Author: Patrick Daniel, C.A.

ISBN: 978-09867060-0-4

Publisher: PDCA Publishing

Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest Patrick Daniel author of Finding Your Road to Success: How to get there without getting lost. Patrick holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Concordia University in Montreal and is a member of the Quebec Order of Chartered Accountants (QOCA) since 2002. He speaks English, French & Arabic.

Norm:

What would you say is the best reason to recommend someone to read Finding Your Road to Success? How did you decide you were ready to write the book? Why do you think this is an important book at this time? What are your hopes for this book?

Patrick:

I highly recommend my book for many reasons, but one big reason is the fact that it shatters the notion that success is a myth! Success is real, very feasible, and easily within our reach once we know exactly what success means to us and how to get it. Ultimately, it comes down to attitude. If you expect to be successful, you'll be successful. If you expect to fail, you probably will. My book has a number of practical examples to help illustrate important points in achieving success, along with fun personal experiences, tips, quotes, and great lessons that everyone can benefit from.

I think that it was more my colleagues and clients that decided for me. For years they implanted the idea in my head until, finally, 3 years ago I decided that maybe they were right and I started to write my book. They made me feel ready because they would often seek my advice and opinions about many things. And I’m not talking about professional work advice - they would talk to me about personal matters. When I’d ask them why they felt comfortable coming to me for advice, many times I was told that my positive outlook on life was very inviting, and that provided them with a shot of optimism which was something they were lacking in their lives.

I believe that our current society is giving us the wrong impression of the true meaning of success. All around us, people think that success means being rich and famous, or that success is obtained by purchasing big mansions and driving fancy cars. Success is neither of those, and it is most certainly not solely based on financial wealth. The time for us to realize what true success means to us is now! We need to start adapting changes to our current lifestyles so that we become aligned with our true meaning of success. If we don’t start to understand success now, we will continue to grow deeper and deeper into debt as we try hard to satisfy society’s definition of success. Don’t find yourself caught in society’s trap; act today and take control of your own life.

Norm:

What are your hopes for this book?

Patrick:

I’m hoping that my readers realize that with the right mindset, each and every one of them has the ability to feel successful with their lives. The key is to be positive no matter what. Life will throw many obstacles in our way, but those who succeed are the ones that use each obstacle as a stepping stone rather than a source of misery, depression, and defeat. The first and most important step in becoming successful is to feel like a success. From there on, everything else comes easily.

Norm:

What was the most difficult part of writing your book?

Patrick:

The hardest part of writing my book was getting started. I had so many thoughts and ideas that I wanted to share, but I wasn’t sure how to organize them in a clear and logical order. So, the first thing I worked on was creating my ‘Table of Contents’. Starting with that first forced me to organize my thoughts and ideas into different themes and chapters, which made writing my book a lot easier and smoother.

Norm:

Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?  What challenges or obstacles did you encounter while writing your book? How did you overcome these challenges?

Patrick:

I must say that the whole publishing process was a learning curve for me. I’m a Chartered Accountant by profession, so writing books is far away from my field of expertise. That being said, every step of writing my book was a challenge as well as an obstacle. But at no point in time was I discouraged. Instead, I welcomed each challenge because I knew that I would eventually overcome it and I’d learn something new that I’d be able to add to my bank of knowledge. When I found myself facing a new obstacle, I did some research on the matter to find the best way to tackle it. Most of my research was done through discussions with qualified people or by reading books, articles, and browsing websites.

Norm:

What kind of research did you do to write this book?

Patrick:

Most of the content of my book is based on my personal experiences and thoughts, which did not require any research. But the areas where I did have to do some research were in backing up the points I was making by getting some statistics and famous quotes. I’ve always been a fan of quotes and thought that it would be fun to have some throughout my book.

Norm:

Can you tell us how you found representation for your book? Did you pitch it to an agent, or query publishers who would most likely publish this type of book? Any rejections? Did you self publish?

Patrick:

At the moment, I am the sales representative of my book. I’ve created business cards, websites, and media packages to push public awareness and things are going well so far. In the beginning I spoke to a few people with experience in publishing about the differences between going with a publisher and self-publishing. After weighing the pros and cons I decided to go down the self-publishing route, which seemed to be the right option for me. But my biggest concern was looking like an amateur, so I hired a professional editor to edit my book and hired a graphic designer to design my book cover the way I had envisioned it in my head.

Norm:

Any unique ways you'll be marketing your book that is different from how others authors market their books?

Patrick:

As this is my first book, the whole process is still new to me and I don’t want to rush into it very quickly or too aggressively. I plan on taking a step-by-step approach in growing my book’s awareness. At the moment, I am trying to get as many credible book reviews as possible because I figured the more positive reviews my book has the more influential power I will have in marketing it. But I’m not just sitting around waiting on reviews. I’ve already started sending out media packages to local newspapers and radio stations. I have also been invited as a guest on a radio talk show called ‘Career Buzz’ which broadcasts in Toronto, Canada on CIUT 89.5FM on February 25th, 2011. A few copies of my book will be given out during the show.

Norm:

Where can our readers find out more about you and your book?

Patrick:

There are a few public sites where more information is available. First, there is the official website for the book: www.findingyourroadtosuccess.com. This site is updated to show recent events about either me or my book, and it also allows people to sign up to my monthly newsletter.

I also have a website for my business which has some information about me and the accounting services I provide. Anyone interested should visit www.danielca.com.

And let’s not forget Facebook. I have created a group specifically for the book where people can leave feedback and comments. Everyone is invited to join this group, which is called ‘Finding Your Road to Success - written by Patrick Daniel, CA’.

Norm;

What are you upcoming projects?

Patrick:

At the moment, I don’t have any new projects in mind. I would like to concentrate my time and efforts on the things that I love most, like spending time with my family and friends, and volunteering. Of course, I will also continue working on publicizing my book and providing my accounting services.

Norm:

As this interview draws to a close what one question would you have liked me to ask you? Please share your answer.

Patrick:

Norm, I appreciate you taking the time to interview me and I think that your questions were pretty thorough and covered many interesting points. But before I leave you, I just wanted to let people know that autographed copies of my book can be bought from the site www.findingyourroadtosuccess.com. Of course, the site is 100% secure and accepts credit card and paypal payments. Copies are also available on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca but these copies are not authorized.

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors

Click Here To Read Norm's Review of Finding Your Success

Click Here To Purchase Finding Your Road to Success: How to get there without getting lost