BENGALURU: A new online publishing portal is named after the author of the Ramayana, Valmeeki, for a reason. Says Kuruvilla Chacko, one of the four founders, “Legend has it that Valmiki was a bandit who, after enlightenment, turned into a saint and composed the epic poem. Therefore, we’ve named our portal to say that no matter what your background, if you have the flair, you can write and get published.”
And they have remained true to their word. In just 9 months of its founding, Valmeeki, an app that lets you download and read books, has uploaded over 300 titles by emerging writers in Karnataka and Kerala. “The idea is to tap into regional writing and give them a platform to publish their works. While we do have space for Indian English writers, we are more focused on regional languages,” said Chacko, who is also a freelance journalist with B2B travel magazines.
Valmeeki has recieved a steady response from the writers’ community, with both new and established names getting their work published. Profits are divided between writer and publisher on a 50-50 basis, and no writer is ever turned way. The group also came across unexpected gems, works that were written several decades back but failed to find a publisher, like one that reinterpreted the Bible in the form of the Ottamthullal.
There is the obvious challenge of staving off piracy. “We have used encryption to ensure that none of the books we upload can be converted or read on any other application,” says Vishnu Unnithan, co-founder of Valmeeki.
Of the 300 books that have been published, 30 are in the Kannada. The majority, 250, are in Malayalam and 20 in English. All titles can be accessed on the app, some of them are priced and others are for free. But books may be free by the next quarter.
The team has set sight on the Hindi heartland, where there is a lot of writing that find little takers. They may even offer a print-on-demand service, if the book proves to be popular, Chacko adds.