Hyderabad-based writer Sonali Dabade's 'Nonet' has 'stories for everyone'
Hyderabad-based author and book-reviewer Sonali Dabade launches her book of short stories titled ‘Nonet’ published on Amazon Kindle. The nine stories in the book have different genres and plots. There’s something for everyone in it.
The blurb in the book reads: "Nonet is not about one city or one character. It’s about every city and every one of us. No matter how different we all are, you just might find one character or character quirk in here that you will relate with. This is no Monet – far from it; they don’t even rhyme - but this eclectic mixed bag of stories has something in it for everyone."
What is this book about?
The word ‘nonet’ means a group of nine people or things, usually in a musical context. And since my book is a collection of nine short stories, I thought it was an apt title to have, maybe in the hope that my stories would make music someday. ‘Nonet’ has nine short stories of different genres: horror, supernatural, political fiction, contemporary, romance. There’s a little something in it for everyone.
What’s the theme of your book?
There’s no particular theme running throughout this book. It’s an eclectic mix of emotions. But the one thing I can promise you is that these stories are equipped to make you feel things. Not to toot my own horn but I’ve gotten feedback from readers saying they’ve cried as they read a couple of stories.
Why did you not approach a traditional publisher?
The publishers that I looked at didn’t have short stories on the list of things they accepted in submissions when I went through them. And I’ve tried over the past couple of years with a couple of them but they didn’t get back to me. So I thought I’d take things into my own hands and publish it myself. I’ve done this before with my previous short story collection called ‘Five of Hearts’ and this was familiar territory. It made it a little easier for me.
How much time did it take for you to publish it?
Not much time, actually. Publishing on Kindle is a really simple process. Just 3 pages of details and you’re good to go. So the publishing itself took me about 3 hours if you count the time I spent designing the cover. The writing took some time. I wrote these stories across the past 2-3 years, one of them in May, each taking me a few days to write each time. It was the editing that took me weeks. But I finally finished the collection and it’s up for purchase now.
What are the platforms you use to promote your book?
I’m promoting it on my social media, primarily on Instagram where a bunch of Bookstagrammers is spreading the word about it. I’m holding a Bookstagram tour for the book, which started on June 16 and will end on June 29, where one Bookstagrammer posts about the book - anything, really, not just a review of the book - every day. It’s usually a great way of putting a book out in the limelight and I’m so grateful to one of my friends for giving me this idea!
Plus, I’ve also have a couple of BookTubers to do video reviews on YouTube and a blogger friend will be doing it on her blog. The reviews will hopefully be up soon. I will also be posting about it on Facebook groups, where it will hopefully reach more people.