The story of self-publishing

My curiosity led me to a self-publishing house called The Write Order, located in Koramangala, Bengaluru.

An illustrated version of ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ by John Bunyan is perhaps the first book I attempted to read. I say attempted because I didn’t understand a word of it. An allegorical tale about religion is hardly a subject that captures the imagination of a seven-year-old girl. And yet, I hold pleasant memories of its crisp cream-hued pages, the ‘old book’ smell that so many people rave about, and its vivid blue and white cover.

Over the years, growing up, I tried and failed to read it — the topic being too intellectual and religious for my liking. But there were numerous others that I devoured — Enid Blyton, Sweet Valley High (by Francine Pascal and Jamie Suzanne) and the Nancy Drew series, to name a few. As I grew older, I shifted to psychological thrillers, crime and mystery novels, biographies and historical fiction. Don’t get me wrong, the appeal of a light-hearted escapist rom-com novel is not lost on me either. To put it succinctly, I’m a lover of books and the written word. My career choice was driven by this simple fact about myself. 

So it follows that I would be intrigued by the world of book publishing. I had many questions. How is a manuscript selected? How does an author decide on the publisher? Do style, tone and language differ from one publishing house to another? And who is involved in the making of a book in addition to the editor and the cover designer? 

My curiosity led me to a self-publishing house called Pratilipi, located in Koramangala, Bengaluru. It merged with Westland Books recently. In 2020, it had acquired a startup called The Write Order. It was here that I was redirected. While the parent company, Pratilipi, publishes digital literature, The Write Order produces physical copies of novels, poetry and non-fiction.

The Write Order, launched unofficially by a group of engineering students in 2017, has released close to 1,500 titles so far. Some of their more notable titles include ‘P for Podcasting’ by Bharghavi Swami (the first book on podcasting by an Indian author); and ‘Atharva — The Origin’, a graphic novel which used an image of cricketer M S Dhoni as a superhero.

Yes to everything 

Sharfaa Zaib, head of operations, led me to a conference room, where she briefed me about what they do. At 24-25, she is perhaps the youngest to hold such a post. My scepticism disappeared when she began taking me through the basics of publishing. I learned that The Write Order is what one would call a non-traditional publishing house. Here almost all manuscripts are turned into books. “Traditional publishers are picky about who they publish. But we believe that anyone who wants to tell their story should be able to publish their work,” she explained. 

Traditional publishing houses receive dozens of manuscripts, but only a handful are picked for publication. Creative rights are split between the author and the publisher, and the process from beginning to end is a long affair. At a self-publishing company, the creative rights rest solely with the author. Typically, their team of
editors check for grammatical and factual errors. However, authors also have the option of choosing structural and developmental edits, which involve restructuring text, addressing logical errors, fixing loopholes in the plot and more. The Write Order comes out with about 30 titles a month. 

The process

The sales team is the first port of call for authors. Dhairya Dugar, head of sales, explained to me that a large number of their authors sign up through ads on Facebook and Instagram. “They fill up a form which is received by my team. Then we chat with them to get a better understanding of the concept of their book, their budget and the timeline they have in mind,” he said. More often than not, they are first-time authors, so a basic explanation of the publishing industry is necessary. He revealed that their packages start from Rs 30,000 for a basic edit and go up to Rs 1 lakh for more comprehensive edits. Authors are given a dashboard through which they can track their sales in real time. “Transparency is one of our key features,” he said. 

After the initial onboarding, writers are assigned an author manager. Their job is like that of a project manager — to coordinate among the author, editing, sales and design. “Authors often come to us at a stage where only 30-40% of their work is complete. But that’s fine because by the time we finish editing the first part of the book, they’re ready with the rest,” explained Sharfaa, who started off as an author manager.

Getting an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), a unique 13-digit number to identify a book, is time consuming. But having that number helps customers identify and order the exact book they want to buy. In addition, retailers and distributors use the number to track sales. “The ISBN portal isn’t easy to navigate. There’s just one portal for titles coming out of India, so it lags, and hangs. The ISBN number usually comes in two weeks after applying, but sometimes it could take a month,” she said. Editing and designing of the cover are done simultaneously. The final steps are formatting and quality check before the book is sent to the printing press. 

The plot thickens

After our long chat we stepped out of the chilly conference room and onto the work floor. The silence was unsettling, especially for someone accustomed to the buzz of a newsroom. 

Anagha Somanakoppa, editorial manager, gave me a manuscript to edit. It was a children’s book about a young whale whose stomach problems caused him to worry about doing well in school and playing with his friends. I edited four paragraphs — fixed logical errors, cut out repetition, and flagged doubts. Anagha was satisfied with my work. 

