Saurabh Garg's Blog

Update on Book 2

When I published #tnks, I promised myself that I will publish one book every year. 2015 was to see my second book. But 6 months in the year, I am not sure if the book is coming out. So, if you are disappointed, I am sorry.

And I promise I will continue to write. I will continue to work on my craft. I will continue to improve my storytelling. And in 2016, I will deliver something that will make you happy. And proud. For sure. I promise.

So the delay is for multiple reasons. Like other things, if you follow this blog, here is a list.



A. My laziness. Writing a book is about discipline. Its about writing 1000 words everyday. At least. And more if you want the book to be interesting. For #tnks I wrote that many words. Every day. For few months. And then there was time I spent on editing. This time around, thanks to my laziness I haven’t written anything per se.

B. Roti, Kapda aur Makaan. You’d know that I refuse to hold a steady job. And I depleted all my savings while I worked on #tnks. So this time around, I have had to put in a lot of time to make enough money to afford the fancy lifestyle I was used to. I know I know. There are people who work three jobs and yet get time to write. Salute to them. I dont have what it takes to do that. I cant live below a certain standard and still write. I am not crazy enough. Yet. May be when I am older.

C. Lack of focus. I have made a gazillion starts and I am not happy with any of those. I even wrote some 20K words for one of the plots but I am not sure I want to tell that story (the one based in Goa). However I now think I have something that I want to write about. Of course I will write crime but not that pop-culture kinds. I want to write serious, western crime. The kinds that gets converted into movies. Lets see if I have it in me. Lets see how it unfolds. Lets see if the story intrigues me enough to make me finish it by end of this year. If you really want to read the next thing, please pray that story keeps me hooked enough. 

D. Lack of motivation. While the response to #tnks to has generally been very encouraging, it hasnt made me a literary star. And I am the kinds who needs external motivation to get things done. I know I like writing and all that but I really needed people to praise me for what I had cooked with tnks. And it hasnt happened. I mean I get fanmail and all that. But the numbers are dismal. The number is far from 1000 true fans that KK talks about. May be it takes time to get to that number of fans. May be not. I will never know. Unless I write the next book. No?

I am sure there are more reasons but I can come up with just these for the time being.

I think what I really need is someone to give me a big fat wad of money so that I may just sit there and write. May be once I get that money, I will become lazier and fatter and not write at all. May be its not about money at all. May be its about that zabardat toofan that I think Faiz talked about? May be. May be not.

Any how, hope you guys dont abandon me after reading this. Like I said before, it’s people like you who support people like me to go forth and chase hard-to-get dreams like writing a book.

Thank you for supporting me.

Regards,

Saurabh Garg

July 2015

Oh, one more thing. The page for Book 2 is up already on FB. To be honest it doesn’t really help but its something that everyone does. And I am not cool enough to not do things that the world does. So, in case you want to “like” it already without seeing the book, please, be my guest!

Thanks!

First published on sg @ wow

The Nidhi Kapoor Story for free?

Since #tnks is amongst the biggest things that I have done in life, I often talk about it to friends and strangers. And when I do that, invariably, I am expected to cough up a free, autographed copy of the book.

And ladies and gents, to put on record, it is pissing off!

I have nothing against signing the book. Or free copies. Just that I expect friends, acquaintances, clients, and colleagues to “buy” the book and help me! Free copies are meant for those who expect a favor (exchange, barter etc). And for those who are used to getting freebies (journalists, reviewers etc). Not friends!

You know when you “buy” a book, you contribute to the sales of the book. That pushes the book a tad higher in rankings. And that in turn pushes the publisher for the next print run. Both these things give immense confidence to writers, especially the first-timers like me.

More than confidence, it makes the writer grow balls to work on the next one (if he’s in it for the long run, like I am!). And may be negotiate better terms with the publisher (who often is very cocky and is used to getting his way with authors). Or get an advance (which is unheard of, for non-celebrity authors). Or may be secure a larger print run (which is like a wet-dream on starry night). And so on and so forth.

