Author Dale Preece-Kelly
My name is Dale Preece-Kelly
Dear Students and non students,
Whether you are still in primary school or have worked in the same job for 25 years, this letter will apply to you. Do you have an ambition? Do you have something that you aspire to do or to achieve? Do you have a dream? Well, we are not put on the earth to spend our lives making money for others, working 9 to 5 or resenting the days between weekends, counting down to Friday night. We are put on earth to reach our full potential and make our dreams come true. The problem with me, is that it took me 42 years to realise that - I hope that this letter will help you get there at a much earlier age and live the life that you deserve to live.
If you are at school, then you have your whole life ahead of you. If you are of more advanced years, then you are never too old to make the leap. Too many of us spend our lives procrastinating and finding excuses as to why we should not make the leap, why the leap would be a bad move. We end up convincing ourselves that it's a long way down and far too dangerous to do and we stick with the safety of our comfortable, but unfulfilling life. Richard Branson once said "If somebody offers you an opportunity, TAKE IT and worry about how you are going to succeed afterwards" - this is the same as taking that leap and growing your wings on the way down. Chances are you will fly, but if you don't there is always a big rubber inflatable at the bottom and you will bounce right back!! There is no danger in change.
And so on to my career. I am a bit of an entrepreneur and run four businesses - all of this has happened since 2010! In addition, I am a stage, TV and movie actor (TV & Movie work is extras only thus far, with the exception of a couple of student projects) and, in 2015, I published my first book, with my second scheduled for release in May 2017 and a further 5 books on different subjects in the planning phase. It is my most recent career - that of an author - that I write this letter in reference too, but I have proved that if a person puts their mind to it, they can achieve absolutely ANYTHING!
My first book "Organic Guinea Pig's Health Revolution" is all about my journey from being on the verge of a fatal heart attack, to being fitter and healthier in mind, body and spirit than I have ever been in my 49 years! I am almost 50 and run 30km a week and attend 4 HIIT (high impact intensity training) classes a week, over the Christmas holiday week 2016 I ran a total of 63km and actually lost weight, because I followed my own system for health. I am a fully qualified nutritional therapist and make sure that I set the example for others to follow, to prove that what I say works. This book I self published, but it is still available in ebook and paperback format around the world.
My second book is called "Unleashing the Healing Power of Animals" and discusses how animals from many species can help humans to overcome all sorts of physical and mental difficulties. The content of this book comes from my work as an Animal Assisted Therapy Practitioner and details 10 of my rescue animals and how they have overcome their own difficulties to now help humans overcome theirs. It is aimed at people from the age of 10 to 90 and will hopefully prove to be both a magical and helpful tome, especially to those looking at a career in the field (further careers advice!). It is available to pre-order in hard copy format, worldwide, on Amazon.
In the last two years, I have written two books, both of which have been published and I have plans to write more on many subjects - from health to positivity and spirituality, even autobiographical. It has been a dream of mine to be a published author, since I was 15 years old and, indeed, I have published over 100 articles online at Ezine Articles, but a book was a dream. At 15, I tried to write my first novel, but never completed one. It appears that writing non-fiction and sharing my life lessons is where my publishing acclaim was to be found.
If you wish to pursue a career as an author, then you first need to decide whether you are a story teller or a knowledge sharer, once this decision is made then you can begin to decide on your idea and develop it for a writing project. To have sufficient copy for a book, then all you need is 10 chapters, each with 10 pages (if you can find more to write about then that's fine, but this is all you need!). Whether you decide on fiction or non-fiction, the process is pretty much the same :
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Decide on your subject - if you are writing non-fiction then make it a subject that you are knowledgeable and passionate about
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Write down your chapter titles - this is a rough draft of the structure of your book. If you are writing fiction then they need not be titles they can be plot points
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Develop each chapter in note form - what are you going to write in this chapter
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Put the meat on the bones - start writing your book. As you are writing, you may decide to include photos and diagrams - it is a great idea in non-fiction books to do this as it will help to illustrate any points that you have made
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Decide on a title - something that encapsulates the subject matter and will be found in Google searches easily (if writing fiction, then the title will be based on the story)
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Get a trusted friend to proof read your book and suggest any necessary changes
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Generate a cover for your book (if you have a publisher then they will do this - if not, then you will need to do this yourself)
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Publish - if you are self publishing then there are many companies who will publish your manuscript in paperback format for you (I use Feed A Read) and of course Amazon Kindle (I found this blog particularly useful for preparing my manuscript for Kindle publication http://kindlepublishinghints.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/formatting-for-kindle.html)
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Promote - all over social media. There are also other options to use, such as landing pages and the like, but I will leave you with something to discover for yourself, it's all part of the fun!!
Hopefully this letter has proved both practical and inspirational, inspiring you to follow your dreams and showing you just how (relatively) easy it is to do so. I have found that with self discipline I can write a chapter (around 5000-6000 words) in 4 hours, if I do this once a week then that means I can write a book in 10-12 weeks. With a further 10-12 weeks to go through the publishing process, then a book can go from planning to publishing in 6 months.
One thing that I will say is, do not expect to get rich from writing. Serious money only comes from writing, if your book becomes a TV series or movie - J.K. Rowling comes to mind, she is now a billionairess thanks to her creation Harry Potter, proving that there are exceptions to the rule. James Bond author Ian Fleming also comes to mind. If you are a non-fiction author, your book could result in you being invited to work on TV shows, radio shows or to write for newspapers and magazines, all of which will bring in payments in addition to your book royalties.
With the right attitude to following your dreams then you will succeed. I am quite well known for being the guy who aims for his dreams and has them come true. If you believe you can succeed, then you will - all it takes is belief, determination and hard work and you too will be living your dreams. There is no better way to be happy, than doing what you love every single day!
May all of your dreams become real!
Dale Preece-Kelly
https://www.amazon.com/Dale-Preece-Kelly/e/B00X2UKQOK/
https://ezinearticles.com/expert/Dale_Preece-Kelly/592451
P.S. Will Your Career Write a Personal Letter to Help Students Choose Theirs?
Contact Paul Cody happyheartbeatscounters@gmail.com