Tag: Book Review

What your banker won’t tell you by Vaibhav Anand

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Hello Fellas,

How is your book reading going on? I have been away from reviewing these days but that doesn’t mean I am not reading anything. Nobody can take away the reader in me. Today, I will be sharing my review for a non- fiction book What Your Banker Don’t Tell You by Vaibhav Anand.

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Cover: The cover of the book is amazing as the cover doesn’t give you an idea that it is a non-fiction book. The cover looks like a mirage. It shows a girl, geeky beautiful who seems to be excited while writing something.

Title: The title of the book is intriguing and it just grabs the attention of the reader.

About the Book: Making money is hard, they will tell you. Or that you need to buy X insurance or Y mutual funds or a 3BHK in Z place. Your banker, your money manager, even the avuncular neighbor who sells you LIC policies, will seem incredibly earnest as they give you what is actually self-serving money advice.

Coming from someone who’s spent years in banking, ‘What your banker won’t tell you’ is a simple do-it-yourself guide for investing in India. Spanning investment instruments across real estate, mutual funds, equity investing, debt, gold, Vaibhav takes you through fundamental tenets and easy to follow steps to grow your money and keep your banker from taking some or almost all of it.

Review: Although I am picky with non- fiction, I liked this self-help book. The way the author has used examples to explain the points about “mutual funds” is great and I didn’t get bored while reading it. The language was simple and understandable. It was a quick and easy read with lots of suggestions to be implemented. People who are unsure about their financial management then this book is your Bible and everybody should read it as it has life-saving advice given by our one and only Vaibhav Anand.

Availability: https://amzn.to/3apr6c3

Writer’s Toolkit- The Secret of Ghostwriting by D.R. Downer

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Writer’s Tool Kit, The Secrets of Ghostwriting by D.R. Downer, is a part of TBC Series which is available on Amazon. Starting from the cover of the book, it is way too simple and really tight. The cover has been a name and not designed to catch anyone’s attention. The main focus is on the topic of ghostwriting which the author has explained in a detailed manner by iterating examples. The author has used simple, lucid and precise language to tell the readers about his thought process.

Further, he has given us definitions, what, why and when of ghostwriting. He has taught us about something which we just knew vaguely. I could imagine him explaining me through the presentation.

It is a non- fiction piece which is straight to the point, crisp and reaches the audience without any hassles. It is a 20-page easy read and can be downloaded on your Kindle device at a reasonable price. I would strongly recommend buying this book.

P.S. Also go through the Spotlight of this book.

Book Review of Generously Yours by Inderpreet Uppal

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Hello Readers,

I know its been ages since I have updated any book reviews. I am sorry for being an ignorant towards this. Now I am back with an amazing book review of Generously Yours by Inderpreet Uppal.

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Cover: The cover is colourful, fascinating and has stunning colour scheme.

Title/ Sub-Title : The title seems intriguing and unique. This title gave birth to the curiousity to read the book and I am surprised at my speed. Even after months I could finish this book in 15 minutes. The sub title has a deeper meaning attached to it.

Blurb: ‘Love is forever’ or so thought Diya.
Shy, bookish and loving, Diya never thought she would ever need to be anything else. Her charmed life slips away from her in ways, she never imagined.
Will Viren be able to sort the jumble of their lives or is it already too late?
A bittersweet story of life, longing, and lasting love.

Theme: The theme could be related as it reminded me of someone with the same issue. I wont reveal what that is about. For that you need to read the book. Love was one such theme that touched the heart.

Plot: The plot did not have much of twist and turns. It was simple and straightforward.

Characterisation: She has beautifully painted her characters. I am already getting attached to Divya and Viren.

Style: Since Inderpreet is an editor henceforth, I can understand her style of writing. She has a unique style of writing which will make you fall in love with the way she play with words. She has used third person narrative, fantabulous descriptions. She has made a simple story lively.

Ending: I felt the ending was different, maybe not the way we readers wanted it to be. Ofcourse, it doesnt have any death scene, thankfully. But she could have done in some other way.

Favourite lines:

She was a shy, homebody, bookworm, and he a flamboyant, traveler and a nomad.