The funny thing is that the book is really cheap. At a selling price of about 100 bucks, the book is probably cheaper than a coffee at your favorite coffee shop or a meal at a mediocre restaurant or a movie at the most rundown cinema hall or a piece of garment that you wont even wear the second time around. If you’re telling me that you can’t spend 100 bucks to support a friend, who’s trying chase the most cherished goal of his life, God help you! And your friendship. And the friend.

To be honest, the ones who ask for free copies are not to be blamed. There are a few things that we just don’t “get” culturally (as Indians). Like music. It has to be downloaded for free from songs.pk (or some other combination of songs and pk). Or dhaniya and pudhina that has to come for free with any subzi you may buy.

Similarly we expect books to be free. Especially if they are written by friends. No?

In fact I was like you till about 2012! When Suds wrote The Lost Story, I asked him for a free copy and I refused to buy it, till Divya put some sense into me and ordered a copy on my behalf. Thanks Divya. I now know what you meant. And thanks Suds for not giving me a copy for free.

And to everyone who’s been asking for a free copy, you know, you can still buy the book. Its available on Amazon and Flipkart. And hopefully, at a bookstore near you. It’s still not on any bestseller list and every copy sold contributes to that. Which helps me as a writer.

Thank You,

Saurabh Garg

Author, The Nidhi Kapoor Story

P.S.: And no, not everyone asked me for a free copy. Some friends did buy it. Some actually bought multiple copies and gave extra copies away to their friends. Ankit, Gaurav and Parijat even supported my crowdsourcing campaign to raise money for a promotion tour. Thank you guys. Your support means a lot. Onwards to my next book!

It costs nothing to encourage an artist…

From Zen Pencils

Kevin Smith says, “it costs nothing to encourage an artist…”

Dear 500+ friends, family, readers, strangers and others, thank you so so so so so much for encouraging me. I dont claim to be an artist. But I want to be one some day. And you guys are helping me become one.

It’s been almost two months since the book came out. And…

I have had people telling me that they love it.

I have had people telling me they hate it.

I have had people telling me to try harder.

Some say, may be, I ought to retire after my first.

There are some who say they don’t want to read because they know that I am no good. I persisted and sent them copies. I don’t know if they read. I hope they do.

Then there are some who read, re-read and sent copies to their friends and family. I asked them not to do so. But they insisted and sent.

Some said I ought to stick to writing my blogs and gave me tips to improve the blog. And on the other hand, some asked me the question that I loved the most – when is my next coming out?

And the answer is, by the end of 2015. It’s WIP. I’d talk about it when I am ready to.

Coming back, to be honest, I couldn’t claim to be a writer without inputs, support and encouragement from all of you. I know I have made mistakes and I know most of you have been tolerant.

Thank you all of you.

#tnks is my first book. And like any other first, it means the world to me. All good bits have happened because I had so many giants to stand on the shoulders of. All the bad things happened because I could not push myself to do better. I promise that I’d leave no stone unturned when my next comes out.

As the cliche goes, the entire journey of #tnks has been nothing less than a roller-coaster ride. And I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.

Thank you so so much.

Oh, I am not done yet. In fact, I have just started. More books, more mistakes, more pushy marketing, more requests and a lot more is on the way.

Till then, thank you once again for everything.

Regards,

SG

Link: http://zenpencils.com/comic/kevinsmith/

Thanks to Zen Pencils, Grapevine India, Wrimo India, Kevin Smith.

P.S.: Wrote this on the FB page when it reached 500 “likes” 

The Story of The Nidhi Kapoor Story

A friend who wanted to quit to write and didn’t have the balls to do so asked me about how I went about it. I told her that I didn’t think a lot and just did it. She was insistent that I write a story. This is an edited version of the email I sent her sometime in Sep of this year. I think this post is relevant to other authors that I’ve made a commitment to on Catapooolt. Thus posting it.

The Car Ride in August 2013

“Are you out of your mind? You want to leave a job that takes you all over the world and pays you for it? How many people are that lucky?” Vivek said when we took that turn towards Lonavala. If we didn’t take that turn, we would have continued on the Mumbai-Expressway towards Pune.

“I’ve had enough of travel. And I think it’s the right time. You know that I’ve always wanted to write a book! And if I am lucky, let me ride my luck and try and write a book. Worst case, Suvi will hire me back. He’s promised me as much.” When I quit Gravity, I had asked my boss, Suvi if he’d hire me back in case the book doesn’t happen.