“Sometimes authors choose the most basic edit package but there are glaring logical mistakes or holes in the plot, which require more in-depth work. Some agree to go for structural or developmental editing, others don’t. We don’t have a choice but to go with what the author wants,” she said. The editors keep the tone and style as close as possible to the writer’s original voice. One of her most challenging projects was a 500-page book with no chapters or breaks. “I sometimes  work on books through the night, after I return from office,” she said.

Matte and glossy

Sankhosubhro Nath, one of the inhouse designers, is known to everyone as Jerry. He showed me hardcopy samples of some of the covers he had designed. I noticed one cover with two options — glossy and matte. “Authors typically choose matte, because they believe it looks more classy. However, it doesn’t always suit the theme and nature of their book. Often, authors have a rough idea of what they want their cover to look like, but it’s not necessarily the best so we try to build on their ideas. It’s not always received well,” he said with a laugh. 

He then pulled up a colourful cover of a book set for launch later in the week. It featured an illustration of a girl at her desk, her hot pink top matching the thought bubble holding the name of the book — ‘Quest for Happily Ever After’. On the wall facing her there were posters of a pizza, a branch of a cherry blossom tree, a cupcake, an autorickshaw, a mother and her little daughter, a to-do list and a reminder to ‘Breathe’. Her desk held a potted plant, a water bottle, her lunch box, books, a lamp, a mug of coffee and her laptop. 

It was a story of the writer’s corporate journey. She had wanted the cover to represent everything she stood for and all the little elements important in her life. “The initial design was too busy but the writer was receptive to our feedback. It is still busy and vibrant but a lot more cohesive,” he said.  “The launch is on Thursday evening. You should come,” said Sharfaa. 

Lost in translation

When I returned two days later, the office was busy getting things ready for the launch. Sharfaa was tied up in meetings, so I took my spot in the editing section. This time, I assisted a young editor, Pooja Rajashekhar, with a translation. It was an account of how a woman escaped to India during the Gulf war. The manuscript was translated from Tamil. It had come in for a grammatical edit, but it needed way more work. Riddled with phrases that made no sense in English, as they were literal translations, this editor had her work cut out for her. I did my best to edit a few pages. 

I joined Pooja and her colleague, Ridhim Bassi, for a quick lunch at a tiny kulcha joint. They spoke about their job. Pooja had seen an ad in Instagram and applied for the job roughly a year earlier, while Ridhim had heard about the opening when she was working at a content management firm. This was her first onsite gig. Prior to this, she had only worked remotely from home, in Punjab. She was yet to get fully used to Bengaluru. Punjabi food was one thing she missed the most.

After our break, I made my way to the inventory room. Bookshelves lined the walls on all four sides. A man was packing a box to be dispatched to Amazon. I asked Sharfaa why they chose Amazon. Do these titles not make it to offline bookshops? “Tell me, where do you buy your books?” she said. I had to admit it was mostly on Amazon. 

Talking numbers

“We measure our growth by the number of authors we’re taking on monthly,” revealed Dhairya. As of April 2022, the company had been onboarding 13 authors a month. By March 2023, that number had grown to 170 authors a month. Is he worried that publishing is not as lucrative as the IT industry, which he left to join The Write Order?

“I think it’s pretty much the same. This company is run by young people, between 21 and 35. I would say that their remuneration is equal to that of IT professionals in the same age group,” he explained.

As the office began to wind up for the day, I stopped by the desk of Jayantika Bajpai. She’s a quality assessment officer. Typesetting and spotting errors that might have slipped through the cracks come under her purview. She showed me a book she recently worked on — a fantasy novel. It is her favourite genre. We got talking about books, and ended up exchanging recommendations. On my suggestion, she settled on ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife’ by Audrey Niffenegger and for me she recommended ‘Breasts and Eggs’ by Keiko Kawakami. 

Launch party

It was an emotional day in the life of Mehak Mahajan, the author whose book was about to be launched. The venue was a popular cafe in Koramangala and the event was held in the al fresco area, shaded by a large tree. When I reached, people were already seated, some milled about buying the book and chatting with Mehak. She was doing her best to handle her toddler who refused to leave her hip.

Mehak had been through the wringer in her corporate career, going from a high achiever to an underperformer, and enduring burnout. She felt compelled to turn her struggles into a book. Self-publishing had made it easier to tell her story.

As she took the mic and spoke about her journey with this book, her mother, draped in a beautiful green sari, teared up, and discreetly wiped her eyes with her pallu. A former colleague, who then said a few words, put it nicely. “I’m not a reader. But I’m going to read this one.”

Getting an ISBN

The International Standard Book Number is a unique identification given to each book. The number reveals all details, from the language to the genre. Each version (paperback, ebook and hardcover) has a different ISBN. Most countries have an agency through which authors can apply, and the numbers are issued by the  International ISBN Agency. The Raja Rammohun Roy National Agency for ISBN is the registered agency in India.