How To Become A – “Paperback Writer” (Title inspired by the “Beatles” song by the same name)
Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It’s based on a novel by a man named Lear
And I need a job, so I want to be a paperback writer
Paperback writer
Those of us who always have a book or two we are reading, are plagued by the conviction that we have a book in us.
Then we sit down at the laptop to begin the story, only to discover that our story just doesn’t want to be committed to paper.
Others discover they have a compelling opening chapter which grips their imagination, the plot is bursting to be revealed, and you have a cast of characters who breathe depth into your story: a villain, with their evil plans, a hero who will overcome every challenge to thwart the baddy. A credible victim or a social class who have no status. A beautiful (or handsome) love interest who wins your audience’s heart and sympathy.
You have become a story-teller and you have a responsibility to your audience to entertain them with your every word.
I have a favourite analogy for every aspiring author: can you imagine yourself as Scheherazade, the narrator of the tales of the Arabian Nights, also known as One Thousand And One Nights. Scheherazade has been forced to marry the king who has been humiliated by the betrayal of his first wife. Having executed her and her lover, he is so angry by this betrayal that he has vowed to make all women suffer for her sins. Every day he takes a new bride, then has her executed the day after their wedding night.
Scheherazade is a intelligent woman who has her own plan to avoid the fate of all these brides. Each evening she tells a story, leaving it incomplete and promising to finish it the following night. The stories are so entertaining, and the king so eager to hear the end, that he puts off her execution from day to day and finally abandons his cruel plan.
By becoming a compelling storyteller she is confident that the king will spare her life in order to hear the next chapter of her stories. She makes a contract with the king that if she can keep him enthralled by her stories for One Thousand And One Nights, he will allow her to live and never execute the women of his harem again.
The challenge of every storyteller is to keep the reader enthralled from the start to the finish. The setting has to be authentic to the time, place and the characters; nothing frustrates your audience more than a display of ignorance and poor research.
If your story is a crime thriller, consult an expert in police procedure. The author has no excuse for errors which shatter the authenticity of the story. Once an authors credibility is questioned by the audience, their writing career is finished.
Readers want to place their trust in the authors. There is no story once doubt has entered the mind of the audience.
4 Tips For Publishing Your Book
1. Amazon Publishing. You can self-publish your book using Amazon. They can promote the book, be stockists, fulfilling orders, taking payments and monitoring your stock, all for a fee. Amazon profits from the success of your project so they offer a comprehensive range of services to hold your hand through the process of self-publishing but don’t don’t believe you can sit back and watch the profits roll in. You are your own best promoter so be prepared to research methods for reviews, keep a social media profile for fans, seek book-signing events. For more advice on self-promotion, read the next recommendation.
https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/small-businesses/books-and-authors/publish-your-book
How to publish your book on Amazon with Kindle Direct Publishing – About Amazon UK How to publish your book on Amazon
Have you ever wondered how to get a book published on Amazon? With Kindle Direct Publishing, it couldn’t be easier. Here’s everything you need to know.
For more advice on self-promotion, read the next recommendation.
2. Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2027: The best advice on how to write and get published. Click here to buy your copy of the 2027 Writers’ and Artists Yearbook from Amazon: Paperback Book £21.80 from
Visit the Writers’ % Artists Yearbook website for more information, but I am a believer in owning my own copy of the annual yearbook so that I can easily find the answers to vast quantities of information.
3. Crowd funding your project. My friend, the author Adam Reeves self-published his graphic novel, Trombone Man: Ska’s Fallen Genius. I have seen how much of his life this project is consuming as he has been totally hands-on from writing the book to selecting the graphic artist Constantinos Pissourios who totally captured the essence of the early life of the trombonist Don Drummond, growing up in the poverty of world war two Jamaica.
https://www.kickstarter.com/about?ref=features.kickstarter.com
You can see for yourself the finished book and Adam’s promotional work from his social media campaign to the haunting music created for the promotion and a tribute to “The king of ska trombone – Don Drummond”.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/341399647745759
4. The challenge of every storyteller is to keep the reader enthralled from the start to the finish. The setting has to be authentic to the time, place and the characters; nothing frustrates your audience more than a display of ignorance and poor research. If your story is a crime thriller, consult an expert in police procedure.
Check out Graham Bartlet, https://policeadvisor.co.uk/about/
A former detective and now a crime fiction and police advisor to authors and TV writers as well as a Sunday Times best selling crime writer.
Force of Hate by Graham Bartlett Paperback Book £8.15 from Amazon
Click Here to order your copy 