“Whatever man. Just know that you are not young any more and you ought to leave these frivolous things behind,” said Vivek. He continued to drive at a steady 40, both of us enjoying the crisp air of the night shrouding us.

I could see that he was concerned about me. Unlike him; he is as emotionless as a rock. I however was optimistic about the time to come. Unlike me; I am not the kinds to think about tomorrow.

I said, “Que sera sera. Whatever has to happen, will happen. Right now I’ve gotta go pee. Just stop the car please.”

He parked on the side of the road. Before I could step out, he said, “you better fucking finish that book or I’d kill you!” 

Sep 2014

The conversation above happened sometime in August last year and it’s almost the end of September of 2014. I am still alive. That means that I must be done with my book! Update. Yes I am. Its on www.tnks.in. It took threats from friends like Vivek, encouragement from people like Rana Sir, coaxing from #sgMS and infinite support from my sis and my parents to be able to get the book done.

It’s been about 15 months since I’ve quit and I’ve exhausted my life’s savings (I had cashed all my savings to be able to afford to live in Mumbai).

The good bit is that the book is now out. The great bit is that I enjoyed my freedom as a full-time writer and a part-time contractual marketing guy. And the sad bit is that I will have to join a naukri in a couple of days (Update: It’s Nov and been working for almost two month now).

So the challenges I faced, the mistake I made and the lessons I learnt while writing the book are listed below.

Challenges I faced.

Life away from home. I may not be that attached to my folks but I miss having my family around me. They remain the biggest source of inspiration, support, comfort and all that makes me what I am. I hate to be naked about these things but I miss them. I could’ve done better if I were at home. But I had to be in Mumbai for other reasons.
Comfort Place. Unlike other writers who can write where at whatever time and with whatever is available to them, I need a perfect setting to be able to write. The right chair, the right table, the right temperature on AC, so on and so forth. And while I was working on #tnks, I often had to contend without one or more of these things. Starbucks came closest but I can’t sit there forever.
Loneliness. The dreamers are often alone. I think its because it’s hard to sell your dream to someone else. It often got lonely. I have tons of friends but they’ve got priorities. Thankfully, a lot of strangers were very kind towards to me while I was working on the book. More on this soon.
Money. Money makes our world go around. I did not have enough of it. Actually, no one ever has enough of it. So there were times when I had to not do things that I would want to, to save money. And for someone like me, who’s been lucky to not see bad days (in terms of money) it was a huge huge challenge.
Self-doubt. I must have asked this myself a thousand times. That why would someone want to read what I write. I still don’t have an answer. And I don’t think answers are coming anytime soon.

 
Mistakes I made.


Took a part-time job that ate a lot of time. Thankfully, I was fired from it. But then the flip side is that I had to take up another full-time job that virtually leaves me with no time at all. Money, like I said, makes the world go around. Sucks to be a slave. Hoping this book helps me get some financial security.
Took all advice on face value. Just because something worked for someone else, doesn’t mean that they would work for me as well. I took suggestions and instead of helping me, they acted as deterrents. Of course the ones helping were doing it with good intentions. This also means that all this advice I am doling out may not work for you. So, rather than blindly taking up advice, please please see if it makes sense for you.
More. There must be more mistakes that I would’ve made. Like most other self-obsessed people, I may not be able to recall all the mistakes here :)



Lessons I learnt.


Write everyday. If there is one lesson I’ve learnt, it is that I ought to write everyday. It’s like a muscle. If you don’t flex it everyday, if you don’t practice it everyday, it will rust. In fact I remember this line – “karat karat abhyaas te, jadmati hot sujan” from when I was a kid. Practice.
Leap of Faith. It’s ok to take leaps of faith. When I quit, I had plans of living off my savings. I did that. And before I could really dip into my savings, I got an opportunity to work part-time for someone who paid me enough to take care of my rent. Everytime I was in a soup, some solution came my way! Things work out in the end. It’s about getting off the ass and doing it!
The world is far nicer than I though it was. When I quit, I heard of grim stories of how the world has wronged people. Plus, I have always been a huge cynic. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the kindness of strangers towards me. People came forward to help me, support me and even give their time and money to me.
Assume that the world will ridicule you. I have another line, from I don’t know who… “Those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” I learnt that no one will ever understand why I crave so much to write. They may not, I am not answerable to anyone. The world ridiculed me, laughed at me. It was tough to stay strong. I tried. I failed. I tried again. And failed again. I am learning my way through. I am picking things as I go along. And it’s all-right to do so.
A life of poverty. Lately I have been trying to figure out if I can make a career out of writing. My language is not really perfect and my vocabulary is limited. But what the heck, I’d try. So, I’ve been meeting writers and hustlers. And everyone has told me that it’s a long long long road and it’s full of poverty and rejection and dejection. I am not ready for this one yet. But I will someday make an exception.

