When she was a child, reading books was a great pleasure for Sundari Venkataraman, who is now 59 years old. But sometimes in middle school, her school librarian enjoyed it by stating practice at the end of each reading cycle. However, it also made Sundari realize that she enjoyed reading.
Nearly three decades later, as she began her writing career, Sundari knew which style she would choose. “I like to read romance and that’s why I like to write in style. I enjoy reading happy stories. And that’s what I want to give to my readers, “she says.
So far Sundari has written 52 books and she has managed to do all this in 13 years. “I started writing when I was younger at the age of 39,” she recalls.
Soon after the wedding, Sundari moved to Mumbai from Chennai. He had two children and when he was a little older, he joined a school as an EA as a school principal. To explore her options, Sundari gave up studies and started blogging.
When Mumbai Mirror began operations in 2005, she joined there and established listings for the paper – a section that announced upcoming shows in the city. She then moved on to the Bollywood Entertainment website, which Network18 started in 2007 as part of the company’s first serious thrust into digital.
Whenever Sundari wrote to everyone as a passion, she always wanted to move forward as a passion. “To be honest, there came a time when I felt that I could not even write. But then one day I started and that was it, “she recalls.
Initially, she used to publish her books in series format on her blog until a Facebook friend pointed her to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.
“I felt it might be difficult to publish online and I might find it difficult to learn the ropes. But it wasn’t hard at all and I was very happy when I published my first book and there were readers who were really Were paying to read my book. And I was making an excellent percentage of royalties, “she says.
At the time he started writing, self-publishing was not a very respectable proposition at the time. If a publication did not take your book, you were disqualified. The digital revolution truly took root in the country’s ecosystem, there were ebooks and the publishing industry was blissfully bubbling and rejecting was far more common.
“It was a terrible experience,” she tells him of the rejection, “I used to cry over the rejection all the time. But every time I got a rejection, I went back to my novel and tried to find out that it had What I didn’t like. I couldn’t find a mistake. For me, my story was really good. Not perfect, maybe, but definitely something to read. I was convinced that out of the English-speaking population, I At least a million readers can be found for his book. It was this belief that kept me going. “
She says, “I can proudly say that I brought ‘Cool’ to self-publishing in India. It wasn’t that I was the first Indian author to go the Indie route. But yes, there were many, especially traditional In the community of published writers that overshadowed me. I have heard whispers and more about why I would have gone the indie way because it was probably because no publishing house wanted to publish my book.
“I have no qualms about announcing (why whisper?) From the top of a building that ms yes, I went the indie way because there were no buyers for my novels from the traditional publishing industry.” This is the truth and I do not run away from it. Today, I realized that each of those publishers had actually done me a huge favor. I am not only a writer, but an entrepreneur to his disapproval and I am a slave to anyone. I can tell stories exactly the way I want to. This is what readers know best. It is up to them to decide whether they want to read me or not.
“With 20000-25000 (sometimes 30k) pages read every day on Kindle Unlimited, I think readers have made their preference clear. But still, I have a way to go, because I haven’t reached the one million viewers that are definitely there for me (if not). “
From her account, she earned more than Rs 40 lakh in previous years or by self-publishing on Amazon.
“When I started, I never thought that I would make enough for a living. But with books written and published on a regular basis, bringing in more and more readers and fans, I realize that it is possible.
Sundari’s latest book is in a different genre with the protagonist of the mythological character Parashurama. This is his 52nd book and he has no plans to slow down. “I want to continue writing until the end,” she says.