The Hindu has an interview with the author of ‘The Rozabal Line’ today – Mumbai-based businessman and first time novelist, Ashwin Sanghi. What caught my attention was that he had submitted his to 100 odd publishers and it seems 99 rejected it.
So, did he lose hope? Nope! He turned to micropublishing – the democratisation of book publishing. Ashwin published it on his own via self-publishing stalwart, Lulu.com (disclosure – once my client). Interestingly Ashwin did not publish it under his own name – true to his book’s content, he published it under his name’s anagram – Shawn Haigins!
This move, according to Ashwin, was instrumental in getting the attention of WestLand Books which has now published an Indian version of the book. This is a fascinating case – we’ve all heard of manuscripts being rejected, but this guy actually thought on his feet and made his book happen.
As someone interested in bizarre theories like what the Rozabal line deals with (Jesus’ missing years, spent in India!), I’m surely gonna read this book.
Indian micro/self-publisher Cinnamonteal (@cinnamonteal) listening to this? They should be using this as a case study to get others with a foot in multiple mega publishers’ door to try self-publishing first!
Also see…Ashwin Sanghi/ Shawn Haigins’ blog!
All you wannabe novelists – take note! Never give up!