Ashwin Sanghi claims an impressive one million books in cumulative sales and more than 140, 000 thousand followers on Twitter. Besides writing The Rozabal Line, Chanakya's Chant, The Krishna Key and the forthcoming The Sialkot Saga, he has written a non-fiction book titled 13 Steps to Bloody Good Luck and co-authored Private India with James Patterson. Excerpts from a conversation on the secret to strong book sales, along with the literary versus commercial fiction debate in the marketplace.
What do you think about this debate on commercial fiction versus literary fiction – what are your thoughts as a writer?
I think that there will always be a divide between literary fiction and genre fiction in terms of readership as well as sales. Literary fiction is the Rolls-Royce Phantom, and genre fiction is the Toyota Corolla. Is there a market for both? Sure. The problem is when one wishes to use the rules of one product to sell another.
Do you think it's a writer's job to decide which genre they write in, or is that more for the publisher and/or bookseller to decide? Where does the reader fit in? Do readers in India even care about categories?
It has to be the writer who decides. The publisher then needs to figure out the best way to market it and therein lies the rub. The rules of marketing genre fiction do not apply to literary fiction – or vice-versa. The problem is that most publishers seem to be confused about how to market literary fiction.
As regards readers in India, sure they care. Someone who is looking for genre fiction will rarely buy literary fiction. My guess is that the reverse is also true.
Commercial fiction writers and bestselling writers seem to be more straight up interested in the sales. Would you agree? What's your approach?
Oh absolutely. The fact of the matter is that I will never win literary awards. So what should I work towards? Sales! Most commercial fiction writers consider sales to be the ultimate award because they know that it's probably the only yardstick that they will ever be judged by.
Are you asked a lot about how to get good sales for one’s book? Something like 13 Steps to Bloody Good Sales.
The formula is that there isn't one.
To my mind though, the key challenges that need to be worked on are:
- Availability: the challenge of ensuring that key retailers have adequate stocks of your title.
- Visibility: the challenge of endeavouring that your title is visible at the point of sale.
- Pricing: ensuring that the price helps the publisher’s bottomline but does not drive away customers
- Formats: ensuring that all possible formats and translations become available at the right price points in the market
- Amplification: ensuring that the readership gets to hear about the book. I see most authors and publishers working on that last point, but giving rather limited attention to the first four.
Do you think the market is developed enough for writers to live off their work? Or is it just a handful of writers in India who can really do this?
The sad truth is that only a handful of writers can actually live off their writing. If you consider the “average” scenario in which a book sells 5,000 copies priced at Rs 250 each, you have a total sale of Rs 12.5 lakhs. If the author earns a 10 per cent royalty on sales, that’s only Rs 1.25 lakhs. The good news is that the tribe of authors whose titles sell more than 50,000 units is increasing. If that continues to happen, the number of authors who can actually earn from writing alone will also increase.
There seems to be a lot of interest in mythology and mystery, in theology and even, judging by your work and talks, in Chanakya at this juncture... What's driving this, in your opinion?
There is something in every believer that wants to doubt, and there’s something in every atheist that wants to believe. If one can construct a story that appeals to both segments, you possibly have a winner. I have always maintained that Myth + History = Mystery.
The overlap between history and myth is a tantalising space as it explores the “what if?” question. We must also keep in mind the fact that the demographics of Indian readers is also changing rapidly. Younger readers are less enamoured by the West and have less of a colonial hangover. The yearning to explore one’s roots comes from there, I would guess.
Is there a modern day Chanakya? You've said in the past that he still has a lot to teach us.
I do not believe that there is a modern day Chanakya but there are enough people who have one or more of his qualities. For example PV Narasimha Rao managed to effect substantial structural changes even though he was running a minority government. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was someone who managed to keep a flock of sixteen allies together against all odds. The one character trait that symbolises Chanakya is pragmatism and these are figures that revealed a strong pragmatic streak.
You’re very active on social media, Facebook as well as Twitter. What is the thinking behind posting the inspirational quotes and tweets?
We have too much negativity surrounding us in mainstream media as well as social media. It is my effort to see that my tweets should inspire, inform or enliven. If they can’t achieve at least one of those objectives then why bother tweeting?
There’s also an entire outrage industry that thrives off the 24/7 engine that is social media – what are your thoughts on this? Do you judiciously try and avoid controversies? Or do you weigh in when you think you want to be part of the debate?
I consciously stay away from politics. Getting into debates only ends up sapping my creative energy and I would much rather apply this energy productively in my books. There are times when I do speak, but these occasions are few and far between.
And finally, what's in store in 2016? What can you tell us about The Sialkot Saga?
The Sialkot Saga is a business thriller that follows the lives of rivals from the eve of Indian independence to the present. It has my usual traits – fast pace, twists, strategy and an invisible link to the ancient. It should be on the shelves by March 2016.
