Destination Infinity's Blog, page 55

My Autobiography: When we believed in Hoaxes!

I remember two instances during my childhood when people in my area believed in religious hoaxes and they got spread quickly.

One was Lord Ganesha drinking milk. I returned from school one day to find everyone in my apartments talking about Lord Ganesha drinking milk. Believing it, I too went to the nearby Vinayagar Temple (along with my friends) to check it out. 

In the Temple, demonstrations were already in full swing. When we went, the pujari was feeding Lord Ganesha with spoons and spoons of milk, and to our awe, the God was drinking it! At least that’s what we thought as the milk was getting emptied quickly from the spoon when it was placed at the end of his trunk.

Later on, in the newspapers they wrote that the milk was actually flowing down behind the statue’s body, hence we couldn’t see. Think about it, the pujaris should have been aware of what was going on — especially since all the milk was flowing down. Instead of telling us the truth, they took full advantage of the situation and (I guess) collected a handsome amount of money from the public on that day.

I know there is nothing illegal about this, but when Pujaris take advantage of such a hoax, won’t people feel betrayed (when they eventually learn the truth)?

I remember another instance where a small Temple was rumored to be shaking. Everyone around my area was talking about it. I too went and saw. The Temple was like a small room covered on three sides with frail walls and it was standing on a large empty ground.

The shake was actually mild and I couldn’t recognize it much. Later we came to know that due to the thin wall and a weak foundation, the Temple (walls) was shaking when there was a strong wind. Talk about taking advantage of (what was actually) a fault!

We were kids, so we believed in these hoaxes. But I find it mysterious on why adults believed in them. Did they really believe or did they think of it as a fun time-pass, especially in those days when ‘Reality TV’ was not existent?

Let me know if you remember any hoaxes that spread around your area, when you were young.

Destination Infinity

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#ShoutMeet Chennai: “Blogging is about Community”

I got a chance to attend the #ShoutMeet event for bloggers @ Chennai on Wed, 16th Sept, ’15. It was organized by Harsh Agrawal of Shout Me Loud blog. He has recently been on an adventure spree meeting bloggers from major cities across India, from Delhi to Kanyakumari, and Chennai was his stop after Bangalore and before Hyderabad.

An important takeaway for me from the meet was Harsh’s assertion that Blogging is about community, more than anything else. A blog can be said to be thriving only if it has an active community — makes a lot of sense! 

When I went there, the meet had not yet started and a bunch of bloggers had gathered in the reception. I joined them and started chatting with them. The person on my left seemed familiar, so I asked his name. He told me his name and his college — then it hit me, he was my classmate from college!! Glad to have rediscovered an old friend

The event was more of a Q&A session. We asked a few questions related to blogging to Harsh and he answered them based on his experience of building a successful blog.

A few learnings from the meet include: 

Cloud Flare is a free CDN (Content Delivery Network) that bloggers can use to reduce the latency of their content, especially multimedia.
Start your post with a question and let the reader answer it in their mind.
Break down content into sub-headings and digestible chunks/small paragraphs.
Ask the reader to take an action in the end — comment, subscribe, FB like, etc.
Don’t use the same keyword (if you are targeting keywords) repeatedly — instead use related LSI keywords.
Develop a mobile app for your site and create mobile-focused content as mobiles will have a bigger reach.
Don’t start a blog with the aim of making money — provide value to people, solve their problems & enable them to do their jobs/make their lives better, money will automatically follow. Money is a result, not a goal.
Use other forms of content like images, slides and videos to better reach certain content to certain people.

I hope there are more #ShoutMeets in Chennai in the future. I wish Harsh and everyone who attended the meet, all the very best in their blogging journey

Destination Infinity

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Print on Demand & eBook Publishing in India

*This article is the summary of a speech I gave at our recent Writer to Author event on the topic: Print on Demand and eBook Publishing options for authors in India.*

When I decided to publish my crime fiction novel, I evaluated different publishing options in India. I could’ve applied for traditional publishing houses but I had no contacts there. And the chances of a top publishing house accepting my 120-page manuscript was less. My second option was to self publish my book in India, but many self publishing houses in India want the author to pay a lot of money and buy some books upfront, which I didn’t want to. I even thought of printing my own book, but I need to print hundreds of copies.

