I am an Author who has the privilege of working with some of the finest Publishers in the Indian publishing industry. My second book Love Story of a Commando was Published by Westland Amazon publishing house and my third book ‘Force behind the Forces’ is published by Penguin Random House publishers. But what makes my experience and exposure enhance as an author is that I have also been self published and also published by a small-time publisher called Petals publishers. This exactly makes me an expert to tell all the first time authors what they all must do to get published in India. getting published in India is a treacherous thing literally strenuous and exhaustive if you intend to be published traditionally with nice publishing houses. they don’t pick the manuscripts easily nor do they publish every author. The first time authors can certainly self publish their books but then again it has its own struggle, there are no distribution channels nor any market for the book. there is no PR or sales backing which traditionally published authors enjoy from big publishing houses. The kind of support publishing houses like Penguin, Westland, Harper Collins etc provide to their authors is tremendous. They also are the oldest publishers and they have not just survived the doom of the digital era but they dominate the book market completely. Getting published by them as a writer is a dream come true and it ensures visibility and also respect. You gain credibility for your writing in the publishing arena which helo in the future publication of your books. So I would suggest all the first time authors try their bests to be published by such brand names in the publishing world and then only opt for self-publishing as a last resort. It is tough but certainly not impossible just keep in mind these factors.

Brand Value

Build your brand value through social media channels. be more interactive and engaging with your target audience base. Find a way. if you write romance genre then your personality must reflect that and your audience base must recognise you as an expert in the field. You should work upon building a trust factor between you and your audiences who are your future readers and trust me there are no shortcuts for it. It takes time, patience and persistence but be assured consistency have the power to take you to the heights you dream about. Just don’t stop dreaming.

Write Daily

Your writing should improve daily. Your editing skills should improve daily. Your mistakes should reduce daily and your grammar should be impeccable. it is of utmost importance. It can be achieved by blogging and doing it religiously try to write 1000 words daily. Once you complete your manuscript go through several layers of editing and then hire an excellent editor to help you with your manuscript before you mail it to publishers. The key is don’t be impatient in the process. We all go through this time now and again.

Don’t fall for shortcuts

If you want to be an author and an excellent one you really need to come out with a unique story plot which you must not believe in but there are no shortcuts for a story to be published the first step is never to pay money to get your books published. Never Ever! Don’t give self-publishing guys too much money rather opt for a local printing press and get it done for cheap. Don’t rely too much on small-time publishers for publicity or marketing if somehow you have been published traditionally which means without spending a penny use the opportunity and invest money from your pocket for the marketing of the book now. That is your book your baby and only you are passionate to take care of that book, not the publisher he will just try to make money out of it which is fair. The publishers invested money right. Now it is your turn and provides your book with good visibility.

Best way to self publish is Kindle

If you have lost your patience and just want your book to be available to be read by everyone just publish it on kindle as e copy. Give this electronic version of the book some time frame before you get it published in paperback or hardcopy. If your book has got potential it will sell. the e-book will sell and it will also make a noise and you will get a ground check reality about how much effort you are willing to put into your book and what exactly needs to be done. Kindle has a vast market trust me far bigger than self-publishing houses like notion press or partridge. I believe these are all scams. they charge exorbitantly and for what? They don’t have any market nor any distribution channel they just bluff. Beware. rather kindle even trying Wattpad and winning the various contests out there is a good idea and right step.

be consistent

It might look impossible to you to be published by publishers like Penguin harper, Westland, Rupa, Bloomsbury, even publishers like Srishti but if you will not give up trust me it will happen day and you will find your way. Just keep on building yourself work upon your image, enhance your influencing circle and engage with the right kind of networking. The bigger your image is more are the chances of getting published. Right for newspapers, magazines, e-book clubs and every other platform you come across. Write that is your passion right? But never give up.

Everyone is writing these days in the era of Google or digital media where information is at our fingertips if becoming an author would have been easy everyone would have been an author. This difficulty makes getting published and becoming an author charming and prestigious. These days many books are also getting adapted into movies or OTT platforms so writing is a lucrative field these days if you are good. But you need to play it right. I hope these first hands tips for first time authors or aspiring authors would be useful. All the best.