JOIN USBengaluru startup to promote writing talent
A start-up is looking for stories and ideas it can turn into books and screenplays.
Headquartered in J P Nagar, Script A Hit is the brainchild of Jaishankar Krishnamurthy, a finance expert now dedicating his time to finding new story ideas and writing talent.
Jaishankar had aspired to write a novel for four decades but never got around to doing it. “I didn’t have the skills to write, and I lacked the time to make a book happen as I was busy building a career in finance. But now, since my family and I have relocated to Bengaluru from Singapore, I gave the idea another shot and here we are today. I currently have four books in the works,” he says.
He believes people across India may have great ideas and stories to tell but don’t have the means to turn their ideas into novels.
“We, Indians, are great storytellers, so we wanted to make a platform for these storytellers,” he says.
On the team that turns ideas into books and scripts is his wife Krishna Udayasankar, a critically-acclaimed author with nine published books, and Neha Lamba-Grover, with an established career in media and entertainment.
“Having strong and established contacts helped us get a better understanding of what their respective industries are looking for,” says Jaishankar.
Apart from traditional book publishers, the company considers OTT platforms its main market. “There is a growing demand in this industry for new plots and local stories,” he adds.
Since launching in April, the platform has received a steady flow of entries from across India.
“Most submissions so far have been in English. But our goal is to get to a level where anyone and everyone is able to share their ideas. Be it a police officer who has an interesting story or a grandmother who has seen so much happen in her time,” he tells Metrolife.
How to submit an idea
All an author has to do is submit an idea in the form of a synopsis on the official ‘Script A Hit’ website. Signing up is free. Submissions in English, Hindi and Tamil are currently accepted. If your idea is shortlisted, you sign a co-development agreement and receive a signing fee of Rs 10,000. “We then get into the process of manuscript development with a team of professional writers. Once the manuscript is ready, we pitch it to established publishers and entertainment platforms. Finally, if the manuscript gets published, the original idea submitter will receive co-author or concept credits and also a share of the advances and royalties,” says Jaishankar, who runs Script A Hit.