How to write a book… Write Yourself a million pound payday.

By Paul Xavier Jones

Following my recent talk on the above subject and the subsequent video released on You Tube and the Rugby Business Network website, a few people, (I’m not brave enough to call them fans) have asked me to put the gist of the talk on paper.

 

Well, first thing to say is that “Write Yourself a million pound payday” was not my title for the talk, which was the more boring “So you think you can write a book, why don’t you?” One of the reasons for that is that I have yet to earn my first million for any of my work. However, I know it can be done from some very good examples I’ll write about later.

The very first question I asked when I gave the talk was “why would I want to share the process of how to write a book and motivate a load of people who could become competitors?” I did have a chuckle at that question. Anyone who’s looked into writing and particularly publishing through conventional means will know that it is already a massively crowded market place. So if a few of my audience decided they wanted to have a go at writing a book, it sure wouldn’t make any difference to me.

So after answering that question, I moved on to my process for writing a book. It was important for me to emphasise here that it is my personal process, and may not necessarily suit everyone who tries to set pen to paper.

The mechanics for me start with the Why, What and the How?

The Why?

This steps starts with understanding why I want to write, and if I understand that it guides me into the “what.” So you should ask yourself this, “why do I want to write a book?”

Answers will vary, but typically, they could be;

• To establish credibility

• To gain publicity

• To share specialist knowledge

• To share your life

If your answers are one of the above, then typically you would be looking to write a non – fiction book. Establishing credibility could be something connected with your profession. In my own day job I’m a business management consultant, and there are plenty of books on that subject which both establish credibility and also help promote brand or personal awareness. That goes for the sharing of specialist knowledge as well.

If you want to share your life, then you’re looking at an autobiography.

But be warned, unless you are already famous or infamous or have some really really good story it is not going to be easy to get it published by conventional means. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways of doing it. Hold that thought…

By the way, I’ll chuck a prediction in here on the “infamous” writer. I predict Dr Conrad Murray (the Doctor of the late Michael Jackson) will write his autobiography, and as a lot of us have ghoulish curiosities it will become a best seller…

Now if none of the above applies, and you want to write a story, then you’re looking at fiction. Fiction has so many genres and sub genres that I could probably write a book on those alone, but as I want to talk about my own process, then I’ll stick to my genres which are;

• Adult fiction (drama and humour)

• Epic Fantasy

• Science Fiction Thriller

I can hear you thinking it, so I’ll ask the question for you. Why did I write in 3 different genres? I’ll answer that shortly.

Once the “why?” is established, we can move on to the next step.

The What?

Once I decide on the why, I turn my attention to “the what?” It’s worth noting the “why” in the case of the three genres I’ve written in as it will help you understand where the “what” came from.

My first book An Agent For Change, was written as a form of stress relief at an intensely stressful point in my life, when I was changing from an employed person to a self-employed. At the same time, I had to get used to working for myself and everything depending solely on me, rather than relying on a 70 strong team that I’d previously been responsible for. Scary times!

For that reason, An Agent For Change is a fictional representation of how my life was changing and the types of situation I was being thrown into at the time.

When I originally got An Agent For Change published, and presented it to my family for the first time, my oldest daughter wanted to read it. I was horrified and refused immediately. This was definitely an adult book with adult humour and content. There was no way my 12 year old was going to read that, thank you very much!

But it got me to thinking, and a year later when my two delightful daughters were at each other’s throats, an idea for another book came to me. And “the why” was simple for this one. It was so I could have a book that would be suitable for them to read.

And so the first book in the Ameca J series was born.

I had now managed to move from one genre to another, and after writing 3 books for my children, thought that would be it. After all, who has time for all this writing?

Sorry – I’m not going to answer that one. After 5 published and 1 unpublished novels I still can’t work out where I did find the time.

Anyway, I started doing a bit of marketing for the Ameca J series, an Epic fantasy trilogy that I thought had all the trappings of being the next Harry Potter.

But in my day job, I see a high proportion of men, none of whom were as geeky as me so didn’t particularly want to read fantasy, especially as they thought of them as purely children’s books – something they are most definitely not.

So I became a little dispirited with this apparent disinterest in my work. So a new “why” question formed in my mind, this time around my desire to market my work successfully, and in the main part by my own efforts. This would mean I needed a book that would be read by a more adult, primarily male set of readers.

And so began my work on Boundary Limit. “The why” sci fi thriller? Was because I felt that I could market it to my normal contacts. And that has been sort of right in hindsight; I’ve sold more copies of Boundary Limit than any of my other books.

Right, we’ve done the why and the what. The next bit is to start the actual writing? Right?

Well, almost.

When I wrote my first book, I had never done anything like it before, and from knowing my own personality didn’t think I’d have the discipline to actually complete the work.

So I needed motivation, something that would get me to sit down and type and just keep that story flowing. How could I find that motivation?

An Agent For Change was dedicated to my late Grandfather, Leonard Fairs Herbert, who I had the privilege to be raised by. I have to say my Grandfather would have absolutely understood why I needed this motivation; he was forever telling me that I lacked perseverance, and he was absolutely right. As a teen I would start a hobby and at best it would only last a few weeks, with very few exceptions.

My Grandfather was a massive influence on my life, and his eternal patience with me was a worthy motivator which helped me achieve my goal of completing a book. It took three years, but I got there in the end.

For the next book the motivation was around me at all times; the Ameca J series is based on my daughters, and the real Ameca would drive me to distraction quarrelling with her sister endlessly. I wanted this book to teach her the values that a true family has. As I can hear the two of them screaming at each other right now I’m not sure that I was altogether successful…

Finally the motivator for Boundary Limit was a true friend who had positively encouraged me for all of my work, one Mark Mellens, a great guy and the inspiration for a character in Boundary Limit, Trooper “Happy Dayz” Wilde.

In fact he’s still nagging me to write the sequel to that…

I’ve spent a lot of time explaining motivation. That’s because it has been very important to me. Writing is actually a lonely occupation, and needs something to drive you on when you just feel you cannot find the time.

Actually Writing!

Boy, you must be wondering when the writing starts?

You can find out in my next article in December…

Paul Xavier Jones books can all be found on Amazon.

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