What do you do when you can’t not write? Keep pushing the pen, of course. Or, in today’s techno-savvy world, punch the keyboard. And if you want to share what you write with others or even make writing your bread and butter?
Being published has never been a cakewalk, whether for Kalidas or Caxton, but today, some authors or their close relatives are turning to publishing their own work.
Like Ronnie Patel, whose first book, Island Poems was first published by Lotus Print. And this, after the world declared this actor, company executive, film-maker and entrepreneur, a retired man. By the time it went into its second edition, the name of the publisher read, Bookworth & Patroy.
That’s Patel’s latest endeavour. "I turned publisher only after my work was first published by someone else... It did not seem a bad idea becoming a publisher and distributor, for I had time and a lot of work on hand, which I thought could be more profitably exposed than the mere royalty (if and when received) from writing; unless, of course you wrote Harry Potter!" he says.
And the going has been comfortable for Patel. Apart from a Bookworth's
{{/usCountry}}And the going has been comfortable for Patel. Apart from a Bookworth's
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in the offing, another of his book of poems, Amongst the Graves, is slated for release shortly.
Engineer Ajoy Chatterji turned publisher with Parumita Publications when he found his author wife, Shoma A Chatterji "being deprived of her rightful dues from her published works." He adds without hesitation, "As far as I know, this is the normal practice of most publishers in our country." Growing slowly but sincerely, Parumita has six imprints to its credit.
Small publishers, with virtually no corpus to fall back on, find funds a major shortcoming. Chatterji rues the lack of it for advertising since, in his experience, "Books hardly sell on their merit. So one has to blow one’s trumpet."
Patel also mentions money to establish the small publisher in a bid to catch the author’s attention and manuscript. "Naturally, they have been cornered by better established publishers," he says of his search for better authors. The financial stability factor is important since most publishers have to pick up the tabs for printing the books, while more money is tied up since bookstores work on a consignment basis, which means, payments can be held back for some time.