Sundari Venkatraman, bestselling author of romance novels, on what it takes to be a successful, money-making, self-published author

Sundari Venkatraman says she read her first Mills and Boon at age 13. The happily ever after, the peek into a different culture, a love story in the back or foreground kept her hooked, at the pace of a book a day—all of which she’d pick from her local library.  

It never occurred to her that she could write too, however.

School essays had dry subjects that never interested the romantic in her. And her future had been laid out clearly for her. “I knew that my parents would get me married, so I never thought about anything. I accepted that I would graduate and then get married.”

But, along the way something changed—Venkatraman says her children were growing up and were more independent, and having quite her job she was bored out of her wits. “One day during a walk, the story of my first novel, THE MALHOTRA BRIDE, just appeared in front of me. I returned home and wrote 14 foolscap pages of the first draft of my first book. And I realised that I was a storyteller at heart, I was 39 going on 40 at this point,” she adds. Venkatraman found herself sitting on three finished manuscripts, trying to get them published. But as the rejection mails started coming in, she decided that perhaps finding a job was a better route.

1. Don’t quit: Even when the likes don’t pour in.

Venkatraman thought the job would keep her away from writing, but her characters refused to let her sleep. “They were literally breaking into my head.”

While working at a media house, Venkatraman started blogging her stories chapter-wise. Every Friday, she’d publish 1,000 words on the blog ‘Flaming Sun’. She did this religiously for 25 weeks, but didn’t get a single comment to know that her posts were being read.

“After 25 chapters/posts, this started bothering me. One Friday I announced that I am not putting up a chapter on the site because I am not sure if anyone is reading it. That day I got some 27 comments. They all said ‘no, please we are reading this every Friday morning’. Some said they’d read it before starting their work. Some of the responses came from my colleagues,” says Venkatraman.

It was the boost she needed. Venkatraman agreed to continue posting (just not that Friday).

But the lesson that Venkatraman got was that people are liking and reacting to one’s work. Getting 5-6 likes on your post might feel disappointing, but don’t quit.

“Don’t feel that your number of followers should be more than the number of people you follow. As long as the post reaches and people say I have read your book.”

Hot tip:
Some authors say they can’t promote themselves. But if you won’t who will? Traditional authors may be laughing at me, but I will laugh my way to the bank. 

2. Pay attention to what the customer sees

In 2014, Venkatraman started self-publishing her books on Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. Since then, she has self-published over 70 books.

Publishing on KDP, unlike vanity publishing, is not expensive. Compared to being published by a publishing house, you even get a larger share of profits.

However, it does mean that you are in charge of your own marketing book design and promotions.

So Venkatraman has worked to ensure that her covers catch attention. “The cover is something I don’t compromise on. Every author has their own particular style of cover. I go with my instinct. It’s colourful, there are good looking people. It should stand out, not look like anything else on the market. I learnt about design. When I started with Amazon, I saw that the platform was a mass of white. And the cover is a thumbnail, that you’ll see on the phone or laptop. What is causing the reader to look?”

The reader does respond to the cover. You pick up what catches your eye. “So, I work with a designer to ensure that the cover matches these criteria. I also have my own brand, Flaming Sun. I created a logo for it.”

3. Don’t give into social expectations.

Through trial and error, having burnt her fingers in many places, Sundari has learnt what’s working for her. And why and how.

In KDP you can select an option to be available on Kindle Select, but it means you will be published exclusively on Amazon. This will give you double the royalty. Amazon keeps pushing you to the forefront.

Not all understand this. They fear you are giving the book to Amazon for free. It’s not free. It’s free for the reader, we get an income.

Even if someone reads only 20 pages, you get paid for those 20 pages.

Follow Sundari and her work on her Instagram handle https://www.instagram.com/sundarivenkatraman/

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