Thursday, May 17, 2012

Indirom - Great Opportunity for Aspiring Indian Writers

For new aspiring writers looking to get published, here is a wonderful opportunity. Indirom is a new publishing venture that offers opportunities for aspiring writers (and established writers) in the genre of South Asian romance. What makes Indirom so attractive for new South Asian writers is the fact that they seek to make the entire publishing business so much more accessible, transparent and easier to deal with than the conventional publishing industry. Publishing a book in India is like dealing with a faceless and difficult industry which has a set of rules that are difficult to understand and fathom. From writing the proposal to approaching publishers, rejections, publication, contracts, distribution issues, payment of royalties – it could well take out all the creative juice out of the writer, especially a new writer. Getting writer-friendly publishers is a major pain point in India.

This is exactly the pain point that publishers like Indirom seek to address. They are easily accessible - one can approach them on the email with a proposal or a query. But what was most impressive to me from a writer point of view is that even the writing part is easy because they want novellas which are about 15,000 – 20,000 words in length (as opposed to your full length novel is required to be in the 60,000 –70,000 word length). This is a fantastic size for the new novelist. What is more – Indirom has a blue print for the story that can be followed while writing and then they are willing to mentor you. The submission guidelines are simple with a synopsis and the first five pages of the novel.

If I was a new writer I’d be jumping at this opportunity. In fact I am jumping at this opportunity even now after two regular novels published because it gives me an opportunity to write romantic novels of a novella size which can then translate into bigger ideas for television of movies. This is a genre that will keep me at the job of writing popular fiction.

Promoted by two highly qualified and well experienced promoters Shanti Dominic and Naheed Hassan, Indirom goes with the apt byline “Romance for the South Asian soul”. Shanti is an Electronics Engineer who has worked with multi nationals across the globe and her areas of expertise have been wealth management and private banking. Naheed is a Management and Strategy consultant with global exposure, holds an MPA from Harvard, B.Sc. Economics from University of London and MBA from the Institute of Business Administration. She is also a freelance writer with a long standing commitment to writing. Together they hope to make Indirom a means of self-expression for the South Asian writer, and the e-books, something for the readers to identify their own environment with. I know Shanti from her days at the JNTU, Hyderabad, when she was studying with my brother and I do think this is a great new venture that should do well. In fact, since the stories are only 15,000 – 20,000 words, and since romance is an evergreen theme, their books could well be a pipeline of stories for movie makers.

Here are the details about Indirom for the benefit of any new writers wishing to write. For more details you could contact editor@indirom.com.

Indirom writers:
Indirom is looking for male and female writers who can write romance novellas that have a South Asian appeal. Writers can be experienced or first timers –prior experience is not necessary. Should be able to express themselves correctly and creatively in the English language and be able to write a compelling story.

Submission Schedule
Indirom accepts only previously unpublished submissions which have not been sent to any other publishing outfit. Only electronic submissions in Word format. Submissions to be sent to editor@indirom.com.
As a first step, writers to submit minimum of a one page synopsis of the proposed story and the first 5 pages/ first chapter of the novella to Indirom.
All submissions will be reviewed and the Indirom team will revert back within 2 weeks to the writer, with either an offer letter or regrets.
Once selected the writer will receive feedback on storyline and central theme within a week. Indirom and the writer will sign a legal contract with compensation details.

2 comments:

goinghome said...

This is interesting.

Would previously published novellas in a regional language qualify?
I will translate them myself.

Please do browse through my blog -goinghomeshubhayeri.blogspot.com

Thanking you - shubha yeri,
shubhadayeri@gmail.com

Harimohan said...

Shubha,
Do send a mail to the Indirom email id given in the blog. I think it should work out. Good luck. Will check your blog out and get back.
Hari