Tag: language

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Spotlight on…

Tim Ford is who we’re shining the spotlight on today! Tim won best local author for the Hamilton Spec and is a heck of a writer. He’s got a very loyal fanbase of readers who are always excited for his next books and they come out in droves to support him at his book launches. We’re so happy Tim is on our team, and we thoroughly enjoy his rated-R books in the Mitch Strongbow series! His writing makes you feel like you’re seated directly beside the main character, which can be terrifying at times. Check out Tim’s series of books here, and get ready for his next book, The Ghosts that Haunt Me book 10 in the Mitch Strongbow series coming March 2023.

Book Listings – Pandamonium Publishing House

Here’s more about Tim: My name is Tim Ford, and I am an award-winning writer. Married father of two daughters, and Pappy (yes, grandpa sounds old) to 3 wonderful grandchildren. I am a retired steel worker of 35 years now, same as my father. Honest, hard-working profession. I’ve worked shifts for 43 years, and yes, I prefer nights. As a writer, I have more detailed thoughts and flow come to me. Sports enthusiast and gym rat. Music is my fav drug, soothes the savage soul, massages and resets my brain, even when the world around me is going mad. And writing, that is truly my great escape from reality. I feel so alive, almost euphoric.  I also have a chronic joint disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis. Regardless of the pain with a flair-up,  I will have a book thought, put on my music, and once my fingers touch the keyboard, my pain goes away. 

Tim with a custom-made shirt of his book titles!
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Mirror, Mirror

July 16, 2021– As we continue with our theme this month of Public Speaking for Authors, we’ve covered various subjects, including the mechanics of speech writing, best practices, and how to earn money as an author by public speaking. Today we’re going to focus on a little something that I learned during my Consumer Neuromarking education. It’s a specific practice that some of you do already without even realizing; we’re talking about mirroring.

You may or may not have heard of this term before, or perhaps you didn’t know the name of it, but mirroring is something that most people do subconsciously. I’m here to help you be conscious of doing it! I’ll explain why in a second; let’s get back to the definition. Mirroring is defined as the behaviour in which one person unconsciously imitates the gesture, speech pattern, or attitude of another. Mirroring often occurs in social situations, particularly in the company of close friends or family.-Wikipedia. 

So, why is mirroring so important when you’re at a book signing, public event, or one on one with a reader? Here are three reasons why:

  1. Connection. If mirroring occurs in the company of close friends or family, then one would realize how powerful this is when used in a book signing setting because the person we are mirroring would feel like we’re close friends! Case and point has anyone ever said to you, “It’s so weird because I know we just met, but I feel like I’ve known you forever!” If they have, it means that what you’re doing is mirroring them and creating a connection.
  2. Ease. Mirroring our gestures, speech patterns, and attitudes after a reader, we’re interacting with allows them to feel at ease. I’m especially aware of this; we all are because like attracts like. I’m not loud or aggressive or in your face, and I don’t like it when I’m at a vendor show as a shopper and the person behind the booth is acting that way. It’s a major barrier to conversation (I won’t even think about buying their product/service), and I’ll be locating all of the exits and trying to find an excuse to get away from them. If you’re doing a book signing, mirror the person that you’re speaking to; if they’re not using gestures, then you shouldn’t. If they’re a bit on the quieter side, you should be too. The opposite is true too. But be aware that mimicking is NOT the same as mirroring. Mimicking is insulting and offensive.
  3. Trust. Quite frankly, we trust people who are just like us. We feel like they understand us and that we can be ourselves around them, and that they hold the same values as we do without even saying so. By mirroring our readers, we subconsciously tell them that they can trust us to make the right book recommendation, take our course, or sign up for our free newsletter.

I’m not advising anyone ever to use mirroring as a manipulation tactic. Mirroring is a valuable tool to connect with your readers and let them know that you’re a friendly expert who can be trusted to recommend a great book!

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Watch Your Language

March 19, 2021– I’m really loving the theme of this month of answering your most asked questions! I think it’s so important to help fellow authors because when I started out, I had a lot of help from some wonderful people in the industry. Oftentimes, people guard information because they feel like there’s not enough success to go around and instead of looking at other authors as allies and teammates, they look at them as enemies and competition. That’s not the case around here;  believe that there’s enough success for everyone and that by lifting each other up, everyone wins!

Let’s jump into today’s question sent in from a reader in the United States:

Q: “I just published a book and was wondering about the importance of translating it into other languages. What are your thoughts and what languages do the best in terms of market share?”

A: This is another great question! Let’s break it down; when I first published Panda the Very Bad Cat in English, I was surprised to learn that it was a best seller in Mexico. Why was it so successful? Because people in Mexico who speak Spanish as their first language, use children’s books to learn English so they start with something simpler. I think it’s wonderful to translate your books into as many languages as you can so that as many people as possible can enjoy them! In terms of market share, the languages that are the most lucrative are Mandarin (1 billion people), French (280 million), English (2 billion people), Spanish (583 million), Hindi (490 million), and Russian (255 million). The point is, yes, we should be translating our books into the above languages at the very least so that we can reach a massive number of readers while helping combat illiteracy.

The last thing you want is any type of barrier for people enjoying your books! By providing them in multiple languages, your books will be available to more people worldwide.

We’re working on translating each of our books, so stay tuned for more information on how to get them and where they will be available. In the meantime, you can check out our entire collection here: www.pandamoniumpublishing.com/shop

 

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How Language Shapes The Way We Think…Ted Talk

March 18, 2019– This is a fabulous Ted Talk with Lera Boroditsky about how language shapes the way we think! Check it out by clicking on the link below: