History of self-publishing in India
Traditional publishing is getting harder and more complicated with passing days, in India. The lack of transparency and usual response of rejection disappoint the new Indian talents who work so hard to shape their dream into a manuscript. Hence, the mass of writers are slowly shifting themselves towards self-publishing. More than ever, independently published books are coming out in market and ruling the charts. The tradition of self-publishing had begun in the west, long back; we know classic authors like Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol) and Virginia Wolf self-published their books, but self-publishing in India wasn’t so popular in earlier decades, as it is since the recent past. But even then, it has been able to consolidate firm grounds and build a history for itself in the country, providing fair opportunities for authors.
Though slowly, but steadily, self-publishing seems to be replacing the traditional routes of publishing a book in India.
Today popular names, authors of best sellers are found to have self-published their books at some point of time, which brought them closer to success.
Ashwin Sanghi, the author of several bestsellers like The Krishna Key, Chanakya’s Chant and Private India: A City on Fire, self-published his first book The Rozabal Line.According to Sanghi, he sent over 100 requests to literary agents and publishers for his first book, only to get rejected by them all. Unwilling to give up on his dream, he decided to go the self-publishing route. He then also sent his book to around 40 distributors with a note in it, asking them to stock and distribute his book and only one responded to him. In 2007 came out his thriller fiction, The Rozabal Line which soon became a bestseller by 2008. The book dealt with survival of Christ from crucifixion and having had settled in India after that. The book was well-received by critics and audience.
Amish Tripathi, known to be the hero of mythological fiction, invested on his first book himself. The Immortals of Meluah was rejected multiple times from several publishers. At last he convinced a literary agent to spend some money on printing the book, and he himself invested the rest on distribution and marketing of the book. He definitely went a long way to promote his book. For instance, he offered copies of the first chapter free of cost: The book sold more than 40,000 copies and Westland bought the rights for the book. The Immortals of Meluha, was the first in the Shiva Trilogy. This was followed by The Secret of Nagas and The Oath of the Vayaputras, all of which were bestsellers as well.
Aditya Iyer, the author of The Great Indian Obsession: The Untold Story of India’s Engineers, raisedclose to 14,000 AUD from more than 300 individuals across the globe to fund his book. The book became the highest crowd funded book in India and the 6th highest in Asia. With the money, the author set on a backpacking trip to understand the story of engineers and India’s obsession with the subject. The book was published by Notion Press in 2015.
The same year, Savi Sharma’s book, Everyone has a Story, became a sensation and raised the bar for self-publishing in India. Savi Sharma became the youngest female self-published author in India, who did not want to wait in the line of rejection. She wanted quick outcome from her project and hence she went ahead aggressively in marketing her book, and as a result, 5000 copies of her book were sold in one month. In 2016, Westland bought the rights of the book.
Bengaluru-based author Anil Shetty (Life of I, 2012; Project of Hope, 2016) decided to self-publish his books to avoid the long wait for a mainstream publisher. “It takes six to eight months for them to even respond,” Shetty says. “I wanted to reach out to my audience.”Anil Shetty knew that he would have to hire professionals to edit and design the book: “These investments are non-negotiable,” he says. While he decided on book launches with celebrity guests in tow, Iyer decided on an online book trailer. He was particular the cover caught the eye of a “youngish crowd” and went for a funky blue and yellow palette. “People literally judge a book by its cover,” he says, after having observed “for hours” what readers generally pick at book exhibitions.
Since traditional ways of publishing are failing to support new talent in the writing industry, self-publishing in India is taking heights to promote new authors showcase their talent. History has already started to form since a few years and its not long, that Indian authors will have their own history of self-publishing and success stories with their books.
It a pleasure getting to know Exceller Books
Really very good article which will help all new authors like us