Partners in Crime

You self-published your first book and marketed it aggressively. How did being a Marwari help?

When I was writing my very first novel, The Rozabal Line, I kept this fact a secret from everyone except my wife. Even my parents did not know that I was writing a book. I knew that my father would get worried about my wanting to ditch the business routine in favour of writing, and hence that seemed a wise move.
The one thing that we Marwaris are trained for is to never take no for an answer. I remember that one of the earliest business lessons imparted to me by my father was that when a door is slammed shut in one’s face, one simply had to find another door to knock on! I was rejected by virtually every publisher and literary agent during those early days and it was only my persistence and obstinacy that kept me going. Selfpublishing a title means that one has none of the support that a traditional publisher would ordinarily bring to the table.
Whether it is pricing, cover design, PR, marketing, social media or distribution, one has to be involved personally in every little detail. Looking back at that experience, I now realise that my training from a very early age in a Marwari business made all these things much easier for me.