Once upon a time businessman and photographer Gary Hirson had a dream of writing a childrens book. Eight years later, he's self-published 'The Magic That's Ours'. We speak to him about the trials and tribulations of getting the book out...

You're a professional photographer and a businessman, so what triggered the idea to write a book — and a book for children especially?

There were three reasons why I wrote the story about Imagination.

At the time I was just leaving the corporate world to follow my passion of photography. I was pretty unsure of where my next pay cheque was coming from and was waking up early morning worrying. I remember just affirming to myself that all would be OK and that I must just use my imagination.

Secondly, at the same time, I was exploring the esoterics. I was doing an astrology workshop and the astrologer after looking at my chart said that I must start writing. When I asked her about what? She said "Use your Imagination".

Lastly,and this the reason the story was written for children. I went to a friends house for dinner. While she was cooking dinner she had put her daughter in front of the TV to watch a cartoon channel. I noticed how completely "zoned out" the girl was. When I spoke to her mom about it she said that it was really convenient to let her daughter watch TV while she was busy doing something as she new her daughter was safe and being entertained. She did say that she did feel that too much TV did stunt the growth of children's imagination.

So, this book was actually written for parents and children. As there is the interactive"fun time" at the end of each section, a busy parent can read a short section of the story and then leave the child entertained by doing the "fun time" and using their imagination related to the story. They could use the book as an alternative to TV.

Was it more difficult than you anticipated? You don't have many words to play with and kids are very harsh critics.

It wasn't too difficult but it did take time. As I wrote the story I passed it onto friends who are parents and they gave me feedback related to everything about the story. At the beginning they did mention that the story was to "wordy" and that it needed to be edited and simplified.

Was it difficult writing a book for children without talking down to them?

No, not really. I am not a parent so I didn't feel at any time that the way I was writing the story was too "aloof" or that I must be careful on how I write to them. The interesting thing is that from all the feedback that I got from the parents, never was it mentioned that I was talking down to them.

Did you show your book to a lot of kids while you were writing it?

I showed the book to a lot of parents, librarians, a child psychologist and teachers. The parents in turn showed it to their children. Just before the final edit I sent it to teachers who read it to their pupils and it was their feedback that affected the final product. Just to add not only did the pupils love the story,but they also sent me the pictures that they drew related to the first "fun time".

You'd dreamed of writing a book for 8 years. Why did it take so long?

I wrote the story eight years ago when I was going through major changes as I mentioned before. My goal at the time was to become a professional photographer. I wrote the story and sent the manuscript to SA based publishers all of whom rejected it. I let the story sit for a while. I then went to London to carry on with photography. While I was there I again sent it to publishers whom once again rejected it. Already this was about three and a half years since I first wrote it.

I came back to SA and met my then girlfriend Janyce Weintrob who was a journalist. I showed her the manuscript, she loved the story but said it needed editing. We edited the story and I found a publisher who were prepared to publish the story on line. They did say that they felt the story was a bit "thin" and that I add some extra chapters.

This I did which took some time. They liked the extra chapters and we started to proceed. I went ahead and commissioned Dorothee to do the illustrations. Up until this point the time taken was about four and a half years. As Dorothee was presenting me with the illustrations I was receiving an email from the publisher to say that they were going out of business and that they would no longer be able to assist with the publishing of the story.

I made a conscious decision that I was going to self publish the book. The only thing was that I didn't have a clue on how to go about it. As it happens I bumped into an old friend who I hadn't seen for a while and discovered that she had a design company and that the were busy designing a book for a woman who was self publishing her life story. So there and then I had access to a designer as well as someone who was going through the same process as I was about to embark on.

As this book is self-published there are a number of factors that make the process take a whole lot longer. I had to learn about publishing, I had to raise finance, I had to be happy with the design and layout, I had to find a distributor but most importantly was that I had to know that the book would be well received and that in no way was I going to affect children in a negative way.

How did writing fit into your "day job"? Did you have to do it in your spare time? Did you feel it taking over your life?

I treated it like an adventure or a pet project. Only as we neared the final product did it start taking up a lot of my time. I really saw it as an adventure,but I was committed to getting it out there. I never felt like it was taking over my life as it was a part-time adventure.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" is the Einstein quote you use on the first page. Why do you think so?

To use the process of self-publishing this book as an example, I imagined that I would publish this book and get it out there. Only once I had decided to do this could I discover and learn how to do it. When we use our imagination it is the essence of being creative. We think of cooking a fantastic dinner and then we use our knowledge to create the finished article.

Images are obviously also very important when it comes to children's books. Did you ever consider using your own pictures? And how did you decide to go with Dorothee?

No my pictures were never considered. Dorothee is a friend of mine and a fantastic artist. I saw her portfolio and knew she was the only person I could trust with bringing the story alive. My only brief to her was that she could not draw a descriptive picture of Joel and Jina and that the drawings must be left to the children's imagination. Besides that she had free reign.

Now that the book's out and you know all the work that's gone into it, would you do it all again? And if so, do you have plans for another one?

I would go through it again. I now understand the process. There is another one in the planning stages and it will take a lot less time than eight years

What were your favourite books as a child?

'Asterix' and 'The Hardy Boys'

What’s your earliest reading-related memory?

I think it was 'John and Jane' in Grade one.

What are you reading now?

'Eat, Pray, Love' and 'MOJO: A Photographic Book About Bob Dylan'.

Are people doing enough to encourage children to read? If not, what do you think can be done?

I see a lot of childrens book on the shelves so I hope so. IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) is a great promoter of children book writing. I do think that with the speed at which we are evolving technologically, and the access that children have to these type of products and the way they are being marketed to them we are at a crossroads. We live such hectic lifestyles that it is much easier to allow a child to play TV games or watch TV. However life is about choices and it is up to parents to ensure that children have fun while reading and this in turn will entice children to read more.