Becoming a Female Author in India

It was challenging.

No it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. As it is I'm a quiet introvert with a shy streak. Becoming an author was not nearly as easy as I thought it would be even though people I knew and loved seemed to be saying 'Go right ahead!'

I sat up late nights, the amount of times there were power failures did not make this easy. If not for the power failures, my Book 'His Lingering Perfume ' would have been completed much sooner.

Every author belives that other than things like writers block, technically atleast writing a book, should be a smooth ride. However with things like power failures, housework, and tending to my family, the book never seemed to take first priority.

However it's a given that if I had more money, I would have got a team of editors, cover designers and marketing experts to help my book become what I intended for it to be. But since God is good, atleast the book is out there, and managed to get atleast 3 five star reviews.

The struggle did not end there. When the book was finally completed after longer than it needed to be, marketing was obviously the next step. However when the book was finally self published I neither found the funds nor the support that I needed to make my book the success I so dreamed it would be.

Though initially relatives and friends seemed to be supportive, after the book was published my optimism dwindled. Some relative actually bought the book. They seemed however only interested in critiquing the cover and other seeming mistakes in the book. They did not know the sleepless nights and the number of times the powercuts frustrated my efforts. They also didn't seem to understand that inspite of self publishing my first book and writing it all by myself, it still managed to be pretty good and attain a number of five star reviews.

However, as a published author who struggled to write a book, I'm satisfied that I tried. And my advice to Indian women dreaming of doing the same, to follow their dream. There's nothing better than having the title of author. It's a truly beautiful feeling. Cheers to educated women trying to tell stories in India. If I could do it, you can too!