Far From The Madding Crowd

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2011-10-25T22:43:00.001+05:30

The last session: Managing the Translation Market

2011-09-18T09:45:00.002+05:30

The last session of the conference dealtwith “Managing the Translation Market”. With a panel of six members andmoderator Arshia Sattar, this session tackled different aspects of translationin the publishing industry. The moderator emphasized on the value oftranslation, saying it “provides a whole new text for an audience to enjoy,even though a few things are lost in the process.” Arunava Sinha touched uponthe market reasons for translation in India.

A representative of the NationalTranslation Mission, Winston Cruz explained the vision and strategy of theorganisation in his presentation. Rubin D’cruz took this opportunity to point outthat languages in translation should not be referred to as central or regionalas all are important and main languages. He also stressed on how important theNational Book Trust and Sahitya Academy were in national enterprise building.

K. Satyanarayan, a Tamil publisher in hisown right, discussed options for funding translations as well as the challengesinvolved in it. Other members of the panel included Neeta Gupta of Yatra Books whoinitiated the subject of tri-lingual dictionaries required in the industry, andJudith Oriol, the Book Attachee at the French embassy in India. “Frenchpublishers cannot ignore the Indian market anymore”, Ms. Oriol said.

A majority of the panel concluded from thediscussion that there is a need for training and infrastructure to supporttranslation in India today.

Session 6: Copyrights in Publishing

2011-09-17T19:24:00.002+05:30

Theimportant issue of “Copyrights in Publishing” was addressed in Session Six ofthe Conference on Day 2.Panelist G. R. Raghavender,Registrar of Copyrights,elaborated in detail on the Copyright Law and it’s Amendments till date.

PraneshPrakash in his presentation put forth a very interesting thought. “Each one ofus is a criminal for violating the copyright law”, he said. He pointed out thatthe problem with this law is that it brings very different activities under onebanner.

Mandira Sen presenteda PowerPoint briefly explaining Section 2(m) of the Copyright Law 2010. KannanSundaram gave a satirical viewpoint of Tamil publishing industry. VinuthaMallya chaired the session on “copyright issues in publishing

Workshop 2: Social Media Marketing

2011-09-17T15:50:00.002+05:30

Workshop on Social Media Marketing

This workshop was handled by two socialmedia strategists, Maya Hemant and Maegan Chadwick-Dobson from Pratham Booksand Tara Books respectively.

The use of common social media toolslike blogs, twitter and facebook alongwith not-so-frequently used SoundCloud,Slideshare, Youtube and so on were dealt with. The audience was advised todevise their own unique social media strategy according to the personality oftheir distinctive companies. Problems and pitfalls were also discussed andvideos were shown for better understanding of the topic.

Session 5: The Impact of Alternative Publishing

2011-09-17T15:49:00.002+05:30

The session on “The Impact ofAlternative Publishing” witnessed active audience participation. One of thepanellists, Michael Bhaskar stated that alternative publishing involvesdifferent forms or formats of publishing. Maitreyi Kandoi, added thatalternative publishing included alternative content too. Another form ofalternate publishing is “multi-lingualism which is the key to internationalexchanges”, said Elin Jones, Wales.

Chetna, founder of an ezine calledBubble Wrapped supported online media as being more convenient to start andreach out to people. Peter Griffin chaired this session and made it a veryinteractive one.

Session 4: Publishing houses of the Future.

2011-09-17T11:21:00.002+05:30

Session Four

Seven panelists from diverse backgroundstook the stage for the session on “Publishing Houses of the Future”.

Nilanjana Roy, a Delhi-based literarycolumnist and critic chaired this session and also addressed a previousdiscussion on whether print books would die, saying it is instinctive for us toturn back to paper in publishing. Atiya Zaidi, a publisher, said that publishinghas a bright future especially in the education sector due to the need fortextbooks in schools. Payal Kumar of SAGE Publications India, pointed out thatall mechanisms in publishing houses are computerized, making work easier.Tremendous change has been observed. According to her, Publishers should catchup with technological advancements while taking stakeholders along. SunilPatki, a Strategy and Business planning consultant felt the need for alot oftraining and understanding in terms of content published. Ulhas Latkar of AmeyaPrakashan, Pune shared his experiences in independently publishing in regionallanguages. Trisha Gupta spoke from the perspective of a reader and put forthher views to the audience. Ramu Ramanathan, editor of PrintWeek India sharedhis opinions on the publishing scene while being a staunchly pro-booksindividual.

The session concluded with questionsfrom the audience.

Technologies of the future-Indian and UK entrepreneurs

2011-09-17T09:08:00.003+05:30

Presentationsby UK and Indian entrepreneurs were organised on the topic of “Futuretechnologies that bridge the divide: Making good in the absence of a supplychain.” The first presenter was Gavin Summers a Digital Services Manager fromthe UK. He suggested an innovative digital strategy called ‘Dynamic Learning’and ‘Practise Every Question’ to improve on the print text book. The future ofthis technology, he said was to ensure accessibility of the book from anywhere,enable collaboration and keep the pace of change in tune with the market.

‘Valobox’another novel idea was presented by Oliver Brooks from the UK. He discussedwith the audience the idea of web-friendly books that have the characteristicsof pay-as-you-go, peer-2-peer, premium content layer and revenue forpublishers.

TitashNeogi discussed “Themeefy” an online book reading format which also serves as aplatform for curated content. His presentation emphasized on the rethinking offundamental business and personal values.

Thenext speaker was awarded the British Council’s Young Entrepreneur award in thecurrent year. Ganesh Ram KR spoke about Mobileveda and eMahatva.

Learning from the music Industry's experience-Anish Trivedi

2011-09-16T21:01:00.000+05:30

An unexpected but much welcomed session by Anish Trivedi , this veteran of the music industry came up and shared his experiences with the changing music industry scenario over the last fifteen years.

With the onset of piracy , Torrent’s, itunes and so on, the industry attempted to protect themselves from the internet but eventually realised that there is no real way to do it. You cannot stop people from downloading free pirated tracks. The way out was to collaborate with online mediums to make it easier and more convienent for music to reach the people.

He drew parallels in this respect with the publishing industry, which had all authors and publishers present nodding their heads in agreement. The paradigm has changed he concluded.

Session 3: Book Marketing in the Age of Social Media

2011-09-16T20:59:00.002+05:30

Session 3

Book marketing in age of social mediareceived dynamic participation from theaudience.

The aim of the session was to cipherstrategies to reach a reader via social media marketing.

Preeti Vyas, a big believer in social media platform stressed on a one-on-oneconnection with the audiences .

Social networking is about finding out yourpersonality and that of your company” said .Maegan Chadwick Dobson of Tara books,Chennai. More than just a marketing strategy, Social media should be used todevelop a connect with your audience even before you start penning your book. Kiruba Shankarstated that it was more enjoyable to author a book when you collaborate withpeople online.

Blogs, Twitter and Facebook wereestablished as potential platforms for book marketing.Lipika Bhushan from Harper Collins and Nikhil Pahwa of mediaNama.comshared their views and experiences.Nikhil Pahwa stated that since the time gap between a consumers impulse andpurchase has reduced, demands need to be met more efficiency.

Session 2: The Future of Independent Publishing

2011-09-16T17:19:00.002+05:30

Great attention was given to the minute aspects of thistopic. The chairperson Ms. Indu Chandrashekhar introduced the panel members,all of whom had rich experience on the independent publishing front.
Ms. Amrita Akhil, the Director of Marketing IPDA, in her presentation,elaborated on independent publishing, the marketing system followed currentlyand so on.
Mr. Alvito Barreto shared his personal publishing experiences and discussed theproblems faced by independent book stores.
Ms. Radhika Menon and Ms Mandira Sen also gave their valuable inputs.
A healthy audience –panel interaction was then carried on for around 45minutes.

Workshop 1: The Art of Academic Writing

2011-09-16T14:13:00.001+05:30

Payal Kumar, Vice President, Editorial and Publishing at Sage Publications India, conducted the workshop on "The Art of Academic Writing". Addressing various aspects of the art, she stated the need for refined writing that will eventually help increase the chances of a piece of work being published.

"The main reason why scholars manuscripts get rejected by journal is due to the fact that they do not keep in mind their readership audience when writing. Another factor would be the distinctive style sheet of a journal that isn't followed."

Mr. Kumar focused on the aim and scope of academic writing along with topics like plagiarism, citation and open source publishing.She has also laid emphasis on the need for turning authors into publishers.

"Poor referencing reflects poor report writing", she said in her presentation.

The workshop ended with queries from the audience.

Publishing Next commences, "Where are digital books headed?"

2011-09-16T13:04:00.000+05:30

CinnamonTeal unveiled its first ever International Conference "Publishing Next"-the next chapter in publishing has just begun. With the inaugural ceremony beginning at 9.30 am, the conference has evoked a large turnout of participants.
The first panel discussion dealth with the subject of "where are digital books headed?". Four panel members, James Bridle, Kailsh Balani, Prathiba Sastry, Radhika Menon, along with the moderator, Ms. Jaya Bhattacharji Rose deliberated on the scope of e-books in the quickly evolving media scene. Ms. Radhika Menon presented her views on the i-pads and the i-phones dominating the markets today. Digital books for children should aim at fulfilling the market demands of providing overall educative experience.
"E-books provide a window into the reading process" said James Bridle, Director of Bookake, U.K as he encouraged the use of e-books among all spheres, since they are more sophisticated and the content can be enchanced. Pratibha Sastry, Kailash Balani also shared their distinguished views on the subject. The session ended with an audience-panel discussion.

New distribution service for eBooks

2011-08-22T17:23:00.000+05:30

CinnamonTeal Publishing has launched a new distribution service that will cater to electronic books alone. This service primarily targeted for the distribution of books in Indian languages will allow CinnamonTeal Publishing to leverage its association with several ebook distribution services around the globe and ensure worldwide visibility and availability for its titles. In addition to its revamped website dogearsetc.com, ebooks distributed by CinnamonTeal will also be available through smashwords.com and globalebooks.es, allowing its titles to be purchased on more than 100 websites and a wide range of devices.

CinnamonTeal believes that this service will allow publishers to make their books available worldwide without the extra hassles of printing and physical distribution, in a medium that is increasingly gaining currency among readers. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that ebook sales are increasing worldwide and while CinnamonTeal Publishing already provides ebook development services, this new distribution service will supplement that service and ensure that the produced titles are also now easily available to buyers. For new authors, especially those who wish to self-publishing, this service provides them the low cost option of doing everything electronically and altogether rejecting the option of producing copies in print.

This service will be available for all languages and books will be produced in EPUB, MOBI and PDF formats. For more details, do write in to contactus@ cinnamonteal.in

At Lightning Speed

2011-08-15T20:49:00.002+05:30

Distribution remains the ultimate challenge that self-publishing authors face, one that renders a book inadequate no matter how well written and produced. At CinnamonTeal we have tried our best to provide distribution services for our titles but these have been confined to India. Many authors wish that their book be available elsewhere. Our latest offering provides for just that.

Starting this month, we have entered into an agreement with LSI, an international POD distributor as a result of which we will be able to offer POD distribution services and make our titles available for buyers in Europe and North America. This agreement, allows us access to the following booksellers:

International		USA
Adlibris	Coutts	Ingram
Agapea	Eden.co.uk	Amazon.com
Aphrohead	Gardners	Baker & Taylor
Amazon.co.uk	Mallory International	Barnes & Noble
Bertrams	Paperback Shop	Espresso Book Machine
Blackwell	STL	NACSCORP

We hope that this service will go a long way in making our titles accessible to a larger audience. We have always believed that our authors have told some beautiful stories. We are glad many more can now read them.

To know more about this service, email us at marketing@ dogearsetc.com

Blast from the past

2011-06-29T19:48:00.016+05:30

My home state, of Goa, has a rich history of printing and publishing. The first printing press arrived here in 1556, although unintentionally, when the ship carrying it stopped at Goa en route to Abyssinia but couldn't move forward because the weather won't permit it to. So, quite unwittingly, Goa had the distinction of having the first printing press in Asia. It was attached to the Jesuit training centre for aspiring priests, the St Paul's College.

In here and at the Rachol Seminary several works were published, mostly spiritual books that catered to the needs of the newly converted indigenous population. These books also alluded to the circumstances of the times and became a commentary of the socio-political environment present then. Following the expulsion of Jesuits from Goa in 1759, and a general disinterest in protecting cultural documents like these, many of these precious works were lost either to ransacking crowds or to interested bibliophiles who added these books to their collections.

Gradually these books and manuscripts are beginning to resurface, in far away places. Many of them are now available in public or college libraries in Paris, London and Lisbon or among private libraries in India. Many of them are in a dilapidated state, close to ruin. These books represent an important part of the cultural landscape of the state and must be preserved for future research and scholarship.

Credit must be given to the Central Library, Goa and its curator, Carlos Fernandes, who is doing his best to make these texts available once again to readers in Goa. We at CinnamonTeal Publishing have been working closely with him, and have thus been able to develop an expertise in book restoration and printing and thus add another service to our repertoire.

The books we have restored so far include a volume of the Jesuit Miguel de Almeida's Jardim de pastores, which was printed in Goa in five volumes in. 1658-9 and an account of the life of Jivbadada Kerkar, a senapati (commander) in the Maratha army in the Peshwa era. We are currently working on a reprint of "Arte da Lingoa Canarim" (A Grammer of Konkani), published in 1640. The text of this book was available only at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, which graciously allowed us to work on a reprint.

The book was originally in a very bad condition before we painstakingly "restored" it.

With each book, we carefully scan the pages using a specially constructed book scanner, "clean out" the embellishments on each page and carefully layout the book to closely resemble the original. The book is then printed in required quantities. It has usually been just a couple of copies each time so that these copies can be circulated or loaned to members of the library while the original book is carefully preserved.

We are very excited about this new line of business because it allows us the excitement of discovery of new worlds, quite removed from modern times, one we could only imagine without the guidance of these texts.

Marketing your book!

2011-02-22T11:19:00.000+05:30

After your book has been written, edited and laid out and ready to be printed, you need to start thinking about ways to market it so that people know about yoru book and set out to buy it. Book marketing, perhaps, is most ignored by authors when they could themselves be the most passionate salesperson their book could have. While we do provide a wide range of marketing plans, here's a list we put together for our authors to do themselves. Perhaps something you could borrow from?

Online promotion:

1. Have bloggers review your book. Choose relevant bloggers. For example, if your book is on science fiction, send it to bloggers who are sci-fi aficionados

2. Add a "signature" to your email. Signatures should be brief and "punchy". Add a link to information about your book if possible

3. Get friends to add your link to their email signatures

4. Create a free website (blog) for your book. These are free and easy to set up. For blogs visit http://www.blogspot.com/ or http://www.wordpress.com/. For websites, visit www.weebly.com. Alternately you can contact us and we will set up one for you. When you set up one, make sure it is easy for people to find ways to contact you.

5. Post extracts of your book on your website or blog. Although this may see counter-intuitive, posting such free content allows your book to come up during search results. It also makes readers want to read more

6. A download of a few chapters of the book along with a discount coupon for purchase of the entire book. Or an online game where the winners get a discount on purchase of your book

7. Comment on other peoples' blogs, especially those on topics that match that of your book. Comment intelligently and don't brag. Sign off with your name and with a link to details of your book.

8. Guest blog on other sites that will allow you to.

9. Invest in social media such as Twitter, MySpace, Facebook and Orkut. The investment is of time, not money. This is a whole new beast called "social media marketing" and if you are here, you have probably heard of it already

10. Send out free press releases. Google "free press releases" and you will find many such services. Your press release should be brief and should contain the words users might search for.

Offline promotion:

1. Invest in getting your book edited and in getting a good cover designed for your book. Nothing turns readers away as much as an error-riddled book does. Similarly, an attractive cover can help market your book.

2. Dig into your mailing list - email every contact and tell them about your book. Ask them to promote your book in turn.

3. Similarly phone your friends and tell them about your book.

4. Contact your local newspaper. Ask them to do a review of your book. There is a certain prestige that comes with being a reviewed author. Give free copies away for reviews

5. Contact your local FM station and ask them to do an interview. Promote your book there

6. Make post cards for Diwali, Id or Christmas. Promote your book on it and send it to friends and acquaintances

7. If your book is on a niche subject, offer your services as a speaker when a seminar or conference is held on that or on an allied subject.

8. Promote your book at social meetings and gatherings.

9. Depending on the audience for your book, keep your book for sale in "unusual places" like coffee shops or supermarkets. People who frequent these places often have time to spare and money to spend. An attractively placed book might just trigger an impulse purchase

10. Arrange for readings and book signings if your environment allows it. Have them in prominent bookstores in your neighbourhood. In places like Bombay and Bangalore, weekly bingo is a common occurrence. Have your book launched before or after one such or similar meet. Cafes are another place where you can promote your book

Books on Demand

2011-01-31T22:48:00.001+05:30

The unique ability of print-on-demand to produce only as many books as required allows us, at CinnamonTeal Publishing, to experiment in exciting ways. Like our partnerships with publishers around the world, that allow them to introduce their titles in India at practically no cost and allow us to introduce good books to our readers in India.

CinnamonTeal introduces the titles in India on its own website and those of its channel partners. The books are printed on sale and dispatched to customers. The publisher is thus able to sell within India and does not have to spend a dime in the process. All rights, even those for sale within India, still rest with the publisher. By this arrangement, CinnamonTeal only charges for printing and shipping. The rest, after accounting for channel discounts, is reimbursed to the publisher.

Using this model, CinnamonTeal has partnered with publishers in Nigeria, South Africa, UK, Canada and Australia, thus allowing readers in India access to good literature from these countries. It has also allowed lesser-known publishers to introduce their titles in India and receive a readership for them.

CinnamonTeal wishes to partner with more publishers using this model. If you are a publisher and are interested in finding more about how you could work with us, do write in at contactus@ cinnamonteal.in

To view these books, do visit our website at:
http://www.cinnamonteal.in/index.php?go=gallery9
http://www.cinnamonteal.in/index.php?go=gallery10

Meet Our Author: Chidambaram Ramesh

2010-11-23T10:04:00.002+05:30

Chidambaram Ramesh is the author of Shroud Of Turin - An Imprint Of The Soul, Apparition Or Quantum Bio-Hologram, recently published by CinnamonTeal.This is the first book on the Shroud of Turin by an Indian author, and proposes for the first time, the Quantum Bio-Holographic idea to explain the shroud image. It also gives re-birth to the forgotten science of palingenesis - the resurrection of spectral images of plants out of ashes. The author has attempted to explain almost all the peculiar characteristics of the Shroud image like photographic negativity, spatial encryption of 3-D data, non-directionality and other amazing aspects.

What inspired you to write ‘The Shroud of Turin’ particularly since there are so many books on the subject? What makes it different?
Indeed, there are numerous books on the Shroud of Turin. But most of them are documentary in nature, that is, they usually provide a comprehensive list of collected facts or information relating to the Shroud, its documented history, etc. This book is distinct in as much as it attempts to offer valid scientific explanation and a working hypothesis for the formation of mysterious image on the Shroud. There are only very few theories trying to provide explanation to the Shroud image; nonetheless they could not explain all the unique or extraordinary characteristics of the Shroud image. The quantum bio-holographic idea, the central theme of the present book, meets almost all the scientific criteria embarked by earlier scientific studies on the Shroud image. The photonegative characteristic, three-dimensional encryption of bodily depth-relief data, non-directionality, double-superficiality and other amazing aspects of the Shroud image are explained under the tutelage of quantum bio-holographic theory.

How did you get interested in the mystery of the Shroud of Turin?
In fact, I was initially working on a different, but closely related subject – morphogenetic fields. There are umpteen ideas and theories –both ancient and contemporary - to suggest that morphogenetic development of our body is more "structure-related" than "chemistry-related". A precise blueprint of the body is always hypothesized to guide the process of bodily development. The raison d’être for my belief is an medieval practice - Palingenesis - which is the resuscitation of spectral plants out of their ashes and a natural magic where spectral 3-dimensional images of snakes/scorpions manifest out of decomposed parts of the corresponding organisms after their physical death. During the course of my scientific pursuit of these ideas, I unexpectedly came across the Shroud mystery. I could observe and discover a close linkage and resemblance between the phenomenon of 3-dimensional image creation in the process of palingenesis and the 3-dimensionally encoded image on the Shroud. I believed the underlying science of these natural phenomena, if explored, can help to unwrap the mystery enshrouding the image on the Turin Shroud. The result is the book before you!

How much time did you take to finish the book?
As I said earlier, I was initially researching on the ideas of morphogenetic fields. The entire idea is based on the process of palingenesis. So I decided to collect, compare, and analyze almost all the available literature on the subject. This work spanned over about two years and my efforts, I hope, yielded results. I could collect very valuable observations made by many legendaries like Carl Linnaeus, Sir Thomas Brown, Athanasius Kircher, Sir Kenelme Digby etc who were of high repute in Western science and whose views we may still regard with high respect. It is a collection of hard-to-find information. It took about three years to see the book in print.

Has the process been easy? Did it ever make you feel hopeless and bleak?
It was not easy but interesting and the most enjoyable pursuit for me. In a way, it is like digging for treasure - treasure of knowledge. My coming to know of the observations of persons like Carl Linnaeus that all organisms - plants as well as animals - are capable of manifesting their 3-dimensional geometric structure even after their physical death or decomposition was a wonderful personal feeling and experience. It was never boredom.

Can you tell us your one best moment while working on this book, something you'd treasure down memory lane?
Yes, it was the moment I had when I saw, for the first time, the Shroud image in 3-dimensional. It was sent to me by Dr.Petrus Soons, a renowned Shroud 3-D researcher and in fact its creator. I was always worrying I write about a thing I have not seen in person. But the 3-D image I received from Dr.Soons relieved me of.

Briefly describe to us how you went about conducting research for the book?
I have, of course, stood on the shoulders of many ancient and medieval authors. The works are theirs; I have only collected them and tried to bring them into the realm of current science. At the start, my mind was bogged with questions how the decomposed parts of organism can record precise 3-D geometrical structures of the organisms. David Bohm's concepts of implicate order and holographic universe, Pribram’s idea of 'holographic brain', Rubert Sheldrake's morphic fields etc helped me a lot to arrive at the quantum holographic idea to explain the miraculous 3-D profiles created by organisms after their physical death. Dr.Mitchell’s essays on Quantum Holography, Late Dr.Sue Benford's article "Empirical Evidence Supporting Macro-Scale quantum holography in non-local effects" supported the idea of quantum holography in more concrete terms. Finnish scientist Dr.Matti Pitkanen was kind enough to explain me the scientific/theoretical basis of quantum bio-holography through personal emails. My academic background in engineering assisted me to grasp these concepts easily. As regards the Shroud research, the findings of Dr.John Jackson, Particle Physicist Dame Piczek, Dr.Petrus Soons, etc made me to confirm that the Shroud image is an imprint of quantum bio-hologram.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
Originally, my idea was to write a scientific paper on the subject. The multitude of information and ideas that I could collect over the period of time prompted me to make it into a book.

Any future projects in mind?
Now, I am a stern believer of the quantum holographic idea and indeed, I have enough scientific evidences to support my belief. The subject, if explored further, is certain to offer breathtaking discoveries, especially in the medical field. I have set my mind to work on these ideas further. My next book will be on Clairvoyance (Anjanam-Gazing) and Quantum Holographic Connections.

Can you tell us your experience of working with CinnamonTeal Publishing?
I must first thank CinnamonTeal Publishing for transforming my dream of publishing a book into a reality in a short span of time. I am very grateful to Ms.Queenie R.Fernandes, Co-founder/director for her patience to carry out all the corrections/improvements I used to suggest time to time. On all fronts, quality of print, cover design etc – I like and recommend CinnamonTeal Publishing.

Birthday Specials

2010-11-04T18:02:00.000+05:30

Each month, starting this November, we will offer discounts on classics penned by authors celebrating their birthdays that month.

The classics are offered in 6x9 sizes with textured covers that are specially designed to make your book a sure conversation starter. What's more, you can gift these and have a dedication page inserted in the book.

The covers shown here are just a sample of what can be ordered. The entire catalogue is listed here.

Kaivalya - My Debut Novel

2010-09-13T14:52:00.000+05:30

Perhaps there is no greater pleasure on earth, than being immersed in a good book. For me, it has to especially be crime fiction. I guess I will be eternally indebted to innumerable authors who have lightened up my life every single day. How much ever crappy the day was at work, the thought of a crisp thriller lying by my bedside, always made me look forward to the end of the day. Be it the immensely sexy, deadly Charles Calthrop as Jackal in Forsyth’s Day of The Jackal; or the century’s most enigmatic villan Dr.Hannibal Lecter – they’ve been a part of my life, as much as my family, friends and colleagues. No, I don’t hear voices in my head...yet.

So, when I decided to take a break from the corporate scene, I was warned gently that I would be back at a cubicle in no time. It was tempting. 13 years of experience behind me. Good pay. Bad roles. Why not? But then, it got me thinking. Did I not see anything else in my life, apart from sitting in front of a laptop? Here I am, young (okay...younger than most Hollywood top paid heroines. Younger, but heavier...) mid-thirties...and I don’t know what to do with my life? That scared the crap out of me. I decided to sit it out. I actually mean sit-it-out. Sit on the sofa. Stare into space...well stare at a communal garden where a three-legged cat did the same thing. A result of that ‘sitting out’ was the decision to try out something new. Something I loved. Writing. The thought was stimulating. I did not want to just blog. Not even short stories. I wanted to do a full-fledged novel. Did I have it in me? Did I have the discipline? What if I don’t get any ideas at all? Again, I decided to sit it out.

Four weeks. I cooked, I cleaned, I sat and stared into space. What did I want to write about? Well, I KNEW what I DID NOT want to write about. Identity crisis due to immigration to another country, arranged marriage, a bored housewife rediscovering her sexuality, slums, corruption ...basically all the literary fiction that is associated with India and Indian authors. I wanted to write a story that I would personally love to read. My favourite genre. Crime. Good. What kind of crime? Will it be a robbery? A murder? A serial killer on the prowl? I scribbled the thoughts in a notebook. I did not want to write an apology for a novel – a one dimensional array of words – A kills B. A tries to escape. But A gets caught. I wanted to write something that was complex, rich and had strong, interesting characters. Something that would make the readers smile. Something that would make them put off the chores to see what happened next. Something that would make them look over the shoulders every time the power went off and the room plunged into darkness. At the end of two months of ‘sitting it out’, I had a basic plot in my head. I had my ‘subject’ - a paranormal thriller! It was a challenging, mind-numbing exercise, replete with derisive self-doubt. Can two separate genres – crime and horror be intertwined successfully? It requires skilful weaving of subplots. It requires bringing out amazing chemistry between the characters. Above all, both these genres are almost absent in India (at least in the mainstream English fiction). Yet, can I steer away from the cinematic clichés of ‘horror’ in an Indian context? Vermilion smeared lemons, headless chicken lying around, the weird-looking, cave-dwelling exorcists (if it is a man) or...if it is a woman – someone who smears kajal with a vengeance. The challenge had me salivating. I plunged into it.

I had the characters worked out. I had the location worked out. And yes, I took a month to get the first para right. No jokes, folks. Writing that first line is a b****. I did not follow any ‘rules’ or use any ‘planning software’ to prepare my manuscript. I suppose that’s an efficient way – figuring out the chapters etc. But these frameworks hamper creativity, and I just wrote as the words fell out of my head. In many ways, I did not know what happened next in the story. While the outline was there, the details were missing. But as I wrote, the sequences revealed themselves – it was like driving in the dark. You don’t know the road; but you can see only a few feet ahead thanks to your headlights. I think that was very thrilling.

The principal characters of my story are as unremarkable as you and I. Regular blokes going about their routine. Yet, they are remarkable when pushed to a corner – again like you and I. The only liberty I’ve taken is probably to make most of them good looking! We all love good-looking, sexy, intelligent principle characters...right? My principal characters are urban, chic, globetrotters, well-off and intelligent. Someone of my world, with whom I can identify with...and so can you. I believe we are a summation of our experiences. We are what we are because of those memories, those lessons learnt. And that’s how I’ve attempted to reveal the characters to the readers throughout the book. Memories and experiences that made a character stronger, weaker or altered a personality.

The entire sequence of events takes place in my home-state in India – Karnataka. The mysterious, dark, brooding, yet enthralling lush forests of Kukke Subramanya, Sakleshpura, Bisle – the abode of the majestic King Cobra – I could not think of a better place for the story! Again, the challenge was – will it be a simple case of possession, a haunting? Or something more? I wanted to steer clear of the hackneyed ‘soul of suicide/murder victims coming back to nail the perpetrator’. I wanted this entity to be ancient. To have a specific purpose. To have a very, very strong character, with remarkable mental prowess. I wanted to develop this entity so that the reader loves her, sympathises with her, sheds a tear for her, above all, fears her. Thus, it felt only right that this entity belonged to the glorious Vijayanagara era – the most important time period in the history of Karnataka – marked by remarkable rulers and a golden period for music, literature and the arts. An era that sadly spiralled towards a most gruesome end in the hands of the Deccan Sultanate. And so, the story spans across two eras – 1550 – 1565 CE and present day (2005).

Given the fact that I am a debutant; and that I chose a genre which has not been a part of mainstream fiction in India, I did not even bother going to traditional publishers. After some research, I decided to go ahead and self-publish through Print on Demand. My publishers are CinnamonTeal, based out of Goa. They are book-loving blokes like me, and I’ve had a remarkable experience with them. They are not all ‘corporaty’ – just a homely bunch of geeks (I mean this in the most loveable way). They are flexible, approachable and always open to ideas. Above all, they are a very honest team. I got the same service as I would have if I’d been ‘selected’ by a traditional publisher. The only difference was that I was paying for the services.

As my book goes up on sale, I can’t eat, I can’t sleep. I am not nervous about the number of copies I sell. This was a hobby, an experiment – so it’s okay if just one copy is sold. I am more nervous about that single book-loving reader who finds the story disappointing. And so, my fingers are crossed, and I am waiting with bated breath for the first review to reach me!

So I hope this tickles you enough to buy the book! Since this is print-on-demand, the book is available only at this online bookstore –

http://www.dogearsetc.com/mainpage.jsp?type=2&id=36715

You are quite Clever !!

2010-08-20T09:23:00.009+05:30

by Claire Odogbo, Author of "Learning to Learn"

I recently had a conversation with a senior colleague at work. She told me that she didn’t consider herself to be intelligent. I was shocked because I KNEW she was intelligent - I mean, that is how she got to rise in such a highly competitive environment like the firm in which I work.

In any case, I realized that she, like most people, rate their level of intelligence based on comparison with other people’s levels of expressed intelligence in popular areas such as academics, how quick you think on your feet or in verbal jabs, or whether you are always the one who comes up with the ideas that in quote ‘save the day’. Some of us are very ordinary in all the areas I mentioned. We have never done better than average in school, people may have finished laughing before we get the joke, and we never have any grand ideas, so in conclusion, we are not very clever. We believe so and perhaps others think so about us. But I will tell you something that might just make you metamorphose from the proverbial caterpillar into the beautiful winged butterfly.

