As an author, a major route to get your work published is through traditional publishing, where you find a publisher to invest in your book, usually through an agent. However, what do you do if you’re not able to get a deal with a publisher? One option is to self-publish your own book(s). A lady who knows about self-publishing is Shalina Gupta who runs one of India’s leading self-publishing organizations called Zorba Books. We caught up with Shalini to find out about her background, to learn about Zorba Books and what it offers to authors, and to get some insights from her about the current state of self-publishing in India. Read on to find out what Shalini had to say.
Welcome, Shalini to e-Books India! We’re thrilled to have you join us. Can you please tell us about you, where you’re from, and about your work experience, including in publishing?
Hi Hiten, I am thrilled too, to be featured on e-Books India.
I have a varied background spanning sciences, academics and hotels but one common and constant thread has been a love for books. That’s how we, Geetu and I got together and launched Zorba Publishers. We soon realized that new talented writers had no option but to go to traditional publishers. However, hundreds of them were not getting published because they could not draw the attention of these traditional publishers. Since no publisher took on the author’s work for publishing, the individual would have to file away the manuscript and forget about his/her dream of being published. So we decided to provide an alternative to talented writers in the form of self-publishing and drive the growth of self-publishing in India through Zorba Books.
The fact that we did not have a hard core background in publishing made it possible for us to break the conventional mould and bring in fresh thinking in the form of the new option of self-publishing and in the way we operate – honest, open and offering great service.
You are of course the founder of Zorba Books. When did you start this company and why did you start it?
We entered this field towards the end of 2010. It was born out of a passion for books and because we had caught the entrepreneurial bug! We had experience and time on our side along with professional help. Our exclusive focus on self-publishing, however, began around 2 years back.
What specifically does Zorba Books do and what are some of the benefits to authors of working with Zorba?
In these 2 years, Zorba Books has become one of the leading self-publishing companies in India. It has enabled scores of writers to become published authors and give tangible form to their dreams. Zorba Books also offers the option to budding authors to pick and choose those publishing services which they want to avail of, or those that are most suited to their needs, at that juncture.
Being a new industry there is confusion as to what self-publishing is.
Self-publishing – as the word indicates – means that the responsibility of getting the author’s book published and distributed rests with the author himself/herself. However, his/her talents are best utilised in developing the story or the text. The individual then comes to a professional self-publisher like Zorba Books to complete other tasks – formatting, cover design, editing, printing, distributing etc.; all those activities involved in giving shape to the author’s ideas in the form of an international quality book or an e-book.
Benefits of working with us are numerous; you will get:
1. Great service.
2. Great end product, comparable to any international book.
3. Supremacy of your inputs during the publishing process.
4. Clarity regarding each stage of publishing.
5. Professional inputs and guidance from experts.
6. Honesty in all dealings.
7. Wide distribution both within India and worldwide, focus is on online.
8. Publish within 30 days!
What do you feel is unique about Zorba Books compared to other self-publishing companies?
We believe that we are unique-
We want to give ALL authors an experience all Indians are hungry for – professional, honest, MNC like experience. We want to be known as an Indian company that not only offers ethical and professional services but also produces books which match the best in the world.
We are great believers in choices. We feel strongly that all authors should be given a choice to publish their work by means other than traditional publishing.
Can you please share some thoughts on the current state of self-publishing in India and what the future holds for this type of publishing across the country?
Self-publishing is a nascent industry in India with limited awareness amongst the public. We hope that sites like yours and the media will continue to create awareness about self-publishing. This would empower would-be authors who can get their work published and make their voices heard.
India will in all likelihood follow the same growth trajectory that the Western world has followed. As awareness grows we see a great future for the same.
How can people find out more about you and Zorba Books?
The best way will be to visit us, on our
Website: www.zorbabooks.com
FB page: https://on.fb.me/1ALET6e
Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/zorbabooks
LinkedIn: https://linkd.in/1CdUqM6
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]