I am happy to have a forum where I can slip in when I want! I was one of the first 6, whose novel "Across the Mystic Shore" was launched along with the imprint; and now that the imprint is over a year old and going gung-ho I can say I am proud to be part of the "laying of the foundations"! Launching new writers and sustaining it, is both daring and idealistic. How many authors can claim that their debut novel is part of a literary experiment?
And just this month I got another piece of news that makes me feel part of the Macmillan family.
A book proposal for the academic research I am doing has been accepted by Palgrave Macmillan. The book titled "Women Survivors of the Bhopal Disaster: Dancing Bodies, Written Texts, Oral Testimonials" will be published in December 2009 as part of the Palgrave Studies in Oral History. So next year I am busy with non-fiction. Meanwhile my next novel is ready for submission to Will; should go in any day now.
I guess I am one of the very few authors without a website or blog. Any reasons? Possibly because websites for authors is still not in vogue in India. And to tell the truth I am not tech savvy. I need some advise in this regard. Those who do have a website - how helpful is it to promote your novel? Do agents or publishers surf websites? I have noticed that not all websites are updated regularly. I find people switching off blogs as well. Are they time bound? I am often told by friends and well wishers to start a website. How sound is the advise? Is one strictly necessary?
MNW books do not reach Indian shores. Its expensive if I want to buy in pounds. Frustrating! I just ask Macmillan India to get it for me. Its a slow process.
Thanks Matt and David for launching this blog!
4 comments:
Hi, Suroopa! It's good to see you posting!
As to the website vs. blog, a website is definitely better if you don't update often. It's a place for people to find you. (Plenty of people have both, though I don't...yet.)
With luck, this group blog will be the best of both worlds, not requiring frequent updates from any one writer, but still remaining fairly active overall.
Welcome, Suroopa!
I am one of the "blog and website" brigade, and while I could advance all kinds of sage arguments for using them, really it's simple vanity: the same vanity that I have to maintain in order to expose my writings to an indifferent world...
Hi Suroopa and welcome
Like Tim, Aliya, Roger and others, I also have a blog and website. I believe it's all down to the different audiences.
The website caters for the audience who simply wants an overview of what you do - kind of like a window-display. Websites tend to be simple things, flashy, eye-catching and they draw you in.
A blog is the flesh and blood behind it all - it's where the audience or reader can feel closer to the author, and it's also a pretty good tool to get your news out very quickly. As David says, updating a website infrequently is a good thing. People generally visit author websites on an irregular basis.
Blogs are more organic.
On the question of updating blogs - Cate and Lucy's blogs haven't been updated in months, and yet they still function. Sam Grosser didn't update hers for a few months either, but now she's back to blogging again, if just on an infrequent basis. I guess that's why this blog is ideal - you can blog when you want without fear of it closing down (someone is bound to write a blog entry at some point!). And judging by the number of hits so far, you’ve got an instant audience already…
Take care
Matt
Suroopa, I don't have a website at all, just a blog, which I find easier to update and run. I am not techno-savvy at all!
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