Meet Praney Deb, who has the distinction of being the first Indian author to publish an eBook on Lulu.com, the online marketplace for digital content.
Keen on protecting his book from any kind of censorship, Praney seized the opportunity of connecting directly to his reader and released his debut novel “Triple Trilogy” directly on the internet. Chillibreeze traced him out and ran an email interview with him. Here is the transcript for you to glean from.
The interview was coordinated by Sohini Rajpal and Preeti Sharma. If you want to get in touch with them or the author, mail us.
He has inspiring words for all the budding authors. Read on………….
We read about you publishing your work on Lulu. What made you choose Lulu from all others?
I chanced upon Lulu accidently. It was very user friendly and easy. I had my book uploaded, cover designed and priced. All in 15 minutes! Suddenly remembered that I discovered Lulu after reading an article about it in The Times of India and then I found it very convenient and so on…
Did you approach any conventional publisher before finalizing with Lulu?
No, I had not approached any conventional publisher before finalizing with Lulu but that was because I presumed my material (book) was very off the wall, startling and provocative. At the time I thought mainstream publishers may shy away from publishing such controversial material.
Were you aware that there are Indian firms offering self publishing and e-publishing services? If yes, what made you not choose them?
After I found Lulu I did make a half hearted attempt to search out similar portals but I found none, at least none as convenient as Lulu. I was not consciously looking for an ‘Indian’ firm because for me the internet is where geography becomes history, literally!
Can you tell us your experience of selling on Lulu?
I uploaded my book ‘Triple Trilogy’ in November 2008. I got a great response and was thrilled to have published India’s first eBook. I sold about a thousand copies but then a friend from publishing urged me to approach conventional publishers believing that ‘Triple Trilogy’ is a book that needs to reach out to a large worldwide readership as it may provide them a kind of refuge. I was very happy with Lulu until then but I wasn’t too sure if my book was being adequately promoted and following every writers wish of being widely read I pulled out my book from Lulu in January 2009 and sent it to some leading (conventional) publishers. And, while breathlessly waiting for ‘Triple Trilogy’ to hit the stands, I’m happily well into writing my next book. This is a very exciting time for me. What I just want to say here is that if chillfreeze.com can incorporate proper publicity in its package then that will be the missing link. That will complete the puzzle because I totally believe that a writers job is to write, a publishers to publish and so on and writers are usually so wrapped with their books swirling in their heads that its not possible or even appropriate for them to think of ways and means of publicizing their works, anything that takes away from the writing energy is sacrilege.
Any marketing tips or guidelines for budding authors?
EBooks are here to stay. It’s the future. With people rushing about and eBook readers like Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader easily available eBooks provide unprecedented immediacy, storage, convenience, mobility and a direct connect with the reader. And although it is a developing phenomenon, surely, pioneering efforts like chillfreeze.com will pave the way for the electronic revolution who’s time has now arrived.
My advice to budding writers would be to put that pen on paper, to confront that blank screen. You may read all the classics, all the bestsellers and all the books that teach writing but you have to write. There is no other way around it. Find your perfect ‘writing’ time and then everyday just isolate yourself at that time and sit and write.
My schedule is to write for about three hours every day before 10 am. That’s when I put on my gigantic headphone, tune in to music and tune out the world outside. The only world that then exists is the one I choose to create with my words. Even if you just stare at the screen for the duration of your ‘writing’ time, it doesn’t matter. What is critical is that each and every day you work that writing muscle. Visit your mind gym and work it! Its critical to be original and to find your voice. At first your voice may quiver and sound squeaky but at some point you will suddenly find your tune and sing your song. The main thing is to finish that manuscript. It will not always be pretty, in fact sometimes it may be downright treacherous but keep on moving and, of course, at some level you must enjoy the process of your creation. I personally prefer not to discuss my work until its ready but do whatever suits you, only don’t judge your work and don’t judge yourself. Just keep on writing and, most importantly, even when you see no result, when the world seems a dark foreboding place.
Never, ever lose faith in yourself. Surrender yourself to the process. Surrender yourself to the higher power that has chosen you to write the book because as they say the author does not choose the book, the book chooses the author. Writing is not about fancy words because after the book is written and after it is read what remains is not the words but the feeling, the emotion. Writing is not about showing off. Writing is about communication. And now that the future is here all you writers can make use of the great opportunity of readership and publication that chillbreeze.com offers. Cheers and as the King of Pop says ‘Don’t stop till you get enough.
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