Writing is fun, ain't it? Have you ever considered writing a book? Well, we know there are numerous aspiring writers around and the number of new authors, who have been successfully publishing books, are pleasantly surprising. While I sit by the threshold of a potentially viable writing career, after getting to be proud of having published my first book, I try to contemplate the journey thus far and I painstakingly realize that a writer's battle is fought by himself. Allow me to walk you through this little travel that I have made as a published author.

Thousands of writers aspire to write a book. I know a handful myself. And when I say a book, I mean a book of around 50,000 interestingly written words. Most writers start off with a lot of exuberance and slowly begin to lose interest as they go. Blame it on not finding time, writer's block, mental pressure or whatever. It happened to me. I had written about 20,000 words and suddenly decided to take a break. The break broke into bigger breaks and by the time I decided to start writing again, I found myself married, divorced and completing two years of work in an entertainment portal post my break up. Destiny had swallowed 42 months of my time before I accidentally stumbled onto what I had started writing and I said, 'Hey, this could make a good book!'

But, that's when the real fight started. I tried to manage both work and writing simultaneously and when I realized that it was work that was winning most of the battles, I decided to quit work. I took a personal loan that would keep me backed up for a good six months and set sail to finish what I started. People called it foolishness. I considered it a calculated risk, which I really hoped would not backfire. However, I was backstabbed by my own generosity, urging me to lend some money that could have handled my expenses for a couple of months. So now, I was left with four months backup and a book to complete. There was so much to write and so little time. However, like most writers, I believed that I would be able to make ends meet from the royalty the book would make.

I huffed and puffed through the words of my manuscript, day and night for the next 90 odd days. I finalized my plot, lived with my characters and loved what I was writing. However, my bank balance seemed to be very little in love with me and before I swiped through the last words of my book, I swiped out the last rupee from my account.

There you go, I was left with the first draft of a manuscript and absolutely no money to keep my monthly expenses fed. I had to get my book published as soon as possible. I was under pressure. I could not afford an editor, nor did I have the time to wait for big publishers to accept my manuscript. And hence, I decided to edit the book myself and self publish the book. Yeah self-editing and self-publishing. Well, the self-editing ate another 15 days of my time. I ran my tired eyes through 72000 words over and over again until I thought I could find no more errors. I thought wrong, but when my publisher accepted my manuscript, I thought I was right.

I had to squeeze out some more rupees to get the book published and when the book was finally out, I was bankrupt and indebted.

“So what? I have a book from which I am going to make money.” I thought.

The book became available on top e-commerce websites like Amazon and Flipkart and was made available in many countries abroad too. However, an author feels content when he sees his book in bookstores, isn’t it? For that, I had to convince my publisher that my book had that potential. I had to make 300 book sales and get 30 positive reviews to convince them.

“I have a whole lot of friends and have earned a good amount of goodwill. 300 should be a piece of cake.” I thought.

I thought wrong again.

The road to success is really funny. You have numerous people pushing you up until you are almost there and when you are just about to clinch it, you find hands leaving you. Yes! It’s incomprehensible. Yet blatantly true. A lot of people support you, thinking or hoping you don’t succeed. They use kind words. They show a lot of concern. They create the impression that they are doing all they can to help you get there. But, when they realize you are actually getting there, they hit the panic button.

Isn’t it confusing? Well, it was for me. A little psychological research made me understand that these people are envious, yet do not want to make it obvious. These people are malwares and are very difficult to detect. They will be in your system and appear harmless, but will slowly bring your system down. If you manage to detect them, delete them right away. Make sure you don’t let them know your progress. Don’t even ask them for help. BEWARE.

Now coming back to my story – although 300 seemed like a gettable target, it was never easy. A lot of people, who I expected, would whole heartedly get the book, simply kept me waiting. Many were more interested in free copies. I wouldn’t blame them – they just did not know I had to buy the book myself to give them free copies. Some of them were frank enough to tell me that they were not into reading and buying the book would do them no good, which I duly respect. Some people pretended to be helping me, saying that they were getting books for their friends when they were actually not. I had to resort to spending more money for marketing the book on social media. Some reviewers approached me and offered to review my book. They asked me to send them copies and never bothered to revert. I needed sales and reviews. I was desperate.

My monthly responsibilities increased my desperation and I slowly slipped into depression. This time it was bigger than what I underwent during my break up. I begged, threatened, tortured and forced people to buy the book. Some obliged, while the others avoided. As soon as I realized the book will not fetch me the income to manage my responsibilities, I found myself another job. But, as I mentioned earlier, the road to success is funny. When, on one hand you realize you trusted the wrong people, on the other hand you realize there are some absolute angels, who totally unexpectedly, extend some heart-warmingly unconditional support. When I write these lines, I see flashes of their pictures in my mind and I will be indebted to their kindness all my life.

Nevertheless, the reviews have started trickling in, the book has begun to gain popularity and I am glad that people are enjoying it. I obviously can’t satiate all readers, but most of the reviews so far have been on the positive side. It has been seven months since the book came out and I have made 272 sales thus far, which means I am 28 short of my target. I am not desperate anymore because I know I will get there someday and after I do, I will leave the fate of the book to the readers and wholeheartedly move on.

However, this journey has taught me a lot of things. It has introduced me to people. When I say people, I mean what they are inside. I believe I have learned to read them by the way they respond and with the reaction on their faces. I understand the mindset of a passionate aspirant. I understand the importance of supporting someone’s dream to the best of my abilities. It might not mean anything to us, but it might just be a life changer for them. I learn that I can’t take people for granted. I learn that people have their own lives and aspirations too and that I can't expect them to support me always. I understand getting to be a successful writer comes after years of endurance. I understand that self publishing is not a great option if you do not know how to market your book well. I learn that ultimately your fight is your fight and no one else's.

I foresee getting to learn a lot more and am hoping to explore every thing that excites me.

Ultimately, I understand that you have to believe in what you want and never EVER give up. Clouds Don’t Pass has been a journey. Before and after.

- Abhishek Krishnan

Clouds Don't Pass is available in Amazon, Flipkart and many more.
Here are the links.
Flipkart - http://goo.gl/PDyyHT
Amazon - http://goo.gl/VQEyKS