Interview: Sakshi Sharma- Fiction and Children’s Books Author

We caught up with Sakshi Sharma, the author of two books at the Pothi Store: Maya Wants to be a Baker and Kismat and Karma.

Sakshi Sharma is a finance professional with past experience in companies including Johnson & Johnson, Penguin Random House and Columbia University Press in New York City. She is passionate about writing and reading and has a 8k+ subscriber base across her media platforms (@mere_meer on Instagram). As a mother of a three-year-old, Sakshi was very keen to enter the children’s book space. Maya Wants to Be a Baker is her first children’s book.

Pothi.com: Tell about how you zeroed in on such a unique topic for your children’s book ‘Maya wants to be a baker’.

Sakshi Sharma: During the pandemic, my husband did a lot of baking and I saw my three-year-old daughter taking great interest in baking donuts and chocolate cakes with her father. She really enjoyed being his sous chef.
This inspired me to write a book to introduce young minds like my daughter to unique career paths. Through this book, I wanted kids to feel that they have the freedom to become what their heart so desires, even if it is something non-traditional like a baker.

Pothi.com: You’ve written an adult fiction called Kismat and Karma. Tell us about the transition from writing books for adults to writing for kids. Why did you make this transition?

Sakshi Sharma: My daughter, Meera, loves reading new books and I’ve always wanted to pen a book for kids. Though my overall passion is writing fiction and creating new stories centered around women, I was also very keen to pen a story with a little girl as the protagonist.

Pothi.com: Tell us a little about Kismat and Karma.

Sakshi Sharma: Kismat and Karma is a modern take on the Bhagavad Gita. It is about two women, Kismat and Karma, who attempt to answer an intriguing question: “Are we resigned to our fate, or can we change it through our noble actions?”

Kismat and Karma hail from opposite sides of India. They have varied, yet almost parallel experiences of immigrating abroad (New York/London), finding love (arranged and unrequited) and facing loss and trauma. Destiny brings them together in New Delhi.

Essentially, Kismat and Karma is a women’s take on Krishna and Arjuna, wherein one woman mentors the other, but both play an essential role in shaping each other’s life.

Pothi.com: You’ve spent a larger part of your work life in the corporate space. What made you migrate to writing?

Sakshi Sharma: I’ve always wanted to be writer. I studied finance and worked as an Analyst and Accountant for several years in New Jersey and New York City.

But writing is for the soul. Some of my poems have been published in Hindustan Times and I also wrote poetry for my University magazine.
Ms. Catherine Sameh, one of my University Professors at Rutgers New Brunswick, awarded me the only “A” in her Writing class. She confided that she typically did not award A’s but that I merited the grade with the final paper I submitted to her. I still have that essay with her notes and markings. That set the foundation for me to actually think I could be a writer someday.
In 2013, I started my own blog/website when I was still working in the corporate space in the States; penning short stories, poems, and humour pieces about love, marriage and motherhood. Today, I have two published books and I am working on a thriller next!

Pothi.com: What has your experience of writing and collaborating with an illustrator been like? As a writer, how do you best advise children’s writers to collaborate with illustrators?

Sakshi Sharma: My husband connected me to Supriya, who is an extremely talented illustrator. She created sample illustrations of Maya and her baking adventures. The pictures came out better than I could ever imagine.

Writers can connect with illustrators on platforms like Reedsy, Upwork and Pothi. Another great source is to directly connect with budding illustrators on Instagram. You can see their work and engage with them directly. Look under appropriate tags like #childrensbook and #illustratorsofinstagram etc.

I was able to find a wonderful illustrator for my fiction book Kismat and Karma. He was able to create the cover for my book exactly to the specifications I wanted. He created the silhouettes of two women, one in modern and the other in traditional attire; highlighting my two female protagonists. In addition, he hid the word ‘Krishna’ in Hindi in nine different places in the front cover. The number “nine” is quite symbolic in my novel as well as the significance of Krishna as my book pays homage to the Gita.

Overall, it is important to effectively communicate your expectations with your illustrator and understand the kind of output you will be getting for the price quoted by the illustrator.

Pothi.com: What is your advice to every aspiring writer who is hesitant to self-publish?

Traditional publishing is a dream avenue for many, but there are many roadblocks to it. For example, it can take months, or even years to get a solid response from a literary agent who can then pitch you to a leading publishing house. The turnaround is slow and you may lose out on the freshness of your story.

