Exit, the writer as recluse

Aruti Nayar

Time was when a writer sat in an ivory tower unravelling the magical web of his imagination. Cut to the present. It is yet another book launch and the writer speaks animatedly about the inspiration, the gestation period and the creative process. The mystery is gone. Writing stands demystified and the writer is rarely a recluse. From a solitary reaper of words, he has become a socialite. Given the in-your-face hype, sometimes there is little difference between a writer, salesman, marketing manager or a businessman.

Publishing boom

The journey of a book no longer ends with publishing. It is not as if once the book is out it is time to sit back and rest. End of writing is the beginning of selling it. As a first-time writer confesses, "Marketing a book in a digital age is both advantageous and perilous." It is advantageous because one is no longer restricted to traditional ways of publicity and marketing, and perilous because of the great variety of choice and information available and an explosion of books being published in non-traditional ways. This automatically leads to shrinking sales of each new title.

Silence to celebration

Readers also access books in different ways now. This makes Amazon, e-books and audio-books a vital part of traditional publishing. As the publishers got busy with the influx of writing talent that virtually swamped them, they had to find and even carve out a constituency for themselves and opting for niche genres as well as innovative methods of projecting the book that sometimes borders even on gimmickry. Just as well that writers have donned the hat of marketing professionals. Jerry Pinto, the author of Em and The Big Hoom has always publicised his own books right from Surviving Women, and with a sense of pride. He asserts, "I don't think we're marketing managers. I think we're talking heads, bodies which fill out the words we have written. Most writers find that when they have finished the book and sent it off, the marketing managers produce a by-the-numbers marketing plan: we will send out copies, we will talk to our contacts, we will have readings in some bookshops and that's the end of that."

Changing dynamics

If e-books and Amazon are changing the dynamics of the author-publisher relationship, self publishing, too, gives more autonomy especially to first-time authors. With the exit of writer as recluse, you also have the entry of numerous wannabe writers who are engaged in interesting professions. So it is doctors, engineers and bankers or corporate honchos who are attracted by writing. This has helped to move the focus away from fiction to non-fiction, sci-fi, mythological writing and, of course, the much-in-demand motivational genre and self-help books — a crutch in volatile times for a society in flux. The entry of professionals from diverse backgrounds ensures that they bring a variegated approach and distinctive methods of working. An author also has to rely mostly on his or her own efforts to market the book and move it in the channels where the publisher has made it available.

Role of literary festivals

Once the veteran Punjabi writer Daleep Kaur Tiwana had summed up the role and function of a writer's work as what is "jeeon joga" (worth living). She implied that only if a work survives the test of time will it be termed a worthwhile endeavour. It seems no one cares about how much will survive. It is only about the here-and-now in a transient world where there is more premium on 15 seconds of fame. It is the grab-the-eyeball approach that pays off, and posterity be damned. So the hoopla of lit fests that seem to be mushrooming all over the country (and the neighbouring countries as well) is indeed a welcome step in the evolution of the writer as star/celebrity and marketing marvel all rolled into a dynamic whole. As an eager audience laps up each word that the creative writer utters and throngs the venue with breathless excitement. It seems writing is more an event than an activity. And that too an event that has to be well attended, organised with elan. God bless the sponsors who put the moolah where the writers' mouth is. The writer, who decides to launch his/her own book can set himself back by a minimum of Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh — the cost of showcasing creativity. So most prefer to capitalise on the reach of the social media and word-of-mouth publicity.

What about good-old storytelling?

Thanks to print competing with print media as well as with the electronic media, often there is saturation coverage of the writer, his creative process and the book. It does not matter whether you have read the book or not. That the writer is no longer a lone ranger has taken toll of fiction writing, which as as an activity depends upon rich, sustained and complex networks, institutions and beliefs. In a time-strapped world, reading and writing seem to take more time and require more energy. It's quicker to rent a DVD, or click on a link. In fact, it's frightening how swiftly the number of people who read fiction has declined. If the good old art of storytelling does survive and flourish, it is thanks to the literature being written in regional languages. According to Unesco, that maintains both the number and type of books published per country, per year, in India in 2013, around 90,000 books were published. Out of the total, 26 per cent were in Hindi, 24 per cent in English and the rest in other regional languages.

What’s wrong with hype?

Many authors are unabashed about projecting themselves and their work. It is with a sense of ownership that they hardsell their work. Why should a false sense of modesty require them to distance themselves from their creation? Siddarth Gigoo's prize-winning story The Umbrella Man,published in the book A Fistful of Earth and Other Stories, was chosen the top story from the 22 stories shortlisted from the nearly 4,000 entries received from countries in Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Caribbean and the Pacific. He wishes he could write for a living. As of now he has to be content with a job with the Tatas.

When he writes, he locks himself in and does not come out of the room for days. So it is a solitary activity for this 1974-born author. There are no rigid codes about what a writer should or should not do or be. In fact, it is a welcome to see so many voices compete for space. How many will stand the test of time? That, of course, is another story.

A book should help the development of a higher consciousness

I am a traditionalist when it comes to writing. I did not actively seek a subject for my book as the transformational experience of a 10-day course of Vipassana meditation automatically made for a memoir about my spiritual quest. Writing has become easier because of the plethora of information available on the internet and the vast spectrum of tools and ideas that it offers. My narrative, however, relied solely on my memory and my experiences. Erratic writing for a period of eight months saw the book come to fruition. 

Then came the considerably more difficult part of finding a suitable publisher. After being initially disappointed by two top publishers rejecting the book, I found the ideal publisher for the genre I write: inspirational narrative non- fiction. A book like mine, rooted in spirituality, finds itself in a niche; which can also be both advantageous and detrimental, because although it is certain to find a dedicated audience for itself, it's readership is limited. Spirituality has an important role to play in today's world, to help establish a lost equilibrium between excesses and deficiencies and nourish our spirit. 

My book deals with the two cornerstones of Vipassana meditation which help in re-establishing that equilibrium: the concepts of Anicca (impermanence) and Samata (equanimity). Vipassana trains one to remain unaffected in the face of both adversity and fortune. This training helped me deal with the terrible tragedy when my parents went missing in the deluge of Kedarnath in June, 2013 and were never found. My second book deals with this tragedy and its aftermath: the process of grief and healing. I do believe that books should help in the development of intellect or a higher consciousness to be truly meaningful. 

 —  Pooja Lamba Cheema is the author of a spiritual memoir, Vipassana: The Journey of A Thousand Steps. (As told to Aruti Nayar)