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Do you aspire to be a published author someday?

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Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

It has been a pretty long journey for me, from being an 'aspiring' author to getting my first book published by a top-tier publishing house. Here's a little more about the book, the publisher and some reviews - 'Beyond The MBA Hype'.

International publishers and agents had rejected the book (citing concerns about market viability for such a topic, unusual writing style, first-time author's brand/track-record etc). After the Indian publisher released it, the book got featured in the Times of India bestsellers list and the first print-run has been sold out in under 3 months.

I'm guessing there are many bloggers out here who have the potential to be published authors someday. I thought this thread would be a good way to discover them.

So calling all potential authors who have seriously been contemplating the idea of writing a full-fledged book or considering a career in the publishing industry.

Share your ideas about the book and what makes you the right author for that book. Who knows, maybe some hot-shot editor may stumble upon this thread. So keep it short and sweet.

Update: I've launched a free online mini MBA program that might interest you. You can read more about mini MBA programs.

http://www.sameerkamat.com/  

Edited
Reason: Update

Replies 1 to 20 of 36

umesh derebail
from Mumbai |

good to know that your book will be getting published shortly, please let us know the title of the book once it is published, all the best for your future ventures too.

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

Sure, Umesh. My personal website ( http://www.sameerkamat.com/) has some basic info that I've intentionally not included here. I'll update the original post when the uncertainty ends (Lessons to be learnt from Murphy's Laws Laughing).

Thanks for your wishes.

Mohonish 'Xeno' Chakraborty
from Kolkata |

I want to!I have started a novel actually.It is on vampires.

Thats all I can say. I will approach various publishing houses as soon as i finish with it.I guess it is going to take me one and a half years to complete it as of now.By the way, please help us by telling us something about getting our books published - the things to keep in mind - and all that.And also suggest some good publishing houses which accept fresh authors.

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

Bloodsuckers have always generated a lot of interest. Will your book be within the fiction/fantasy section or under politics? Tongue out

For your other questions, the answers will be too long to fit in a small response. Hopefully trying to add more content on our blog for folks interested in getting published. We've started with a high level generic post for now on how to break into the publishing industry. Hopefully Indiblogger authors like Ankita (see earlier post) will share their stories there as well and talk about the procedural aspects.

Till then there's a lot of stuff available on the web, but mainly from a US/international perspective. So start researching and eke out the generic stuff from those sites keeping in mind that in India, things work a little differently.

Sumit Nangia
from Pune |

I am a B.tech 3rd student. During my 11 and 12, I was in Kota, studying for IIT prepration exams. We were a group of 7 close friends, who all had incredible adventures in the strange city, where we were suppose to devote all our time to studies, and then suddenly things went really wrong and we were in a situation that could have tored apart all our lives, and then spirituality and the good we did unknowingly came to our resuce. 

I even penned down about 20  pages. It is not among those several IIT love stories, that the market is flooded with these days. Hope to complete it some time soon "The Seven Confessions" :) :)

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

Sounds interesting, Sumit. You'd better start discussing with the remaining 6 friends about how/if you'd share your millions in royalty with them. You don't want another Facebook story kinda situation on your hands.

Good luck with the rest of the book.

Sumit Nangia
from Pune |

Millions in royalty... it may never happen at least it sounds nice ;) ;)

Arti
from Mumbai |

I would love to write a Travel Book based on my Blog!! That would be great:)

Prasanna Raghavan
from Cape Town, South Africa |

Hi sameer,

After a long time, how are you?

Good to hear that your are reaching out to the heights of your dreams in terms of getting published.

I also have an ambition to write a book on education. that is there are a lot of wrongs happening in the field of education- teaching and learning; wrong philosophies, wrong metholdologies. They are what i have  leraned from my own expericne as a teacher and a manager in the profession.

I started writting it as posts in my blog. http://indiablooming.com/ I do not know when I can complete it. But I belive there lies a scope for publishing. What do you think sameer, especially you are also in the field of education.

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

Hi Prasanna,

Yes, it's been a while. Been busy getting my first MBA & GMAT Prep blog in good shape. Takes up a whole lot of time.

I have seen your India Blooming site. Pretty informative and vast, compared to my niche, focussed topic. So I'm sure any book that you write will have a much bigger impact (and market, as that's what publishers would also be interested in) than any of mine.

Madhur Chadha
from Hyderabad |

i am not sure what weather i fit in this category.. I Am a poet who also gives music and voice over to his poetry ..I currently have released one single "Nostalgia-- Ode to college life and friends" on itunes ,amazon,raphshody and various other stores.

 I plan to come out with a full fledged album dedicated solely to good poetry ,some written by me and some by others. So technically yeah i want to get published but in Voice :)

Sumit Nangia
from Pune |

I have heard Nostalgia. Not just me, nearly everyone in my college did. It was superb, simply awesome.Really, you should go on and do it. You'll be a hit overnight... GO on rock the world.!!!!

I wrote on same topic quite some time back, give it a look here

Prasanna Raghavan
from Cape Town, South Africa |

Hi sameer, thanks a lot for your sincere evaluation.