I would advise aspiring authors to develop their own brand by creating a blog/website/media page and posting engaging and quality content regularly to build an audience base. When their manuscript is ready, I would encourage them to hire a quality editor to refine their story. Once it is edited and ready for publishing, they can easily self-publish and market their book in their circle and social media handles. There are plenty of authors who have been picked up by traditional houses because of the success of their published work!

Many years ago, authors did not have such opportunities and they suppressed their dreams of becoming published authors. I would encourage every author to self-publish. The feeling of seeing my daughter reading my own book is priceless.

Pothi.com: What has your experience with Pothi.com been like?

Sakshi Sharma: The Pothi team have been instrumental in helping my fiction novel and children’s book become available for paperback printing in India. The Pothi website is extremely user-friendly and has easy-to-follow instructions. Whenever I had any queries and issues in uploading my files, the team responded quickly and addressed my concerns. They have a cool Cover Creator which helps any novice create/edit their own book cover. During this pandemic, I really wanted to launch Kismat and Karma and Maya Wants to Be a Baker for everyone to read and Pothi made that dream a reality for me. Highly recommend Pothi to all aspiring authors!

Pothi.com: Thanks so much Sakshi Sharma! We wish you luck on your publishing journey!

Catch us chatting with Sakshi Sharma on IG Live on Nov 25 at 4 pm IST! Our insta handle is pothidotcom.

World Vegetarian Day: 5 Vegetarian Cookbooks at the Pothi.com Store

World Vegetarian Day is observed by vegetarians world over on October 1. It was established by the North American Vegetarian Society in 1977 and endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union in 1978. The aim: To promote the joy, compassion and life-enhancing possibilities of vegetarianism.

We found a couple of vegetarian recipe books at the Store.

VEGETARIAN DELIACIESVEGETARIAN DELICACIES  by Bridget White | Pothi.com

Soups, salads, curries, stir fries, rice dishes, casseroles and bakes all featured here with easy instructions. The book also highlights the nutritive value of each vegetable and its role in helping cure ailments. Bridget White is a Cookery Book Author and Food Consultant. She has authored seven recipe books on Anglo-Indian Cuisine. Read her interview here.

The Vegetarian Diet Guru is a nutrients-based menu planning guidebook with 150+ recipes that explains and provides strategies to design diets that meet nutritional specifications according to individual requirements.Dr. Shanta Kumar has authored several articles and books on Nutrition and a 3-in-1 Diet Cookbook. The purpose of this book is to provide individuals with the information necessary to plan a healthy and balanced vegetarian diet based on specific criteria. A scientific approach to diet planning is used primarily to aid weight control, diabetic management as well as normal health.

Over 150 recipes with both American and European measurements, this book draws its great-tasting recipes from throughout India. A corporate chef and a past participant in OCLD, Zubin D’Souza has worked all over the world and traveled much of India to showcase regional recipes that he has refined.

Indian Grandmas' Secret RecipesIndian Grandmas’ Secret Recipes | Pothi.com

This is a book of authentic recipes by 16 Indian grandmothers from all over India- Assam, West Bengal, Punjab, UP, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala.

 

 

BAKE WITH KOTHARIS (B/W version)BAKE WITH KOTHARIS  | Pothi.com

The science of baking eggless recipes of cookies, cakes, muffins, breads, buns, pizzas, and more… free from preservatives, stabilizers, bread improvers, calcium propionate, and harmful chemicals.

 

Are there any vegetarian cookbooks that you would recommend? Tell us in the comments.

International Translation Day: 5 Translated Books at the Pothi.com Store

Today is International Translation Day!
On this day translators are celebrated all over the world. It’s held on September 30, on the day of the feast of St. Jerome, the patron saint of translators.
We located a couple of translated books at the Pothi.com Store:

Select Translations of Rabindranath Tagore: Volume ISelect Translations of Rabindranath Tagore: Volume I | Pothi.com

Five of the best short stories written by Rabindranath Tagore and a play all translated into American English. Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a storyteller, mystic poet, composer, playwright and philosopher, all rolled into one.

Gulliver's Travel (Assamese Translation) We have an Assamese version of Gulliver’s Travels at the Pothi Store. Have you read this bizarre story of a large man in a land of the smallest people?

 

 

 

Translations of Mankutimmana KaggaTranslations of Mankutimmana Kagga | Pothi.com

This book is a tribute to the great Kannada Philosopher-poet D. V. Gundappa popularly known as DVG. Translations of his best-known work: a collection of quadruplet verses on life known as Mankutimmana Kagga is an effort to let know the non-Kannada readers of this gem of Kannada literature. DVG’s verses are short but powerful.

Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse (Translated Tamil Edition)(Colour Print)Siddhartha By Hermann Hesse (Translated Tamil Edition)(Colour Print) | Pothi.com

This is a Tamil  translated version of Siddhartha,  a 1922 novel by Hermann Hesse. The book, Hesse’s ninth, was written in German, in a simple, lyrical style.

Sivakamiyin Sabadham - An English Translation (Volume 1)

Sivakamiyin Sabadham – An English Translation (Volume 1) | Pothi.com

A masterpiece by Kalki Krishnamurthy, recipient of  the Sahitya Akademi Award, ‘Sivakamiyin Sabadham’ is a historical Tamil novel set in seventh-century South India. The story deals with the battle for supremacy between the Chalukya Emperor, Pulikesi II, and the Pallava Emperor, Mahendra Varmar and at a later stage, his son, Narasimha Varmar.

You can also check out Volumes 2 and 3 to read the entire series.

Tell us about any translated works that have made a great impression on you.

9 Travel Books from the Pothi.com Store on World Tourism Day

Today is World Tourism Day. During an era when travel has receded into the shadows of the pandemic, we thought we would talk about some of the travel literature available at the Pothi.com Store. There are quite a few books as self-publishing is an ideal medium for travel bloggers and explorers.

Travels of an Indian backpacker girlTravels of an Indian backpacker girl  by Munia Pakhi| Pothi.com

Thirty-something Munia was always an explorer and her wanderlust leads her to Europe. She knew no one there but with a lot of careful planning she managed to travel on a shoestring budget. ‘She got lost in forests in Germany, became witness to a road accident, got scammed under the Eiffel tower, drank glacier water, walked on an active volcano, swam in the Mediterranean, saw celebrities, lived the history of places and saw spooky things in Austria. Eight different countries, 5 different languages, 42 days.’

Traveling To An Enchanted Land Of Castles: Facts And Information On The Castles Of BritainTraveling To An Enchanted Land Of Castles: Facts And Information On The Castles Of Britain by Herbert Howard| Pothi.com

Herbert is a travel enthusiast with a long alphabetical list of castles on his itinerary- Allington Castle, Ashby Castle, Barnard Castle, Barnwell Castle, Bedford Castle, Beeston Castle, Berkeley Castle, Berkhamsted Castle, Berry Pomeroy Castle, Brancepeth Castle, Buckden Palace, Caister Castle, Canterbury Castle, Carisbrooke Castle, Carlisle Castle, Castle Rising, Chester Castle, Christchurch Castle…….

BEYOND SOUVENIRSBEYOND SOUVENIRS by Amrutha Langs | Pothi.com

Amrutha Langs is an explorer. In this travel book, she provides useful information for any explorer who is out on a world tour. Her knowledge snippets may benefit anyone who is trying to get a headstart in a new land.

 

EverestEverest by Almond Syiem and George Tetlow| Pothi.com

Singer-songwriter and poet Almond Syiem and George Tetlow, book designer, illustrator and lecturer synthesize poetry and artwork based on the Himalayas in a beautiful book.

 

Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) For BeginnersMamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) For Beginners by Krishnakumar T K | Pothi.com

A detailed travel guide about several Pallava era monuments of the historic Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) town.  The author is a traveler and blogger.

 

One Man Gets the SackOne Man Gets the Sack by Ketan Joshi | Pothi.com

A travel fiction filled with adventure and humor.  Ketan Joshi is the author of the ‘Three Men on Motorcycles’ series and the ‘One Man Goes Backpacking’ series.

 

REGARDING LUCKNOWREGARDING LUCKNOW by Syed Rizwan | Pothi.com

A collection of essays on the city of Lucknow from a historical perspective. The author has majored in History. His book talks about the culture and etiquette of the place.

 

An Indian Goes Around the World - II: WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY THIRTY-DAY EUROPEAN ODYSSEYAn Indian Goes Around the World – II: WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY THIRTY-DAY EUROPEAN ODYSSEY by M. P. Prabhakaran | Pothi.com

 M. P. Prabhakaran writes about the tour he undertook through ten countries of Europe in the summer of 2009

‘The 2009 tour, he says, opened his mind to various aspects of European cultures he had been quite ignorant of until then. It cleansed his mind, he adds, of the many misconceptions he had about peoples and events that shaped the destiny of Europe. It convinced him, once again, that bookish knowledge is no substitute for the knowledge one gains from the people he interacts with, events he witnesses, and things he gets exposed to during his travels to new places.’

