brain health. We hear of older family or aging celebrities getting dementia or Alzheimer’s as we grapple with aches and pains to our body that were not there in our 20s or 30s. As writers, we stimulate our minds plenty, not so much the body. Well, it turns out, movement not only is good for our brain health but it stimulates our creative juices.

If you want to write a best-seller, take a walk!

We hear how important it is to engage our brain with puzzles, new challenges, and changed routines. Check. But walking, hiking, and exercising will help us generate ideas, gain clarity of thought, and give us an energy boost.

They say: “Garbage in, garbage out.” This applies to the quality of the data that you use to conduct a science experiment or a computer program, the food that you eat, or other aspects of living a productive life. You can’t use low-quality resources or make a half-assed effort and expect to get maximum results from it.  Well, this is along the same lines: put in the effort to move and your writing output can improve. 

According to published studies reviewed by Harvard Health, movement of the body can significantly boost our cognitive functions and increase our ability to think and remember. 

Since any physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, even short bursts of movement reportedly improve our mood, sharpen our ability to focus, and aid in problem-solving. 

Studies show that exercise stimulates the release of chemicals like BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which supports brain cell health and neuroplasticity. 

Personally, I have witnessed it firsthand how walking for 30 minutes allows you to think through things. I also notice that after playing two and a half hours of pickleball I feel spent. Somewhere in between is likely the sweet spot to gain stimulation but not exhaustion, readying you to pen your next book.

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 5,950,000 page views. With 5,600+ posts over the past 14 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.”  Copyright 2026.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum 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 as the director of publicity 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.

 

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) and (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/10-things-my-dog-taught-me-about-marketing-books). He was recently interviewed by the IBPA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BhO9m8jbs

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, three times at BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association, Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, five times at Morgan James Publishing Red Carpet, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

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.

 

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.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum