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The last session: Managing the Translation Market

The last session of the conference dealt with “Managing the Translation Market”. With a panel of six members and moderator Arshia Sattar, this session tackled different aspects of translation in the publishing industry. The moderator emphasized on the value of translation, 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 upon the market reasons for translation in India.

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

K. Satyanarayan, a Tamil publisher in his own right, discussed options for funding translations as well as the challenges involved in it. Other members of the panel included Neeta Gupta of Yatra Books who initiated the subject of tri-lingual dictionaries required in the industry, and Judith Oriol, the Book Attachee at the French embassy in India. “French publishers cannot ignore the Indian market anymore”, Ms. Oriol said.

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

Session 6: Copyrights in Publishing

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

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

Mandira Sen presented a PowerPoint briefly explaining Section 2(m) of the Copyright Law 2010. Kannan Sundaram gave a satirical viewpoint of Tamil publishing industry. Vinutha Mallya chaired the session on “copyright issues in publishing

Workshop 2: Social Media Marketing

Workshop on Social Media Marketing

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

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

Session 5: The Impact of Alternative Publishing

 The session on “The Impact of Alternative Publishing” witnessed active audience participation. One of the panellists, Michael Bhaskar stated that alternative publishing involves different forms or formats of publishing. Maitreyi Kandoi, added that alternative publishing included alternative content too. Another form of alternate publishing is “multi-lingualism which is the key to international exchanges”, said Elin Jones, Wales.

Chetna, founder of an ezine called Bubble Wrapped supported online media as being more convenient to start and reach out to people. Peter Griffin chaired this session and made it a very interactive one. 

Session 4: Publishing houses of the Future.

Session Four

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

Nilanjana Roy, a Delhi-based literary columnist and critic chaired this session and also addressed a previous discussion on whether print books would die, saying it is instinctive for us to turn back to paper in publishing. Atiya Zaidi, a publisher, said that publishing has a bright future especially in the education sector due to the need for textbooks in schools. Payal Kumar of SAGE Publications India, pointed out that all mechanisms in publishing houses are computerized, making work easier. Tremendous change has been observed. According to her, Publishers should catch up with technological advancements while taking stakeholders along. Sunil Patki, a Strategy and Business planning consultant felt the need for alot of training and understanding in terms of content published. Ulhas Latkar of Ameya Prakashan, Pune shared his experiences in independently publishing in regional languages. Trisha Gupta spoke from the perspective of a reader and put forth her views to the audience. Ramu Ramanathan, editor of PrintWeek India shared his opinions on the publishing scene while being a staunchly pro-books individual.

The session concluded with questions from the audience.

Technologies of the future-Indian and UK entrepreneurs

Presentations by UK and Indian entrepreneurs were organised on the topic of “Future technologies that bridge the divide: Making good in the absence of a supply chain.” The first presenter was Gavin Summers a Digital Services Manager from the UK. He suggested an innovative digital strategy called ‘Dynamic Learning’ and ‘Practise Every Question’ to improve on the print text book. The future of this 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 discussed with the audience the idea of web-friendly books that have the characteristics of pay-as-you-go, peer-2-peer, premium content layer and revenue for publishers.

Titash Neogi discussed “Themeefy” an online book reading format which also serves as a platform for curated content. His presentation emphasized on the rethinking of fundamental business and personal values.

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

Learning from the music Industry's experience-Anish Trivedi

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

Session 3

Book marketing in age of social media received dynamic participation  from the audience.

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

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

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

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

Session 2: The Future of Independent Publishing

Great attention was given to the minute aspects of this topic. 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 currently and so on.
Mr. Alvito Barreto shared his personal publishing experiences and discussed the problems 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 45 minutes.

Workshop 1: The Art of Academic Writing

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?"

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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