The early morning strolls and breakfasts in the garden, the meals on the beach.

 

“At the height of their love affair, they had bought this house, a quaint little home with a patch of a garden, the gnarled bougainvillea tree blooming furiously, the only adornment there and the dual parking. “

Grab the copy from Amazon.in

Book Review of The Fragrance of Rose

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The Fragrance of Rose by Chirajit Paul is a romantic thriller that takes you to a roller coaster ride of events, situations that affects the life of Rinita Bose. It can also be called as an inspirational journey as the protagonist never lose hope. She keeps on moving with new hopes.

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Cover: The front cover is mind blowing and makes you fall in love instantly. The colour scheme is vibrant and those who judge the book by its cover, this book is the perfect choice. The Rose in the cover is a symbolic figure as it signifies fragrance, love but also reminds us of the thorns it has which signifies betrayal, pain, suffering. The back cover has a blurb and author’s bio in it which seems just apt.

Title: The title is mind blowing. The Fragrance of Rose signifies all the good happenings. Whereas the subtitle Beauty. Diginity.Ambition talks about the desires, self respect and the beauty of the protagonist which are beautifully structured in the novel. Hence, the title and the subtitle gives us a lot of information in key words.

Blurb: Rinita Bose is an ordinary middle class girl with extraordinary beauty and unmatched aspirations. While chasing her dreams, she comes face to face with harsh realities. That’s how she learns the valuable lesson – what most men really want. In a twist of fate, she picks up enmity with a powerful man and flees the city. She switches careers and hides her identity behind the garb of Rose to make a place in Bollywood. She earns money, fame, adulation and success. But love eludes her. She witnesses the darkness of life in a drunkard father, a lecherous boss, a scheming producer and a friend who wants to take advantage. But then there are those that she can rely on in the worst of situations, her friends from childhood who stand by her through thick and thin. Those who don’t judge her; just love her unconditionally. Will Rinita be able to find the love she craves for? Or will she be mercilessly crushed for The Fragrance of Rose.

I picked up this book because of the cover and the blurb. The blurb is so powerful that it has sudden pull that makes you want to read the story. A book is incomplete without a strong blurb that gives us an insight of the plot sequence and I am glad to say that the author has done a fantastic job in it.

Plot Structure : The book is divided into three parts where the author has artistically delineated the life story of Rinita Bose, the protagonist, who has beauty with brains. This book talks about her life struggle with different men where some were leacherous, schemy, worst to her while there also lies her friends who are always there with her in her thick n thin. Life seems like a cakewalk infront of her in the start but when she refuses to fulfil the leacherous needs, she has to pay a heavy price. The plot is strong and surely a movie material. If it gets converted into movie, the audience will love it.

Characterisation: The author seems to have mastered the skills of characterisation. Rinita’s character is simple as well as complex. It is hard to understand her dreams, desires and her actions. Sometimes she sounds so bold while at other times she sounds the weakest. In all this while she has two friends who never leave her sight. Everytime she falls, she comes up with a bangon. There are so many variations in her character.

STyle: The language conveyed in this book is lucid and condensed. The way the author has expressed his thoughts using flashback team of narration. There is not one narrator but many. We come to know in the end at the hospital scene when notice everyone narrating their side stories in form of letters. The use of epistolar style of writing along with different perspectives gives us flavours. This book is a must read and I am sure you will want to see this book turned into a high voltage drama thriller.

Grab your copies from Amazon.

Book Review of Dangle

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Dangle by Sutapa Basu is a typical instance of contemporary fiction. This book is roller coaster ride of events, emotions that will keep you glued till the end. I really loved the combination of stream of consciousness technique in it. This reminded me of Mrs. Dalloway by Virgina Woolf though the story is nowhere near to it.

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The cover is crystal clear and neatly done. The bluish colour adds flavour to it and this cover is the best for a photoshoot. The title is dangling as it says our life keeps on dangling. Honestly speaking, I did a lot of photo session with this book.

The title is to the point ‘Dangle’ but still we are in thoughts like what will happen next. The title reveals everything but doesn’t reveal an inch at the same time.