As it was my first book, I was not sure if I should invest money into the publishing process, especially since I was just looking for reader feedback, and not any spectacular sales. So finally I decided to go with two (almost) free publishing options: Print on Demand & indie eBook publishing.

Print on Demand Publishing in India:

In this mode of publishing, author uploads his/her manuscript in PDF format to the PoD service provider’s website. The books are printed only on the receipt of customer’s order. The PoD service provider generally provides a webpage (URL/Link) which the author can pass on to their circle. If someone follows that link and orders the book, it is printed and sent to the customer. The books are printed on an individual basis, and hence even one book can be printed on demand.

The limitation in this mode of publishing — since each book is printed individually — is the higher printing cost, and hence the higher selling price, of each paperback book.

I utilized the services of Pothi.com, a popular PoD (Print on Demand) publisher in India. They provide the printing cost (author price) for each book, based on the number of pages. Authors can add their margin and decide on the selling price. The price difference between the selling price and author price is passed on to the author.

Pothi.com, for a fee, allows authors to opt for extended online distribution for paperback books with Flipkart and Amazon.in. But the issue is, some margin needs to be passed to these retailers also, and hence the selling price of the book gets even higher. Also, Pothi.com doesn’t allow the author to change their selling price later on. However, I was happy that my paperback book was available to buy at Flipkart and Amazon.in, albeit at a price higher than what I prefer.

I should mention here that I am happy with Pothi.com’s PoD services and quality of printed books, except their high per-book cost. Authors can order copies for themselves at author price, and my order for eight books with them was delivered within 8 days.

e-book Publishing in India:

I am not sure if there are any e-book publishing platforms in India. I used the global eBook publishing platforms that also distribute to India.

I published my book on Amazon Kindle Desktop Publishing, Google Play Books Author and Smashwords (that distributes to Kobo, B&N, iBooks, etc.) that covered almost all major online retailers. For Amazon and Smashwords, it’s sufficient if you have your novel in MS Word format and a cover image. For Google Play books, you’ll need to have a PDF and an ePub version of your novel.

All these services are free for authors. I spent some money to make a good cover image and for professional editing/proof reading. Other than this, I didn’t spend for any other service. With most of the above mentioned eBook platforms, it is possible to earn around 60% of royalties on each book sold, but 30% taxes are deducted on that revenue. Authors are paid via Direct Deposit, Paypal, or Cheque, depending on the service provider.

The advantage of publishing eBooks is, our book becomes available for readers from (almost) across the world to buy (or download) and read instantly on their eReader, mobile device or tablet. It is possible to reach international markets easily today, but whether your book will sell there is another question altogether.

I feel it’s difficult to sell books, given the competition and the options available for consumers. I think it takes some investment, excellent craft/technique, and a few years of hard work to become a successful indie author.

But it is possible for an indie (independent) author today to reach as many readers (if not more) via these PoD and eBook platforms, if they think and act like entrepreneurs.

Destination Infinity

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Why do People Include Degrees after their Names?

I am not jealous. Just curious.

Why do people include their degrees after their names?

Recently, I saw a board before a marriage hall where the groom’s name was immediately followed by a ‘BE’. My first reaction was, ‘Dude, there are a million BEs coming out of engineering colleges in TN alone, every year. Are you telling proudly to everyone that you are just one of those million people? And that you mugged up text in multiple text books (xerox copies of books written by local authors) to pass BE?’

Before a few years, I got a visiting card from some academic person. Normally I don’t look twice at these cards, but this particular one made me stare at it for almost five seconds. This guy had two lines full of various certificates, diplomas, degrees, doctorates, etc. In fact, his name was somewhat invisible among those sea of degrees! My reaction was, ‘Dude, are you trying to tell us that you wasted half your life studying for all these degrees (probably with your parents money) and then doing a job that is as inconsequential as it can get?’

The above two category of people at least studied for their degrees. There are another class of people who, for Rs. 8000, complete an online multi-choice questions exam to ‘earn’ a distance education certification (something like PGDBA or a certificate course) from unknown institutes and add ‘MBA’ after their names!

Even these people do something to get their degree. There are people who chase papers, bribe authorities & even buy degrees without attending classes, and still proudly exhibit them against their names.