According to a researcher and writer, Howard Gardner, there are 9 types of intelligences namely:

1. Naturalist Intelligence (“Nature Smart”)

People who are ‘nature smart’ have the human ability to discriminate among living things (plants, animals) as well as sensitivity to other features of the natural world (clouds, rock configurations). Taken in today’s consumer society, this is usually mobilized in the discrimination among cars, brands of clothing, shoes, accessories and the like.

2. Musical Intelligence (“Musical Smart”)

Musically smart people typically have the capacity to discern pitch, rhythm, timbre, and tone. This intelligence enables people to recognize, create, reproduce, and reflect on music, as demonstrated by composers, conductors, musicians, vocalist, and sensitive listeners.

3. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence ("Number/Reasoning Smart")

Number/reasoning smart people are usually the number crunchers. Those who tell you they love mathematics, theories and hypothesis. They typically perceive relationships and connections, use abstract, symbolic thought; sequential reasoning skills; and inductive and deductive thinking patterns.

4. Existential Intelligence

People who are ‘existential smart’ have the sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why do we die, and how did we get here.

5. Interpersonal Intelligence (“People Smart”)

Interpersonal intelligent people typically interact effectively with others. It involves effective verbal and nonverbal communication, the ability to note distinctions among others, sensitivity to the moods and temperaments of others, and the ability to entertain multiple perspectives.

6. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence (“Body Smart”)

Body smart people usually have the capacity to manipulate objects and use a variety of physical skills. This intelligence also involves a sense of timing and the perfection of skills through mind–body union. Athletes, dancers, surgeons, and craftspeople exhibit well-developed bodily kinesthetic intelligence.

7. Linguistic Intelligence ("Word Smart")

Word smart have the ability to think in words and to use language to express and appreciate complex meanings. Linguistic intelligence is the most widely shared human competence and is evident in poets, novelists, journalists, and effective public speakers. Young adults with this kind of intelligence enjoy writing, reading, telling stories or doing crossword puzzles.

8. Intra-personal Intelligence (“Self Smart”)

Self smart people typically understand themselves and their thoughts and feelings, and use such knowledge in planning and directing their life. Intra-personal intelligence involves not only an appreciation of the self, but also of the human condition. It is evident in psychologist, spiritual leaders, and philosophers. Self smart people may appear shy, but they are very aware of their own feelings and are self-motivated.

9. Spatial Intelligence (“Picture Smart”)

Picture smarts usually think in three dimensions. Core capacities include mental imagery, spatial reasoning, image manipulation, graphic and artistic skills, and an active imagination. Picture smart people usually see pictures in everything.

So which one(s) are you? You may not be word smart, logical smart, or people smart. But nobody sees how well you dance in your room, or how good you are on the tennis court, or how you can make creative music, or yet still, have an ear for the intricacies of good music which no one else hears. You are quite clever indeed; just find your niche and maximize your potentials.

About Claire Odogbo.
Claire is a freelance consultant in learning and creativity. She organizes seminars, workshops, classes and webinars on creativity and maximizing your potentials.
She is the author of the book ‘Learning to learn’. Available on her website www.lifetrackinternational.com, and on amazon.com.

The Marketing Buck Stops with You!

2010-08-16T18:47:00.000+05:30

So you recently wrote a novel which was accepted by a publisher? Great!

Now, you probably think that your work is over? Well, unless you are Salman Rushdie or J.K. Rowling, the answer is a big NO. As a matter of fact, even the most famous authors don’t stop at just getting the book out in the market. The importance of marketing in today’s book business cannot be discounted at any cost. Good marketing can help increase sales and make future book sales easier for you.

If you are a first time writer or a relatively unknown author, then marketing is all the more important. There is a concept of market pull and push. In case of J.K. Rowling, the market pulls in the book while in the case of a first time writer; it is market push which is required. Pushing in a book into the market resulting in sales is not that easy for a first time writer. In this age where hundreds of new books get released every week, you need to market it effectively so that the reader deems it fit to be bought.

Even before I start discussing ways of marketing your book, you need to answer one question. Do you have confidence in your book? If the answer is yes, then read on. If you say no, then no one can help you. Book marketing starts with believing in your baby. Sales will follow.

One of the main reasons for a book’s failure is lack of marketing. If no one hears about your book, then what’s the point in writing? After all, you wrote because you wanted your story to be heard, right?

Your book may have been published by a traditional publisher, self-published or through Print on Demand (POD) but no one will know about it unless you as the author are ready to take the next step; that of marketing and promotion. Unless you can afford to hire your own publicist or PR company, the onus of marketing the book is entirely your own. Contrary to the opinion of professional PR firms, there are many low cost ways to promote yourself and your book. Marketing is all the more important if:

1. You are a first time writer
2. The book is self-published
3. The book has been published through POD
4. All the above

In case your book has been published by a traditional publisher, you'll find that they do a lot of marketing for you, but that is not enough. You will still need to contribute in the marketing exercise if you wish to see your book sell and make it to any of the best seller charts. So here are a few ways you can market your book.

Get Reviewed

This is the most effective way of getting people to talk about your book. Getting reviews for your book is easier that most forms of marketing but it is the credibility of the reviewers that matter. Aim first to get them reviewed by the best reviewers. This can be very difficult unless you have common contacts. Good reviewers are wary of taking on first time writers and this is because of the deluge of books that the market has been flooded with. And a major portion of these books are by first time writers. Since the quality of most of the books in terms of content is questionable, the good reviewers stay away from them.

The next step should be to target publications that have readers whose interests make them a likely target audience. Book reviews by actual readers of the book also matter. So, if you know someone who bought your book, then get in touch with them and ask for feedback. Tell them to blog about it or put their reviews on the online bookstore’s site. This usually works since prospective readers/customers are limited in their ability to search reviews from varied sources themselves.

Get into that bookstore

If your book has been published by a traditional publisher, then getting your book to the bookstore is not your headache but if it has been self-published or through POD, then it is the author's responsibility of exploring that option. Nowadays, POD service providers provide distribution services as well for bulk orders.

Authors should build relationships with bookstore owners. Get in touch with them; bring up the topic of getting them to stock your book. If it needs, tell the owners/managers that you will do a book reading or book signing session. You will have more influence and success in independent bookstores, since chain stores work with wholesalers and distributors.

Get back in touch

So what if the last college you attended was 10 years back, you are still an alumnus. Your alma mater still needs you and so do you. You have written a book and you are proud of the fact so why not let your college know about it, not with the intention of selling the books but to get the word around. The current students of your college could well be your future buyers.

This applies to all your previous companies as well. Unless you fought before you left the company, they too would be proud of your achievements. Let them know about your book.

Personal Promotion and Social Networking

Internet marketing has changed dramatically in the last 3-4 years, with many new applications and tools. Create a personal website which needn’t be fancy--just enough to present information about your book and create a buzz. In addition to describing the book, you can post reviews and offer a free chapter to readers. This will create that interest that you are looking for. The eyeballs to sales conversion rate increases dramatically if the prospective readers/buyers can find all the required information about you and your book all at the same place.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter Myspace etc can be excellent marketing tools for your book promotion. Book marketing through social networking sites take time and effort, so you can't give up after only a few days.

As a first time author, your main objective is to hammer your name and the name of your book into the public consciousness. Use all your creativity in such a way that not only does it increases sale for your current book but will also improve your chances of successful marketing next time.

There are many other ways of marketing your book. An author just needs to use his/her imagination to tap into some unexplored marketing goldmine. Always remember, there is nothing called overnight success. It might take you years to achieve that overnight success. At the end of the day, you will become very tired but very enlightened. Believe me; it is very satisfying to see all your hard work pay off.

Pijush Gupta is the author of “Have a Pleasant Journey” published by CinnamonTeal. He blogs at www.pigtale.co.in

Leave them books alone!

2010-07-14T20:32:00.001+05:30

The drums have started beating faster – presumably announcing the death of the ‘physical’ book in the near future. It’s the age of PADS and PODS and everything is hyphenated with an ‘e’ or an ‘i’. Who would want to hold a dumb ol’ book between the thumb and pinky and ONLY read...when one can squint into some screen (held in one hand) and use just a thumb to scroll (same hand if you are deft, other hand if you are daft) and read a novel, download MP3s of Scissor Sisters, shop for the vitamins, upload photos of one’s big toe (that’s the status update for that particular minute) and also tweet about Lady Gaga’s latest wig? Wow! I just framed the world’s longest and incoherent question.

The point is, if you are like me...then we are possibly the minority section that are going into the future kicking and screaming. I don’t hate technology. I just adapt to stuff slowly. More than a decade ago, when broadband was a hair accessory (as far as I was concerned broad band was a type of hair band) and VSNL was the only option for dial-up internet connections, I scoffed at geeks who had an email ID. When potential employers threatened to inform my interview results through emails, I had no option but to log on. Before long, I was an unwilling convert and I became the average-jane IT consultant, responsible for creatively coming up with more bullshit than the environment guys. Finally, just before I completely sold out my soul to Satan, I quit to smell the roses etc. Then, I discovered Facebook...and that all my schoolmates are on Facebook. Now I am back in their lives after 18 years, plaguing them 24/7 across time zones and geos. I am not yet on twitter. I don’t have so many thoughts to qualify for twitter. Besides, brevity has never been the soul of whatever little wit I have. I’ll get there someday. Meanwhile, I love to shop online. I love Print-on-Demand. I love all these technologies that have made me sit on my ass and reach out to the world, without having to meet, touch, or talk to humans who are alive and kicking. BUT! But what I don’t love is reading a book online. Or rather, reading it off a computer screen or any screen for that matter. This invention makes me froth...it’s viler than the nuke bomb if you ask me.

Not that I’ve not tried. There is a website called Project Gutenberg. They have legally published digitised version of thousands of literature classics. This website has saved my life several times; especially during meetings where my brain matter could have oozed out due to the pressure of boredom. During grim meetings where we discussed ‘why something sucked, and why it will continue to suck and why we can’t prevent it from sucking’; I would read Bram Stoker’s Dracula online. I would have a terrified expression on my face, and thoroughly concentrate on the laptop screen – an ideal gesture during sombre meetings. During light-hearted status update meetings which threatened to spill over by 120 billion minutes, I would read Tom Sawyer. The flip side was that I was going cross-eyed staring at the screen (yes the screen came with anti-glare technology). My eyes would puff like a tea bag and go bloodshot like that of an OD’d junkie. Why would anyone go through this torture?

