Confessions of an Entrepreneur on Kindle Direct Publishing

Kong in Shillong sells #Kwai,
while reading on her Smartphone 

Key Point

The digital platform has changed the way we look at Media per se. If Newspapers are read online, then, why can’t books also be read online? And with a little investment, you are your own boss; you determine your working hours; you decided, to whom your book is targeted to and you can change your audience at any time. You are empowered. You don’t need a hand-holder. You, do-it-yourself (DIY) and you decide what you want to write about, what treatment you are going to give your book, who you will use as your cover designer, your editor, proofreader, beta reader…in short, you are master of your own product. The success is yours!

Graduating from editing School Magazines to the first published article in The Junior Statesman, edited by Desmond Doig, I was already overjoyed and strutting around with a swollen head when I came across my first job as a Copywriter in an agency.

Being in an environment where reading, writing and commercial art was the only thing I did – in those days, we copywriters, artists, visualizers and all, were a protected community) – I found my pen scribbling away at all times. Poems flowed like Coke and stories took birth in my head, faster than I had ever thought, they would. I wrote, and wrote, and wrote until I found a collection had come about. A few books of poems and stories, traveled from one city to another, as part of my belongings. Then, one day, the computer happened. Data operators sprung up from all quarters and I gave my books of stories to be neatly typed and systematically placed together. I always wanted to publish them.

But that too sat in CDs and in my Gmail account! Bless Gmail! Such a fabulous place to store your thoughts and writings, in a folder called MYWRITINGS!

Then, one day, someone asked me, do you have a blog? What’s that, I thought? And right enough, I was soon on one - Sulekha.com was the beginnings of my dreams come true. Whoever said, that you had to slog for your money?  The brilliant concept started by Satya Prabhakar and Sangeeta Kshettry, found content without paying for any. Pages upon pages of stories, poems, ideas, discussions on any and every subject under the sun, made Sulekha.com one of the most successful dot.com companies. All you needed to do was to open a blog and start to write. Needless to say, I was hooked immediately. I wrote as if there was no tomorrow and the feedback was enormous - I got instant high from the LIKE and comments and long discussions ensued between me and the readers. Why do we need the #JaipurLiteratureFestival? I was addicted. Here, I met awesome authors, whose books I would hold and review in days to come.

But that was way back in 2007! By 2009, I saw many authors of Sulekha.com, publish their books. But we are talking of 2009 – that is way, way back! Soon, we were going to see a sea change in publishing.

Vanity Publishing, or what was looked upon as a poor cousin of REAL PUBLISHING, like being published by Penguin and Bloomsbury, and the FAT OLD MEN of publishing, was going to see a sea change. As publishers rushed from UK, USA to the new country India, with a colonial past, hoping to get their share of the mullah, Amazon’s Direct Publishing Platform, Kindle Direct Publishing came and slowly started making their presence felt.

Then, success stories started to filter in. Rasana Atreye, a software engineer in the US, of Indian origin, had sent her story “Tell a Thousand Lies” to over 100 agents in the US and got no response. Finally, the story was shortlisted for the 2012 Tibor Jones South Asia Prize. Publishing houses began to chase her, but she chose to go it alone. She chose, KDP, Kindle Direct Publishing as her platform to publish her book, giving all the traditional publishers a rejection slip! She had 17,000 downloads on the day, her book went up for sale on KDP! And downloads continue, unabated.

Writing as a Profession

There are a few things every writer wants – readers, people who buy and read their books, people who review, comment, appreciate their work. And most of all, their book must generate revenue for them.

A writer spends hours of their day or night, invested in their book. They certainly are writing because they have a story to tell, but most of all, they are investing in terms of money and time on these books, which they then want to sell for a living. A book which has been written and put up for sale, with no readers and no downloads, may dry out funds put aside and make the fertile mind a dry desert.

Hence, to sum it up, if one has spent one year to write a book, then one must calculate what one has had to give up to keep writing. The ROI, return on investment must clearly, be enough to generate revenue that can go back as an investment into the next book series.

