THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Naming an online publishing portal after the author of the Ramayana may seem casual, but eBook platform Valmeeki has been named so for a reason. Says Kuruvilla Chacko, one of the four founders, "Legend has it that Valmiki was a bandit who, after a moment of enlightenment, turned into a saint and composed the epic poem. The whole point of naming our portal Valmeeki is 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 Kerala and Karnataka. "The idea is to tap into vernacular writing in different states and give them a platform where they can get their work published. 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.
In the days following its launch, Valmeeki has recieved 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.
For a company that broadcasts information across the web, the obvious challenge is 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 and part of Valmeeki's technical team.
The publishing firm's total workforce, numbering about 10, is neatly divided into people who take care of technical tasks like uploading the book, font issues, and converting hard copy into soft, and those who handle the writing side, like proofreading and editing. The editing team works in close co-ordination with the writers so that their writing style is not tampered with, says Chacko.
Of the 300 books that have been published, around 250 are in Malayalam, with 30 in Kannada and 20 in English. All of these titles can be accessed through the app, some of them for a price and some for free. But plans are afoot to make all books free by the next quarter.
The team has set its next sight on the Hindi heartland, where there is a lot of writing that find little takers. Since uploading to the web costs little compared to print, writers can be assured of a sure profit. And in the not-too distant future, they may even offer a print-on-demand service, if the book proves to be popular, Chacko adds.