I saw your blog.  It looks very professional, though I would have choosen another colour for the headings. My be I am seeing it from a female perspective.

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

@Madhur: 220K, that's awesome, dude! I heard the poem. Very touching. And btw, in the melting pot of multimedia publishing, sure you qualify to be on this thread :-)

Do let me know your email ID. Would be good to have you showcase your talent using mutliple platforms.

--

@Prasanna: Thanks for the feedback. Will add that to my to-do list. Yes, I agree. The aesthetics are not in the best shape. I've been postponing it indefinitely thinking, 'I'll focus on the content for now, will look into the cosmetics soon.' Keeps getting pushed.

Do let me know if your female X-Ray vision has been able to detect other points that my aesthetically-challenged male eyes haven't been able to catch.

Raniyal Niyada
from Calicut, Kerala |

Congrates for the publication of your book! looking forward to read it!

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

Thanks, Raniyal. Are you a budding/published author too?

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

Umesh had asked about the book and I had skirted the question earlier :-)

I've added a book trailer for Beyond The MBA Hype on YouTube now to give a better idea of the subject.

First attempt at something like this. So if there are any video or media experts, do let me know if you have any new ideas.

Either ways, let me know what do you think about the concept? Think it works?

Kristy Kumari
from Amritsar |

There are less than 50 public writers, most don't want to be too public, in my niche and it's a rapidly growing segment of the population worldwide. I am working on a book already, been slowly working on it for a long time and the story keeps building. I think I'm right for this book because I'm putting in the work/research/effort for it and I'm already a professional writer. I also have first hand knowledge of the subject.

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

Sounds pretty intriguing, Kristy. I just checked out your blog 'White Bhabhi' (interesting title Laughing). I'm guessing your book will also be on the same (or a related) subject?

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

Kristy, I'd love do post something on my blog about your unique background and writing work. Can you let me know an email ID I can reach you on? Or drop me a note on [mbacrystalball at gmail dot com]. A little additional limelight won't hurt :-)

Kristy Kumari
from Amritsar |

Yes Sameer, it will be about a lot of what is in my blog and the circumstances leading up to my move to India.

Mohini Puranik
from Dhule |

Hi Sameer, It's nice thread and I really wish to be a book author. Even I feel it's time now to publish at least a small book. But I don't know any publisher.  My political articlese are very important for today and future so I wish I could reach as many people as I can.

Mohini Puranik
from Dhule |

And of course I wish that I can have my own publication, especially something like Geetapress....which will reach our culture and spirituality to the world. I really dream from Zero. But nothing is possible without zero.

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

Mohini, you already have a strong online platform that established authors would envy.

Judging by the content on your blog, your popularity on social networking forums and the soaring Alexa ranking of your blogs, I'm sure you'd make a bestselling author. Don't wait for too long.

Mohini Puranik
from Dhule |

Sameer, that's really a big honor for me. Thank you so much for your encouraging opinion. Thank you really. :)

"Don't wait for too long" thanks.......

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

You are right, Vasundhara. It can be pretty confusing and frustrating to navigate the publishing industry maze. My book is being published by a leading publisher (check the first post), but it's been a very slow journey to get there. So I'm hoping to address some of those issues in my blog.

The last post - How to write a book and get published - is at a macro level. I'll try to dive deeper into the individual aspects for subsequent posts.

V Kashyap
from Chennai |

How long did you have to hunt before you found a publisher? 

Sujatha Sathyendra
from bangalore |

aspire ? yesss. but alas...ah...i dont even know if i can even think on those lines yet . this is my blog

http://sujathasathya.blogspot.com

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

@Sujatha: Blogging is a great way to set the ball rolling. Gives you an exposure to all the elements involved in the publishing cycle, albeit on varying scales (depending on how seriously you are taking your blogging efforts).

I see that you've collected a lot of badges. So there are folks out there who like what you write :-)

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

@Vasundhara: It was a looong wait...several years. There were a lot of rejections along the way. I realised my mistakes as I went along and changed strategies. Patience and continuous learning are two aspects that are very important.

If you can't get publishers to take you seriously, see if you can get a good literary agent to represent you.

V Kashyap
from Chennai |

Thats what I was thinking about. Because I've sent it to just two publishers now and haven't heard anything. So I thought that it would be best to get a literary agent. Thanks for the tip. 

Sujatha Sathyendra
from bangalore |

thank u for taking the time to go thru my blog

appreciate it very much :)

R-A-J
from Bangalore |

Hey Sameer, I had asked u before on ur blog but maybe u missed it: but is there any way I can contact u?

R-A-J

[email protected]

Sameer Kamat
from Mumbai |

I've sent you an email on your ID, buddy.

R-A-J
from Bangalore |

Thnx Sameer :)

Sujatha Sathyendra
from bangalore |

hmm dont even know if i can even begin to think on those lines...book , publishing & all

but anyways, my blog is http://sujathasathya.blogspot.com

do make time n let me know what u think of it. at least i can improve there :)