At home, we are collectors of books. I especially love second-hand book stores. Not because the books come cheap...but because each book comes with a history. My father had picked up G.B. Shaw’s Three Plays for Puritans way back in the 1970s. This has handwritten notes in neat loopy handwriting dated sometime in the 1950s! What a journey this book must have had! Wonder which dapper young man of the 1950s must have read and relished this book! Similarly, there is a leather bound book on ‘Essays on English Literature’ – a 1960s edition, which was bought in 1970s for an extravagant sum of Rs.3! This one too has underlined passages and notes written in impeccable handwriting. A Chase novel came with a list of groceries, a collection of Thoreau’s poetry was dedicated to ‘My Queen’ and so on.

Even now, whenever I visit my Dad, I raid his book collection. I love the faint smell of naphthalene that wafts from the yellowed pages – and pleasant memories of lazy summer holidays bubble up. Dried ferns, or the petals of a rose, or the gold foil wrapping of a chocolate were my book marks. Some books stayed in the mind more than ever. The passages were Darcy confesses his feelings for Elizabeth made my romantic soul thrum like a plucked guitar string. These passages were visited again and again, and read out softly. Sigh! Or when the murderer is revealed in the end of an Agatha Christie story...what surprise! And I would read all over again, the passages where the murder appeared earlier on in the story and marvel at the characterisation. So do you get it? I don’t see myself scrolling up and down a foul computer screen to revisit a passage. How utterly senseless and annoying!

The best end to a day would be curling up in bed all nice and warm and reading an absorbing, thick-as-a-brick paperback till the wee hours of the morning. If you are like me...you’d want to devour the book to see how it ends – but at the same time, you don’t want to stop reading ever, because the book is so good! And so, every time I insert a bookmark, I look at the thickness of the remaining pages and think how many more hours of bliss remains? And to think all this will disappear in the years to come...I can only wish the 2012 doomsday predictions are true!

I imagine myself lying on the proverbial death bed and croaking to my grand children (hopefully, at least one would have inherited the love of reading), “Here is the microchip that contains my book collection. Unfortunately I busted the screen while searching for my dentures...so you will have to buy a new one and insert this chip.” ARRRGGGGHHHH.

So here is a compromise that I suggest. Why don’t you techno buggers shove up all those text books into these *PADS? At least school kids will not have to carry the going-to-Antarctica school bags. And can someone please pass a law banning novels from being digitized?

In any case let me know if you sons-of-Lucifer will still go ahead with this e-thingie and phase out books. I will sell my house and liquidate my savings and buy all possible books and live in a bunker.

Meet Our Author - Vikram Karve

2010-07-12T15:39:00.005+05:30

VIKRAM KARVE born in Baramati Pune and educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi and The Lawrence School Lovedale Ooty, is an electronics and communications engineer by profession, a human resource and training manager by occupation, a teacher by vocation, a creative writer by inclination and a foodie by passion.

An avid blogger, he has written a large number of fiction short stories, professional, technical and management articles, self help and philosophical musings and creative non-fiction pieces in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. Vikram lives in Pune with his family and pet Doberman girl Sherry, with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Do have a look at Vikram Karve’s creative writing blog at: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com and his Professional Profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

1. How did the idea for the book come about?

I love good food. I love walking. So I love going on long walks exploring, searching for authentic food wherever I go. I got the idea for writing about food while “food-walking” on the streets of Mumbai a few years ago.

2. When do you think you really became passionate about food? Or better yet, when do you think you realized it?

I knew I was passionate about food when I realized that most of the time I was thinking about good food – this happened when I was in college.

3. Tell us why readers will enjoy ' Appetite for a Stroll'?

Appetite for a Stroll is a unique book of foodie adventures breathtaking in its simplicity which surely has something for you – you’ll discover authentic eateries you’ve never been to before, it’s got recipes you’ve never read before, tips on the art of eating, a delicious journey which you can easily identify with, especially if you are a foodie or a wanderlust person.

4. What's your favorite recipe from the book?

“ ¾, 1, 1 ½ ” – MY TIME TESTED BAKE A CAKE FORMULA

5. Do you cook yourself?

Yes, I love cooking as much as I love eating.

6. What was the first dish that you were really proud of?

The first dish I was proud of was CHICKEN DO PIAZA which I improvised during an impromptu dinner for friends who suddenly landed up with a broiler chicken and asked me to cook it for them.

7. What sets you apart from other food writers?
I am a genuine simple earthy trencherman, an ardent foodie, who honestly believes in the maxim “There is no love greater than the love of food”.

8. Could you share a favorite recipe?

Of course I’d love to share my favorite recipe… It’s called EGGS VODKA and a KISS…a story and a recipe…do read it in Appetite for a Stroll on page 117.

9. Do you have any future writing plans?
Yes. I plan to become a full time writer soon. I am planning a novel (on which I am already working) and book for children and dog lovers. Maybe I will write a book on “Teaching Stories” and Wisdom and Philosophy through Humor. I also want to publish an anthology featuring a collection of my short stories written by me over the past 20 years in various magazines and in my creative writing blog and another anthology of my philosophical musings and self help articles. I will continue to write short stories, philosophical musings, food and travel writing and self help articles and continue to blog actively.

10. How was it working with CinnamonTeal Publishing?
Appetite for a Stroll is a well designed and attractively packaged book which makes an easy read and has been liked by readers. The quality of publishing is really good. I wish the book had been advertised, publicized, and marketed well and displayed in prominent bookstores and bookstalls at airports and railway stations and was easily available to readers. Appetite for a Stroll is only available online. Most readers prefer to browse and buy books in bookstores or bookstalls rather than online.

(Readers may note that CinnamonTeal has since begun offering marketing packages, for more details contact shulen @ dogearsetc.com)

The big mystery - where is crime genre in India?

2010-07-09T00:09:00.003+05:30

My romance with crime fiction started way back during my childhood. Thanks to Enid Blyton. Holidays, especially summer holidays meant trekking to the nearest library. The library close to my home in Malleswaram, Bengalooru, was actually a hole in the wall. It was a 10 feet by 15 feet window-less shop. Books were piled and strewn around in an organized way. The man who ran the shop had a constant sleepy expression. There was no way one could stroll around the shop and pick up a book they wanted. We had to stand near the entrance of the shop and tell him the book title. And he would find the book within a jiffy. How he did it ...I have no clue. And so, it would be some Famous Five or Secret Seven for me, a James Hadley Chase for my Dad, a Sharat Chandra for my Grandmom, a Jane Austen for my mom and a Tintin for my sister. The books would be retrieved from dark, secret corners, dusted against his trousers and handed over. As far as I remember, there was no return date stamped. My dad would give ten rupees once in a month or once in two months, depending on the number of visits.

From Famous Five, my friends and I slowly graduated to Agatha Christie. Then came the wave of American teen detective fiction – Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. By then, someone had stealthily smuggled their dad’s copy of Forsyth’s Day of The Jackal. The book made rounds – and there were hushed reviews. Why were we wasting time reading ‘crap’ like Nancy Drew? More dads had their book shelves raided. There was someone called Robert Ludlum. Someone called Sidney Sheldon. Someone called Robin Cook. They all wrote ‘mind-blowing’ thrillers.

Decades later, as life has pecked away at much of our creativity thanks to mind-numbing corporate culture, my friends and I somehow managed to retain this single-most passion for crime thrillers. (The latest doing the rounds is of course Stieg Larsson.)

But time and again, I have been puzzled to find that for a country that laps up crime fiction, we don’t have a single internationally successfully author in the crime genre. Another strange fact, crime fiction is very much alive and kicking in regional languages. It is only now that English translations of these are furiously underway (ref: http://www.mid-day.com/specials/2010/may/020510-crime-fiction-agatha-christie-novels-tv-shows.htm). In fact, the leader in crime genre in Asia is Japan apparently! I found this interesting insight from an article in the Guardian. The only Indian author who got a mention is Vikram Chandra for Sacred Games. Check out http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/aug/27/top10s.asian.crime

I can only guess the reasons behind this fact –
1) Thanks to the Booker success (Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, Aravind Adiga), more and more authors like to follow their footsteps and write similar literature.

2) Thanks to the success of Chetan Bhagat (and I am talking about Five Point Someone), we have a sudden flurry of activity from the ‘intellectual’ class. Management grads, investment bankers, IT consultants are all pounding away on the keyboard writing slim volumes on relationships in modern India.

3) Perhaps the lack of a sophisticated and glamorous law enforcement infrastructure – like the FBI and Scotland Yard in India is another factor. In most of the international crime thrillers the crime detection is as interesting as the crime itself. Authors like Patricia Cornwell have literally built up the CSI legend in USA with her detailed forensic analysis interwoven in her stories. Not that is impossible in an Indian setting. But it would require a detailed, ground-up research into the working of our police force. Going by the books that are getting published as we speak, it looks like no author has the time, or the inclination to put in such effort.

4) Perhaps there are good manuscripts, but they are rejected – the publishers rather put money in a proven genre than try out a new one
All said and done, the Indian publishing scene shows a lot of promise – at least on the author’s front. We have a whole generation of well-travelled, well-read authors, who are unafraid to pen their thoughts. On the other hand, I don’t see the publishing end keeping up with this talent pool. There is no innovation, no creativity to encourage new genres or market good authors internationally. I guess that’s the reason why more and more Indian authors who write on offbeat subjects go through the self-publishing route, or seek out agents abroad.

If you have written a crime thriller, I would really love to hear about your experience with agents/publishers in India!

Meet Our Author - U. A. Kiran

2010-06-23T11:54:00.007+05:30

U. A. Kiran was born in Cannanore in Kerala, India. From Kerala, he came to Howrah in West Bengal to learn Bengali, Hindi and finally English which became the medium of expression and the language of his creativity.

Having completed his Diploma in Management in West Bengal he worked in Andhra Pradesh for some time. It was not until late that the writing bug bit him. Currently he resides in Goa.

The author likes writing poems, stories, novelettes/novels, dialogues/dramas, chalk-shaping, making puzzles. He has a passion for instrumental music and loves travelling.

U. A. Kiran is the author of The Alpha and The Omega and Other Stories and Beginner’s English Grammar.

1) Can you tell us what your latest book, Lost Smiles, is all about?

In the book 'Lost Smiles', I have brought together various natures, relationships and moods of people around us and the usual and unusual situations in human life.

