Update: 01

Hey guys,

Hope you all are doing great. It’s been such a long time since I wrote anything on this blog – this is the first post of 2021 and we’re already in April.

When I started this blog in 2015, I was convinced that I wanted to be an author. I was young, fresh out of college, and unaware of where my life was headed. I didn’t know then within the next three years I would somehow lose myself. I’d somehow stop being the person who I was, crazy about books: reading them and writing them. I’d want to express myself in more visual medium, no longer trusting just words to do justice to what I was going through. I’d also find myself again, in the next few months – healed by people who never knew how broken I was or how they really helped me.

Adulthood somehow humbles us, makes us more somber. It teaches you to learn to optimize and take decisions that are in your best interests, even if it’s not what your heart wants. So, this past week, I ended up taking a decision like that: to finally vacate my flat in Bangalore and shift to my hometown in the interim.

Personally, I find it difficult to take decisions that impacts the way of life. I have never travelled much as a kid, hence, the thought of being mobile with no permanent residence does bother me to some extent. Having said that, I know that such biases don’t necessarily support the best of economic sense. At some point, you need to count your chickens, cut your losses and move on in life. Even if you miss standing in that balcony overlooking squirrels on nameless trees or the plants that you will leave behind.

The bright side is, there’s a lot on offer at my hometown. After several months, I am getting the chance to stay with my whole family. That is precious. I love the simple town that I am from. I’m also learning a bunch of new skills: growing vegetables, riding a scooty. I’m trying to gain as much confidence as I can in areas where I had no skillset. It feels good.

Anyways, this is supposed to be a short status update telling you all that I expect to spend more time here in the coming days, writing posts that you all can enjoy. I’m also focusing on finishing a book that I had begun in 2020. Hopefully, that will also come along soon.

Until the next one, keep well and take care!

My interview on NFReads

Hi everyone,

It’s been a while since I published a book or spoke anything about my books on this platform. So it was quite a pleasure when Tony Eames from NFReads.com reached out for my interview on their website. For those of you who are not aware of NFReads.com, it is a general interest website with an emphasis on articles and interviews about books, both fiction and nonfiction.

Here’s a link to my interview. Do check it out and show me some love! ❤

Love and peace,

Arpita

 

The first review!

A big thanks to everyone who supported me and spread a word about my book, How I tamed the dragon named fear. Thanks to you guys, I was able to reach 35 people yesterday. And one of the readers was kind enough to leave a review, this soon:

What should I say, that felt great! I guess positive feedback feels especially good if it comes from someone you do not know at all. Thank you Milan for reading the book and sharing your thoughts.

Once again, huge thanks to everyone who spread a word about this book. Also, a big thanks to everyone who downloaded the book yesterday. I hope you find it a good read. And if you do, please leave me a review!

Best,

Arpita

Cover reveal: How I tamed the dragon named fear

After much procrastination, I am finally ready with my second book. Or am I? Well, a couple of chapter edits are still pending and I am still rewording, rephrasing, adding more content and context. But yeah, I am mostly getting there.

Like I had mentioned before, the book is coming out this month. I was a little conflicted about the date because I will be going home for 10 days later this month and will not have much access to computer. I want to hit the Publish button before I leave so that I have enough time to promote the book.

This book was my first tryst with non-fiction. It is also enormously personal. I will be doing a couple of blog posts about the entire journey of the second book. But today, I want to empty myself and let you know how it feels to be on the verge of self-publishing a book.

The long, long rounds of edits!

As a creative person, a writer tries and tries to make each sentence as close to perfection as she can.I published my first book in sort of a hurry. I was in college and just wanted the taste of being published. I have missed my fair share of edit for Bound by Life. But this time, I am more mature.The fact that I am a working professional now helped a lot because now I started to think of the book as a deliverable. I am as careful with this book now as I am with a client deliverable.

Even though the edit rounds are excruciatingly painful at times, this is the best phase of the writing for me. I generally write free form, filling the pages as the words come to me. So unless I do thorough edit afterwards, there are inconsistencies. There have been so many times when I have copied and pasted entire paragraphs in a different place in the chapter because it did not sound right at its previous position.

