A new chapter: How self-publishing is gaining ground among Tamil authors

In a nook of the bustling Chennai Book Fair — with its almost 700 stalls — are racks that include self-published Tamil works.

Here, authors straight stroll as much as you and clarify their content material. You can have a chat with them, and resolve if you need to select up the e book; 12 metropolis authors who’ve self-published their materials have arrange such racks in a first-of-its-kind initiative on the forty fourth Chennai Book Fair. “Some of these authors do not have money to hire a stall, so we give them a rack for ₹8,000 where they can display upto 50 titles and have the chance to directly interact with the audience they are writing for,” says RS Shanmugam, president of the Book Sellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI).

Some of them are ‘lockdown authors’. “There are people who have taken up reading during the lockdown period, and have gone on to write and publish their own books now.”

Many miles away in Sri Lanka, Tamil author Aishwarya Sajeevakumar has revealed 22 books in lower than a 12 months by way of Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). She is a part of a mushrooming breed of Tamil ‘authorpreneurs’ who’re following their ardour to comply with their artistic desires and likewise earn a considerable earnings from it.

Money issues

The Tamil diaspora is the viewers for authors taking this route. Oman-based Senthilbalan Manickam, who describes himself as a ‘doctor by profession, a writer by heart’, is aware of that fairly nicely.

Writing underneath the title Sen Balan, he is the mind behind hit Tamil thriller Parangi Malai Irayil Nilayam that options fictional detective Karthick Aldo; he has managed to amass followers throughout the globe.

Senthilbalan Manickam
 

“From 2004 till 2016, I have been writing blogs and multiple literary works without thinking much about the monetisation part of it,” he remembers. That modified when he heard of self-publishing for Kindle. The first time he contributed a narrative for it was when he wrote a 5,000-word thriller titled Siram Thara Virumbu; Senthilbalan spent simply two days within the artistic course of and revealed it.

“Even my wife did not know that it was published then. After a week, I told a few of my friends who bought it online. The first amount of ₹17 per book that I received was negligible when I compare it with what I earn from my doctor profession, but it gave me immense happiness.”

The scenario is a bit totally different for Aishwarya, who has been writing underneath the title Aadvika Pommu for the previous two years. Her husband, based mostly within the US, unexpectedly misplaced his job because of the pandemic, and it was upto Aishwarya to maintain the household operating. Writing and self-publishing on-line got here to her rescue.

Aishwarya Sajeevakumar
 

“Had I opted for print books, it would have been difficult reaching physical copies to Tamilians across the world,” says Aishwarya, who was one of many finalists of the Amazon KDP Pen to Publish Contest.

Aishwarya is a civil engineer, however her coronary heart is set on writing; she is at present engaged on a narrative revolving round DNA enhancing titled Brahman. With 22 books out since August 2019, Aadvika Pommu is not solely incomes followers but in addition making more cash that she envisioned to. “I earn more from self-publishing my work online than my salary,” she says proudly.

The cash issue apart, self-publishing offers such authors freedom to take to their artistic pursuits; additionally they wouldn’t have to take care of the fixed back-and-forths with publishing homes. “There are many barriers in approaching a publishing house. We need to win their trust, get approvals from their team and make changes. Only after that does it become a book,” provides Senthilbalan.

Digital desires

The pandemic noticed folks doing two issues to maintain themselves occupied: getting again to studying, or digging into OTT platforms. ‘Cable’ Sankar, common Chennai-based author, tries giving them a style of each.

With a bundle provide priced at ₹930, Sankar is giving his followers the choice to decide on six of his books and 6 months of OTT subscription to Moviewud, a platform he promotes. With such an initiative, Sankar is attempting to achieve your complete family, a few of whom learn books and a few of whom want watching movies. “A family might have both readers and viewers, and this is a way to reach out to both of them,” says Sankar. Three of his latest self-published novels — 24 Salanangalin Enn, Naan Sharmi Vairam and Bermuda — have bought greater than 1,800 copies.

He believes that this ends in extra transparency and freedom. “As authors, we can print the number of copies we need and involve in marketing the books ourselves,” says Sankar, who has just lately penned Lockdown Kathaigal. Three of his latest self-published novels — 24 Salanangalin Enn, Naan Sharmi Vairam and Bermuda — have bought greater than 1,800 copies, a quantity he takes delight in.

C Saravanakarthikeyan  

C Saravanakarthikeyan, referred to as CSK in literary circles, has additionally come out with self-published works like Kanni Theevu, Appleukku Mun and 96: Thaniperunkadhal. “Earlier, authors would think of money as a bonus to the satisfaction of seeing their work published. Self-publishing and the practise of putting content on Kindle has changed this environment,” says the Bengaluru-based creator.

Today, these authors don’t want the assistance of publishing homes for suggestions, however comprehend it first-hand resulting from technological developments.

“Like an entrepreneur, authors can now experiment with the marketing of their creative works based on factors like what kind of content sells and which ones gets downloaded more. All these empower authorpreneurs, a concept that will surely pick up in the years to come,” he provides.