Imagine Cartoon Network’s Johny Bravo mouthing his famous pickup line “You look pretty. I look pretty. Why don’t we go home and stare at each other?” in a comic strip. Yes, you read it, a comic strip. Thanks to PepperScript, you will soon have your favorite Cartoon Network figures in a comic strip. Dexter’s Laboratory, The PowerPuff girls, Courage The Cowardly Dog, Samurai Jack, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Adventure Time and Chowder, some of the most iconic Cartoon Network series are already being sold as comic strips by PepperScript. They have an agreement with Cartoon Network to sell these comic strips to customers like you and me.
The idea behind this belongs to this troika: Sanchit Goel, Anubhav Goel, both 25 and Prateek Varma, 24. Sanchit and Anubhav were roommates during their engineering days at Krishna Institute of Engineering and Technology, Ghaziabad. Anubhav went on to complete his MBA degree from Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, New Delhi. Prateek is an environmental engineer from Delhi Technical University. None of the founders have any experience working for an outside firm although Sanchit and Anubhav did try their hands at their respective family businesses. PepperScript happened by chance. Sanchit and Prateek had finished the manuscript for a novel and had a hard time finding publishers. They then resolved to create a platform for budding writers to publish their work. Their book November Note revolves around friendship and love. They were later joined by Anubhav. The trio said no to job offers from well-paying companies to start PepperScript.
Sanchit says, “Perspective matters. To each, his own, they say. If we believe in a writer’s story, then we will make sure to back him/her. Not only do we publish stories in English, our first Hindi publication under the banner PepperScriptKaksh for the story Safal Jeevan ke 50 sutre by Paras Haria is ready for release next year. Apart from publishing and creating comic strips, they are into poetry/anthology publishing, editorial services, content development and corporate publishing. Prateek adds that they are toying with the idea of providing design and development services for books and other products as well. When asked about the source of their initial funding to set up PepperScript, Anubhav adds with a chuckle that all three of them are blessed with parents who believed in their dreams.
Bagging an exclusive partnership with Amazon.in to sell their products, PepperScript started selling on November 21 this year. Admitting that there were times when the road ahead looked foggy, the founders advise that it is not wise to let the unpredictability of entrepreneurship get to you emotionally. “The initial period was like a reality check. More than half the things never went as planned. The most difficult part has always been getting noticed and making sure audiences love your work,” says Anubhav. PepperScript is also in talks with Sony Entertainment’s Sab TV to launch their second publication — Sab Ke Comic — which will convert Indian TV shows into comics. They plan to launch this at Comic Con Mumbai on December 19-21. Hoping to break even by May 2015, PepperScript has a team of 10 to make it happen and strive for bigger and better things. Their comic scripts are available on Amazon. Prices starts from `90.
— mathew.maniamkot@gmail.com