Finally, I totally believe in the concept of paying it forward. I am going to do the same. I am willing to help other first-time authors discover the magic of writing a book. Trust me guys, there is nothing as pleasurable as seeing your name in print. Especially when you’ve been cherishing the dream for almost 10 years.

Please write into me and I would love to help in anyway possible. Ofcourse if you believe in my story and you really want to help me, please consider helping me in my fundraising attempt with Catapooolt.

I may not be the best writer around but I know how to get a book out. I am going to get 5 books out by 2020. Just wait and watch.

Thank You.
Saurabh Garg
30 Sep 2014 08 Nov 2014 22 Nov 2014

Originally appeared on the Catapooolt blog. Edited some bits from it.

R.I.P. #tnks Wikipedia Page

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always wanted a Wikipedia page. But then, there is this huge wide gap between wants and what you get. The “notability” criteria for Wikipedia is pretty stringent and I could never get in. With #tnks, I was hoping to qualify!

So lo and behold, moment #tnks started shipping, I head to Wikipedia and I create a page. I assumed that a published book is a big deal. But I was so so wrong!!

It took me a couple of hours to get the page up, format it to the liking of Wikipedia standards and get it running. And it looked beautiful! I gaped at it as if it was a piece of gold. I had pride of a new father in my heart. And this gleam in my eyes that could put a finely cut diamond to shame. And emotions that ran higher than the Mt. Everest.

Until… I see a notification on the #tnks Wikiepedia page, that it’s been marked for deletion.

Why? Because, it failed the “notability” criteria. It had to. After all who gives a f.. about a balding old man writing his first book? Encouragement, confidence, humanity could go down the drain. The rules are more important. Notability is important.

Ok.. I am over-reacting.

But, in less than a split second, I went from depression to denial to rage to eventually acceptance. I mean there are about 120 million published books in the world (as per a 2010 study by Google) and Wikipedia can’t really have a page about each of those. Can it?

I may claim that India has to be home to a much smaller number but I was surprised to read that in 2004, we published 80,000 new books in India. The number, these days has to be like 10 fold! Update. It’s just 90K as per this report. But still, in the last 100 years alone, India has created 90 lakh books. And #tnks is one of some 90 lakhs. Notable? Nah!

You know, may be, just may be, if the book does well, it would get notable. May be the wikipedia page happens then. I’d have to wait till then.

But I have a confession to make. Like any star-struck kid who wants a selfie with his favorite cricketer or actor, moment I got the wikipedia page formatted well, I took a screenshot.

Here.

Isn’t it beautiful?

May be someday, the page actually sees the light of the day. And it could. You never know about these things. Pray for me folks.

Till then!

 

Thoughts on book industry in India

Now that I am a stakeholder in the publishing industry in India and over the next few years I hope to become a significant one, I am going to start talking about things I’ve learnt while I was working on #tnks (wow that was a long sentence).

I plan to post my thoughts in a series of posts. And I am calling this series as Business of Books.

So before I start getting into any serious discussion or prose, here are a few things that I would talk about over the next few weeks, months. If there is something specific that you want me to talk about, please do let me know. No, I am not an expert. I am a mere curious observer standing on the sidelines of this amazing business.