Stunning, svelte, smart Ipshita is a globetrotter. She treks across the world to gather bytes for the travel chats she designs and hosts for TV channels. Despite being a self assured and sophisticated entrepreneur, Ipshita is haunted by a nameless fear. Social interaction with men unleashes psychotic turmoil inside her, making her wary of male attentions. Yet, the cold and aloof Ips is inexorably drawn to the three men she meets at different points in her journey. Her arousal to the overtures of these men catches her unawares. Well-built defenses break as her dormant sexuality go into overdrive until she discovers the horrifying truth about them…and herself. Life puzzles. Secrets tumble out. Will she be able to reclaim her life or let it dangle.

The blurb seems to say alot but again it doesnt reveal the story. It just introduce us to the protagonists. Ipshita is the protagonist who seems to be around a lot of name and fame. The plot construction is superbly done. I really loved the way the author maintains a certain balance throughout the story.

I really loved the locations. I felt I was also travelling with the author through the reading process. The city of Delhi and Chicago along with the scenic locales of Manipur adds spice to the novel.

The story is fast paced and you feel you are feeling and experiencing the incidents. The story sounds really realistic and the thrill part is exceptional. I just couldn’t stop admiring the author.Furthermore, it cleverly throws light on women emancipation, insurgency in the north-east, domestic violence, sexuality and women, our changing mindset while travelling outside India, the scars from a disturbed childhood that remain within us and much more.

The charactersketches are beautifully done. Ipshita is the main figure of focus and the way her thought process, struggles are delineated is fabluous.She herself dangles in between courage and vulnerability, the past and present, her family and other relationships. We see the novel through her eyes.

The style of writing is mindblowing. The descriptions and narration is fantastic along with perfect editing skills. Kuddos to the author and the team. This book is a perfect package.

Grab your copies from :Amazon

 

 

Book Review of The Coffee and The Cola

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The Coffee and The Cola by Kapil Muzumdar is a type of book that adds new flavourism in your life. The way the author has juggled with first person and third person narrative is exceptional. The concepts of Coffee and The Cola makes it appreciable.

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The cover of the book is average and has some artistic spots of brown coffee as if someone splashed the coffee or a water colour paint similar to coffee. The cover is related to the title but doesnt gives us any clue about the thought process of the author.

The title is unique and a person like me whose addicted to coffee is instantly in love with it. We surely some clue about it. As slowly the title and cover starts making sense to me.

The book has two plots which gets merged in the end. This concept of main plot and sub plot is slightly tricky as at times things get against the author but kuddos to the author as everything falls at right place. The story has a narrator who is author himself but he narrates about a dear one, protagonist, Rahul and about his life. Radha’s character has traits of coffee while Nora’s character has traits of Cola. All these combined together makes an interesting combination. Surely, the readers get bit confused with these cola and coffee concept but as you start reading you fell in love with the book. I must suggest that do grab a coffee while reading it.eh!

The characters are equally intriguing and binds the interest of the readers. The way the narrator talks about Rahul and his life story is impeccable. Rahul’s character is complex as he seems confused while deciding like what he wants in life. Radha or Nora? Both seems perfect. If Radha believes in eternal love then Nora believes in intimacy, physical love. Rahul is seen juggling between the two types of love. Whom he choose is the rest of the story and you better grab this book to know about it.

Radha is categorised as Coffee and Nora is categorised as Cola. Both serve as a foil to each other. THey both have their set of stories with Rahul and Rahul is the lead which links them to each other somewhere. Radha is ambitious and career oriented while the latter believes in enjoying life, partying and making love. These contrasting characters makes the plot construction strong.

The style of writing is poignant. The use of backstory, flashback and flash forward makes the book glow inceredibly. The author has even included himself in the story which makes sense when the author uses first person narrative blended with third person narrative style. The descriptions remain impersonal. The use of epistolar concept can also be noticed. The unique concept of stating the behaviour of coffee and cola in every chapter at the start. Also, some of the questions dance in my mind.

