There is a rat race in almost every career opportunity in a Developing Country like India. Let us know more about the Rising Competition and decreasing confidence in Authors from our very special guest Author, Sheo Nath. He is a bilingual author, having two books each in Hindi and English to his credit. He is not restricted to any fixed genre. His first book 'Tukdon me prem kahani' was a collection of 14 stories that got published in 2008 and was widely appreciated. His next was 'Disclosure- A Rape Victim's Resolute Revelation' about a rape victim and her struggle to change societal mindset towards victims. This has been most exhaustive novel on this sensitive topic. The next book 'Minimising Unhappiness' is a self-hep book giving practical solutions to life's most difficult problems. His latest 'Aasman ka guroor' is a collection of 90 poems in Hindi highlighting varied facets of life.
Q1 You have written four solo books. Tell us what is your take on increasing market competition of Authors ?
Ans : Off late, the number of writers is increasing and number of readers is decreasing. The increasing content avaiable online has certainly affected the book market. The publishers have made no efforts to increasre readership. The books are being published seeing the brand value of the author rather than content of the book and writing style. Except by few like Prabhat Prakashan, authors are rarely paid royalty. The market has certainly been tough and competitive for authors. But, few new publishers are encoraging new authors, though they have not been able to develop a market for books published by them. Self-publishing has become the norm of the day where the author has to shell out money for publication of his and more money for its marketing.
Q2) Do you feel the story or the plot of the book has a major role to play in the success of a book ?Which genre do you feel is the most sold genre ?
Ans : The novel needs to have a very interesting story, crisp narration and intensive PR campaign for a normal author to become success. For a celebrity author who is an actor or sportsperson, even sub-standard stuff sells. Some controversial staff also sell well. There is scope for romantic novels too.
Of all the formats, self-help books sell most followed by novels.
Q3) Do you feel educators and parents have a major role to play in building up the confidence of a person ?
Ans : No doubt, educators and parents can only shape up any individual's thinking in initial years and boost his confidence in years to come. A support system gives an individual honest feedback and much needed courage to be successful in his endeavours.
Q4)What is that one advice that you want to give to the youngsters to boost their confidence?
Ans : Youngsters should follow their passion and never be bogged down by some initial hurdles coming up their way. Patience is required in every field and persistence only helps to tide over any hiccups. In may case, I had asked few of my friends to give a feedback on the manuscript of 'Disclosure' after 5-6 years of research based writing, but got it from none. Though non-supportive initially, they are now appreciative of me now. With my experience, I can say that if you do not stop, success can not be stopped.
Q5) Do you feel paid publishing is leaving a bad effect on middle class people ?
Ans : Every middle class people has a story to tell or a story to read. Paid publishing has resulted in non-resourceful authors to part with their hard-earned money apart from writing which itself is demanding and intellectual work. This results in publisher not to focus on readers and encourage reading habits in the society. The less the number of readers, the less is profit. To compensate, prices of books have increased again hitting the common man.
Q6) What are your forthcoming projects and how you are planning to boost its sales?
Ans: I am writing a novel in English, 'Love across iigration counters' on love story during covid and a collection of humanitarian covid stories in Hindi. Others ones are novels based on Andaman, a cancer patient, legal stuggle of a common man. They all are research based and will take time to be completed.
Marketing is a persistent effort. I have got a readership base now. Also, I keep on promoting my earlier works even now on social media. Though I am not aggressive, I am continuously working towards promotion of my books. I am sure that in years to come, I will leave a legacy for the world to ponder over and get benefitted.
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