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Hey rvpopeye take a look at the National Service Web site and call and ask about their interpretative training programs some are free online and sort of fun. You could even pick out a park and start researching subjects for a program as most rangers do their own in areas that interest them. Just call a visitor center and ask for the head interpretative ranger. I can tell you would have a blast by your posts but because you ain't right you may have to just volenteer!
 
Before I had to quit my job to take care of my elderly parents I was merchandising (and that is a dumb word) books and magazines. You are right the book and magazine companies have no clue why they are in the toilet. Most of it isn't fit to read. I hated most to display children's books. The worst is the tween years.... well all of it is pretty shallow. Then books that really are good can't be found because they are out of date so stored or sacked in the libraries in favor of garbage. Scott, I bet you could re write the first book the way you saw it from the start and self publish and there would be people happy to read it. Somebody needs to write some books for boys 4 - 6th grade. The garbage out there ew - go look at it and you might hurl. Scott, if you can come up with great kid stories and self publish.... don't do it for the fame do it as a public service so all the little boys don't have to read ain't right garbage... ew... what ever happened to good clean fun?

As far as magazines go, I think good forums (and they do come and go), on line how to stuff, Pinterest (and I'm not a fan of that monstrosity) and maybe utube has replaced magazines. Let's not mentiom FB... oops. Etc... etc.... Newspapers have been pretty much replaced by the internet but then the BS that makes the headlines that come up are manufactured these days. Political correctness... etc.

Then the schools wonder why kids don't read? Well, parents don't read. Books don't sell...
 
bullfrog
I actually was offered a job on the North Rim of the GrandCanyon riding on the tour bus with a microphone in my hand telling people what they were looking at , history , geology etc etc.

But I turned it down because I would have had to stay till mid November after the snow hit and they were going to make me move my rig into storage in Page and stay in the dorms !

I will check out the stuff you posted , THX
 
Great posts and while I should do a multi quote reply I don't want to push the rules too much.

This may get the attention of He who the original post was written for....

Nah, I can't be that direct.

Vocabulary. Boy did you hit the nail on the head. Study after study puts the average post secondary educated American Vocabulary at 35 to 45 thousand words. The same survey in Russia puts it around 50 to 65 thousand. Some of those differences are because of hierarchy and gender pronouns and others are regional blending of languages or borrowing. Like we do in Canada. A file is tool to sharpen an ax (axe) and a dossier is a folder containing information. Gone forever usage as computers have folders containing files...

The most expensive and least effective education system. I can't comment as I wasn't educated in the USA. I would just swing your perception slightly left, near the T Zone. What if the goal was to create the outcome we hear so much about? I have often said if you are ignorant about a subject it is because you're lazy. The ease of which we can find information and the ease in cross referencing this information is leaps and bounds past haunting "the stacks" looking for answers. Yet today David Hasslehof is running for President with Debbie Gibsons love child.

Lenny great point with multiple languages. I grew up with three. American English, Canadian English, and French. For those that don't think the Englishes are that different; write a book. My god! When I lived in Joberg in the 90's, my friends spoke three or four. To be honest, most are similar Bantu, like American, Canadian, and British English. What I found interesting is one person would speak in one language and the other would answer in another. They could both speak each others language, but spoke their own. In more casual parties, then all were used interchangeably.

Me write a children's book?  Now that most certainly not be right! As far as self publishing it is too often done and shouldn't. Great books, past the idea need several editors. Content, Continuity, Grammar and spelling, Layout kerning and pagination. Usually a few rounds of each and then a test read edit. So many get a Grammerly account, a Hemingway app, and set out to create a book. The result is usually not what was desired for the reader or the writer. I could rewrite Grey Redemption but, to be honest it was what it was, it entertained those that liked it and serves as a good example to others about the pitfalls of publishing. It is boy porn, bullets and blood with T&A tossed in for good measure, and written in the first person. Yeah, 276 pages of first person perspective. LOL!

I self published Redemption's Bullet and past writing and doing all the things above, I had to create an advertising campaign, and design a cover. Even with a combined social media reach of around 20 thousand it wasn't easy. It was lucky enough to be reviewed by some book bloggers, only because of my numbers, and it got read. I think the worst thing for a writer is to pour your soul into a book and then have it ignored.

Popularity comes with a responsibility. Your fans invested money and time and so when they want a piece of you, it is you obligated responsibility to give some to them. The skill is limiting how much. It is hard. I answer all my fan mail personally and sometimes it is from other countries. My book is popular on torrent sites and while I don't get a dime from these people, many who couldn't afford the 3 bucks for the book, they did read it. They spent hours reading it. So I always respond and usually in a few words in the local language. I have a Pages document with FAQ's and already typed answers so I copy paste a few answers into a nicely formatted form and personalize it just enough to be authentic. It is a way I limit how much I give.

I am also careful on what I endorse. I can tell a person how to attract followers and social media traction. But I am careful what I say. I write on a Mac or I use Word, Pages, Scriviner, etc, etc, etc, are areas I stay away from. (Yes, I know 3 etc's are incorrect. For effect. To mean that I know I don't know tons of stuff I shouldn't say. I've been a Mac geek since the early 80's and have had a love, hate relationship for longer than most. I stay because it is what I am comfortable with. Nothing more. But while Mac would probably give me a new Pro for saying as much at a big conference I don't. Not because I can buy my own. Not because I don't need a new laptop. Certainly not for heart felt ethical reasons. I don't because it is not part of the conversation on writing. Just as what you drive is not really important to the idea here!

Van forum. Goes along for years and then Dodge or Ford gets asked. The losers go start Dodge Forums. Then 5.0 or 6.4 gets asked and then we have Dodge 6.4 forums. The problem for the 6.4 forum is the smart transmission guy stayed on 5.0.

While my dream is for all to be happy, learn, be encouraged, and get along To understand their own baggage and that others have the same baggage and a different perspective. Few of us are so strong we can do it all ourselves. If you want to change the world you are going to need a tribe and a team.   :heart:
 
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