Deadline - New Novel Coming Up Soon

I have something exciting to share this New Year. After trying to peddle my romance 'The Tryst' a novel I wrote five - six years ago, with many other publishers, I checked with my old faithful publisher Indialog who took the business risk on 'The Men Within' (my first novel and the only one out to date) in December 2009. Basant Pandey, an enthusiastic and earnest soul, and the Director of the publishing house, had read the proposal and felt they could do it in July itself, but we never did much about it. So when we finally got together to think of the way forward for us, he said we could catch the book fair in January if we hurried up the process. I liked the idea and worked on the manuscript to catch the deadline of December 31, 2009. I am just over the deadline by a day or two but I think I should be done this afternoon.

I am now checking to view the wonderful contribution made by Rasana Athreya and compare the changes one last time. Rasana is a promising writer based out of Hyderabad who is writing her first novel, and a wonderful editor, who did a rush job of editing what I had to give me another perspective. Thanks Rasana, your inputs were precise and added great value. All you fiction writers, here is a good resource to edit your stuff, provided she has the time. Once she gets published she may not have the time!

The big idea is to get the manuscript across to the publisher today. I will write about the process that goes into getting published as it happens with this book for any new writers. For example, there is normally an agreement which is the main document on which the deal hinges, after which the manuscript is sent in a word format to the publisher, edited and proof read at their end (I took care of the editing myself with a known editor to both me and the publisher, Keerti Ramachandra, a senior editor and my good friend, so the publisher did not have a problem with that, only proof reading to go now).

After that I do get involved with the cover design with my designer friened Shiva. Got some pictures taken by Satish at Shrivardhan, and will examine my old pictures also for any fit.

Currently I am exploring the possibility of an alternate name to 'The Tryst' because that name seems to have been taken already (googled the name). I am thinking of 'This, I promise', with a by line 'A Tryst at Fifty'. As the name says, it is about a boy and a girl who promise to meet one another after a gap of thirty years, when she turns fifty. What happens to them during that period and whether they finally do get to meet one another is what the story is about. On a more deeper level it is about women (the story is told through the heroine's point of view) and how they can choose to empower themselves and express themselves fully. I do believe that women's empowerment could balance world consciousness from the current testosterone male dominated madness, and bring greater peace and prosperity to the world.

The book should be ready for printing by 10th January 2010 so we can look at a launch in the book fair folowed by a launch in Hyderabad and some other cities over the next few months. The last time it was a case of the cup and the lip and the slip, and the process got delayed by a year (yes, they are quite casual about such things), but this time I will take care that such slips do not occur. I shall now plan a marketing plan to sell these books through various mediums apart from the conventional ones. Will share my thoughts as I go along.

Right now, I am just happy that I have taken it to a stage where I can send it off to the publisher and that a follow up to 'The Men Within' is at hand in the next 30 days!
A good start to 2010.
Now on to the next one!