Amrita Tripathi is a writer and freelance journalist. Her second novel The Sibius Knot is on sale now. You can tweet her here.
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What do you think about this debate on commercial fiction versus literary fiction – what are your thoughts as a writer?
I think that there will always be a divide between literary fiction and genre fiction in terms of readership as well as sales. Literary fiction is the Rolls-Royce Phantom, and genre fiction is the Toyota Corolla. Is there a market for both? Sure. The problem is when one wishes to use the rules of one product to sell another.
Do you think it's a writer's job to decide which genre they write in, or is that more for the publisher and/or bookseller to decide? Where does the reader fit in? Do readers in India even care about categories?
It has to be the writer who decides. The publisher then needs to figure out the best way to market it and therein lies the rub. The rules of marketing genre fiction do not apply to literary fiction – or vice-versa. The problem is that most publishers seem to be confused about how to market literary fiction.
As regards readers in India, sure they care. Someone who is looking for genre fiction will rarely buy literary fiction. My guess is that the reverse is also true.
Commercial fiction writers and bestselling writers seem to be more straight up interested in the sales. Would you agree? What's your approach?
Oh absolutely. The fact of the matter is that I will never win literary awards. So what should I work towards? Sales! Most commercial fiction writers consider sales to be the ultimate award because they know that it's probably the only yardstick that they will ever be judged by.
Are you asked a lot about how to get good sales for one’s book? Something like 13 Steps to Bloody Good Sales.
The formula is that there isn't one.
To my mind though, the key challenges that need to be worked on are:
- Availability: the challenge of ensuring that key retailers have adequate stocks of your title.
- Visibility: the challenge of endeavouring that your title is visible at the point of sale.
- Pricing: ensuring that the price helps the publisher’s bottomline but does not drive away customers
- Formats: ensuring that all possible formats and translations become available at the right price points in the market
- Amplification: ensuring that the readership gets to hear about the book. I see most authors and publishers working on that last point, but giving rather limited attention to the first four.
Do you think the market is developed enough for writers to live off their work? Or is it just a handful of writers in India who can really do this?
The sad truth is that only a handful of writers can actually live off their writing. If you consider the “average” scenario in which a book sells 5,000 copies priced at Rs 250 each, you have a total sale of Rs 12.5 lakhs. If the author earns a 10 per cent royalty on sales, that’s only Rs 1.25 lakhs. The good news is that the tribe of authors whose titles sell more than 50,000 units is increasing. If that continues to happen, the number of authors who can actually earn from writing alone will also increase.
There seems to be a lot of interest in mythology and mystery, in theology and even, judging by your work and talks, in Chanakya at this juncture... What's driving this, in your opinion?
There is something in every believer that wants to doubt, and there’s something in every atheist that wants to believe. If one can construct a story that appeals to both segments, you possibly have a winner. I have always maintained that Myth + History = Mystery.
The overlap between history and myth is a tantalising space as it explores the “what if?” question. We must also keep in mind the fact that the demographics of Indian readers is also changing rapidly. Younger readers are less enamoured by the West and have less of a colonial hangover. The yearning to explore one’s roots comes from there, I would guess.
Is there a modern day Chanakya? You've said in the past that he still has a lot to teach us.
I do not believe that there is a modern day Chanakya but there are enough people who have one or more of his qualities. For example PV Narasimha Rao managed to effect substantial structural changes even though he was running a minority government. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was someone who managed to keep a flock of sixteen allies together against all odds. The one character trait that symbolises Chanakya is pragmatism and these are figures that revealed a strong pragmatic streak.
You’re very active on social media, Facebook as well as Twitter. What is the thinking behind posting the inspirational quotes and tweets?
We have too much negativity surrounding us in mainstream media as well as social media. It is my effort to see that my tweets should inspire, inform or enliven. If they can’t achieve at least one of those objectives then why bother tweeting?
There’s also an entire outrage industry that thrives off the 24/7 engine that is social media – what are your thoughts on this? Do you judiciously try and avoid controversies? Or do you weigh in when you think you want to be part of the debate?
I consciously stay away from politics. Getting into debates only ends up sapping my creative energy and I would much rather apply this energy productively in my books. There are times when I do speak, but these occasions are few and far between.
And finally, what's in store in 2016? What can you tell us about The Sialkot Saga?
The Sialkot Saga is a business thriller that follows the lives of rivals from the eve of Indian independence to the present. It has my usual traits – fast pace, twists, strategy and an invisible link to the ancient. It should be on the shelves by March 2016.
Amrita Tripathi is a writer and freelance journalist. Her second novel The Sibius Knot is on sale now. You can tweet her here.