Bitten by the Entrepreneurial Bug

I look at my books as products of my mind. Hence, I have set aside money for publishing. While I may not follow all the Digital Marketing tools, I would certainly join Facebook and have 1 Page for all my book, have a LINKEDIN profile and join writers groups there, join TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, PINTEREST, and all other discussion forums, that talk of books, book publishing, and marketing. I would also be conscious of trends – more and more, people are reading nano-writes, #TerriblyTinyTales, short stories, and small titles that cost as good as a coffee at Café Coffee Day. So, if your book costs anything between Rs 35 to Rs 150 and can be read on a device like a Handset or Kindle, the better it is. It takes, 45 minutes to travel from HUDA City Centre Metro Station in Gurugram to Rajiv Chowk in Central Delhi – can you give your reader a 40 minutes complete story, point to point, which he has paid only Rs 50 for? That works!

Obsess! Obsess! Obsess!

Hot selling authors need to feel the pulse of the reader, all the time. So they must be obsessed with them. What are they doing? How do they engage? WhatsApp? Whatzup, with them? So, as authors, we need to keep our ears to the ground and remember content is king if you have spoken to that dude in his language (lingo). Last but not the least - size matters!

Click below to read about : 

Amazon KDP event in New Delhi, 30 Nov 2017

Julia Dutta is a digital marketing professional who writes on weekends.

“You are as good as your last campaign!”

Download Free:
storycartel.com/books/265/laughing-stock-productions/ …

The first time I knew I could write was when I was a little girl, home for the Pooja holidays, with a assignment, to write a poem. The poem was chosen as best in my class. The second time was when I was in college and was asked by our English Literature professor, to write a short story. Mine, she said was the best, a story, which is now a part of a larger story, in my first published eBook, Until death do us part, which is available on Amazon.com.

My mother was a writer in Bengali, in the early, 1950, but lost her ability to compose stories and poems after her traumatic experience with her husband, who happened to be my father. I too, nearly, almost lost my ability to write, somewhere in the late 1980s, but was saved by the skin of my teeth, when existence placed in my hand, a book by Osho, called “The No Book”. All the pages in that book were blank pages! I filled the pages with my life.

And then, the writing started all over again. The No Book, became the biggest Voice, in my life – my instant therapy. Pages upon pages were filled with my life, my paintings, line drawings. Once the story was full and complete, I lost the book, as if to say, I had ‘shed my skin’, and moved on.

Yes, I had, in many ways. I wrote short stories with a flair of a person, who needed to tell a story, which was possible to read, quickly. Being an advertising professional, I preferred books that were racy and absorbing, but did not take up too much time. In this profession, in any case, we read lots, lots, lots! We are outdated, in a week if our knowledge bank is not updated all the time.

When my friends who have published with well known publishers in India and abroad, egged me to publish, I picked up the collection, Until death do us part, which had been sitting in my computer, for six long years, to start with. Last year around October, the book was published in eBook format by my publisher Xynobooks LLC in the United States.

So when it came to the next one – Laughing Stock Productions, I was faced with many questions. Should I publish with the same publishers, or should I publish with known publishers in India, if they approved my manuscript? I talked to many people. And everyone said  I must go with the Printed Books. Nobody reads eBooks!

I chose to publish in eBook format, once again. Loads of emails from my Editor, in Xynobooks confirmed what I believed right – as you grow in numbers, so will the readership grow. My author sense was not as strong as my business sense. My gut sense and my Editor’s persuasive emails, made me decide to go with the same publishing house.

An unknown writer, from somewhere in India, can become an instant success, if s/he has a real good story to tell, but I, for whom, writing is a passion, outside my work and my need to see women in the forefront, must tell a story(s) as many as there are to build mass. I believe that, a book (any book for that matter) has its own destiny. I, who am, the vehicle of its birth must be like a bird, once, having given birth, must help the book to fly and then, let it go. And I must move on to the next creation, for like a true advertising person will say, “You are as good as your last campaign!”

