Tips for Authors: As My Author’s Journey Circles the Globe, I’m Finding Collaborators who Amplify Our Message
Want to make the world a better place? Start by reaching beyond our borders.
By HOWARD BROWN
Author of Shining Brightly
What does it mean to become part of the “global conversation”? That’s a goal shared by most of the authors in the community that has formed around Front Edge Publishing and ReadTheSpirit magazine. We want to make our world a better place. We want to be at the table in conversations that matter to people around the world.
Front Edge distributes books through Ingram all around the planet, but I find that many authors automatically limit their horizons to the U.S. That makes sense, since most FEP books are in English and most of us are writing with a generally American mindset. But the message of my memoir, Shining Brightly, and other books to which I have contributed, is a global message of finding hope and resilience.
So, what does it mean to become part of the global conversation?
One of my new best friends and professional colleagues is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She also has family in New Zealand, where she occasionally travels. When we first met online, Sanet van Breda and I immediately recognized a common vocation: Encouraging others to summon the energy and build the relationships to overcome even the direst obstacles that life can throw in our path. For me, it was stage IV cancer—not just once, but twice in my life. Sanet tackled other challenges, including a dramatic loss of weight so that she could become healthier and find the energy to launch a number of entrepreneurial projects.
Like me, Sanet knew she had to set very tangible personal milestones. To achieve her remarkable weight loss, she focused on a simple, achievable goal: She wanted to swing on a swing with her grandson Zander. For me, it was living long enough to see my daughter Emily graduate from high school. Setting our goals in such a personal and practical way is a powerful key to unlocking our inner strength.
Also like me, Sanet focuses on the bright light that shines in our lives as we recover, strengthen ourselves and start building healthy new communities with others. I’m the Shining Brightly guy. She loves metaphors like “walking on sunshine” and “diamond beauties.”
In the sample video below, you’ll see an image of streaking light opening a recent video Sanet produced in her series “Soul Diamond Author Journey,” an exploration of authors’ lives and methods and inspirations. As you will hear in the video below, she has a strong South African accent—and a playful way of encouraging everyone to feel better as they start a conversation. In the clip below, she encourages all of us to put on shiny sunglasses—my trademark move.
It’s just fun to watch!
Sanet broadcasts her programs through the e360tv network, a California-based company founded in 2016 to give independent video producers easier access to viewers across a whole host of platforms and apps, including ROKU.
How did we connect?
I met Sanet through my contribution to the Art of Connection book, because I was so impressed with her contribution about the importance of smiling everyday. We met on a Zoom together and found she had a unique and, honestly, a very powerful technique. She ends her conversations with friends by asking us to dance to our “forever songs.” For her, that’s Walking on Sunshine and for me that’s Don’t Stop Believing.
Dancing across a Zoom? I know! It may sound silly, but I keep thinking about that experience with her. It’s inspiring!
Sanet runs various media programs, ranging from Diamond Beauties to Power Hours and she even publishes a print magazine, where I was featured in an in-depth cover profile not long ago.
Sanet’s whole purpose is to amplify voices that can help folks improve their lives.
And I met her because my own horizon for finding new friends now is worldwide.
Want to smile? Just enjoy this sample from her series.
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