The frantic search for marketing techniques

Marketing a book is not easy. Especially if you are a nobody in the writing world and are trying to self-publish your book. I spent a good part of December reading about marketing strategies.

For a while, I was thinking of creating a book trailer. But times seems to be flying at jet speed these days. It was just new year and now it is February. I realized that I better focus on making the book the best one I can. I am the sort of a person who believes greatly in word-of-mouth promotion. If the book is good enough, it will sell itself.

The guilty not-writing phases

For a couple of weeks in January, I was so hooked into the TV shows that I did no work whatsoever for the book, all the while knowing that it would bite me later. Even though I am still on for a February release, but sadly as the book is not completely done yet, I am having to cut on time for promotional stuff (yeah, I know! Word-of-mouth is great, but I guess you still need to reach some people for word-of-mouth recommendations to get generated). I won’t say I am really sorry I spent January like that. Writing is a very lonely occupation. You really need the distraction to get work done.

I think of writing like cooking. You need to cook the veggies for the right amount of time to taste the best. There is an incubation period. This holds true especially in my case for this book. It is on fear and draws heavily from my personal experience – so my personal growth is intricately related to the completion of this book. You will know this as soon as you read the book.

Enough said. Now, it is time for the big cover reveal. Drum-rolls please!

Presenting, the face of my next book:

Book Cover

There! One milestone accomplished. Now I can go cook lunch for myself and eat!

Did you like this post? Would you like to know more of the behind-the-scenes stuff of writing? Connect with me in the Comment section below.

Day 18 of Writing 101: The Package

The Package

Arpita Pramanick

It says it is in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, India. I do not know if Bhiwandi is a city or a town. I wonder, though, what it looks like.

I am zooming in. The satellite picture shows green and brown, but nothing is clear. So much for technology!

A notification beeps in my cellphone. The package has moved. Now, the painful wait begins.

Three days later, criss-crossing the country, changing hands, it rings as the doorbell.

The man is dark. He is wearing dark blue coveralls and a blue-and-red cap.

“Two hundred and seventy nine rupees, ma’am,” he says.

I hand him the money, counted to the exact rupee. I know these people well. They never return the one-rupee change.

The man hands me the package. I caress it like a long lost kin.

“Thank you for shopping with us, ma’am.” The man bares his malformed teeth. Ugh!

“Yeah, okay, okay!” I shut the door on his face. I can’t wait one more second to tear the cover and hold the treasure in my own hands.

No longer I care what they say about my craft. If no one else buys my book, I will!

I know what I should do. I’ll just order another hundred copies!

Copyright © 2015 Arpita Pramanick

Day 4 of Writing 101: Static Window

Six Word Story: Static Window

My static window. Your hurried retreat.

Copyright © 2015 Arpita Pramanick

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Downloaded your copy of Bound by Life yet?  Hurry, it’s FREE today! Click here.

Of writing horror stories

Two weeks ago I wrote my first ever horror short story. I was alone and staring at the computer screen. I had not written anything worth consequence since I came home and I needed to write something for Wednesday. For two days, I tried to come up with a plot, failing miserably. Things were different than usual on the home front as my brother was to leave home soon for college. It was difficult to concentrate.

Then I had the idea to write a story based loosely on a childhood story, one that my aunt used to tell me when I begged her for stories. She said it had happened with her sister, my other aunt. I used to listen to her in awe and horror. I don’t remember if I had goosebumps, but writing the story was a very scary experience. As I wrote, I clearly pictured what my aunt used to tell me and as I added my imagination and fleshed it into words, my heart quickened. I was scared to get up and switch on the light of the other room that led to the toilet. I needed to use the toilet badly, but I sat tight.

You see, I have never been a courageous person. As a child I was afraid of the dark. My cousins used to scare me with ghastly tales of ghosts and spirits. Even when I was in Kolkata, where I went to college, I had difficulty sleeping when my roommates were away. The clothes hanging from the rope in the room seemed to take life in the hazy light that seeped through the window at night. And I was so scared, so very scared!