Was this story an account of author’s encounter or was it solely focussed on Rahul? And the question might sound spoiler so I will keep it preserved. I can generalise by saying that Meera’s character was mysterious. Although, the cover made sense according to its motive but I feel it could have been more better which might have attracted quick attention. I would surely recommend this book to the readers who are looking for unique concepts of writing.

Grab your copies from : http://www.amazon.in/Coffee-Cola-Ordinary-Narrative-Extraordinary/dp/1946048917/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484288596&sr=8-1&keywords=the+coffee+and+the+cola

 

Confessions of a Bibliophile

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Confessions of a Bibliophile on Kaffeinated Konversations.. stay tuned for more updates guys.. follow my Confessions.. it will be posted every Sunday ..:D

Episode1- Marry Me Nolan Parker

If you are reading this confession then you are in love with books. Have you ever fallen for the characters in the novel? If your answer is Yes, then you are reading the right article.

I am in love with characters to such an extend that I can imagine them in my life. I can imagine that ruthless, handsome Heathcliff staring at me. I can feel the care of Augustus Waters. I can inhale the heavenly touch of Nolan Parker. And not to forget my dream teacher, Rowan Masters. I am in love with them all. Well, that is called the novel effect. It is a moment of happy dance for the authors if you remember their characters. The popularity of a character is a biggest achievement for the author.

Books are magical guys. Most of us say that books are our best friends but…

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Book Review of Lemons and Lemonades

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Lemons and Lemonades : My Midlife Dabble in Online Romance by David H Mathews is a non fiction book on relationships and dating. This book has humor and can even be categorized as a memoir.

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The cover of the book is just perfect as per its idea. The cover has a keyboard and a heart is their. This gives us an idea about the thought process of the book. For a person who judge by a cover, will surely find it luring.

The title of the book is tricky an the author has used his smartness in it. Lemons and Lemonades surely grabs the attention of the readers and it doesn’t match with the cover. So, to know more about it, one can pick this book.

“What you are about to read is frequently salty, occasionally convoluted, and in all ways, very personal. These true and sometimes ribald tales did actually occur during my online dating dabble between wife number two and wife number three…”

Neither a primer on online dating, nor a gender-biased lament on love gone wrong, David H. Mathews’ memoir, Lemons and Lemonade explores the connections and disconnections he made while searching the .com world for romance.

After subscribing to a dating site, David struggles to concoct a suitably provocative profile, stumbles and falls with several mismatched matches, then finally connects with, and promptly marries Clare, the love of his life. Actual email exchanges chronicle their blurringly fast courtship.

David shares his honest-to-God interactions with honest-to-God women in the voice of a plain-speaking Indiana farm boy who spent his youth playing basketball, fondling cheerleaders, baling hay, and shoveling manure.

The book talks about the situations and the experiences of the author in his marriages. This is a personal book and the way he delineates his view points is hilarious. The concept of burlesque can be seen in this book. The author talks about online dating and the way he struggles to update the details in it. These interactions surely makes you laugh your heart out. Further, we find self mockery element in it.

The style of writing is quite cool and it attracts the attention of the readers. The descriptions are subtle and the narration is personal. The book surely has wit, humor, sarcasm and some of the dialogues makes us laugh too. It is a light book to read and one doesn’t get bored while reading. Honestly speaking, this is just an average book for me as I could find editing errors in it. This was a bit turn off and at times I found the thoughts are exaggerated.

Grab your copies from :

http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/1612967639/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_in-21&linkCode=as2&camp=3626&creative=24790

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=1612967639&clickid=yiAUc0UbQUowRe0zup0-dRVlUkkSIvVtdVeQ000&cm_mmc=aff-_-ir-_-64613-_-77416&ref=imprad64613&afn_sr=impact

Book Review of This Love that Feels Right

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This Love that Feels Right is one of Ravinder Singh’s recently popular book. This book is not that old lovey dovey romance story infact it highlights a new perspective of seeing love. We all know Ravinder Singh for his forte in romance and here he talks about something which is considered as a taboo in today’s world. I was so excited that I ended up pre- ordering the book. I saw that frame and I kept looking at Ravin’s pic for good 10 minutes. I won’t say I am his die hard fan as there is whole lot to say that. I can say that, I am a person who can sense his narrative style, his thoughts and yes, I felt this book.