'My Tummy' and 'My Figure, My Problem' would tickle your funny bones till the end. Some stories, like 'Fear of Defeat' and Beauty at the Window', have the pinch of suspense which you would find enjoyable. 'The Wood' and The Last Train' would terrify you, while romantic airs are spread all over 'The First Kiss' and The Casket'. Sometimes, you would feel whether such an incident could really happen. While writing this book, I have kept in mind to entertain the reader with plenty of imaginable and unimaginable characters and their affairs.

2) What inspired the stories behind Lost Smiles?

I’m a keen observer and like to write about things that I think need remembering—things that stimulate an emotional response; be it suspense, fear, pleasure. So it was obvious that Lost Smiles was inspired by the characters around me.

3) When did you first see yourself as a writer?

In my childhood, I was an ardent story-teller and gradually attempted to write in my teenage days. I was drawn towards fiction novels as they offer an endless chance to explore and experiment, without anyone imposing limitations. In the later years this passion for fiction pushed me to do what I like doing the best, i.e. WRITING...

4) Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Each character in the book has a different story to tell. And since the characters in the book are inspired by the people around me it would make for enjoyable reading for the readers. Besides, the human emotions that pop up every time you turn the page will keep the reader engrossed every time he flips a page.

U. A. Kiran’s latest book, 'Lost Smiles', published by CinnamonTeal Publishing, can be found on

http://www.dogearsetc.com/mainpage.jsp?type=2&id=36624

Saying it Aloud

2010-06-10T13:02:00.001+05:30

While the jury is still out on whether the demise of the printed form of the book is near, what is almost certain is that readers will choose to consume the contents of the book in whatever manner they see fit. While e-books have made the news thanks to the Kindle and the iPad, audiobooks make for another exciting avenue through which content can be distributed and sold.

For self-publishing authors, it becomes important to tap into any avenue that could possibly increase the awareness of the book and, consequently, its sales. While we, at CinnamonTeal, had put at the disposal of our authors a wide range of book marketing options, developing and distributing audiobooks still remained a challenge for us.

Our association with iScript may have changed all that. This partnership allows our authors to avail of state-of-the-art facilities in the development of their audiobook. Our authors can choose whether to produce an audio clip of the whole book or just an excerpt and the accent and diction of the author. The author can then choose to put the audiobook up for sale or may choose to post the excerpt as a marketing device for the book.

We are very excited about this development and hope our authors will leverage this opportunity

Community Living

2010-05-18T15:23:00.000+05:30

From the time we have started our business, we realized that we needed to actively engage with our customers so that their feedback could, to the extent possible, be incorporated into the services we offer. While this may sound cliched, there was an ulterior motive: listening to customer feedback kept us in business.

The best feedback we have got from our customers is communicated through email or by phone. It is usually in response to a particular set of issues the customer has faced. However, there are some well-meaning customers who have gone out of their way and pointed out ways in which we could improve ourselves.

Many of the services we now offer, after close to three years in operation, are a result of such feedback. After our customers told us that that is what they'd rather have, we have worked upon providing streamlined shipping options, enhanced our book marketing services, vastly improved the quality of our hardcovers and introduced e-book and audio-book services. Those of you who have visited our website and found all the information you need there must know that it is in response to our customers' preference for full disclosure.

We believe we can go one step further. While we have only our side of the story to tell, we believe that many of our customers, especially the new ones, can benefit from the experiences of those who have already worked with us. We have therefore sought to develop a "community" where authors can freely discuss their books, the self-publishing process, the challenges faced in the process of self-publishing, the do's and don'ts and points to remember. This community is an attempt to tap into the collective wisdom of those participating. In the process, we feel that we too might gain from the candid feedback that emerges.

So I welcome you to our community. I request you to set aside your inhibitions and freely discuss here. No question is frowned upon, no query too rudimentary. We hope you will all enjoy participating here and that you will participate in the spirit we have sought to develop - that of unbridled curiosity.

The Cost of Self Publishing

2010-05-06T11:40:00.001+05:30

One question that is often asked by authors contacting us is that related to the cost of publishing. I have attempted to answer that question here although it is nearly impossible to give an exact figure considering the fact that almost every book is unique in some aspects. What follows is an approximation.

Please note: These are approximate costs charged by CinnamonTeal Publishing. Rates at other publishers/printing houses may vary. Rates will also vary depending on the specifications of the book you choose to publish.

a. Editing: Assuming you are done writing, the first step would be to have the book edited. In fact, at CinnamonTeal, we insist on one round of editing. This service costs Rs. 85 per A4 page (13 Garamond with 1" margins) for copy editing and proof reading, Rs. 65 per A4 page for proof reading alone and Rs. 125 per A4 page for substantive editing. Assuming a manuscript of 35,000 words and 350 words to an A4 page, having the book edited and proof read will cost Rs. 8,500.

b. Cover Design: The service costs you Rs. 5000/-. You get three unique covers to choose from and three iterations to improve the cover you have chosen.

Total Cost so far: Rs. 13,500

c. Interior Page Design: The service costs Rs. 20 per page for text-only pages. The above word count translates roughly into 150 pages of A5 dimensions (i.e 5.83"x8.27"). Interior page design will therefore cost Rs. 3000/-

Total Cost so far: Rs. 16,500

d. Printing: A single copy of the book, having specifications mentioned as before and with only black and white pages, with perfect binding will cost Rs. 157.50. For the sake of this article, assuming 50 books are printed, the cost of printing totals Rs. 7,875

Total Cost so far: 24,375

e. ISBN: While the ISBN and the associated barcode is provided for free, government regulations require that a copy of the book be deposited at each of the four national libraries. The cost of four copies totals Rs. 630 while postage and paperwork costs Rs. 300. Hence the cost of printing and sending these books totals Rs. 930.

Total Cost so far: Rs. 25,305

f. That's pretty much it. There are no setup costs, no fulfillment costs (except the cost of printing the book and postage) and no "manuscript changing cost". One might decide to have a website designed and we charge Rs. 5000 for that service.

So we are still talking about a total cost of Rs. 30,305.

Roughly translates into US $ 700.00

You might also consider the cost of the time you will spend marketing your book and tracking your sales. While the amount mentioned above is definitely not a small one, it is an investment in yourself. The time and effort you have put in while writing your book and fine-tuning it is definitely the single-largest investment you have made. This later investment just sustains it.

Note: If you choose the "do-it-yourself" route, you could save on most of these costs. The only cost you'd have to bear is that of printing. Assuming you choose to print 50 copies, that cost would amount to Rs. 7875. Roughly $180.00

The Grammar Nazi and the Zen Grammarian

2010-04-24T11:28:00.003+05:30

Grammar Nazis and the Zen Grammarian

Towards the fag end of the second World War, a rumour was running through the Allied countries, characterized by this paragraph from Time Magazine:

“But what of the top Nazis who cannot hide? With a compact army of young SS and Hitler Youth fanatics, they will retreat, behind a loyal rearguard cover of Volksgrenadiere and Volksstürmer, to the Alpine massif which reaches from southern Bavaria across western Austria to northern Italy. There immense stores of food and munitions are being laid down in prepared fortifications. If the retreat is a success, such an army might hold out for years.”

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,852130-1,00.html

(Quoted from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Redoubt)

This Alpenfestung, or Alpine Fortress, was mostly a fantasy; the Nazis of Germany would stand routed with only a few big names making it out alive. But a different group, the Grammar Nazis, have set up a formidable array of such redoubts, in the form of propah professors, competitive entrance exams and meticulous editors. It is the last that concerns this article. Every editor, particularly a fiction editor, has a choice whether to be a Grammar Nazi or not.

The association with the Nazis may come across as offensive, but it isn’t really intended to be, and isn’t really offensive in the world-at-large. There are some things that it is socially commendable to be a Nazi about, like not spitting on the road, or not travelling ticketless on a Mumbai local, or even vegetarianism. Even though ‘Grammar Nazi’ is used by the layman to mock the average pedant who pipes up to correct your syntax in class, I know that there are many who take an evident pride in the label.

I know because I was once a junior, card-carrying member of the Grammar Nazis.

The idea has a certain classical appeal. What Grammar Nazis are looking to build is an ineffaceable edifice, a monument that enduringly presides over the language, rewards its devotees and chides the deviants and the offenders. There is peace in stillness, safety in the solidity of the framework. In general, one of man’s pet bugbears is uncertainty; it takes special training to be able to tolerate uncertainty. Forget about accepting it.

Their arguments are strong as well. If language is to be used for communication, doesn’t it make sense to have a stable framework that everyone can understand? More importantly, long years of associations have lent certain shades of meaning to the “correct” terms and phrases. Won’t these be lost if you loosen the framework, lower the drawbridge and let the ignorant and unscrupulous masses storm the Grammar fortress?

There is one more thing that I would like to say about Grammar Nazis: their assurance is infectious. There is an immediate feeling of respect when you hear a man confidently assert his views, there is an automatic charm in a man who knows what he’s talking about. One of my favourite Grammar Nazis, Henry Watson Fowler, addresses the issue of the stasis of language by introducing two terms, Idiom and Analogy. Idiom is the linguistic convention, the way things are done in language, while analogy is the attempt by people (both who are aware and unaware of the convention and the rationale behind it) to experiment with language.

Here is a passage from Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage, 2 e. (1965), delightfully and idiosyncratically titled ‘The Cast-Iron Idiom’ (my paragraphing and pruning to the permitted 250 words):

“cast-iron idiom.

Between IDIOM and ANALOGY a secular conflict is waged. Idiom is conservative, standing in the ancient ways, insisting that its property is sacrosanct, permitting no jot or tittle of alteration in the shape of its phrases. Analogy is progressive, bent on extending liberty, demanding better reasons than use and wont for respecting the established, maintaining that the matter is what matters and the form can go hang.

Analogy perpetually wins, is forever successful in recasting some piece of the cast iron, and for that reason no article in this book is likely to be sooner out of date in some of its examples than this. Idiom as perpetually renews the fight, and turns to defend some other object of assault. 'I doubt that it ever happened', 'He is regarded an honest man',... —all these, says Idiom, are outrages on English; correct them please to ' I doubt whether it ever happened', 'He is regarded as an honest man'...

But why? retorts Analogy. Is not to doubt to be unconvinced? Is not regarding considering? ...Away with such hair-splittings and pedantries! ...I propose to neglect your petty regulations...

Not that Analogy, and those whom it influences, are offenders so deliberate and conscious as this description of them might seem to imply ; they treat regard like consider not because they choose to flout the difference that Idiom observes, but because it comes natural to them to disregard distinctions that they have not noticed."

