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Ask any author and it is their aspirational dream of being a bestseller! Any author who writes irrespective of the genre, not only dreams, but also fantasizes and imagines of being a bestseller where their literary creation is not just read by scores of people, but it is also appreciated all over the world.
Imbibing the spirit of a creator of good work, an author is also open to criticisms on their literary contribution, where people are not just giving their reviews but also making it a subject of discussion at their coffee table or in the drawing-room. The author’s mind consistently imagines the multiple book tours and book signings where he/she is not just showcasing their work, but also presenting their own varied interpretations of the work over autograph sessions.
Isn’t it beautiful to get interviewed by various media houses for your literary masterpieces? Doesn’t it seem soothing to voice your opinions on the current state of literature? Doesn’t it seem serene to mentor a ton of young budding writers to enrich their creativity potential? Indeed! Who doesn’t want to be a bestseller? But the million-dollar question is - What makes it a bestseller?
A good book always has the potential to be a bestseller. Every writer would agree to the fact that content is always the king and a book with good content would always have high chances of becoming a bestseller. Is just good content really sufficient to be a bestseller? Don’t we need any other variables to make our literary piece a bestselling book? It’s quite normal for such questions to surface in the mind of an author and consistently tease him/her.
In order to find the answers to such questions, first of all, we need to understand what exactly does a bestseller means? A bestselling book simply means a literary piece of work that is read, appreciated and criticized by millions of people all over the world.
A book which is not just read but also becomes a craving amongst people who long to get hold of a copy of it. Then is it possible that only good writing would make this possible? Obviously, not! It seems like utter common sense that good writing can initiate word-of-mouth advertising which has its own limitations and drawbacks.
In such cases, even though adorned with great content, a book lags behind and just gets restricted to a handful of readers. Isn’t it disheartening for writers that even after enriching content a book gets only a few pairs of eyes to read it? Then what should an author do to be a bestseller?
Authors first need to understand that to be read by millions of people, their work needs to reach as many readers as possible. The book should be available at their doorstep or their preferred location. Authors today need to shed their preconceived notion of the overrated importance of digitization where authors after listing their books on e-commerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart become assured that their book has reached worldwide.
They need to understand that whereas this method might hold true for a product, but it is not less than a cardinal sin to consider their own literary masterpieces as a product. A book is always an experience that can only be cherished by imbibing the essence of it by flipping through those pages and holding in their hands. Readers want to get motivated by the cover page and the author’s journey. They want to get the feel of being a reader who wants to enrich his/her intellectual quotient.
Then an important question arises that, just by making the book available in all parts of the world, would that be enough to make it a bestseller? Another significant concern arises that, aren’t we aware that it’s not only our book that has got published in the particular time frame? Leave aside the world, in India itself, thousands of books get published each year, and aren’t we aware that any particular bookshop or bookstore contains hundreds of books?
The story doesn’t end here. No matter which genre we had touched, we will find tens of competitive titles eyeing for the same spot. Every book is craving for a special mention in the heart of its readers. How can a reader who is already in a different sense of euphoria, will ever reach out to our book? How can a reader who picks our book after flipping few pages will decide to read it instead of selecting any other author’s book? At this juncture, the importance of branding comes into action.
We need to understand that we should differentiate ourselves from other authors so that we can create a niche among the readers. It becomes imperative that our readers get a chance to peep into our writing journey so that they not only just get motivated, but also can relate our journey with their own lives. We as an author, need to connect with these aspiring authors at a ground level and help bridge the gap between them and their role models.
Authors are considered the intelligentsia group of any society and readers expect their favorite authors to voice their opinion on the current fallacies of any society which could bring them close to their role models. Branding doesn’t mean to bombard your readers with pseudo-appreciation of either your book or yourself which could act as negative publicity in the mind of your readers.
Authors should always keep in mind that they are the driving force of any civilized society, and their every minute action leaves a deep imprint on the imagination of their readers. They need to take utmost care that to create a long-lasting impact on their work, they do not heed towards any destination which could act as a foul mouth amongst their reader.
Through the process of branding and in author journey, there might be times when reviewers and literary critics will share their opinion regarding our book which might not be pleasing to us, but we need to understand that they have just shared their own opinion and interpretations which as an author, we need to respect.
There may be times when we would get negative feedback from our own beloved readers, but we should always keep in mind that they have spared their precious time to make us identify our fallacies as they are fond of us. We need to understand that there would be times when a certain media house would refuse to cover our book, but that never means they are not interested in our work. It just might be a case that their base of readers is completely different which does not adhere to our literary work.
There would be times when a particular educational or professional institution would not be interested in hosting a talk show for our work but that never means that we are getting devoid of our deserving destination. It might be possible that a particular organization doesn’t comply with our opinion.
As an author, we always need to understand that the journey to secure a place in the heart of readers is tougher than securing a book in our own hand. Indeed! Every author desire to become a bestseller, but it is only achievable through rich content and a proper strategy to be consistently present amidst your readers not just physically but also emotionally. This will most certainly help you attain the bliss of being a bestselling author!
A Literary Critic turned Author, Nitish Raj is the Co-Founder of Literia Insight and Editor-in-Chief at The Literary Mirror. Through his incessant passion for literature, Mr. Raj has made a mark for himself in the field of literature in the past 8 years. He has portrayed multiple literary attributes in various capacities such as an Acclaimed Author of two books, a Literary Critic, an Opinion Editorial and a Columnist for modern and post-modern literature, a Feminist, and a Thinker.
Resonating his creativity with the common masses, he has contributed to both English and Hindi literature. Having been published and featured at multiple prominent media houses of both national and international repute, he has been an eminent speaker at prestigious institutions like IITs, IIM Lucknow, and NIT Silchar. He has been invited as Host to International Conference on Multi-Disciplinary Research, Mumbai, and as Guest Poet at International Poetry Conference, Tunisia (Africa). Mr. Raj has crafted his art to become a guiding force for new and existing authors through Literia Insight.
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