My first ArTicKles Book!

The announcement
To begin with, I would like to make an announcement :-
“Hey, my first book, a compilation of my “ArTicKles”, is available on the net!”

How did I get this outrageous idea?
Some of my friends seem to be weirder than me! They believed, sooner or later, I could have a compilation of my ArTicKles published as a book! “It could be a nice book to read on a flight, if you could publish a compilation”, said one, when I handed him some printouts of my blog posts on a business trip on a flight back from a meeting with customers. I could tickle people even when the net was inaccessible!

Then there was my aged uncle, who asked his son (my cousin) to get printouts home for him, as reading from the PC monitor was not a workable option for his aging self. Maybe some others, who did not have access to the internet but did read newspapers, magazines and books could be tickled by my compilation of books!

Well, but why did I publish a collection of my ArTicKles on the net?
Simple! For one, I thought people would like to buy it!
How stupid can one get?

Well, I am only looking to reach out to newer recipients of my ’Tickles through this book.

But who would publish my book?
To find out how some others, who were writing for MSN Contribute, an amateur writers forum, had managed to successfully publish their own work in books, I got in touch with them by email. From their response, it was evident that publishers had their own yardstick to measure up your work – Would the subject appeal to readers? Would they buy this book? Would they make money? Does their marketing department think this book will sell?

It was evident from their response that it would be quite an ordeal. I would have to go from pillar to post to find a publisher for my book - only to collect rejection slips or perhaps embarrassing silence as a reply.

About Self-Publishing
When I met the founder of Wordsmith.org, Anu Garg, who has already published some books already, I had an opportunity to get deeper insights into aspects of publishing – about latest trends, about newer possibilities opening up!

For one, Anu explained the concept of self-publishing. He recommended me to visit Lulu.com, which is a popular website, which has popularized this concept lately. So I found the publisher of my book – myself! The idea appealed to me immensely, however I wondered whether an Indian firm could offer me this concept right here in India? I am so very thankful to Anu Garg for the insights he shared with me!

A quick google search “self publishing website India” threw up just the site I was looking out for:
Pothi.com!

About Print on demand and Pothi.com
If there is anything that appealed to me about Pothi.com, it was the simple way in which all my doubts were answered so lucidly through their features and if there still was a nagging doubt left, their FAQ, cost calculator, ISBN, services for writers... everything a writer needing to publish a book would need to know.

One other doubt that had been bothering me was the minimum order size. Surely, I would have to order some minimum quantity of books, wouldn’t I? Would it be 300…or 100? Would they agree for an order size of 12? That is when I was pleased to learn that with Print on Demand technology, one can even buy ONE BOOK at a time! No unnecessarily printed copies lying around. Though offset printing does cost lower per copy, the cost of unsold copies could very well prove to be costlier, unless of course you are a best seller author right away.

About my First ArTicKles book
Select artickles have been chosen from my blog posts and some further editing and improvements have been made, wherever possible, in this book. This book is for light reading for those of your family members, friends, senior citizens – just about anyone, who may have limited or have no access to internet and my blog, but enjoy reading all the same. This book will prove to be a good gift for them, with whom you have not been able to share my blog posts from time to time.
[If they have been escaping my tickles – here they come!]

If the idea appeals to you,
do buy it at Pothi.com here!

About this long post
Finally, why did I share all this with you in so much detail? Wasn’t a short post announcing my book enough? Is this a case of “over-share” with my readers? Well, I have dwelt it in greater details, because, each one of you may have your own poems, short stories, articles, analytical write-ups, novellas to share with a larger audience, to reach out to a wider circle of readers. Maybe this post could show you the way to get there!
I can see several talented writers around who would soon publish their own work, in some way or the other and perhaps become best-selling authors, even before I take my next small step!

Next step? Would you write another?
Of course! Why else would I call it the First ArTicKles Book here in this post?