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Cover- The cover of the book is filmy as it has fantastic colour scheme of red and the divine picturisation of two lovers behind the balloons makes it poignant.

Title- This is the perfect title for the novel as the whole story revolves around it. At the end, one can sense its validity.

Blurb- Life would have been easier had it been possible for us to plan falling in love; More importantly, avoid falling in love… ‘Love is not for you,’ she told herself. Inside, just like any girl, she desired to be loved.

She had accepted her life the way it was, till one-day love showed up unannounced, uninvited! That’s the thing with love. It doesn’t take permission. It’s in its very nature to gatecrash into our lives Standing face-to-face with love, she finds herself asking, ‘Is this love right?’ The answer is not simple. It never was… This intense love story will shake every belief you’ve ever had.

Plot- The plot construction is impeccable as the author talks about Naina Singhania, a typical Indian rich housewife and Aarav, a gym trainer. Life takes a turn when these two meet each other. Malvika, their common friend saw a spark in them but both were struggling between their desires and the boundation for Naina being married already.

Themes- There are many themes in this novel. The most important is the theme of love. Basically love is an emotion and is beyond any boundaries but our society has certain boundaries. We can imagine love before marriage but after marriage is known as an illicit relationship. This is true as we are seeing it from last so many centuries. Sometimes marriages are destroyed, things get nasty and to add more, the lovers have to undergo humiliation. Even Victorian Era is known for such love affairs. But we are not talking about the negatives here, in fact the author delineates a different concept of love. In this, the lovers understand each other. Naina is ready to call off her wedding for herself not for Aarav. The unique concept is being introduced and it actually doesn’t hurt anyone. The other mouthpiece is Malvika who is in a relationship with someone and he is not her husband but she has told her husband. I loved the act of courtesy and honesty towards a relation.

Theme of friendship is beautifully depicted. Naina finds a confidante in Malvika. They both share everything with each other. Malvika is really confidant and bold whereas Naina is shy and bit old fashioned. She explains Naina her perspective and she isn’t guilty of having an affair as she is being honest with her partner and he also readily accepted her. This motivates Naina to take a stand for herself.

Characterisation- I personally loved Malvika’s character as she is the mouthpiece of the author, thats what I feel. Whereas Naina is an opposite of Malvika but still they are very good friends. Akhil has extra ordinary traits. There are no villains in this novel but what are villains here, are the thoughts of the characters. The characters are seen respecting each other which makes it mind blowing.

STyle- The author has used pithy and condensed style of writing. The use of third person technique is aptly followed. Some sentences are philosophical and takes you to a different world. The humour surpasses in creating humour. I can conclude by saying that Ravin has come up with a unique perspective of love and I thoroughly enjoyed it..

Availability- http://www.amazon.in/This-Love-that-Feels-Right/dp/0143423029

https://www.pustakmandi.com/This-Love-that-Feels-Right-Ravinder-Singh

About the Author

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Ravinder Singh is a bestselling author. His debut novel I Too Had a Love Story has touched millions of heart. Can Love Happen Twice? is his second book. After spending most of his life in Burla, a very small town in Orissa, Ravinder has finally settled down in Chandigarh. Having worked as a software engineer for several years at some of India’s prominent IT companies, Ravinder has recently completed his MBA at the world-renowned Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. Ravinder loves playing Snooker in his free time. He is crazy about Punjabi music and loves dancing to its beat. The best way to contact Ravinder is through his official fan page on Facebook.

 

Candid Session with Sudeep Nagarkar

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Hello readers,

Today I am going to interview the heart throb of many girls, Sudeep Nagarkar( our Romance King). It took me months to get a proper interview session with him since he was extremely busy with his latest release She Swiped Right Into my Heart. He couldn’t send me a written interview though yet we had a telephonic interview and I must say he was very patient while answering all the questions. It was an amazing experience. The other person I want to thank is Manvi Singh akka Maisha who was with me in this experience. She was the one who linked me with SUdeep Sir and she only converted the recordings into written form as I was stuck with other engagements. A huge hug to you girl..:) So, lets start then ..:)

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  1. When did you realise you wanted be a writer?

