Have you finished reading Bound by Life?

Hope you’re all well in these trying times. Personally, I am going through a tough time, given someone very close to me is hospitalized. A good night’s sleep has now become a privilege. It was only last night, after a good part of the week, I finally caught an okay amount of sleep.

I’m trying my best to move on from this crisis and keep my life as normal as I can. I am trying to spend time doing the things that give me joy. If you’re currently in this situation, know that even if you feel alone, there are millions who are undergoing the same excruciating emotional wave right now. Know that I’m praying for everyone’s recovery because in this war, we can each be safe when everyone of us is safe.

Anyways, looking beyond all the negativity, I wanted to check in on something with you guys. If you’ve been on this blog last month, you might know that I was running a free book promotion of my first book of stories, Bound by Life. If you happened to get the book during the promotion, then do let me know if you’re enjoying reading the book so far. If you could, do leave me a review on Amazon. It would help me take your feedback and build onto that in my new book, a WIP at the moment.

Thank you in advance!

Free book in a free market!

It’s funny how yesterday I was talking about the free market, and today I am here to talk about my “free” book.

Many years back when I was in my final year of college – wow, feels strange to think that I can refer to my college years as being long time back – I was super sure that all I wanted to be was a writer. There were dreams of writing one book per year. Life would be hard in the beginning because finding publishers is hard plus the royalties aren’t that great. But I thought, if I kept at it, I’d get to a stage where I could comfortably live off my book income.

Needless to say, that hasn’t happened. However, the fact that I keep toying with the idea of writing a book every other year tells me that a dormant seed is buried deep inside the soil of my heart. As soon as the conditions are right, it might just sprout into a huge banyan tree full of wisdom. Something tangible that other people can see and touch and grasp.

Anyways, I have started working towards that goal – the idea is to finish the first draft of a novel (at the moment called “Paper Boats” for no real reason) by the end of April. May will be full of edits and perhaps one version of beta read.

Anyhow, let me not daydream. When I was planning out the timetable for the next book, I had a look at how my last two books are doing on Amazon. There’s not much traction in the last two years (I haven’t myself tried to do anything to push the sales). However, I thought as I start my journey of the new book, it might make sense to let your guys become familiar with my writings. Hence, I’m running a free book promotion of my short story collection, Bound by Life, on Amazon. It’ll be available free of cost between 17th-21st April, so it’d make me super happy if you give it a read. And of course, if you like it, do ask your reader friends to download it as well! 🙂

Bound by Life India Link

Bound by Life US Link

FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY

Hello all,

It’s been sometime since I posted something book-related. I started this blog with the goal of making it my author platform. However, somewhere along the line, it became more of a personal blog. At the moment, I am happy for it to be whatever it is right now.

Anyway, my good friend, Anan, shared me an email yesterday about a free book giveaway on Instafreebie. If you have a non-fiction self-help book under your portfolio and would like to give it away for free for a few days, you can team up with Sarah Barbour and do it! Please refer to this link for more details.

My first non-fiction ebook, How I tamed the dragon named fear, fits the bill for this giveaway. To give a brief on the book, HITTDNF is a very short, self-help book on how to tame your fears. It’s a personal journey where I have picked examples from my own life and demonstrated how I have been able to overcome my fears over the years.

However, it is also currently part of KDP Select program, which does not allow me to put the book for free anywhere else. So, I thought, why not give out a free giveaway through the KDP Select program itself?

BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 7 TO 11TH, HITTDNF WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR FREE ON AMAZON PLATFORM!!

If you have not had a chance to read it yet, here’s an opportunity for you to download and read the book. Please do let me know what you think of it! 🙂

Until later!

❤

FREE BOOK PROMOTION | Silhoutte of the Past

Sometimes it’s best to keep the past dead and buried……

A stormy day, a corpse and a group of suspects.

Three years after the death of Maribeth, seven people have gathered together at the same place for a business deal. Little do they know that they were about to witness another death at the Tiscayne Country Club. This time there is no ambiguity. It is murder! Unfortunately, Amber Levinson, who had gone to deliver the gardening supplies to the club on that stormy day, gets caught into the web of deceit of these powerful and influential people.

When Detective Myers points a finger of blame at Amber as his prime suspect, she has to figure out who the killer was. With the help of her assistant Dave and cousin Marlene, she starts digging into the secrets and motives of the people at the country club.

Can Amber unravel the mystery and solve the murder to prove her innocence?

Find out in this cozy mystery novella, The Silhouette of the Past.

FREE EBOOK DOWNLOAD THIS WEEKEND ONLY

Amazon

About the author

Shilpa Niraj has been reading mysteries ever since she first discovered Nancy Drew. An ardent fan of mysteries, she can still go back and reread her favorite books of Agatha Christie and Erle Stanley Gardner. An avid reader and a blogger, she is now working on her third mystery.