When The Conjuring hit the theatres, it received rave reviews. I downloaded the movie because many suggested it. I watched the movie in broad daylight when my family was home, yet my heart beat faster in horror and anticipation. I had difficulty sleeping for nights afterwards. I cursed those who make horror movies. What do they have to do it, for God’s sake? How does one get pleasure being scared out of their brains?

Given my train of thoughts, I should probably never have written a short story in the horror genre. Especially when I had goosebumps writing it and my heart thrummed erratically. At the slightest noise I felt I had received a shock, every sensation had heightened so much during those hours. I was so glad when my mother and brother were home, in the middle of the story. I guess I could only complete the work because I was at a dead end as far as non-horror plots were concerned, my head was so heavy!

Once I had written it, however, I could kind of close my eyes to the horror and edit it objectively. I am proud of the story it became. I have received a few positive comments for it, so that made the experience better.

I still have questions, though, for horror enthusiasts. Horror authors, how do you form those scary sentences? Have you ever been frightened of what you wrote? Or am I the dumb one here to even ask this question? Do share with me in the comments section. Horror readers, please feel free to jump into the discussion as well! How do you enjoy watching something scary? I am eager to hear from you.

Bound by Life FREE on Kindle today!

Hello blogoworld!

It gives me immense delight to let you know that my book, Bound by Life, is FREE on Kindle today. It will end before midnight the 6th, so you got 24 hours to download the book.

Bound by Life is a collection of ten short stories. Here’s the book blurb for your benefit:

Bound by Life is the first book by Arpita Pramanick. It contains ten short stories.

The title story is epistolary. An old man writes a letter to his son before leaving for an old age home. Set in the backdrop of the modern nuclear family, the story contains references to the immigrant experiences of those who came to India from the then East-Pakistan (presently Bangladesh) to escape the wrath of the communal riots post-Indian independence.

One of the stories, I am Mala, has been previously published on the eFiction magazine. I am Mala is the tragic tale of a young woman who becomes the victim of the dogmatic caste system.

The protagonist of The Silent Victim, Deepa, has traumatic past. She just started college and is struggling badly with androphobia. Will she be able overcome her past and lead a normal life?

Be sure to head out to Amazon to get your copy of Bound by Life.

Feel free to share this with your friends and acquaintances. I’d love to reach as many people as I can through this free giveaway.

Have you already downloaded the book and read it? Please leave me a review on Amazon and GoodReads. Your reviews will help me become a better writer.

Also, don’t forget to check out my first interview on the blog of my blogging partner, Marquessa. Thank you so much Marquessa for giving me this opportunity!

Happy Reading!

Day One of Three-Day Quote Challenge

Good day bloggers all over the world!

Usually, I blog on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I will make an exception today as I have been nominated by the wonderful Debolina for the three-day quote challenge. Yay! Thank you so much, Debolina, for the nomination. Debolina has previously contributed a guest post for this blog – a review of Little Women as part of Saturday Specials in July. Be sure to check it out!

As a part of the 3-Day quote challenge, I will publish one quote each for three consecutive days. On the third day, I will nominate three other bloggers for the same who will then continue the challenge. The quotes may be taken from a book, a movie or anywhere else. It can even be your own creation.

My quote for today is taken from the first story of my book Bound by Life. The protagonist of this story (The Silent Victim), Deepa, was a victim of molestation as a child and grew up struggling with androphobia. These lines are her realization:

Quote for Day 1 of 3-Day Quote Challenge

Deepa is one of the strongest characters of my first book. I am immensely proud of her and where she reaches by the end of the story. If you’re interested in her story, don’t forget to buy my book on Amazon.

Keep blogging and have a great weekend!

Best,

~Arpita

Bound by Life: Expectations and Reality

The regular reader friends of my blog know my book, Bound by Life. I’ll go ahead and share the blurb of the book for those of you who do not know about it:

Bound by Life is the first book by Arpita Pramanick. It contains ten short stories.