Print vs Electronic. The non-stop battle between printed and ebooks. Which is better. Why? What is the alternative?
The monies. What do the publishers make, what do authors make? Who else makes money. Of course a lot of guesstimating will be involved.
Marketing. Of course. I am after-all a marketeer by training. The jury is still out on my “expert” level though.
Managing egos. Of other writers, publishers, retailers, distributors. Even readers have egos!
The mafia. No no, not the Italian Sicilian one. But the mafia in the books industry. Yes, there is. Trust me. I’ve had an encounter already. Thankfully it was not dirty.
Support groups. I am lucky to have folks at Wrimo India as a huge support group. Without them, a lot of my work would have suffered. Why is important to have a group? What to do if you don’t have one.
First-time authors. This one is probably where I’d spend a lot of time. After all, I am an outsider and it took considerable time, effort, hustle and luck to get the book done. Publishing for me was surprisingly easy. More on this as we go along.

That’s all I can think of for the time being. I am hoping to do one post per week. Let’s see if I can stick to the schedule. No promises though.

Oh, I just need to figure out how would onWriting.in co-exist with this. I don’t have answers for the time being. Let’s see when they dawn. In the meanwhile, hope you’ve ordered the book!

tnks Poster

The first poster for tnks is out! I am going to use this poster in all my communication. What do you think of this?

Apart from links to the website, FB page, the poster also has links to Amazon and Flipkart, should someone get intrigued enough to order the book!

Pre-order #tnks, win a Kindle!

Win a Kindle!

It’s Diwali and its raining cheer and happiness all around. I thought I ought to add some. And here it is.

You can now win a brand new Amazon Kindle if you pre-order my book! To be honest, I cant really assure you that you would like the book; but I can assure you that I have put a lot of effort in writing this book. And the book is priced at about 130 bucks. Less than the price of a coffee. I am sure you can buy me a coffee? No?

So, here’s how you can participate in the lucky draw…

Order. Place a pre-order for The Nidhi Kapoor Story on Amazon or Flipkart
Forward. Once you’ve ordered the book, you would get an email confirming your order. Forward that email to friends.of.tnks@gmail.com
Wait for a reply from me, confirming that I’ve received your email
Raffle. I’d do a draw of lots on the 15th of Nov 2014. I’d pick a winner and the winner gets a brand new Amazon Kindle! Oh, and for every 999 emails I get, I would throw in another Kindle. So more the number of pre-orders, more people win Kindles. Why would not share this with your friends and family? Please?

That’s it. No slogans, no creativity, no hustling. All you need to do is, show me some love by pre-ordering my first book.

The Fine Print / Terms and Conditions / Conditions apply

Open to people residing in India only. I will not be able to ship the Kindle out of India.
Purchase required. If you cancel your order at a later date, I will have to remove you from the raffle.
You may either take this Kindle or a gift voucher worth Rs. 5000. No cash.
That’s it. There are no hidden conditions. There are no treacherous terms. Just order and get an opportunity to win!
And, last but not the least, I am as fanatic about privacy as you are. I will NOT share your email address to anyone. Promise.

It’s now the time to head over to Amazon or Flipkart and place your orders. Now.

Thank you!

P.S.: If you’ve already pre-ordered the book, please send your order confirmation email to friends.of.tnks@gmail.com. And I prefer you order the book from Amazon. Why? I don’t know. Guess I like Jeff Bezos better than Bansals ;P

#tnks on Catapooolt

News! I just signed up for a crowdfunding campaign on catapooolt.com to help me raise money to market #tnks. The campaign is live on the catapooolt website.

Please go see it. Here is a small intro I made for it.

So why I am doing this? What do I hope to get out of it? What is the exact status of the book? You must have like a million questions. Hopefully this post will answer all those.

I like the QnA format the best. Here it is.

U: What is the status of the book?

SG: As we speak, the book is with the printers. Should be available in first half of November. The publisher (Grapevine) has sent requests to Flipkart and Amazon India to list the book but I don’t know the status as yet. I need to check with the publisher for it.

U: What do you hope to get out of the campaign?

SG: Two things actually. A, Reach out to more people. And B, raise some money (Rs. 5 lakhs to be precise) that I plan to use to market my book.

U: Thats a lot of money. How do you plan to use it?