Shilpa holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a master’s degree in Information Management from Mumbai University. She lives with her husband and son in Mumbai, India. When she is not writing, she is busy exploring new destinations.

Keep up with Shilpa: Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

WORLD OF FREE!

Both my books, Bound by Life and How I tamed the dragon named fear, will be available for FREE on Amazon over the coming two days (10th Apr – 11th Apr, 2017).

If you have not downloaded a copy yet, this would a great time!

Bound by Life, my first venture into self-publishing, is a collection of ten short stories. The protagonists are from different walks of Indian life: from tea-vendors on the pavements of Salt Lake, a leading IT hub in West Bengal (Manorama Tea Stall) to a young village boy performing in a circus in a city. The stories are simple tales of day-to-day lives of the common man. If simplicity is your thing, I am sure you’ll enjoy this collection.

How I tamed the dragon named fear is my first venture into non-fiction. It is a self-help book centered around overcoming fears in our day-to-day lives. In this book, I talk about the things that have worked for me over the years in dealing with my fears.

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Book Links:

Bound by Life | How I tamed the dragon named fear

I eagerly await your feedback upon reading both the books. As always, your feedback is what makes my writing better, so a review would be the best gift from you to me.

Cheers!

I am confused because…

While I was growing up, when being a writer was not the primary need for me, I wanted to be a good person. That was a time when my mind was less conflicted, the definitions of right and wrong were clear. I judged easily, with no remorse.

One thing has remained constant through all these years – I have always wanted to be good, wanted to make things better. I tried to reason with people and make them see a different point of view. I am pretty convincing the way that I am, and I find people generally find it easy to accept my reasoning.

However, a flaw in myself that I have learned to see in myself over the years is: hatred and anger runs too deep in me. Don’t get me wrong, I give people enough chances. As deep my anger is, I am equally patient. The thing is people do not change easily, even if you give them chances and ignore the issues between. I only speak my mind bluntly when I see that no matter how much I ignore, things are not going to change for the better.

And once I reach that stage in any relationship, I sort of give up on it. I am never again ready to reconcile. I won’t speak to the person again. I am perfectly content not having to cross paths with that person.

As a writer, however, I try to be an observer than an active participant. I think being an observer is the driving force of any newly formed relationship for me. I see, I try to understand the person and take him for who s/he is. I become an active participant much later, defining my opinions for/against that person. Interestingly, because I speak up so less for a major part, people accept me as naive and set too many expectations. Of course, in the recent times, I have taken an active measure to put every other person’s expectations from me straight. I am currently following a zero-tolerance to nonsense policy.

But even that makes me sad sometimes, because when I am angry I am very blunt. When I have withdrawn in a relationship, I never give another chance. The back of my mind, the writer in me, the observer still continues to observe the person, and tries to find signals of change. That part of me tries to find the effect of the last conversation I had with the person, how that is changing the way the other person is acting around/with me. I keep trying to find signals of how s/he is changing for the better. Even then I am not ready to reconcile. In fact I know I will not reconcile because I do not trust people to change their nature completely. But I cannot ignore the small changes in behavior and I feel guilty because I am not giving the other person another chance.

I am very much interested in people, in observing people. I know why certain people are doing certain things, why they are conditioned to do certain things because of certain behaviors they have exhibited before. But I still struggle to be an active participant in relationships. That has harmed a lot of relationships for me. Over the years, I have realized that I will be truly close to only a handful of people. That bothers me at times. The emotional loneliness bothers me sometimes. Not yet at a point where there is a harmony between the observer and the participant. Any tips?

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If you are interested in my writing, you can check out my books on Amazon by clicking on the below images. If you are an KU/KOLL user, you can read both the books for FREE.

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‘Getting it’

Life hasn’t been particularly nice since I returned to Bangalore two weeks back. Work has been crazy. I got into a couple of fights. The fights I had came from a place where I was trying to make things better, for myself and for other people. But in this universe, it is really difficult to communicate with someone the exact motivations of your actions.

I have started being more accepting about some things, a little defensive about some other things. Feels like I am reaching a point where I am really ‘getting it’. I am getting what all the politics, all the TV shows are about. It is like I am seeing things through a new lens. I am finding it easier to relate to symbolism and metaphors. Even though the last two weeks have not been spectacularly nice, I am gaining a rare clarity in my life.

I am also realizing a braver side to me which I did not know existed. It is interesting how certain losses impact us, make us stronger. I feel like I have shed a self. I am standing up for my beliefs more often now. I am learning to be more straightforward, because the situations are making me do things that I couldn’t possibly have done before. There are still pangs of guilt for when I feel I have been a little to blunt. But sometimes, there is a point of no return. It is not a happy place yet, but I am getting there.