    When life threw challenges back at me, and engineering was a ruckus I started penning down my thoughts. In the initial years, it was just me and my diary who knew about my words, soon it spread to my dear ones and that’s when one of them suggested me to go ahead and get it published, that’s how it happened. Somethings never come planned, this is one of them for me. When I started liking my pen more than my computer screen with some IT statistics, I knew this is what I was to be, this is what I’ll be happy in.
    At that time, I had no clue what a bestseller is, I had no clue what one needs to do to be a bestseller.

  2. How you felt when your first published book was in your hand?

    Frankly speaking, I was scared. Since I was in my last year of engineering and my eighth semester exams were on my head, I had no idea what to do and what to prioritise. In addition to that, I had fuming parents who had no clue with what I was doing, plus, the most difficult task was to convince them that the book is a fiction and not a true story, but yes, all’s well that ends well and that has been one of the most memorable moment of my life.
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  3. Since your novels are mostly based on romance, and you’re the present day Romance King, why do you think this genre so special to you?

    You cannot specifically call me the “Romance King” since my stories do have some other important elements and messages to send across to my readers. Every time I’ve tried that there should be something new in the book, for example the new book, She Swiped Right Into My Heart, I’ve tried to punch across the trending LGBT issue which is another stigma to our society because I feel they should be granted with their own rights and justice should be provided to this section of our society since humans are humans and nothing can change that fact. Even in the last book, You’re Trending In My Dreams, I perfectly told people that no women is weak and that’s how they should be treated, i.e. equal.

  4. Would you like to try some other genre?

    For I’d probably need more experience to that because for example a mythological writer might need a lot research work before penning down a book which probably isn’t my thing. I don’t say that I’m a good writer, but yes, I’d say I’m a good storyteller who portrays the reality to the world quite fictionally.

  5. So, tell me something about your recent release, She Swiped Right Into My Heart?

    Technically, the book covers up two major aspects, one is as I told you is LGBT and second is about the major thing which we all do face at some point or the other is our fight to be accepted in our peer group. So, it’s about these three distinct lives who are to emerge from their own personal dilemmas. The title tells a different story, but basically it’s not a love story. Rest, you should definitely read if you haven’t. 😉

  6. What all research work did you do for this novel?

    Okay, since this book has a girl who had acceptance issues, I really had to look into one such being who’d make me get the feel of how it is to be bullied so I did meet one of my friends who had faced this, to know the gist of how it feels to be bullied and also, I had to know a lot about the LGBT groups by them itself so that’s what I did.

  7. Did you refer to any other novels regarding this topic?

    I never really believed in the theoretical part of the LGBT issue. I wanted to put in life into my words so I preferred interacting with actual people who were a part of this group so I may understand their psyche about what’s happening with them and around them.

  8. So far, what has been your struggles to be where you are today?

    Technically everybody has their own set of struggles, there are some who are struggling to get a publisher and sometimes even living up with the quality of writing is also a big task in hand and since I’ve taken writing as a full time job, I guess now I have more time to focus on this aspect of my writing, i.e. the expression of my words and the most important thing is to follow deadlines which is the major task in the whole process.

  9. Do you think publishers these days are exploiting the authors?If yes, then what could be possibly done to stop them?

    I don’t think so that they are exploiting the authors since in my case, they were one of the pillars of success. They helped me reach where I am today and probably that’s the accurate job of a publisher. They’re the ones who suggest me that I should at least publish a book in a year because I have seen authors publishing a new book in a gap of 5- 6 months and probably, it do effect the sales of the previous book, so the publishers who are really exploiting authors, ain’t called to be publishers itself, according to me.
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  10. What is important for a book, good writing or good marketing?

    I guess, the mixture of both is equally important in today’s world as we cannot eliminate any of the two factors and it’s not only about books but movies also, as they also require equal amount of marketing and the same amount of effort in acting and direction of the movie because once the movies or the books is in hand of the reader then probably the reader or the spectator might get disappointed which would effect his sales for the next thing which he endorse.

P.S. Also read my book review of the Book ‘She Swiped Right into mY Heart

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