Note the absolutely wicked pardon proffered by St. Fowler: “not because they choose to flout the difference that Idiom observes, but because it comes natural to them to disregard distinctions that they have not noticed”. That kind of eloquence is rarely possible in a more permissive framework; the grand authoritarian rhetoric gives it its power.

Wherein lies the rub?

The very arguments that Grammar Nazis use turn against them once one views the matter of language from a slightly different angle. This is the small matter of the gap between an existing system and man’s capacity to describe, order and govern that system.

An example is the ecosystem: we may study it and classify it, but can we really order it or control it? Can we declare what exists as ‘incorrect’? Can we, for instance, dismiss the duck-billed platypus as an error in biology? No; we must make room, we must create a new box for it or admit our ignorance.

Language, though it seems to be in our control because it is the currency of our own species, and does not carry biological inevitability, is as much of an ecosystem. And this is because of an important hierarchy that Grammar Nazis ignore: the authority of spoken language over written language.

Written language comes second to spoken language, for written language begins by being primarily a record of spoken language, a hierarchy dominated by the order of human development, starting with speech and followed by writing. And speech is free and situational, and grammar can go take a hike when someone speaks under the influence of passion, of anger, of fear.

Besides, the number of people who have the desire to communicate far exceeds the number of people who are interested in memorizing the conventions of a language.

I have now come to look upon conventions of language, and some conventions of grammar, as not laws but etiquette: and I have a healthy contempt for etiquette as a rigid code of conduct. Etiquette for me is not about specific, high-brow, snooty knowledge, but about grace, the true marker of distinction and class; if etiquette makes one of my guests uncomfortable, it isn’t etiquette, it is a barrier. Similarly, if my Grammar Fascism makes the person speaking to me uncomfortable, I am creating a greater block to communication than his own ignorance.

Language is flux: to impose stasis on it is not only futile, but also arrogant. Static grammar is both comfortable and limited, but our experience of the world is both ever changing and unlimited, and therefore language will always find ways to break out of its own straitjackets. Communities will be reared on “I ain’t going nowhere notime soon”, and, less anomalously, will say “It’s me” and not the pompous but oh-so-correct “It is I”, and there’s very little the small circle of Grammar Nazis can do about it.

There is another deep failing of Grammar Nazis: they lack consensus. Different grammar handbooks will give you different ironclad rules. What one Grammar Nazi will consider excessive and do away with, another will consider mandatory.

The question becomes more fraught when discussing fiction. Two categories of ideas are at work here. One is the right to use non-standard dialects in fiction, often used to assert individuality in the constellation of fiction written in English. Mark Twain’s use of a dialect in both the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn is an important example. The modern poet John Agard exemplifies the creative use of non-standard dialect to make a political statement in his famous poem ‘Half-Caste’:

Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when picasso
mix red an green
is a half-caste canvas/
explain yuself
wha u mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when light an shadow
mix in de sky
is a half-caste weather/
well in dat case
england weather
nearly always half-caste
in fact some o dem cloud
half-caste till dem overcast
so spiteful dem dont want de sun pass
ah rass/
explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste

The other tendency is more aesthetic, an attempt to play with language for either rhetorical effect (“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins.”) or to convey interior mental states (James Ellroy in White Jazz: “Fever-that time burning. I want to go with the music-spin, fall with it.”) or as a formalist device (Finnegan’s Wake famously begins “riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodious vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.” and ends “A way a lone a last a loved a long the”, leaving the book without either a beginning or an end).

How should an editor, particularly a former Grammar Nazi, deal with fiction editing? What can be the aesthetic value of a looser framework of grammar, to compare with the charming assurance, sense of order and clarity championed by the Grammar Nazis?

For that, I will introduce the other half of my title: say hello to the Zen Grammarian. The Zen Grammarian has a particular perspective towards the world; she knows its mutability, and is not militantly attached to anything. She has great love for what she values, but she recognizes that as her preoccupation, as her passion, and does not demand it of anybody else. Nor does she react in horror or despair at its passing. If people will spell definitely as definately, or will say “She is taller than me”, she will be mindful of the situation and only correct them where absolutely necessary.

The Zen Grammarian knows what is important: communication and a level of comfort between those communicating, and she sees language as a tool facilitating that communication. She knows that there is nothing to be arrogant about, and that the richness of the varied uses of language can provide both delight and insight, not to mention the playfulness in tinkering with language.

The Zen Grammarian will therefore nitpick less, listen more, and give a writer the benefit of the doubt.

PS: Readers in the know will recognize that what I have described is an old debate, that between Prescriptive and Descriptive grammar, where the former tries to frame the rules and the latter tries to describe the way language is used in the world, and derive its laws from that usage. Cambridge Grammarians have done some admirable work in descriptive grammar recently, though their conviction is sometimes faintly offensive; the Student’s Introduction to English Grammar by Huddleston and Pullum is a great starting point for those interested in exploring descriptive grammar.

The end of the book as we know it?

2010-04-20T17:01:00.000+05:30

The definition of a book might soon change.

While we are all used to it's current definition as "a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together)", advances in technology and increasing expectations from readers may converge to ensure that that definition no longer holds or, at best, is only partially true.

There's no denying that customers want to be in charge and have a say in all interactions they are a part of. One-way communication is just too passe. They want their foods tweaked a little, decide which channels to watch on TV, even decide who wins the next edition of American Idol. It'd be pretty dumb to assume, therefore, that they would be content reading a book without a part to play.

So imagine a situation where Snow White is warned that the apple may contain some poison. Or one where Thomas Friedman is grilled on his notions of a Flat World. All while reading the book.

Technology may just make that possible. Discussions are already happening through instant messaging and other collaborative software. With the emergence of the broadband and improvements in content delivery, it won't be too far away when the book is not just a static collection of words and pages but a dynamic discussion forum. Real time collaboration may make it possible for authors and readers to communicate and offer stories, plots and explanations tailored for the reader. If the book is indeed a source of knowledge, then such an incarnation of the book might indeed allow people to communicate and collaborate and put their minds together in the pursuit of knowledge. Ideas can be debated and discussed threadbare. Nuances can be emphasized.

Interactivity will be key. The book will indeed be a social lubricant.

Any thoughts?

our new logo!!!

2010-04-19T11:54:00.003+05:30

We have changed our logo. Let us know what you think about it.

We have also changed our name to "CinnamonTeal Publishing" to reflect the fact that we provide service for all things publishing.

Impending Doom or Misplaced Fears?

2010-04-15T16:55:00.002+05:30

There is much debate on whether the printed book will survive the onslaught of its electronic counterpart. With newer devices being produced almost everyday that make e-books easy to access, it seems like e-books are here to stay. While many publishers are apprehensive of the impact of e-books on their business models, it will be, nonetheless, interesting to see how things pan out here in India.

Even today, many Indian villages remain inaccessible because of the poor quality of roads and last mile delivery of goods remains a huge challenge. Primarily because of this, and because literacy levels associated with the rural hinterland are considered abysmal, books hardly make it to the villages in the numbers that it should. This means that those who actually want a good book to read cannot get one. The Government has made a feeble attempt to introduce libraries but barring that and a few mobile libraries that are introduced by well-meaning individuals, finding a good book to read is long shot off.

It is in this context that the impact of e-books must be examined. Mobile connections cover almost half of the country's population and a huge perecentage of the rural populace. The average screen size of the mobile has also increased. That means books, if transmitted electronically, can be easily downloaded and conveniently read. In order to cater to the needs of the vernacular market, innovations will be important. Important strides are already being taken in this direction although more work is needed.

At an important time such as this, the correct steps must be taken. It is important to realise that this need not be a zero-sum game and that e-books and printed books can co-exist. In fact it has been proposed that e-books might actually prop up the demand for the printed versions. Careful thought must be therefore applied before publishers yield to the temptation of enforcing DRM rights and other such controls on the sale and dissemination of e-books.

What are your thoughts on this? How do you think the e-book wave will play itself out in India? Or is it too early to speculate? Are e-books going to change the way publishing is perceived and books delivered? Your comments are invited.

Riding the e-book wave!

2010-04-05T19:28:00.002+05:30

It was already about e-books. From the Kindle to the Nook to the very unimaginatively named Sony Reader, e-book Readers were fast to come by and offer those on the move a new way to read books. e-book Readers offered a truckload of choices - from the ability to carry more than a 1000 books at once to the ability to make annotations and notes on the book as you read it.

The iPad has raised the stakes even further. It was always possible to read e-books on smartphones thanks to the likes of the Stanza app on iphones and Aldiko on Google Android phones. With everyone who is someone preferring an electronic version of the book to read, having an e-presence has now become a necessity.

Making your book available in an electronic firm also has an economic aspect to it. With more than half of the world's readers of English books concentrated in North America and Western Europe, it makes sense to cater to these readers, who now increasingly prefer the convenience of e-books. There is also the cost factor. With e-book development being a one-time charge, every additional "e-book" costs nothing to produce. You are earning from each sale and spending nothing.

At CinnamonTeal, we are doing our best to help our authors leverage this channel. We have tied up with myebooks.com and Smashwords™, both respected book channels in their own right. Our association with them allows our authors access to a large number of platforms thus making their books accessible on most devices whether on mobiles or on dedicated e-book readers. To know more about this service, click here.We also offer an e-book development service for a variety of formats.

Everything you wanted to know about the ISBN but were too afraid to ask

2010-04-04T19:47:00.003+05:30

Many authors seem perplexed when faced with the question of whether they prefer an ISBN for their book. They are not sure whether an ISBN is required, what are its benefits and how it should be obtained. Here is an attempt to answer these questions.

Much of this is borrowed from here. Joel Friedlander's is a blog every person wishing to self-publish must visit.

1. What is an ISBN?

ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a 13-digit number that is assigned to one book and one book only. It is accepted universally.

2. Why does a book need an ISBN?

An ISBN is required to identify a book uniquely, irrespective of where that book originates from. It is also used to differentiate one edition of a book from another. The ISBN also serves the purpose of being able to identify the publisher of each edition of a book. Booksellers, distributors and libraries the world over rely on the ISBN to accurately catalogue and retrieve each book.

3. Does my book need an ISBN?

The short answer is that it is a good idea to have an ISBN assigned to your book. If you plan to have your book distributed and sold, more often than not your book will be expected to have an ISBN.

4. Does the ISBN have to be assigned by a publisher alone?

This rule differs from country to country. In India, ISBNs are assigned to publishers who then assign it to books. They are also assigned to authors. You simply need to contact the ISBN issuing authority in India.

