The cover Story of the Action Thriller Novel "Enemy in the Ranks"

After I completed my action thriller fiction book, "Enemy in the Ranks" and my publisher accepted the book, I thought the rest of the process would be a breeze. It was not. Even deciding on the cover was a major task. So let me tell the story of the cover of Enemy in the Ranks.

As you all know that it was about the Navy, so I wanted the cover to depict something of the Navy like a ship or a soldier and moreover since it was an action thriller I wanted that too be reflected on the cover.

Anyway since I was all too tired of the book at that time, I decided to rely on the publisher. He came up with the image below



The picture was bright and interesting, reflected the naval service, but somehow seemed more suitable for perhaps a coffee table book. I didn't dig it and asked my editor for another one.

So he sent me another one. This one with a ship seen through crosshairs. It was very dark and again it was not really projecting the theme of the book. Have a look..



This photo aptly showed the naval scenario and also went with the title of the book with the silhouette of the man, but somehow I was still not impressed and told him to get another one. My editor complied but the Artist obviously was not amused at my being so choosy. So the next one he sent me was a plain photo. Have a look




This photo was good with ships moving in a formation, but again there was no action being reflected. Moreover the lower portion of the photo reminded me of the Pirates' End of the world. So it was a no-no. After rejecting so much I was getting fidgety and asked one of my artist friends to paint something. He came up with something brilliant and at the first look the editor also liked it and after the publisher's artist had touched it up, it looked even better. Here is the photo




Ships, explosion, man in uniform, crosshairs and bright colors, we thought it had everything. We finalised it and were sure we were going through with this one, I even put it up on all the websites and my book trailer.

The book was sent to the Printers and while the inside pages were being printed the director of the publishing house called and told me that though the cover was excellent, somehow he was not sure that it would come out as well in the Print and just may look like blotches of paint here and there. He requested me to reconsider. I told him that I was not happy with the ones they had sent to me and that's why came up with the Painting. The director told me to give him a day. Next day I had five draft covers in my mail. Quite obviously the head honcho had decided to intervene himself. I selected one and after a few touch ups the cover was ready and this is what it looks like



Bright skies, dark silhouettes, guns, boats and a neat clean picture it sems to reflect everything I wanted. It has come out beautifully on the cover including some colors which you can't see on the computer.

Ultimately I was happy that the Director had decided to change the cover photo. The earlier one was a wonderful painting, but I guess it did indeed have too much of paint. Now let's just hope it was the right decision.

You can visit my official website at http://www.taprial.in

You can buy the book at http://www.pustakmahal.com/book/book/bid,,9519C/index.html

and

http://books.rediff.com/bookshop/bkproductdisplay.jsp?Enemy-in-the-Ranks-Books&prrfnbr=83143349&multiple=&frompg=_

Selling A Book - Pre-requisites

Okay, You have written your masterpiece. Now, how do you go about selling it to a publisher? There are some pre-requisites that are must-haves before you start even approaching the publishers. They are Cover letter, Synopsis, Sample chapters and Chapter outline.

Every publisher will ask you for at least two or more of the above, and it's best if you prepare these in advance to avoid wasting time later.

A cover letter is self-explanatory. It should be short, crisp and to the point. Introduce yourself, introduce your book by way of a blurb on what it is about and pleasantly ask them to consider it for publication.

Next comes the Synopsis. This is the most important marketing tool you have as an author when it comes to selling the book. The synopsis is what is the face of your book and will either the close or open the doors of the publishing house to you. Therefore pay utmost attention to the Synopsis. It is no easy task by any means. Especially for the author since he has done the painstaking work of writing the novel and more often than not thinks that it is just impossible to fit the entire story in such a short space. But that is what you have to do precisely. Don't bother about the nitty-gritties, put all the major plots and subplots and please don't make it a teaser. The entire story should unfold in the Synopsis including the ending. The publishers usually have submission guidelines for everything including the synopsis. Follow them. In short even though it is cliched I would like to say that make it like a skirt, short enough to maintain interest and long enough to cover all the details.

Next is the Sample chapters. The publishers or their editors want to see your writing style and for this reason they ask for sample chapters. Therefore pick up a couple of chapters and polish them like you were going to print straightaway and keep them ready. These along with the synopsis will ultimately help the publisher decide whether your book is good enough for them.

Lastly some publishers will also ask for chapter outline. This is to see if your work flows in a rational manner or not. This is also a complicated task because each chapter needs to be condensed into three or four lines without really losing the plot and the flow of the story.

There are many resources online which give tips on how to go about producing the above pre-requistes of selling your book. Go through as many as possible and then take a call about how you want to go about it. If you are a first time author be very particular about these things because this is what will decide if you are ever going to be a published author.

First Time Author From India

It was in 2005 that I started writing a book, fiction, every living person's desire. Everyone has a story or two to tell and if the want is there he/she can definitely pen a book out of the story, but more often than not the story remains untold because of their own mental blocks and sometimes because writing a book or a novel becomes an overwhelming task after the first ten pages. It requires a great deal of motivation, perseverence and hard work to write a book.

Anyway, I, for one, had too many stories floating in my head and there was only one way to free up the memory, get it out of my system. In 2005 I took the plunge and two years later I had finished my masterpiece. I think everyone who writes his/ her first book thinks that it is a masterpiece.

During the process of writing and then subsequently after finishing it I was always scouring the Internet for resources for the first time author. There are hoards of websites for the first time author to take cues from but somehow there are none from India. No author experiences, no trends, no tips/advice, no elaboration on the procedure and the almost nothing on the publishing market. I wonder why Indian authors hesitate to talk about the travails of getting their first book published. Everyone here has behaved in a manner as if they were God's gift to the literary world and did not have to face any difficulties having their first book published. Read any Interview and you get the Impression that the man or the woman was always meant to be successful.

No wonder the new authors or the first time authors aere totally clueless about the publishing world and don't know the first step towards entering the world of publishing. The competition has become pretty hot here in India with all the major publishing houses establishing shop in the country with Hatchette, harper collins and Penguin leading the way. Add to that the Indian players like Rupa etc the market is open and one would presume that it would be easy to get published, but it is not. None want the first timers unless the book is good enough. So how does one make the good enough if he does not have any one to help and without any experience. All the publishers are looking for a fail safe option. So the chances of someone finding a publisher are next to bleak.

There are many forums and blogs where Indians are putting there creativity to test and I must say there is a huge talent. But this talent will keep languishing in the dark unless someone shows it the way. Not our successful authors. I get the feeling they do not want any competition in the market and hence they keep shut. Not the literary agents in India, who are so few that they themselves do not have time for any more work load than they already have. Not the publishers, oh!!! they got enough stuff coming their way already and as long as the non fiction category is selling and meeting their targets who wants stories.

I am starting this series of posts to generate an interest in the world of Indian publishing and try to work out and share the nuances of the market in India. Comments / discussions are welcome.