I don’t have anything against all this. But I have one doubt: Why don’t these people also display their properties, clubs they are a member of, foreign trips been to this year, which company their brother-in-law is employed, sofa sets they own, LED TVs, and of course – iPhone 6S, etc. after their names???

I mean — If you want to boast, boast about everything no? Why stop with Degrees, that too in this era of commercialized education?

Destination Infinity

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20 Chapters to Sample from 20 Novels!

Ganga Bharani, who blogs at GB Land has prepared a PDF file that contains 20 exciting chapters from 20 different books written by 20 different authors. Readers can read these sample chapters, and if they like any – they can buy the book. This way, readers can sample the writing of new authors and discover books that they can be sure will impress them. So what are you waiting for? Here’s the download link (pdf) once again

Destination Infinity

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Upcoming Standup Comedians: Sharada & Prason of CBC

It’s my pleasure to inform you that two bloggers from our Chennai Bloggers Club (CBC) performed a stand-up comedy in front of a live audience @ Chennai recently. They have even uploaded their show on Youtube So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the upcoming stand-up comedy artists Sharada & Prason. Have a look at the videos embedded below and enjoy  

 

I think it takes a lot of guts to do a stand up comedy, Live — especially as it was the first time for one person, and the other person was doing it after many years. So don’t forget to encourage them in the comments section below

Destination Infinity

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My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins (Book Review)

My Life in Advertising by Claude Hopkins is a classic non-fiction book where the author, a successful advertising professional, shares his experiences in that field. I don’t work in advertising, but I still loved this book. Here is the archive.org link for the free eBook.

Claude Hopkins lived from 1866 to 1932. Yes, it’s a long time back, but I think most of his principles and advise applies even today. To outsiders, advertising seems to be an easy field where people write some smart lines accompanied by a beautiful pictures and get paid handsomely for it. But if you read this book, you’ll understand how quickly advertising professionals can fall out of favor with their employers (even in those days) if ads don’t convert into sales.

You maybe surprised to know that this Ad guru of those days did not have a formal degree in advertising management or some such fancy stuff. He studied book keeping, that too on borrowed money, and got into advertising by sheer chance. Since his initial campaigns worked, employers encouraged him to write more copy and he found his life’s calling.

The author says that while advertising, the interests of the consumer comes first. So instead of focusing on features of the product, it is better to focus on what the consumer gets out of it, in order to get good results. During his days, they used to send print ads by mail (post). Later on, they started advertising in newspapers. There is considerable cost attached to each ad which needs to be recovered by increased sales. And each campaign is measured for profitability.

One of the methods pioneered by the author is to give away free samples to people who brought the cut-out of newspaper ads to shops. These ads contained good information about how the product is different/and-or beneficial to the consumer. People are induced to try it for free and many (if the product meets their expectations) become repeat customers.

Another successful method was to write detailed ad-copy (covering an entire page, for example) about how the product is produced, how it is handled, how it is shipped, and how beneficial it is to customers. Although all the rival companies might follow the same process, since no one educates the customer so much, the consumer becomes convinced that the brand being advertised is better. The author says advertisers should be honest.

These are just two unconventional methods pioneered by the author, and he discusses various other methods that worked in various ad campaigns throughout his career. He also discusses how one campaign that worked for one product-line may not always work for another. Also, they try out ad campaigns for profitability in small towns first, and then roll out on a larger scale to ensure success.

I liked this book very much as the author not only discusses the methods but also the psychology behind why it works. I wish the author had included more of his failures. It’s a short read, but the author has provided a lot of value within those few words — just like his ads, I guess!

Destination Infinity

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Thani Oruvan: 10 Things I Didn’t Like about this Movie

Trailer:

Since countless number of people have written great reviews about this movie before me, I want my review to be different — that’s why this attempt to write about what I didn’t like about this Tamil *super hit* movie: Thani Oruvan.