Note that an ISBN is issued to a publisher (or author). Whoever "owns" the ISBN is recognized as the publisher of the book.

5. Does the presence of an ISBN guarantee a copyright on the ideas included in the book?

It does not. An ISBN is not a registration of copyright, it is a unique number by which your book can be identified and tracked down during trade. That said, an idea once penned down into a book is automatically protected by copyright law, whether or not a copyright is filed for. Hence filing for copyright may not be necessary unless in some unique cases.

6. How much does an ISBN cost?

In India, it costs nothing. Any publisher offering you an ISBN must also do it free of cost. In some other countries, an ISBN must be purchased.

7. Can I reuse an ISBN?

No, you cannot. Once assigned to a book, an ISBN cannot be reused.

8. Where do I put the ISBN in the book?

You’ll print it on the copyright page (sometimes called the imprint page), and it's included in the Cataloging-in-Publication (CIP) data block, if you use one. Otherwise, just print it on the copyright page and on the back cover as part of the bar code.

9. So does there have to be a bar code too?

Again, a matter of choice. However, if you plan to have your book distributed through physical book stores, your book might be expected to have a bar code. You can have your bar code generated here.

10. I am publishing a paperback and hardcover version of my book. Do I need two ISBNs or can I use the same one?

You need a separate ISBN for each type, to identify them for anyone who might want to find them in directories, catalogs and databases.

The jury is still out on whether an e-book needs a separate ISBN. While the book sellers are asking that an e-book be assigned its own ISBN, many publishers don't see why that is needed.

11. If I revise my book, do I need to give it a new ISBN?

If you only correct minor typographical errors, and don’t make any substantial changes to the text, you don’t need a new ISBN because it’s considered a reprint and not a new edition. A new edition would contain substantially new material, a major revision, or the addition of completely new elements. Anything that makes it a new book is likely to create a new edition and, therefore, will need a new ISBN.

A change in the cover of the book alone does not require that a new ISBN be assigned.

12. I had self-published my book and now an established publisher has picked it up for publishing. Will the book need a new ISBN?

Yes, it will. Since the ISBN identifies, among other things, the publisher of the book, it is necessary for the next publisher to issue you a new ISBN. Please note that the first ISBN cannot be reused.

CinnamonTeal Print and Publishing offers a free ISBN for every book it publishes.

Our first sales!!!

2010-04-04T11:06:00.008+05:30

On the 29th of March, 2010, Mira Koreth's bookpad at Banerghatta Road, Bangalore registered its first sales. For us at fivex5, it was a vindication of our belief that fivex5 was a concept whose time had come.

First some background. fivex5 was conceptualized as an alternate channel for selling books not because the other channels had dried up but because they were proving to be inefficient and expensive. Those familiar with the brick-and-mortar supply chain will tell you why it is expensive. Publishers get only a small pie of book sales and the money is realized after many days. More importantly the supply chain is hardly efficient. Only a tiny fraction of books make it to the large bookstore chains. The situation gets even worse as one moves away from the cities and towns.

The online store was supposed to change all that. Online stores do provide a much larger catalogue to choose from and offer large discounts that benefit the buyer. But publishers still gain little and the low Internet penetration in India is not helping matters. Websites can support Indian languages to a very limited extent so displaying titles in languages other than English remains a challenge. Besides, customers are still, albeit to a lesser degree, reluctant to pay for the books using their credit cards. Finally, many customers would still rather hold and feel a book before buying it.

If there was ever a possibility of marrying the catalogue-rich feature of online bookstores with the personal attention and rural reach that only brick-and-mortar stores can provide, fivex5 can make that happen. While there is a large online catalogue to choose from (and at the rate publishers are joining in, it can only get better), customers still get a chance to hold a book and view it before buying it.

With fivex5, we hope to develop many small bookstores instead of a few large ones. These will be scattered across villages and towns thus providing publishers with channels to the remotest of areas. What we have also observed is that people in many cities have also expressed a desire to own a bookpad. This can only mean that the presence of bookstores in large cities still leave an unsatisfied need for books.

Meet Our Authors - Dr. Shiva C. Aithal and Abhay B. Solunke

2010-04-01T12:01:00.010+05:30

This is the first in a series of blogs where we will introduce you to our authors. Our authors have chosen to follow the self-publishing route for many reasons, yet propelled by one underlying desire - to make their work accessible to everyone.

The authors we cover today are distinguished persons in their own fields. Their first steps towards self-publishing and print-on-demand were tentative but they have now mastered the process and have completed their third book. Meet authors Dr. Shiva C. Aithal and Abhay B. Solunke.

Dr. Shiva C. Aithal received his Masters degree in Microbiology from Marathwada University in 1993 and his Ph.D in Microbiology from Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded. His Doctoral studies are associated with Agro-wastes utilization and biofuel production. He serves as an Asst. Prof. in Microbiology at Undergraduate and Post graduate level in Dnyanopasak Shikshan Mandal’s College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Parbhani (M.S.) A recognized PG teacher in Microbiology and Biotechnology of Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded, Dr. Aithal is involved in teaching students at graduate and postgraduate level and has to his credit several papers published in the field of Microbiology in National Journals and Symposia and several books in Microbiology.

Abhay B. Solunke completed his M.Sc. in Microbiology from Marathwada University in 1993. He is a recognised University PG teacher in Microbiology and Biotechnology of Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded and has taught at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has several research papers to his credit and also research projects. He has introduced M.Sc. Industrial microbiology as an innovative subject in UGC X plan program. His Ph.d. work is associated with Mushrooms and the bioconversion of Agro-wastes. He is currently serving as Head-Department of Microbiology and Industrial Microbiology and also as the vice principal of Sant Tukaram Collge, Parbhani.

Their books:

Pollution Control by Microorganisms – Bioremediation, Biocontrol and Other Emerging Technologies

This book presents an authoritative explanation and discussion of a wide range of problems, in three sections, related to the environment, at a level suitable for practitioners and students in science, engineering, medicine, administration and planning. This book will be of particular importance for the increasing number of teachers and students involved in degree and diploma courses in environmental science.

Microbial Catabolism – A Review

This book contains 100 pathways for microbial catabolic metabolism of primarily xenobiotic organic compounds. It includes information on most known microbial catabolic reaction types and the organic functional groups they transform and provides a thorough overview of research and developments being carried out in the field of microbial degradation of xenobiotics compounds that cause harm to the environment. This compilation can also be used as a book for advanced courses in Microbiology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Environmental sciences, Enzymology and Metabolic engineering. This book is a part of UGC Xth Plan Innovative Programme M.Sc. Industrial Microbiology curriculum.

Air Microbiology: A Environment and Health Perspective

This book is currently the only one solely devoted to Air microbiology. Considering the importance of air in our lives, and the fact that very scare or little information/literature is available on the subject, an attempt has been made to give comprehensive and exhaustive information regarding all the aspects of Air Microbiology. This book covers all the important aspects of air microbiology which is essentially a part of study for Microbiology, Content wise, the book is rich in latest and modern methodologies including nucleic acid sequencing and microbial strain typing.

All three books are published by CinnamonTeal Print and Publishing Services, Margao, Goa.

Crossing those t's...

2010-03-29T23:31:00.015+05:30

There are many reasons why a book won't sell. Primary among them is editing - that is hastily done, or worse, altogether avoided.

If first impressions do make a difference, it is a well edited book, not an exquisitely designed cover, that will sell your book. It therefore makes terrible business sense to skip on editing . A good edit might not ensure large sales for your book but it can certainly eliminate a major reason for it being ignored.

The reasons for choosing to skip on editing are the obvious ones - it is expensive, the process is time-consuming and who could possibly do a better job than I, the author? Editing your own book is like reprimanding yourself. Very hard to do. It is therefore wise to consider having another pair of eyes read through your book. Please remember that any changes that might be suggested will help you produce a better book and increase its chances of selling. Hence take all the help you can get.

At CinnamonTeal, we insist on at least one round of editing. If you have the resources to do so, you should get your book copy edited and, later, proof read. Copy editing will "make the copy clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent". Proof reading will correct minor issues overseen during copy editing and will refine grammar, punctuation and other stylistic aspects. It is important to communicate to the editor what is expected of the process. This is because the editor should only correct the anomalies, not interfere with the style of writing. Some authors also expect the editor to change the flow of the text, if considered necessary, while some don't.

Given that much of the success of your book depends on how it is perceived, a well-edited book goes a long way to ensure that your book creates a favourable impression in the mind of your reader.

At CinnamonTeal Print and Publishing, we offer copy editing, substantive editing and proof-reading services. Visit our website for more details.

Not All Good Things Come In Packages

2010-03-28T19:29:00.001+05:30

We have been often asked why we do not offer packages like many other POD publishers do. It has been common practice about POD providers to offer publishing packages that bundle together services for an all-inclusive fee. At CinnamonTeal Print and Publishing, we have consciously chosen to stay away from packages. There are reasons for this:

a. Many of the packages available on offer bundle services that might not be needed by the author. But because no alternative is available, the service has to be bought, and paid for, as part of the package. For example, in package-based offerings, a person may have to pay for cover design even if she could have done it herself

b. Some services ought to be there for free. Like the non-exclusive contract which many publishers offer as part of their basic package but which, we believe, is central to the concept of POD publishing and must be offered without any strings attached. Similarly, in India, ISBN must be issued without any charge.

c. The concept of packages flies in the face of the spirit of POD i.e. helping authors get around budgetary constraints in the process of publishing their book. At CinnamonTeal, we first encourage authors to check and see if their friends or acquaintances can provide services like cover design or editing for free or for a reduced rate.

d. Many times, authors who have bought package-based services are left out of the loop when those services are provided. Consultation is not provided for as part of these services. Hence, during crucial stages like the editing of the book, the author is not allowed to weigh in on the edited draft. Inputs are incorporated but charged as another round of editing.

e. Most of the packages offer marketing services that promise the moon but require the author to be an inherent part of the process. Nothing wrong with that except that the author is led to believe that she can stay out of the process and the marketing package she has paid for will generate sales on its own.

f. Quality isn't assured. This follows from an earlier point made which illustrates the dangers of leaving the author out of the process. If the author is not allowed to provide her inputs to the edited manuscript, for instance, various nuances of the plot may be altered and the narrative may be lost in translation

CinnamonTeal Print and Publishing Services provides editorial, design and POD services to customers around the globe. It provides services a la carte - you pay only what you ask for.