Nothing much is happening on the writing front as of now. I have not even got the time to properly promote my second book. So here goes:

If you have read How I tamed the dragon named fear, please leave a review on Amazon. It helps me see through the flaws in my writing and become better at it. It also allows other readers to decide whether they really want to read the book or not. So exercise your right of expression and let your thoughts be known. Even if you absolutely hated the book! 😀

“How I Tamed the Dragon Named Fear” is an interactive self-help book with an autobiographical element designed to guide individuals in dealing with fear and anxiety in everyday life. Engaging, encouraging, and easy to follow, this book motivates the reader to live a fuller life by changing their outlook towards fear and the negativity induced by it.

 

 

How my beta readers made my book better?

As writers, we are often so close to our writings that we fail to see the flaws that our writings have. While I was writing my recently published second book, I took care that the book did not suffer from such shortsightedness. In December 2016, with much self-doubt and suspicion I sent out a very rough draft of the book to a couple of friends and bloggers.

The feedback I received was immensely helpful towards building the finished product that is now live on Amazon.

The book, How I tamed the dragon named fear, is self-help book that draws heavily from my personal experience. In the book, I have talked about things that make me afraid and how I have learned to deal with them over the years.

The major chunk of feedback that I received from my beta readers went somewhat like this:

1. The book is immensely personal, hence the range of fears is limited, should try and broaden the horizon
2. The chapters were initially designed to be stand-alone capsules – Anand from Anand’s Parodies suggested I try connecting each chapter so they have a continuous flow
3. Adding visuals

I focused on points 1 and 2 and tried to re-create the book from a new angle. Speaking and emailing with my beta readers gave me the much needed clarity. Besides, being the nice folks that my betas were, they supported me strongly even for that really messy rough draft. That act of kindness hugely motivated me to continue work to the finish line and helped me in not doubting myself while I on it.

So, thank you Anand, Rachana and Neeladrita (my lovely school friend who’s currently working towards a Ph.D. in Mohali). Thank you so much for the time you guys took out and gave to this book. You have truly made the book a better one.

Have you ever had your work-in-progress read by beta readers? Did it change the course of your book? Share your experience with me in the Comments section.

P.S: If you have not downloaded How I tamed the dragon named fear yet, do it ASAP. It’s only a few more hours that it will stay FREE! Buy it here.

 

Blurb for “How I tamed the dragon named fear”

Keeping in mind the theme of my my next book, How I tamed the dragon named fear, I am planning to include voice of the reader as a part of the book. For those of you who don’t know about my upcoming book yet, How I tamed the dragon named fear is a short self-help book on fear.

The idea is to have small blurbs – a line or two at max – describing how fear affects you, the reader. Think of it like a tagline of the impact of fear in your life. If fear is a influencing factor in your life, I strongly recommend your contribution in this. Your participation will help me to enrich the point of view of the book. Plus, you get the chance to get featured in a book!

If you are interested, please send in your blurbs using the Contact form below. Note that it is mandatory to mention your name and profession along with the blurb. I reserve the right to select which blurbs will be published in the book.

Blurb On!

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An indie writer’s woes and a free book promotion

Until this October, my first (and so far only) book on Amazon, Bound by Life, has had a steady readership. I have not had as many paid downloads, but since the book is enrolled in KDP Select Program, it has seen many reads through KU/KOLL. The screenshow below shows the KENP read in September, 2016. Though the book has seen many more KENP Reads in previous months, September was much better compared to October and November, with no KENP reads at all.

This kind of made me panicky – because I am not sure about the reason for the drop in reads suddenly. For an author, perhaps nothing is better than being read. Hence, whether or not the royalty is ample, an author always wants readership.

In the past, I have noticed that writing about the book (whether in blog/Facebook) has led to spikes in readership. And for months now, I have only talked about the book when during the Free Book Promotion (FBP). The FBP creates a buzz in the digital world, which later translates to more readership. Which is why, I am again making the book available for free for the next five days.

From Nov. 21 – Nov. 25, Bound by Life will be absolutely FREE on Amazon. The free promotion starts approximately 12 AM PST, so keep a look at your clocks tomorrow, especially if you are not in PST.

When I go back to the Amazon KDP account, I keep thinking when I will be able to put another book out there along with this book. At a point in time, I had a dream that I will publish one book every year. But as I struggle with work life, I realize it is easier said than done. Somewhere, pressed by the cogwheels of life, inspiration vanishes. I have lost count of how many WIPs are lying around here and there in the computer. These days I have even stopped using the computer – with the smartphone, I can do mostly every day-to-day thing that I need to do. Unless, I have to write a blogpost or work in the book, I don’t use the laptop.

Are you a working professional and an aspiring writer? How do your manage your time? How do you insert the much-needed dose of inspiration to your writing life? Write to me in the Comments below.

Until later,

Write On!