And so it has been with the first and so it will be with the second. Let my babies find their own home in your heart, whichever heart, has the space and willingness to give it a home.

In the meantime, excuse me please! While you are downloading Free, Laughing Stock Productions, I must carry on with the third story I am writing.

#Sharewhatsgood @juliadutta's Laughing Stock Productions read it, review it, win $$$ @storycartel http://storycartel.com/books/265/laughing-stock-productions/ … …

First review of Laughing Stock Productions on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Laughing-Stock-Productions-ebook/product-reviews/B00EXSR9G8/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Suspicious nannies for writers in FB

Picture credit: www.kevingreenstein.com

Despite the Indian Government’s interference in the privacy of individuals, on the Netzone, fakes, thugs and possible terrorist continue to thrive.

“Currently two government spy agencies — the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) — plus seven others, including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Narcotics Control Bureau, DRI, National Intelligence Agency, CBDT (tax authority), Military Intelligence of Assam and JK and Home Ministry — are authorised to intercept and monitor citizens’ calls and emails, under the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court, The Indian Telegraph Act 1985, Rule 419(A) and other related legislation. (The Hindu, June 21, 2013, India’s surveillance project may be as lethal as PRISM by Shalini Singh. See Link below)

We are all disappointed by this. Our privacy is completely at stake. In fact, we have none. As citizens of India, we are appalled at what we have just read, but as Netzens we are facing another threat, of being exploited for deceitful purposes.

Take for instance, a recent happening when two authors wanting to go that extra mile, sought the services of an editor, found on Facebook. Apparently, the person professed that their skill at editing was good, because they had already been doing it for a while. Besides, they also had self-published books to their credit.

The Invoice sent to from a gmail account was not on a Company letterhead. It did not have an address but did have mobile number. There was no cause for worry it seemed although bills were asked to be made in Company letterheads, for payments to be received. These requests were not fulfilled.

Indeed, it became a matter of high probability that there is actually a ruckus going on, on FB. With all and everyone joining the band wagon as wannable authors, there is good money to be made by independent editors floating around in Social Media.

The modus oparandi , is very simple. For the uninitiated it gives out the stench a bit late though, which is exactly the reason for this post.

Imagine: Someone writes to you and says you have a great book; it’s bold and path-breaking. You respond with a quick thank you! But only if the editing was done better, the stories would have been more powerful comes the quick reply.  You hurry to say, you had too many rejection letters; the manuscript had been lying in your computer for more than 6 years; you needed to allow the book to see the light of day! And of course, you would take more care this time.

You realise that in a sunrise industry, like Publishing in India, editors don’t come cheap. With Indian authors writing in English, Literary Agents have mushroomed like never before. Everyone wants a piece of the pie, so why not your editor too?

After all, as much as they are greedy, so are you. You too want to become an author; a God out there! And they have what it takes to make you one. They can edit, format, help you upload your book on Kindle Amazon.com and then help you with the Digital campaign to increase the sales of your book. No, it does not matter, that there are spelling mistakes, language errors and really you had to spend two days to undo their mistakes, once the ms was returned to you.

Shell out the bucks and make quick bucks yourself, is the overall message.

The Netzone is for everyone. It takes all kinds to make the Netzone work. Even those who might not measure up to your standards, have a place in this Cloud.

Now that my manuscript is protected with my publisher, Contract signed and delivered, I don’t mind sharing a few lessons I learned myself, the hard way.

If you want to use the services of an editor, before you have sent your manuscript to your publisher, you need to watch these steps:

(a)    First and foremost, definitely prefer to go with someone you know, personally, or is recommended by a friend, whom you know well, not only on Social Media.

(b)   Second, the editor is from my city

(c)    Visit them, meet them and talk to them, not only on phone. FB Friends, LinkedIn, Twitter, it’s virtual, not real friends, so you need to watch out.

(d)   Insist on Invoice made out on Company Letterhead.

(e)   In case the editor is out of city and has sent an Invoice in a personal name, address is a must and the address has to be verified by someone living in that city, where the editor is.

