Wednesday, November 5, 2008

10K and counting....!

Its true... three months, twelve weeks... and BRBG has reached the 10,000 copies mark! It is now in it's third reprint!!!

I'm so excited and thankful for all the support that people have shown. I cannot get over the fact that something so close to my heart - now in the public domain - has had the same effect on so many that it had on me.

So once again, thanks to all those who read it, enjoyed it, spread the word about it and made it successful beyond what I could ever have imagined.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Strangers no more

Part of the excitement of being a first time author is the thrill of hearing from complete strangers. Someone text-messaged me about their impressions of the book while quite a few have taken the trouble to email me their opinions as well as suggestions.
Let me tell all of you that it feels wonderful to hear from all of you. I suppose it is the one great satisfaction of being in the public domain where people from all over, known and unknown, young and old, men and women write simply because they feel a connection.
That in itself is a lot of fun and a joy that I hadn't realized existed earlier. So thanks to everyone who took the trouble to write to me and give me some of of their time.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Its a Bestseller!!!

Got the fantastic news that BRBG is a Bestseller... within ONE month of its launch... and now is going into a second print run...!!! (BTW before you get too excited... bestseller, in India, means 5000 copies sold. I know the benchmark is a trifle low, but, believe me, that is an issue I'm not complaining about :-))

Needless to say, I'm thrilled. This has exceeded our expectations by far... expectations that have been tempered by the fact that BRBG is a so called "campus" novel by an unpublished author. So to all the folks out there involved in any way in the process - from the buyers to the distributors, the publishers, the bookstores, the printers, the designers and reviewers, a heartfelt thanks from me.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

The Hyderabad Launch

The Hyderabad launch turned out much better than I had expected. Predictably (and understandably) I was nervous and was struggling to keep it from showing on my face. The beginning was rather embarrassing with only ONE chair occupied while I sat on the dias looking around circumspectly, pleading with my eyes for those sitting at the cafe to munch on the brownies and sip on their lattes a few feet closer to me.

Nevertheless the Crosswords crew was professional enough to go through their routine without much ado and soon I found myself with a mike in my hand and a throat that was drying up like it was on fire. Later, towards the end of the program people said that I didn't look nervous at all, which only goes on to prove that I have an unexplored talent for acting (my next career move??).

The audience was lively and interactive and asked me a surprising number of questions with good humour and cheer. I constantly got the feeling that they were trying to encourage a young author, and for this I'm doubly grateful to them. I am so surprised that anyone (other than my friends and contacts) actually showed up at the event and it makes me feel humbled that there is still so much goodness in this world... that people would expend their time and energy and effort for an unknown's sake!!!

Nevertheless, thanks to my school buddies (Rishi and Shankar) and their friends and family, it turned out to be a lively experience. Some people even showed up to have me sign their book... and I was at a loss for words. My hands shook for the first couple of signatures (my apologies to the recipients of such "nervous" John Hancocks) but hopefully now you know why the 'b' in Bose looks like an 'L' and why I didn't have anything intelligent to say.

The event even got covered on the next day's Times of India, page 3 (man, are they short of news in Hyderabad or what...:-D )I'll put up a link/photo as soon as I manage to get a hold of the appropriate file.

Meanwhile, today is the Mumbai launch....

Friday, June 27, 2008

Exact launch dates, timings and locations

Here are the EXACT timings and locations of the launch dates

On Saturday, 5 July 2008 at 6.30 p.m.
at Crossword Bookstore
City Center , 1st Floor, Shop No. 101-108,
Junction of Road No: 1 & 10,
Banjara Hills,
Hyderabad – 500034

On Thursday, 10 July 2008 at 7p.m.
at Crossword Kemps Corner,
09/11 Mohammedbhai Mansion , N.S.Patkar Marg,
Below Kemps Corner Bridge , Kemps Corner,
Mumbai - 400026

On Friday, 11 July 2008 at 6.30 p.m.
at Crossword Bookstore,
ICC Trade Towers ,
Senapati Bapat Road ,
Pune-411016

Of course all are welcome. And if you can get someone to fill up the seats, even better!!!

Anirban

Monday, June 23, 2008

Even more updates on the Launch plans

Okay, here goes. Pune has been "preponed" to 11th of July.

This is it! No more changes, I promise... I know all the terrible implications of my inability to fix launch dates... price of oil is $135 a barrell, inflation is hitting 11% and BSE has hit 14K... Oh the ramifications of greatness! :-/

No seriously, hopefully these dates will be final and I'll see atleast someone else other than my editor at the gathering!

Anirban

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Update on the launch plans

Okay, small change in the launch schedule

Mumbai launch will now be on July 10th. As I would have said before I learned that this word doesn't exist in the English language and is purely an Indian invention, the launch date in Mumbai has been "preponed" by a day. My apologies to the thousands whose schedules will have been turned upside down because of this inconvenience. I know, I know you'll have to book new flights and make additional hotel reservations all because this red letter day has moved up on the calendar.... What can I say other than bear with me and my apologies once again.

Okay, enough time spent being facetious. ;-D But i sure do hope someone will turn up at these launches other than me and the copies of my book. So far I haven't been able to rope in a celebrity or even a non celebrity to "host" the event. Oh well, back to trying.

Wish me luck!