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Home » Archives for Dan Balow » Page 7

Dan Balow

365 Days to Sing God’s Praise

By Dan Balowon January 1, 2023
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Happy New Year!

Today marks the 250th anniversary of the first performance of “Amazing Grace,” written by
pastor John Newton to accompany his sermon. It was originally written as poetry. The familiar
melody was added in 1835, though the words were sung to various traditional tunes before that.

At the time, Newton was parish priest of the Anglican church in Olney, Buckinghamshire,
England. (If you want to smile a little more today or know someone from Liberal, Kansas, click
here.)

For certain, these verses work as spoken poetry, but you won’t be able to get the tune out of your head. I can’t think of many better ways to start a new year.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

 

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Category: Inspiration, Personal, Theology

Christmas Questions

By Dan Balowon December 22, 2022
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When Christian singer/songwriters Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene collaborated on the modern Christmas classic “Mary Did You Know?” they hit on some meaningful themes that inspire millions each year. Honestly, I think they were a little presumptuous asking a pregnant lady or mother of a young child so many questions, but at least the song doesn’t wait for her responses! She had enough on her mind. I …

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Category: Creativity, Theology

Repetition Is Talent

By Dan Balowon December 14, 2022
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Early in my career, I attended a business conference that had a profound effect on my view of work ever since. First, I recall the presenter talking about the use of statistics and data in business. Data can support any position, depending on how you use it. It is like having an opinion and finding Scripture to back it up. Almost always the text is taken out of context. The same thing happens with …

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Category: Career, The Writing Life

Pet Peeves

By Dan Balowon December 1, 2022
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Pet peeves. We all have them, and we all do things that are pet peeves for others. How about starting a blog post with a two-word sentence, which isn’t a sentence? Anyone? Bueller? My Pet Peeves On one hand, I am like everyone else. I don’t like repetitive tapping or spam phone calls late at night. Those are the easy ones. I am also incredibly annoyed by bicyclists who never, ever observe any kind …

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Category: Agents, Humor

What’s the Deal With One-Sheets?  

By Dan Balowon November 17, 2022
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I believe it is safe to say almost every book is purchased before it is read. Or, at the very least, the decision to read it is made before it is read. Wow, we are mining the depths of Dan’s publishing wisdom today. There’s a reason aspiring and even experienced authors are encouraged to create a one-page pitch sheet for their books. If you can’t explain your work in relatively few words, you need …

Read moreWhat’s the Deal With One-Sheets?  
Category: Book Proposals, Pitching

Give Away Your Story

By Dan Balowon November 9, 2022
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Agents have a difficult time selling any kind of personal story, from memoirs that contain memories from one’s life to other types of autobiographical works that might recap the author’s story as a series of events. Regardless of the type, this writing generates very limited interest from traditional publishers, unless the author has a good-size marketing platform because they achieved a level of …

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Category: Book Proposals, Indie, Inspiration, Marketing

Just Write the Opposite

By Dan Balowon October 27, 2022
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From season five of the television sitcom Seinfeld, a revealing quote from the character George Costanza: “It all became very clear to me sitting out there today, that every decision I’ve ever made, in my entire life, has been wrong. My life is the complete opposite of everything I want it to be. Every instinct I have, in every aspect of life, be it something to wear, something to …

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Category: The Writing Life, Theology

Building Your Platform Without Becoming a Narcissist

By Dan Balowon October 19, 2022
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Authors in the process of building and maintaining their media platforms can easily slip into a self-focused effort, evaluating every relationship with an eye toward their personal benefit, seeking attention in any way possible, and exhibiting all the traits of destructive pride. Well now, there’s a cheery thought to start the day. Some little hairs must have gotten under my collar after my last …

Read moreBuilding Your Platform Without Becoming a Narcissist
Category: Branding, Marketing, Social Media, The Writing Life

Publishing Is Publishing

By Dan Balowon October 6, 2022
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Every part of the book publishing ecosystem adjusted its perspective to accommodate both traditional publishing and author-published works. It wasn’t long ago these two paths were treated as either/or decisions; but now they are both/and. Many traditional publishers offer author-paid services, some agents have indie services for clients, and a large number of authors publish both traditional and …

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Category: Book Business, Book Business, Indie, Marketing, Self-Publishing, Trends

Publishing Milestones

By Dan Balowon September 28, 2022
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Today, glance through a potpourri of book releases, important dates, and defining events that make up book publishing in general and Christian publishing specifically. Not all the books or events are “Christian” in nature, but their presence created historical markers to give perspective. (I stopped at 2010 since events and books take time to become true historical markers.) 1440 – German Johann …

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Category: Publishing History
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