Faiqa Mansab's Blog: What I'm Thinking Today - Posts Tagged "faiqa-mansab"

Yes, it makes a difference. Being published by Penguin Random House India makes the change from writer to published author even more significant. I have an MFA in creative writing from Kingston University London. I also won an award for This House of Clay and Water from the university.
I put in the years into life and its vicissitudes before I took myself seriously enough to write a novel because I am asking someone to invest their time and money in my book. I do not take my task lightly. I am an author. Many of them have saved me, entertained me, made me love, laugh, hate and cry over the years. I know the power an author wields and i have a great deal of respect for this job. But even more than that is my respect for the reader who spends their hard-earned money on something that I created. I don't want to disappoint my readers.
However, having said that, I must clarify that I know that I will disappoint a few people. No one can get universal approval, least of all writers. So to those of you who will not write this novel, i can only say that perhaps we don't speak the same language. And please, I don't mean English.
I submitted this novel to 85 agents in UK and US and to 2 agents in India. The majority of the responses began with 'I love this novel but...' except for one agent in India. I have many people to thank who helped me on my journey to getting published.
I'll start by thanking Mita Kapur, my agent at http://siyahi.in/ without whom this journey wouldn't have been much more arduous, perhaps impossible. She believed in my book first. Then there's Ranjana Sengupta at https://penguin.co.in/ who loved it enough to publish it.
I am writing this for all those writers who are still struggling and haven't found the right agent or publisher. I'm telling you my story to reassure you that if I can do it, so can you. Believe in yourself, and your art, your story, and keep trying. One day you too will be published. Best of Luck!

If you're like me, and have recently been published, especially if you've self-published, this is your biggest peeve right now. Marketing. I'm very happy and proud that I am the author of a published book. It's traditionally published by the biggest publishing house in the world: Penguin Random House.
BUT
Does that mean that I am not stressed about marketing my book? No. A thousand times no, because I know how important word of mouth is in making a book successful and that marketing is essential in encouraging that trend.
I like engaging with my readers, reading a good review makes me happy and I show it. Ooops!
I also know that marketing is important. Online marketing, I'm told is key to selling a book.
Don't 'hard-sell' the book is one of the commandments and it means, don't say 'buy my book' or any of its equivalents on your social media platforms. Don't post your book cover, and reviews.
The knowledge came a little late. I have already posted my book cover and everything related several times over everywhere. Sigh.
Making mistakes is okay, as long as you continually learn from them.
I read everything about marketing, so that I can do better next time and be better at it. It can be quite frustrating at times, not knowing how your book is doing. You have spent years writing it, editing and preparing it for the world and when it comes out in the market you are almost helpless.
Being an author is a hard job. Writing is hard enough (that's another post) but in today's world you have to know a great deal about contracts, publishing, social media, and all kinds of marketing to even have a chance.
All of this is part of being an author. I understand that and it isn't like anyone is forcing me to do it. I love writing, and it makes me happy. I can even enjoy marketing at times but the pressure to 'do it all' and I don't mean it in the 'Lean In' way, not as a woman but I mean that as an author. You must be so many things at once, outstanding as a writer, gracious in the face of bad reviews (I learn from well written ones and ignore the haters) look like a writer (whatever that means) be informative, interesting, have a sense of humour, and know how to sell well (it's not a formula!)
It has just been a month since my book came out and I am still learning the ropes of marketing and 'being an author' and I just wanted to talk to my tribe about what I am going through. Thanks for reading and do tell what you feel about this topic. Happy writing!

Reading calms me. It brings me the kind of pleasure and joy few things do. Stories are a way for me to recognize other people and myself too. I read all kinds of genres and books and authors according to what I feel I need. There days when i only want comfort reading, and nothing but fantasy will do. Other times I want adventure and I'll read children's books, YA and MG books. I read non-fiction when I want yo find out things, learn about people and places and history.

There are times when I want to just disassociate myself from everything and everyone and dive into a story. Normally I read every day, even if its just a few pages, but when the mood of diving into books is upon me, I want complete solitude. I want a new town, a new house in the woods preferably, or on the water somewhere, and no human company to come between me and the books I wish to read.

These moods descend upon me like a sickness, maybe once or twice a year. I don't look forward to them. in fact, I try to stave them off by reading regularly. I've noticed they take me off my guard when I haven't been writing...or perhaps, I crave the solitude because I haven't been writing...

Reading is like day dreaming. Only better. Much better. It's clearer for one. It's got structure and form. It has a much surer purpose. It is this certainty that we as readers will get somewhere by the end of this journey we have taken with strangers, and will find that they are no longer strangers by its end, that drives us forward towards new books and new authors. If that promise is not fulfilled we wont buy the next book of that author. That has happened to me rarely and I'm grateful for that. Usually I stick with an author I like and will buy their new book without even reading the blurb. the name and the previous books are enough. Every good book is a promise fulfilled.