(f)     Insist on bills. Pay only to Company account.

(g)    Pay only by Cheque

(h)   Accept no excuse for delay in your manuscript; they won’t accept delay in your payment either.

(i)      Insist on final payments only after you have received your final manuscript, AND, you are satisfied with their work.

(j)     Preserve all documents related to the interaction between you as an author and the editor. Email, is a legal document.

Hope this helps my friends in India, and the world, all of whom have a story to tell.

We need to watch over our work, before it sees the light of day. The Government is NOT the best nanny in this case, we can depend upon always. Nor is the nanny on FB, in wolves clothing.

Good luck!

Links and references:

The Hindu, June 21, 2013, India’s surveillance project may be as lethal as PRISM  by Shalini Singh
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indias-surveillance-project-may-be-as-lethal-as-prism/article4834619.ece

Just read: 8 Gmail Hacks That Will Change The Way You Use Email

http://www.buzzfeed.com/danoshinsky/8-gmail-hacks-that-will-change-the-way-you-use-email
Just released news: FB makes the start of verified pages for celebrities; the rest will follow soon: http://newsroom.fb.com/News/619/Verified-Pages-and-Profiles

Feedback from an author about my book

Available on Amazon.com

RA: Hi Julia, I'm reading "Until Death Do Us Part". What a wonderful, bold collection! You should seek out more reviews for your book. It deserves more visibility.

Julia Dutta: Thank you! Be the first to review, especially if you can put it up on Amazon itself. It counts there. You know, I do my job; it is for others to review/talk about it etc. But even a note from you, fulfills the purpose of writing. The book has touched one heart. I believe it has many. My job is over.

RA: Amazon's been discouraging reviews by fellow authors, which is why you should seek out other book reviewers. They've taken down quite a few of these even for me.

Julia Dutta: I know that they have been refusing to allow those who downloaded the book in the Kindle Free Download Offer to comment. The book will find its destiny, as they always do. Somehow, I feel very strange about promoting my own work. Finally, I am advertising professional - have you seen people in that profession scream and shout about their campaigns? I am grateful for your suggestions. I do take them very seriously and tweet about them.

RA: Even mainstream authors are required to promote their own books now, and you and I are self-published. I promote my book by offering it to book bloggers who blog in my genre. Have you ever seen me tout my book on any groups? I hate in-your-face marketing, as well.

One thing I would recommend for your book is the hiring of a professional editor next time before you send your work to a publisher. The book is very well written, though.

Also, the readership for your book will be necessarily limited because the shades of lesbianism will make people uncomfortable. I see you have not listed a category for your book. Want to try gay and lesbian literature/romance to see if you can find more readers/reviewers?

Julia Dutta: Thank you so much for your engagement with my book. The book has been published by Xynobooks LLC, USA. I have not self published. Regarding the editing, I agree with you totally; next time I will send in the text for professional editing before I send it to a publication. What I have found in this one is, like all good Editors, the publisher/Editor interferes very little with the manuscript and they do not add much to the text. So on my next one, I have been careful, done a lot of work myself. I can suggest to my publisher to add, Lesbian, gay, CSA etc. As you can see the Publishers have targeted Women as a category, to market to. "Stories of women from India" they said. Some of the stories are as old as 1985! Others are as new as 2011.

I am part of LinkedIn writers group and everyone there seems to have Self-Published and they do market their books very well. My publisher has said that the comment on Amazon is BEST and also talking about it on Twitter, as the book is naturally targeted to reach the hungry for India stories, NRI possessing Kindle, iPad, Tablet etc. In India, it is yet a far cry, the Kindle I mean.

RA: Btw, The formatting could have been better. The text being centered in my Kindle, is very hard to read. I format books, so I know this can be done better. People often will not read a book if the formatting is bad.

Julia Dutta: Do you mind if I told my publishers about the formatting? Perhaps they need feedback too to improve on their software too! Thanks a ton for talking to me.

Cheers!