This time around we had the pleasure of chatting with Arun Soni, an author and a computer education consultant. He has authored over 90 books on computers and holds records in Limca books of records and global book of records. His love for IT and writing keeps him motivated and going. Arun shares his insights on writing on specific subjects, challenges faced by writers and other things you need to know about professional writing, a few bites from the chat:
Getting started:
It all started with teaching computers at a school, Arun found the computer books in the school curriculum to be very absurd and much above the standard of kids. To make things easier for his students he started writing his own notes, eventually the notes got very popular prompting him to circulate the same in many schools. Observing the great response he received, he approached a publisher who agreed to publish the notes and since then there has been no looking back.
Carving a niche:
Arun carved his niche while teaching the subject of his interest. One needs to figure what they are good at and interested in before beginning to write. Writing on specific subjects requires expertise and immense knowledge in the subject. The easiest way to start writing and getting noticed is to blog in the subject of one’s interest. Moms can steal some time when their kids are not around, the best thing about writing is that one lives and ply’s by their own rules.
One can also write a sample chapter on any topic in a particular subject and send it to a publisher. The publisher will definitely call you if your work is good and they are in need of writers. Find a list of publishers here.
For writing on a specific subject, one needs to do their homework well, research well before venturing into it.
Subject blogs, co-authoring:
Arun feels the first thing one needs to do is evaluate their interest in writing. Since it is not a completely stable profession, initially it should be pursued part-time and once established; one can delve into it full time. As far as subject blogs are concerned, these days a lot of information is available everywhere, in magazines, tabloids, online, blogs and other forums. Read voraciously; be well-informed of the advancements in the concerned subject and then indulge into writing.
Challenges:
This career depends a lot on publishers, the first thing one needs to be sure of is reliability of the publisher. The publisher should pay the royalties on time and as promised. Since, generally writing is a solitary job; one needs to stop being lazy and stop procrastinating. Discipline yourself, prepare a schedule and follow it strictly.
A threat that writers face is plagiarism, according to Arun it is very hard for a writer to protect their work. The first thing one should do is save the date and other details of the work. Make copies of all of the original work. Copyscape is a free checker to let one know if it has been plagiarised or not. But it is difficult to do anything about it if someone changes the contents even to a little extent.
For the aspiring writers:
Arun advices that the budding writers should start by writing blogs, get comments and reviews which will help them improve their skills. Writing is a very nice flexible career choice. There are excellent websites like pothi.com to guide at every step; from cover design to printing. Don’t be afraid of rejection or feel discouraged about it, these days publishers are always in search of innovative ideas and concepts in the field of Arts & craft, or a new approach to any subject. Come out with something innovative and approach publishers, but with a sample chapter only. Don’t submit the full book; ideas/contents might get stolen. There are a lot of options for self-publishing as well, those can be used effectively. All the best with your writing adventures.