TALES OF KURLA STATIONTALES OF KURLA STATION by Debashis Mitra | Pothi.com

A collection of short stories set in one of the oldest stations of India. ‘To ones that have had the dubious fortune of having traveled the trains of Mumbai, the stories easily relate to their personal observations and compels them to ponder.’ Debashis Mitra is an architect with an eye toward fiction.

Tell us about any travel literature you have enjoyed recently. If you have traveled and want to self-publish your travel fiction, get in touch with us

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Visit the Pothi.com Book Store on Buy a Book Day and Support an Author Today!

Today is Buy a Book Day!

On this day, we thought about talking about the Pothi.com Store, the place where all the authors who use the Pothi.com platform are at. Once you decide to self-publish, you can upload your files onto the system and ta-da your book shows up at the Pothi.com Store. That simple.

Pothi.com Book Store

Since today the onus is on buying books, let’s have a look at our Book Store- Books by Self Publishing Authors | Pothi.com

Pothi Store landing page

At the Pothi.com Store there is a huge variety of books in as many as 50+ categories from Antiques and Collectibles to Business Books to Travel Books and Comics. There are books by authors from all over the world, so we have books in the Store in over 40 languages!

In the New Releases section, you get to see the latest print books and eBooks that have been self-published. The Bestsellers is a list of the books that have the highest sales. Editor’s Choice is a curated list that we update from time to time- the books on this list are recommended by our in-house Editorial Team.

You can also search for a specific book using the search option.

On this day, pick up a book and encourage an author. A book is a labor of love- so much thought and effort go into the making of one and when an author decides to self-publish, they need to take so many decisions- not just when it comes to writing the book but also taking into account the making and selling of it as well. Do your bit to support our Pothi authors and buy a book now!

Beatrix Potter- The Writer-Illustrator of the Natural World

Helen Beatrix Potter was born on this day in 1866. We all remember her for her remarkable children’s books featuring animals such as Peter Rabbit, Jeremy Fisher, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle but she was also a natural scientist, mycologist, prize-winning breeder of Herdwick sheep, farmer and conservationist. Her family had inherited the wealth that came from the Lancashire cotton mills, the infamous industry that crippled India’s textile economy. The Potters preferred to ignore their past and live a life of upper-middle-class comfort.

Beatrix Potter and her brother Bertram led a life where art and imagination held sway. They were deeply connected with animals and owned several rabbits, squirrels, bats, birds and insects. Potter’s early sketches paved the way for her future as illustrator with no rival. From a young age, she journaled and was privately tutored in astronomy, botany, entomology, etc.

She had a scientific bent of mind and her detailed drawings of fungi reveal her keen interest in pursuing her scientific passion but it was not to be.

Her keen interest in fairytales and fantasy and her wide reading enabled her to start her career as author-illustrator. She was fiercely independent and was enterprising enough to design Christmas cards and sell them.

She also wrote detailed letters filled with the germ of her future stories. One such letter to a sick child featured the famous bunnies Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail and Peter – this letter was self-published as The Tale of Peter Rabbit. After multiple rejections by publishers, her book was later acquired by Frederick Warne & Company.

She even patented the Peter Rabbit doll and introduced the idea of character-based merchandise such as wallpaper, games and toys. She authored 30 books and her books continue to sell throughout the world in different languages and were adapted in songs, films and even ballet.

Later in her life, her interests were aligned with the conservation of the Lake District where she lived with her husband.

5 Common Mistakes Authors and Self-publishers Make While Assigning ISBNs to their Books

It’s not enough getting the International Standard Book Number (ISBN). This numeric identifier that contains thirteen digits needs to be properly understood before you add it to your book. In this article, we look at five common misconceptions that people have about these much-coveted ISBNs.

                                                     Source: Wikimedia Commons

1. Using the same ISBN across different titles
An ISBN doesn’t represent an author, so you can’t use the same ISBN across all your titles. It is even more specific than a single title.

2. Using the same ISBN across eBook and print book
ISBN not only represents a title but also a specific format and edition of the book. It cannot be shared between eBook and print versions of even the same title.

3. Using the same ISBN in paperback and hard cover
Even using the same ISBN for different formats of print books is incorrect. Paperback and hard cover must have different ISBNs.