Disclaimer: Of course this is a very good movie and I liked it very much. But there were some issues that need to be highlighted: ***Spoilers ahead*** 

The first half was good, not many inconsistencies there. But just before the interval, the policeman not double checking if Jayam Ravi was killed along with Angelina was a glitch. He should have.
For all the power Aravind Swamy is shown to wield, the assassination attempt on Nayanthara (thinking she was Angelina) on the road is very weak.
In the hospital, when the doctor insists that he needs to do one more surgery, even the audience is able to guess that he was going to insert something to track him or he was going to kill him. Why would a police inspector not guess it?
The device that was inserted doesn’t need any battery/power to work?
Aravind Swamy listening to Jayam Ravi’s conversations himself, non-stop – 24 hours is difficult to believe, especially since he is supposed to be ‘controlling’ so many businesses. Obviously he should have had lot of other work?
How does Jayam Ravi guess that if he doesn’t propose to Nayantara, Aravind Swamy will not kill her (and Aravind Swamy’s lover)?
While Jayam Ravi’s obsession to kill Aravind Swamy was convincingly conveyed, Aravind Swamy’s reasons for not killing Jayam Ravi, was not.
Aravind Swamy, for the powerful clout he commanded, could have employed multiple assassins and killed Jayam Ravi before he became such a big threat. Why didn’t he do it, and why did he depend only on one set of rowdies?
The sudden change of mind by Aravind Swamy’s lover which leads her shooting him in the end, is not very believable. Especially since she had so much to lose by doing that.
Aravind Swamy giving away the evidence to Jayam Ravi in the end, not for the country but for his adversary, was not believable.

The first half of the movie was a winner. But the second half was not convincing enough, mainly because Aravind Swamy, although his characterization and mannerisms were shown very well, they were not converted into solid action. An antagonist of that caliber was capable of doing more. He could have been badder, and done badder things.

Otherwise it’s a very different attempt with a strong script and good direction. Hope to see more movies with substance, like this, in Tamil

Destination Infinity

 

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Inspiring Entrepreneurs: Podcast Series @ FoundersGyan

FoundersGyan is an interesting new website created by a friend. There he aims to publish podcasts with entrepreneurs and founders of small business. Founders share their successes as well as failures, hence listening to these podcasts might be helpful and inspirational to people who want to become entrepreneurs in the future. There are three podcasts right now, and I guess there will be many more in the future. Check it out!

Destination Infinity

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Writer to Author — The Transition event @ Chennai

  On September 05,  ’15, a few of us authors and a few more writers & authors in the making got together for an informative event on the craft and business of writing and selling books. It was more of an informal event where we spoke about various aspects of publishing we knew about, in order to guide and encourage new authors on the publishing and e-publishing process.

Some of the attendees in rapt attention!

What happened, we authors decided to meet at 12 PM, 3 hours before the event was scheduled to start, in order to plan. I myself went there by 1:10 PM and had to wait for another 40 minutes for the second person to come! After that, both authors and attendees started coming and we started chatting. I had jotted down some points to speak, and other authors also had planned for their respective parts. So it was fine

This was the rough agenda for the day. First Kavipriya, the main organizer and the most enthusiastic person among us all, spoke about the craft of writing. Then Harika, an editor from Hyderabad who came just for this event, in addition to a trip to Munnar, spoke about editing and structuring of a novel. Between them I think they spoke for almost an hour!

I don’t remember who spoke afterwards and in which order, but I do remember that Sashi spoke about Haiku poetry, Ishwar spoke about spoken poetry, Ganga spoke about traditional publishing, I spoke about Print on Demand and eBook publishing, VJ Eshwar spoke about experiences with his traditional publishing firm, Dhasa Sathyan spoke about the craft of writing short stories. Someone else spoke passionately in an American accent on why authors need to leave their comfort zone, set their stories outside India, and write for a different audience, etc. I forgot his name!

We had displayed all our books there. I bought 8 of my own books for this event and 6 of them sold off! There are two more remaining, if any of you want let me know  I made many new friends and was glad to meet many of my old blogger/writer friends.

The ambiance at House #22 cafe was good, especially the outdoor lawn. Actually they gave us the space for free, and took only the money that came via selling beverages. So thanks to them. We also did not charge anything to the attendees. People just had to pay for their own beverages.

Altogether, an afternoon/evening well spent. It was an excellent event that enabled us to network with fellow authors and learn about different aspects of book publishing. I think Chennai needs more informal events like these to foster a good culture of literary writing.

Destination Infinity

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