Have an idea? Self-publish it
KOCHI:A few years ago, Chennai-based Jyotsna Ramachandran was looking to make some dime online after she gave birth to her first kid. She learned that of the total manuscripts the publishing houses receive, only one per cent of them are approved. Jyotsna realised many aspiring authors do not get the opportunity to publish a book. This is how Happy Self Publishing was born.
Two years later, the company with a team of 20 members spread across the world has published the works of more than 200 authors. “We have customers from over 25 countries, mainly from the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Australia and Canada,” Jyotsna tells Express.
through Happy Self Publishing
All one needs is a rough draft of the book. “We do the rest from making the first draft, editing, interior formatting and cover design,” says Jyotsna. The book is then uploaded to Amazon. If the author has an idea but doesn’t have a good content or the skill to write the draft, fear not, the company has another feature: Angel writing. “The author will be interviewed for nearly six hours over a period of two weeks. Within this span, the content is captured and the angel writers write the book for the client,” she says.
Ninety per cent of the books published by the company are entrepreneurial, self-help non-fictions. “Fiction writers prefer going to traditional publishing houses. Because of this, the company unintentionally attracts a lot of non-fiction writers,” Jyotsna says. Hence, it’s most important criterion while taking on a client is his or her concept should be genuine and practised in their life.
Once the book is published, all the royalty from Amazon goes to the author. “We don’t take any cuts from the author,” she says. This is what makes them different from traditional publishing houses.In June, the company will launch a series of online courses regarding self-publishing. “We want to make people aware that self-publishing is more profitable than the traditional way,” the mom of two says. “We’ll have webinars and podcast to let them know how it works from the topic selection to writing. People can avail our services later if they want to.”
Jyotsna is also in the process of writing her second book ‘Book Your Success’, which will be released along with the online courses. “Everybody has ideas. One need not wait to become an expert to execute his or her idea,” she says. She was in the city the other day to speak at TEDxSubhashPark.