SG: To be honest, Rs. 5 lakh would not translate into a lot of actual cash. A large chunk of it would go towards the cost of running the campaign (cant get into specifics buts it’s in low double digit percentage points). Then, each contributor will get atleast one copy of the book. Another large chunk will go towards its cost. Finally, I would be left with about a couple of lakhs for marketing. I hope to spend it on conducting a book tour, physical meetups, placing sample copies at libraries across the country and online marketing (SEM, FB and other online platforms). No, I will not take home any money that I raise from the platform. Please do ask me in case you have questions around this.

U: Do you have marketing plan in place?

SG: Yes I do. Available on request. Please ask me and I would share.

U: Why crowdfunding?

Few reasons. Here is a list.

I am poor. No shame or guilt in admitting it. Heard of poverty porn?
I need money to market. Like any product, the audience (people who read books) needs to be told that a product that they may like (my book) exists and they ought to try it. This telling the audience bit requires money. And hence crowdfunding. Simple.
Access to “crowd.” As much I hate calling people “crowd,” it’s an accepted term. So, crowd is a set of people spread all over the Intenret – who I may or may not know – that often help others realize their goals dreams. Most crowdfunding websites have a long list of patrons and a ready community of such people.
No other alternative. I have to spend money to get attention. Everyone may hate the book. That’s a different matter. But they need to read it first. So, I don’t have a rich father or long-lost uncles. Not dating a rich heiress. Worked for peanuts all my life and hence no savings. Don’t like the concept of loans. And hence no other source of money.
Marketing. Every person who sees the crowdfunding campaign gets to know about my book. That’s a motivation in itself. The entire idea of getting as many people possible to read the book is driving this bit. Higher the number of people who read the book, more feedback I get and better I get. I am in this (writing) for the long haul and I better get better with time.
Finally, why not! 

U: What would you give in return if someone supports the campaign?

SG: Boat load of thanks. That translates into good karma.

In terms of tangibles, you ofcourse get a copy of the book.I volunteer to sign and write a personal message in each copy that I ship to people who support me. I know I am no big deal and my message is not important to anyone. But your support is important to me. And writing a message is the least I can do for you.

A few goodies that the Catapooolt guys have thrown in (more details on the campaign page).

I also plan to work alongside other first-time authors come up with their books. I am definitly not the best writer out there. But I am sure that I know how to finish a book and get it in a shape that a publisher may want to see. To me, that was the biggest challenge while I was working on the book. And I want to work with other first-timers on it.

And, an opportunity to pitch your book to my publisher, Grapevine India. Trust me, its a tough ask to get a face-to-face meeting with a publisher.

U: What if the campaign is a flop and you can’t raise the money you seek?

SG: Big deal. Things often don’t go as planned. That does not mean we stop living. I would atleast learn a few things about this thing called crowdfunding. No?

That’s it. I’ve run out of questions. You have more questions? Yes? Please ask me. No? Please support me.

Thank You!

Oh, one more thing, Catapooolt guys are really really cool. If you are looking to raise funds for a project or something, please do consider them. I would be happy to connect. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with them.

Presenting… the cover!

For every first-time author, release of the book cover is an important landmark. It’s something that one waits with abated breath.

After all, the book cover is what the world sees, before they pick your book. Come to think of it, its funny how the visual hook like a cover could entice readers and make them curious enough to either pick the book or reject it downright.

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, here is the cover for The Nidhi Kapoor Story.

tnks – Front

I have worked on the design by myself. So if the design works, you know how to ask for advice when you start work on your cover. And if the design does not work, you know who to blame. In my defense, l have limited understanding of design. I do have a lot of friends who are great designers and I keep eating their heads about inputs on design. And I know they wouldn’t be proud of this. But like they say, it’s good enough. And I’d rather ship!

Credits / About the cover.

The lady in the background chooses to remain anonymous. The photograph was clicked by a super-talented photographer. More on her in subsequent posts.

tnks – front and back

The back is slightly blurred right now because it’s still getting finalized. Like most other book covers, it as a short text that talks about the book, the publisher’s logo, the price point and the ISBN. Ah! the ISBN.

So, please do remember this cover. Please do share it with your friends, family, neighbors, enemies etc etc. When you (or they) start seeing this in book stores close to you (or them), you’d (they’d) know what to do. Right?

And, I forgot to ask… what do you think of it?