The author of ‘The Amazing Racist’, ‘Panther’, and ‘Loyal Stalkers’, Tenduf-La grew up in a bunch of cities that includes Hong Kong, London, Delhi, and Colombo. Through his own experiences, Chhimi Tenduf-La brings the nuances in the pursuit of getting a book published.
The context of a book, the language, the tiny details are the most important. He talks about how a book’s setting and appropriateness may also be taken into consideration for a publisher to okay a book. Tenduf-La found help in agents who connected him with others. While writing to publishers may take several months to come back, agents may be faster. They also advise on how to go about fine tuning the drafts.
Another way to fine tune work would be to put it up on writer communities. Here, writers mutually give and take feedback that would help each other. Tenduf-La recounts how this helped him – once his draft made it to the top 5 of the month, he got a review with a publisher! Constructive criticism and competition keeps your mind sharp and helps you write better, he opines.
Once you bag a publisher and your books are published, it’s time to market them! Humorously, Chhimi recounts how it could be irritating to look through repetitive posts on Facebook or other social media but that becomes essential, to push your new book!
Once you’re done, start again! This time, it’s easier.
About the Author – Shobhana Ramesh is a writer who immerses herself in books, her favourite being those that bring subtle magic into everyday living. She also writes poetry that she curates in her blog ‘Thinking;inking’, and is often lost in the words of other poets too. She currently writes for Bookstalkist.