The title story is epistolary. An old man writes a letter to his son before leaving for an old age home. Set in the backdrop of the modern nuclear family, the story contains references to the immigrant experiences of those who came to India from the then East-Pakistan (presently Bangladesh) to escape the wrath of the communal riots post-Indian independence.

One of the stories, I am Mala, has been previously published on the eFiction magazine. I am Mala is the tragic tale of a young woman who becomes the victim of the dogmatic caste system.

The protagonist of The Silent Victim, Deepa, has traumatic past. She just started college and is struggling badly with androphobia. Will she be able overcome her past and lead a normal life?

In a previous post, I had talked about five things that writing the book has taught me. I also mentioned that from time to time I will be talking about my self-publishing journey. So today, I am going to talk to you about what my expectations were when I hit the publish button on Kindle Direct Publishing Program and what the reality is after a month the book has been on the digital shelves.

Expectations

1.  I’d sell 10 paid copies in the first month. Ten isn’t that big a number, is it? Should I set a higher count? 20? Nah, what if I don’t reach 20? Then I will feel bad and wont be able to concentrate on anything else. So 10 it is!
2. A week before the release of Bound by Life, I post a message on Facebook asking my friends if they want a copy of my book. Over the week, I give away around 50 copies free to people I have known from school and college days and ask them for reviews through email and Facebook. I expect at least half of them to write a review. Fairly reasonable, right?
3.  I’d sell about a hundred copies on the free promotional days.

Reality

1. From June 20 to July 31, Bound by Life has sold 2 paid copies. Yeah, you read that right. Only TWO! That’s 80% below my expectations.
2. Of all the copies I have sold or given away for free, I only have three reviews on Amazon.in and one on Amazon.com. Turned out many of my friends who were willing to review were not eligible for reviewing on Amazon as they had not bought anything from the website before.
3. On the free promotional days, July 1-2 I sold about 25 copies. I won’t even get into percentages now!

When I was writing the book I was in the middle of my final semester. When my friends were perhaps studying for exams, I was busy writing and editing in MS Word. I was planning all sorts of things I could do to promote my book. It was like a dream, thinking about the book all the time.

Now, one month removed, how do you think I am faring? Am I sick because I sold so less? Am I depressed? Sad? Numb?

Well, here it is: I am absolutely fine! I took two blogging courses from Blogging U. of WordPress recently. I am reinventing my blog. I am writing guest posts. I am reading, I am interviewing other authors. And I am trying to outline my first novel. I am enjoying every bit of my personal life.

But that said, I haven’t given up hopes on Bound by Life. I DO NOT intend to be rich by selling the book, but this book is out in the world to help me be a better writer. So, I still want reviews and for that, I need to sell. And I NEED YOUR HELP to do that!

HOW CAN YOU HELP ME?

1. For those of you who have not downloaded my book, here is another opportunity for you to do so.  Yes, Bound by Life is FREE again on 5th August! Mark your calendar, add a reminder! Do whatever you wish but do not forget to download it on the 5th! Click here to find the book on Amazon or bookmark the following URL: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X6VG3B0 
2. Have you downloaded my book in a previous giveaway? Great! Then please leave a review for me on the same link. Don’t fret that you’ve never reviewed anything before. All I want is your honest opinion, something you’ll tell me face to face if you had read my book. If it’s two lines, I am up for it! If you want to say what a pathetic read the book was, go ahead! Not only I care for sales, but I also want to know how I can better my writing. And your criticism does just that! So please, please, please leave a review for me on Amazon.
3. Share this post! Reblog it! Email to a friend. Share it on your Facebook page. Start the hashtag #BoundbyLife on Twitter. Any platform you’re comfortable sharing, I am happy! Help me reach more people, so that more people download the book on the 5th.
4. Help me spread a word about the book. Do you host author interviews on your blog? Then shoot me your questions and publish the interview on the 5th. Ask me out on blog tours.
5. Enlighten me on other ways to promote my book! Have you marketed a book before? What helped boost the sale? I am open to all kinds of suggestions.

For any questions, please feel free to contact me through the form below. I am excited to hear from you!

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