Help for Aspiring Authors

Chandrika Shubham
from Gurugram
14 years ago

I am also an aspiring author. :)

Best wishes to all! :)

ARJuna
from Mumbai
14 years ago

Hi, great to know you are an aspiring author as well!!! Please do post your queries, doubts, suggestions on this thread for other authors to refer... Who knows you might get the answer to that elusive question!

Amit Purohit
from Ahmedabad
14 years ago

@ arjuna

thanks for visiting my page

I have compiled a manuscript of the book i mentioned.

I have penned around hundred poems and i have placed some of the poems in my book. also i am just 22 and i had a bad experience approachibg publihers. almost evrybody denied to plunge a risk in publishing a book on poetry. some of them asked for PR as well as previous writing experiences which i dint have so i failed to publish but i keep on writing and uploading on my dying blog..

i sincerly feel that one should write for some newspaper or local stuff and then go for publishing...

not everybody is a chetan bhagat

Note: reviews are personal

www.shayar4u4ever.blogspot.comMy Infatuation Love Demystified

Regards,Amit

ARJuna
from Mumbai
14 years ago

I understand what you are saying, from what I have read about the publishing process, it is a tiring and lengthy task...full of rejections and snubs. More so for authors like you who deal with niche areas like poetry. I don't know if I am the right person to advise you...But here goes- Try to do some research of books that fall in same category as yours "Poetry" then try to find which publishers usually publish such books. The key is not to lose heart and keep trying. Best Of Luck.

Aldeena
from New Delhi
14 years ago

poetry is a less profitable venture Amit, and ultimately publishers do need to make money. You should try some of the smaller publishing houses, there are some that do focus on poetry, but the name eludes me right now unfortunately!

Amit Purohit
from Ahmedabad
14 years ago

@ arjuna

yeah i m trying the same brother

www.shayar4u4ever.blogspot.comMy Infatution Love Demystified

Anurag Yelkur
from Delhi
14 years ago

Finally a topic useful to bloggers amidst all this national award winning film centered on a female protagonist harakiri...

 

I have been covering topics on sports since I can remember. I have been writing them down, for me, as I simply love following sports. I want to get into sports journalism, but what I feel is that me currently pursuing Engineering(into my final year now) would hamper my chances of reporting or even writing columns for a newspaper, as there they would obviously have people with fancy journalism degrees from fancy colleges. Is this right or can I still make it?

ARJuna
from Mumbai
14 years ago

A good question that has been brought up by Anurag (and Amit). It is a given that we need some prior experience so how can we get some work of ours published in dailies or magazines???

Amit Purohit
from Ahmedabad
14 years ago

this i what i am hunting for since three years. how to unlock the doors of good dailies and magazines?

Anjana
from Chennai
14 years ago

hey arjuna... thanks for this one! I am an aspiring author too... I stay in chennai and am an Rj (radio jockey) by profession... Hoping to meet publishers and such people thanks to this attempt!

Anurag Yelkur
from Delhi
14 years ago

Well while reading a book recently (Uncommon Wisdom by Fritjof Capra), I noticed that the author was having troubles finding a publisher for his first book, The Tao of Physics. Someone suggested him to find an agent first. And that was what he did, after which finding a publisher was much easier. So does the concept of agents exist in India or not?

ARJuna
from Mumbai
14 years ago

Yes Anurag, the people you are referring to are officially known as 'Literary Agents' they find a suitable publisher and then mediate the exchange (be it conversational, transactional or monetary) between you and the publisher, so they are your representatives. They handle your affairs with the publisher for a small percentage, obviously. Literary agents are very much existent in India. However, the catch is an Agent will take up your manuscript only if he/she thinks that a publisher will accept it, so here again the agent has to be wooed... the process of getting an agent is very similar to what you will do to woo a publisher (mail him a copy of your manuscript etc.). Of course, once accepted by an Agent the process of looking for a publisher becomes much easier.

Aldeena
from New Delhi
14 years ago

Literary agents are an emerging phenomenon in India, not really so big yet. Publishing houses have their submission guidelines and agents are not really required around here, perhaps useful as a shortcut, if you manage to get them to accept ur mss though!

Addy
from Mumbai
14 years ago

This is the place for you Abhi! Where are you?

Aldeena
from New Delhi
14 years ago

True... this would have been..like his hotspot or so!!! Aspiring publisher me is having a field day though!

Aldeena
from New Delhi
14 years ago

1. The no of chapters are upto the author..It does not make a difference really.. you could ditch chapter numbering and just go for chapter headings if you do feel worried about it... But it's really not an issue.

2. word count mein there is no min limit as such, it should be just enough to make a book..there are books like Who Moved My Cheese that consist of 150 pages and there are others like Middlemarch with 900...so there are no such set rules here.

3. The book is finalised only after signing the deal so you can always change your mind before that if u get a better publisher. It all depends on you. But once the deal is signed, it's final.

4. Exquisite words are not the benchmark for a good book. Don't worry about that!

Addy
from Mumbai
14 years ago

the Minstrel at her usual!

Aldeena
from New Delhi
14 years ago

Haha!!!! At your service!!! Any trouble with writing and spellings, contact me!