Meow, I’m Sohini. Well, I got my first book published this January. It’s a compilation of my poems and short stories. I have generously illustrated the book and it’s colourful. Compiling wasn’t easy; I started in October and ended in mid December. The hardest bit was keeping it a secret for all those months but now that it’s finally published, it I am on cloud nine!!
Here’s what I learnt…thought you’d like to share my experience. I have tried to categorize the tips; see if they are of any help…
[color=red]Ready, set, compile![/color]
1. Gather all your works, ALL—I mean it.
2. Select the best ones with thoughtful consideration and lo! You’re all set to get a book done.
[color=green]Revise, Revise, REVISE—You can never get enough of it!![/color]1. Revise your work thoroughly, remember, every letter, ever comma, ever space counts.
2. Look for typographical errors (I make them all the time) and correct them.
3. Keep a revised work aside and take it out again after some days and read it again. Before you know it, new mistakes will soon emerge.
4. Never keep a mistake unmarked, correct it immediately.
5. Always take fresh print-outs after every round of revision; this way it’ll be easier to spot new mistakes from the already-corrected ones.
6. Get professional. It really helps if you can learn the proof-reading symbols.
7. If you’ve revised a piece once, do it for the second time and the third and keep doing it till it’s error-free and don’t forget to update the keep back ups of your soft-copies.
8. If you can, get some expert help. Request your English teacher or anyone with good eyesight, a dictionary and a pen to proof-read out.
[color=indigo]Arrange your work
Be it poems, stories of both the sequence really matters[/color]
1. First impression—for the first piece, be it a poem or a story, make sure it’s one that appeals everyone.
For my first poem, I chose “Where We Belong” and I’m getting a whole lot of nice compliments on it!!
2. Don’t fail to remember the last piece too. It should have a strong impact on your readers.
I chose a story called ‘Devoted Till the End’ and it’s doing a fairly well job too.
[color=orange]Get in touch with your publisher[/color]
1. After your publisher gives you his green signal, consult him about the type and more importantly, the size of pages you’re going to use.
2. Printing is done in multiples of formats. And you know how many pages you need. So, always utilize the pages to the fullest. That means, decide the font style and font size very efficiently.
3. Check the quality of the paper you’re going to use and get sample printout of your text and pictures, if any, and be sure you’re pleased with it.
4. Same goes for cover-page, binding style and the ink.
Be Creative
We all have creative minds, so explore yourself and show-off your creativity in your book!
1. Illustrate your works. Its fun and everyone will appreciate your effort, especially if your book is aimed at young readers.
I am better described as an addictive doodler than an artist. Anyway, my illustrations seem to have worked liked magic and almost everyone who’s seen my book loves them. Yay!!
2. You design your cover page! No one can devise it better. And if you do a good job of it, you’re in for lots a bonanza of compliments.
3. Layout your page in innovative ways.
[color=darkred]Random or Ignorable Tips[/color]
1. There are a lot of handy softwares out there to help you out and being at least a 10 times more tech-savvy than I am, you can handle that bit easier. I used MS Word, Adobe Pagemaker, Photoshop and Corell Draw.
2. If you’re drawing, be certain that the scanned versions look as good (or maybe even better) as the original ones. Re-coulour and re-touch your drawings if necessary.
[color=violet]Things I’ve learnt (I feel wise…read on)[/color]
1. Compiling a book is so much fun! Make it more interesting by keeping it Top Secret. Don’t tell people about it. Work on it unrevealed, get it published and when people least expect (that doesn’t mean the middle of a stormy night though)put on a smug smile and let the cat out of the bag!!
It’s great to watch their reactions.
2. Always remember to preserve your works safely with record of the dates you’ve written them.
3. Never, ever throw away or rip off your work (or your pet alligator, in that matter). No matter how distasteful your work may seem at that point of time, do not; I repeat DO NOT get rid of it. Cause later on, if you ever find a trace of it or recall a fragment of it, the sheer curiosity of what the work actually was can keep you awake for nights and give you nightmares even when you’re not sleeping. Trust me, I know.
4. Ideas have wings and are good at flying away from your mind. So, jot them down anywhere (palm make good substitute notebooks, but see that your ink lasts for some time) immediately.
5. Dedicate your book to someone really special to you. As for me, I dedicated my book to three of my favourite English teachers from school ; they always encourage, inspire and understand me.
6. The dedication is a BIG Secret and do not give it away before the book is released; even if you are offered a stolen Kohinoor diamond as a bribe. Not only will you be spending your days behind the bars then, but you’ll also be breaking an unwritten and holy law of writing books.
7. If you know any author, get in touch with him or her and ask for guidance. I had Mr. Bhagirath Mishra—a famous Bengali writer’s help and of course my father, who has five very successful books published, assisted me in every way. And my mom, bro, grandparents and teachers were helpful too! Hats off to them all!
[color=darkblue]After publishing[/color]
[color=olive]Think you’ve conquered Turkey as soon as your book is out? Well, maybe you have but that’s not the end of your responsibilities…[/color]
1. Get the book have a humble release. I did mine at school and our principal did the unwrapping. It was a grand moment.
2. Tell everyone about your book and instigate them to buy and read your book (offering a stolen diamond in exchange of being a customer is a far-fetched idea though).
3. Write to newspapers and request your book to be reviewed.
4. Present your book to nearby schools and libraries—this is an excellent way of reaching out.
5. Book Fairs—Urge your publisher to exhibit your book at various book fairs—this is your key to the world.
6. Thank the ones who have helped you out, you could write a special acknowledgements page.
Finally…
[color=white]Work hard and Aim for perfection.[/color]The joy of publishing is truly enchanting and definitely addictive—you’ll want to do it again and again.
So…what are you waiting for? Go ahead and all the best!!
Hope to read your book someday!
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