Musing 16: Publishing Process- The Graveyard is full of Brilliant Ideas

THREE WEEKS FOR THE BOOK LAUNCH

MUSINGS OF A (FINANCIALLY) ILLITERATE FATHER

MUSING 16: THE GRAVEYARD IS FULL OF BRILLIANT IDEAS

I will begin this post with my impassioned plea once again- please keep sharing these posts with your near and dear ones for these are a run up to my book, “Musings of a (financially) illiterate father, likely to be in your hands by mid-July. The book has been specially written to teach the alchemy of wealth creation and retention to our children. They deserve to learn it.

Where do you find the most innovative, brilliant and groundbreaking ideas- go visit the nearest graveyard? It is full of human beings who lived for years, nay decades, with that brilliance, awaiting the right moment to unfurl the ideas in front of the world. Alas, that moment never came while they were alive and that brilliant idea got extinguished with that last breath.

There is a great story, a bestselling book inside all of us. All it needs is a trigger for us to sit down and write- for the process of writing can appear to be a grind unless we associate it with a cause which is close to our heart. While the bright spark, the story idea may occur in a flash; it may take months and sometimes years for this idea to get converted to a book.

          Having written my maiden book now, which took nearly a year, I can confidently say that the experience is indeed cathartic. You get to meet your true self, learn to express yourself better and in the process, leave a legacy behind. Your thoughts get immortalized for generations to follow and that alone should be a motivation for most of us to write.

          Once you finish your book, naturally you want it to reach the intended audience at the earliest. You want feedbacks of real people; good or bad; for the book is your labor of love like a child is to a mother, who carries the child in her womb for nine months. The publishing process though could be quite a nightmare, especially for a first-time author. Let me tell you how the process goes. What follows is strictly based on my personal experiences.

          The first thing to do will be finding a publisher. There is a bewildering array of publishers of all kinds out there. As per Association of Publishers in India[1], there are about 9,037 publishers in India. Needless to say, there are many thousands more who are not registered- let’s say an equal number, which may well be a conservative estimate. On the other hand, Nielsen Book India, a continuous book sale tracking company reports a figure of 70,000 books being sold per week- a humongous figure indeed. If we do simple math (just for a back of the envelope calculation), every publisher, every week, is being bombarded with 16 books from wannabe/established writers. In such a complex web, how does one go about contacting a publisher?

          Obviously, sending your book to 9,000+ publishers is an impractical option, so one ends up asking friends/family/relatives, especially those connected with the publishing or media world to “put in a word” to a publisher. Having done that, there is a long wait, for many months, to hear from the publisher. The sad fact is that most of these book drafts end up in a trash can as the editors don't find them worthy enough for their time. Be that as it may, unless your book is the next "five point someone" by Chetan Bhagat, the editor finding priority time for it, may be difficult. Incidentally, “five point someone” which was later converted to the super hit movie, “3 Idiots”, was also rejected by nine publishers.

          Assuming the best case scenario, you will hear from the publisher not before 3 to 6 months. If the editor has not liked the book, you may never hear at all. If and when the publisher contacts you, rest assured that he has found your book interesting and commercially viable.

Let’s look at the economy of book publishing now. The normal mode of book publishing is “offset printing” which is a printing technique in which the inked image on a printing plate is printed on a rubber cylinder and then transferred (i.e., offset) to paper or other material[2]. The problem with offset printing is its cost. Obviously, there has to be a minimum number of books that must be printed for the cost per book to come down. Normally, one talks of minimum 1,000 books for cost-effectiveness in offset printing. The publisher, who is there in the market for profit, must find your book commercially viable for selling 1,000 copies, at the cost decided by the publisher.

But we have jumped the gun here. Much before a book goes for printing, there is a multitude of activities that go on for making it print-ready. First of all, the book needs to undergo professional editing. We may have written the best prose/poetry, as per our capabilities, there is always scope for improvement in grammar, syntax, punctuation, spelling, consistency and so on. That is where a professional editor comes in- but with a price. As I found out during my struggle, the going rate for editing is 30 paise to 1 rupee per word. So, if your book is 50,000 words long, be ready to shell out between Rs 15,000 to 50,000 for editing, depending upon the quality of editing you want.

Then is the process of Cover designing. Though it is said that, “never judge a book by its cover”; invariably we end up making our initial impressions based on the cover of a book. I will not get into the details of cover design but would like to share a very striking cover. You will notice a lady slowly drowning in water indicating her life struggle. This book would surely have grabbed eyeballs and readership. Ideally, a cover should give a very fair idea of the theme of the book to the reader. Cover Designing may cost you between Rs 4,000-15,000.

http://charlottestrick.com/

Both the activities i.e. editing and cover designing are iterative and go on simultaneously. As an author, you need to be very clear about how your book should look and feel in the reader’s hand- so far as the feel, cover, and the interior is concerned. It will result in more incisive editing and designing. There is also a requirement to give a synopsis of the book to the cover designer so that he/she gets the book theme right. Be very mindful and deliberate while making the synopsis as that epitomizes the basic idea of your book which will be running right through your editor’s and cover designer’s minds.

You will also be required to give a Blurb of the book which normally goes on the back cover of the book. A blurb is a short write up of the book for promotional purposes and needs lots of deliberation. You really want to pack a punch in less than 200 words.

Author’s bio is another requirement, which is normally up to 200-300 words. One has to strike a correct balance between vanity and modesty here. Your credentials must be known to the readers especially which may matter to the theme of the book. At the same time, too much narcissism may put off the reader even while reading your bio and the book may suffer.

Once these activities get over, which may take 3-4 months, the process of formatting and interior designing commences. It is only then, that the book goes for printing. These activities will cost you between Rs 7,000 to 13,000. As you would be calculating alongside, we have already accounted for Rs 26,000- 78,000. The publisher must be willing to invest this base amount and other expenses which go into printing, warehousing and distributing the book. Offhand, the publishers have given me an expenditure of Rs 2 lac, before the book lands in your hands. The expenses on advertising are over and above.

Are you already taking a sigh of relief? Don’t be in haste for there are a lot of activities which need to be taken care of before your book reaches the readers. But, I will give you a break here so that the author within you can mull over these points.

Next week, we will take on the additional activities that are involved in a smooth book launch. Also, I will discuss with you a far more cost-effective way of publishing a book. Ciao- till we meet again on 01 July 2018. Enjoy your Sunday, you have earned it.

---

[1] http://www.publishers.org.in/: accessed on 17 May 2018.

[2] https://www.britannica.com/technology/offset-printing.