4. Using the same ISBN across different editions
An ISBN has to be unique to a specific format of a specific title. It also has to be unique to a specific edition. If a new edition of a book is being brought out, it can’t reuse the previous edition’s ISBN. Reprinting with the same ISBN is fine. This concept, however, runs into some trouble with print on demand since you can keep making small changes in the books all the time.

At what point does a book deserve to be called a new edition? When you make significant changes,  calling it a new edition and assigning a new ISBN will be good from a marketing perspective. Another recommendation we have is if your changes are significant enough that they change the physical specifications of the book like the number of pages or page size, then you should treat this as a different edition and assign a new ISBN.

5. Using the same ISBN across different country editions
Even if the content is the same, if you are creating different editions to sell at different prices in different countries, you should use different ISBNs for them. ‘Price change’, as such, does not require changing the ISBN. But having two differently priced editions at different places at the same time is not exactly a price change. It is really two different editions. Keeping the ISBN the same across differently priced editions can also create confusion in the listing of your book on online stores. So, use two different ISBNs in such cases.

 

Let us know if you have any ISBN related queries that haven’t been answered.

 

Five Mistakes an Indian Self-Publisher/Author Often Makes

15401031_084808915a_z1. The Indian Self-Publisher/Author sometimes picks up images from the internet

Although everyone has access to thousands of images online, most of these images can not be used in your self-published book.  There are two major reasons for this:

  1. Legal Issues: There is a general feeling that any image on the internet is free. This perception is incorrect. Most images are protected by copyright and users could face legal consequences if they use images that are copyrighted and thereby do not have permission to use. Unless specifically mentioned in public domain or under suitable creative commons license, you should assume that the image is copyrighted. Also when you search for images at google you can search using the usage rights option.Read this: http://creativecommons.org.au/blog/2015/08/think-before-using-photographs-from-the-internet/

     

  2. Technical Issues: Most of the images on the net are low-resolution and don’t print well. You need a minimum resolution of 300 DPI for the image to print well, otherwise the resulting image will be pixelated. More about understanding image size and resolution here

    So think twice before you use an image from the internet.

 

2. The Indian Self-Publisher/Author doesn’t often write in the language s/he is comfortable with

Many writers opt to write in English not because they are well-versed in the language but because it is far more convenient to get copy typed and not worry about font issues. Plus the English language has a wider reach.

Unfortunately, without  fluency in the language you publish the book in, having a wider target audience is pointless. Writing in a language you are not comfortable with means you don’t put your best foot forward. Nowadays books published in regional languages are making a mark, so why hesitate to write in the language that you love?

3. The Indian Self-Publisher/Author doesn’t always think about marketing

Whether it is traditional publishing or self-publishing, marketing is key and this is something the author is responsible for. Just because the book is written, readers won’t come. The writer has to think about building a platform even before the book is written.

4. The Indian Self-Publisher/Author is prone to scams

Instead of focusing on platform building authors end up being taken for a ride and  fall prey to expensive promises.  If something is too good to be true, it probably is. Publishing is the easy part. Getting readers and becoming an author readers are looking to read is difficult. If someone promises to do that for a lot of money, they are probably lying.

5. The Indian Self-Publisher/Author is usually paranoid about manuscript protection

“One setback many writers bring in their own path is their obsession with protecting their manuscript,” says Jaya Jha, co-founder of Pothi.com. “If you are just starting out, your problem is obscurity, not theft or piracy. Focus on writing the best book and bringing it to as many people as you can, instead of being paranoid about someone stealing your work. Selling a book is a difficult task. People, in general, aren’t on the lookout for a manuscript to steal.”

What makes for a bestseller in India?

A bestseller could be defined as a book that sells at least 10,000 copies every year. Any book genre can be a bestseller, but there are some books that sell more than others.

Education Books: Yes, this is number one in the list! According to Nielson’s India Book Report:
The K–12 market (school books) has grown from 63 billion INR ($956 million) in 2007-08 to 186 billion INR ($2.8 billion) in 2013-14. Higher education book sales have grown in this period from 16 billion INR ($242 million) to 56 billion INR($849 million).

So if you want to write a bestseller, why don’t you write a book about how to ace an exam? Take one of the books at Pothi.com. Cracking the Coding Interview by Gayle Laakmann Mcdowell is a fast selling book . “This book is proof of how the Indian book market caters to a textbook bestseller phenomenon,” Jaya Jha, founder of Pothi.com says.

