Publishing

How to write a Query letter for your book?

by

I wrote several hundred query letters and sent them to a whole lot of literary agents and publishers. ‘Several hundred’ refers more to the variations of a basic format, rather than hundred distinctly different formats. It was more of an experimentation and fine-tuning process where I made minor alterations after every few submissions.

One of those query letters got me a great literary agent and subsequently a publishing contract with a top tier publisher. I can’t call myself an expert at writing query letters, but after having gone through the drill so many times, I can share some basics that you can use as a starting point to create variations that work for your book.

Read the Query Letter FAQ post first.

How long should a query letter be?

A good query letter will not be more than

Read more

As a new writer, will you pay to get your first publishing break?

by

There’s a common saying in the conventional publishing world. Money flows to the writer. What does it mean?

It means that you should never have to pay money to anyone in the publishing chain – publishers, editors, literary agents, websites running websites or any facilitators who are suggesting that they’ll make the rocky road a little smoother for you.

Here’s how it works for each team.

Read more

How long are you willing to wait to get your book published?

by

For all the hundreds of thousands of books that seem to hit the bookshelves each year, you might get the impression that there’s some fantastic super-efficient machinery running behind the scenes that’s working at break-neck speed to pump out tons of books at a record pace. Far from it.

Publishing is a extremely slow moving industry. If you are a new writer waiting for your first big break, the earlier you realize this, the less painful your journey will be. Set the expectations right and get ready for a LOT of waiting at every stage of the process.

The maximum control you have on the book publishing process is when you are

Read more

Why social networking in the real world is important for writers, bloggers and authors

by

The virtual world offers writers a fantastic opportunity to open the mind and let their thoughts soar. No boundaries, no constraints. Just you, your thoughts and your creative output. Inspiring and poetic, huh? But if you have been writing for a while, you’ll agree that after a while it can start seeming like a pretty solitary activity, with you in front of your computer typing away to glory.

I worked in the corporate world for several years and each day would be filled with multiple meetings with members from various departments. Apart from the analytical and documentation work, every activity revolved around people. After saying adieu to the corporate environment, there was this suddenly change in my work ambience

Read more

Looking for free ebook, pdf, video, torrents for Beyond The MBA Hype?

by

Update: This post was published when the ebook version wasn’t launched. Now the ebook is available on Amazon. Here’s the link:

Download MBA Hype from Amazon
.

Many MBA applicants are looking for free downloads of the Beyond The MBA Hype ebook, pdf from online torrent sites after reading the good reviews that have been popping up on various publications. After the book featured as a non-fiction bestseller on the Times of India, the free download searches on Google have gone up.

Before we get into the interesting observations and analyses, there are a few clarifications on the topic.

Read more

Beyond The MBA Hype on The Times of India bestsellers list

by

There was no formal book launch for Beyond The MBA Hype, no celebrities waxing eloquent about the book and consequently very limited media attention. People I knew started finding out that my book got published based on my Facebook comments and they would be kind enough to reach out with their best wishes.

A few days back I got a phone call from a friend congratulating me (yeah, Ravi-bhai, you triggered the story). I thought this was another one of those calls trickling in. But it was unusually early for him to call

Read more

Writer’s block: What is it and how can you deal with it?

by

Writer’s block can become a roadblock for authors irrespective of the stage in their career. The professional ones who’ve faced this several times just know how to deal with it better. But if you have just started writing you may not know what is happening or why. There’s no way you can completely avoid it and it’s only a matter of time before you start staring at one. Before you hit the panic button, here are a few points that you might help you.

Read more

Book marketing and promotion: Meet the superheroes

by

Marketing and promoting a book can be one of the biggest hurdles for first-time authors (Well, ok, after you’ve got a good literary agent to represent you, got a contract from a good publishing house and all other other equally challenging hurdles have been crossed…) Fortunately for those who have the backing of an established publishing house, the journey can be a little less rocky. This post is a tribute to the unsung heroes of the publishing world.

Before the book goes to the printing press (and the editorial process is still on), the sales and marketing team has already got into action. Here’s a little to-do list to give you an idea of the complexities that Marketing guys have to deal with:

Read more

Query Letter FAQ: How literary agents and publishers will evaluate it

by

So you’ve decided not to venture into the world of self-publishing yet. That brings you back to the process of wooing publishers or literary agents to represent you.

If you are aiming for the traditional publishers, chances are they would want you to get a literary agency to review your manuscript first and then forward it to them.

You know the reasons why – too many requests, paucity of time and effort (for the publishers), quality issues with the slush pile, yada yada.

Read more

Self-publishing: Why you should (or shouldn’t) approach Vanity Publishers?

by

Self-publishing and vanity publishers have existed in various forms for a very long time. Despite the contrasting views about the pros and cons of this approach, the market for vanity publishing has grown within the writing community, especially for first time authors.

And there’s a reason for that. The traditional publishing model makes it very difficult for new writers to break into the industry. In comparison self-publishing allows anyone who wants to be known as a published author an equal shot at the game.

Read more

Literary Agent: (Why) Do you need one for your novel or non-fiction book?

by

Literary agents play a key role in the international publishing industry. Yet not many new writers are aware of what a literary agency can and cannot do. In simple terms, a literary agent represents authors, pitches their manuscripts to publishers, negotiates deals and manages the commercial aspects of the deal. In return the literary agent charges a percentage (usually 15%) of the royalty for the author’s books.

You’ve done all the hard work in writing the book. Why should you pay your hard-earned royalty to a literary agency?

Read more