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May 23, 2005
Hey blogger! Planning to write a book?
The concept of blogging has brought many a talents out. The creative people bubbling with ideas, the people who were rejected by media companies and the people who always wanted to write but could not gather enough guts to take up writing as a full time career can find solace in updating their blog site. A 100 dedicated readers is a good amount of number for a successful blogger. With increase in readership & fame most bloggers are now nursing a thought about bringing out their own book or publishing their own work. Will it work?
I always wonder why companies like Pepsi & Coke spend crores in advertising & marketing their products. Why do they make the super stars & the cricketers dance to their funny & bubbly tunes? What is their motto? The simple funda is – their target audience is anyone who has Rs 10 note in his/her pocket. And the whole drama is played to induce them to take that currency out and make him/her drink plain carbonated water which is produced spending a meagre 1 rupee. Making people pay for a service or a product is the most difficult thing on the planet.
However talented you are & however interesting your writing style is - until & unless you get associated with big brands or you have tons of money to pump in you cannot succeed in life. If not money, you at least should have someone BIG who gives you a lift. (Will write another blog about successful people and people behind their success)
I happen to meet a person who is an author of few vernacular books. He was the person who gave me an insight about how the publishing industry works.
There are 2 important things you need to consider before you think about publishing your own book. Firstly – how big you are, and secondly how big the publisher is.
If you are a celebrity writer like Shobha De (remember Shobha De became famous through Indian Express, which already is a big brand), you write your experiences about constipation and you will be paid in lakhs for getting your work published by top publishers.
If you are a layman, and think that your thoughts are unique and will be accepted by general audience then you need to approach big publishers like Penguin or Rupa. If your writing is accepted by them, then you will be paid 7.5 per cent of the book cost. But then in this case your work should really impress the so called intellect working for these publishers.
If you think you don’t need both the options and you want to publish your own book. Then the option is open. You can publish your own book for not more than Rs 50,000. But then even your friends won’t buy it from you.
People visiting your blog & leaving interesting comments doesn’t mean that they cannot survive without reading your work. There are enough takers for shit if it is disbursed for free. If you really want to know where you stand - just introduce a payment gateway on your blog site and start charging Re 1 per blog. If you get 1 customer, then your probably you will win the next Booker’s prize!
End of the conversation I came to know from the author, who published his books that he had to pay the publisher from his pocket to get his work done!
So anyone here who wants to buy my e-book titled ‘How to enhance your sexual life after 5 years of marriage’, can mail me your request to kennedig@yahoo.com. I am pricing it at Rs 200 per copy. Any takers?
Posted by Kenni at May 23, 2005 08:46 AM