Romance fiction: If fiction has any say at all in the bestselling space it is primarily in the romance genre. Though forums like Quora lead you to believe otherwise, books by Chetan Bhagat are quite popular. Other romance authors who have aced cupid’s formula are Durjoy Datta, Nikita Singh and Ravinder Singh.

Mythological fiction: It’s impossible to ignore myth in India. You may be an urban yuppie, but everywhere there is the memory of myth- stories you have heard, stories you see sprouting up as architecture, television dramas based on epic heroes. Writers like Devdutt Pattanaik and Amish Tripathi have spun stories out of existing stories and now have a huge fan following.

book

Once you write the book for the appropriate target audience, a lot of marketing goes into making the book a bestseller. You have to remember that if you are writing for a traditional publisher, you earn 5-10% royalty; with self-publishing you bake the cake and eat it too.

When it comes to both kinds of publishing, authors are expected to pitch in when it comes to marketing effort. The author’s platform is often a criterion.

Says Jaya Jha,“The real difference between traditional and self-publishing isn’t so much that author gets to rest after writing in traditional publishing but that the ultimate responsibility as well as control lies with the author in self-publishing.”

It takes a great deal of effort to sell your book. You can earn a lot more money self-publishing but for this you need to do your homework right by spending a lot more of your time in marketing it by participating actively in the launch, perfecting your social media pitch and actively promoting yourself. Once the sales starts picking up by word of mouth, you can sit back, relax and see the book turn into a bestseller.

Check out these links for more ideas about writing a bestseller in India:

Five Questions to Answer When Self-Publishing a Technical Book

We asked Gayle Laakmann McDowell, author of Cracking the Coding Interview, a bestselling book for technical interview preparation, for some advice for technical self publishers. Here she outlines the five essential questions one needs to consider when self publishing a technical book. We believe this is useful even for other non-fiction writers and self publishers.

The best advice for authors of a similar genre (anything in the business / technical type) is to think about your book as a business. Writers are entrepreneurs, and writing a book is a business. The same concepts apply to both.

Building a great product is important, but it’s not everything. You need to think about the following questions:

Is there a big market?
How many people want your book? Your book won’t sell well if it’s too “niche.”
Is there good demand in your market?
Just because people need your book doesn’t mean they actually want it. Is your book useful to your market? How useful? Are they already looking for something like yours?
There is a tradeoff between the size of the market and demand; the bigger your market, the less “perfectly suited” it is for any one person. My book, for instance, is only for software engineers and would be considered very “niche.” However, because it’s a small and focused market, it outsells any of the “general purpose” interview books out there.
How much competition is there?
You should be aware of the existing competition for your book. If there are a ton of other books out there, you need to hope that you’ve written a really, really good book (and that’s hard!).
Remember though that just as too much competition is bad, too little competition is bad too. There’s often a reason that there isn’t competition, and it may mean that there isn’t actually a big market out there.
How will you market / promote your book?
You can’t expect to just write a great book and suddenly have people desperate to buy it. You need to think about how you are going to promote it. Do you have a popular and relevant website or blog? Do you train people? There are many ways to promote a book or product, and you need to find one that works well for you and your market.
What is the minimal viable product?
In start-ups, there’s a concept of the “minimal viable product,” which is the quickest product that you can build that basically solves the customer’s needs. It might not be fully functional and do everything that they want, but it fulfills their most pressing demands. If you release with that first, it will help you get customers and to understand what customers really want.
The same concept applies to non-fiction / business / technical / reference books. The 5th edition of Cracking the Coding Interview is a 500 page paperback book. The 4th edition was “only” 300 pages. The first version? It was a 20 page PDF.
The first edition was the “minimal viable product.” It wasn’t perfect – in fact, it was far from perfect – but it was enough to establish that there was a good demand, a good market, and a good reason to continue to develop the book.
The wonderful thing about print-on-demand services like Pothi.com is that you don’t have to spend a lot of time writing the “perfect” book so that you can print 3000 copies of it. You can write the “minimal viable book,” and then write a bigger and better version once you figure out that lots of people want to read it.

Note 1: Read the interview with Gayle about her experiences of self-publishing and her book “Cracking the Coding Interview.

Note 2: We have extended the deadline for Tech Publishing Festival to August 5, 2012. If you are looking to self publish a technical title, make sure to submit your manuscript before the deadline to avail free design and distribution services.