A Chance Writer: Savi Sharma’s Meteoric Rise

Savi Sharma’s story is the stuff dreams are made of. But, is it really chance, that this college pass out took the publishing world by storm. Her book, Every One Has a Story, has been Amazon's No. 1 bestseller in the Contemporary Fiction category, the Indian writing category and No. 2 in the Romance category. 


Savi describes the word go-getter and not the other way around. She wrote, edited, designed, marketed and sold her books on Amazon. That’s right! Everyone Has A Story, began its life as a self-published book. She is the perfect example of a micro-entrepreneur, who take matters into their own hands, and don’t waste time seeking for opportunities. 


It’s surprising how she managed to write a novel, amidst her busy college schedule, and the painstakingly demanding Chartered Accountancy course. This is apparently not her first book. Well, not the first one she has written. She had written a book titled, Silent Love. You get an understanding of her sincerity when she says, “Even though my friends liked it, I didn’t.”

Of course she didn’t and when the idea to pen down a story struck her, she didn’t hold back. Ask her about the novel and she says, “It was something that came from within. All writers should write things that they feel deeply.”


Completing the draft of Everyone Has A Story in four months, Savi was not only convinced but confident enough, to abandon her CA course mid way. “My parents wanted me to reconsider the decision and consult my CA professor and school principal, but I had made up my mind.”

After the first 5,000 copies were sold in quick time, established publishers began to chase Sharma. She went on to sign a two-book deal with Westland. This was followed by a second two-book deal, with advances reportedly based on print-runs of 100,000 copies each. Westland has already sold more than 95,000 copies of Sharma’s novel, and will launch her next work in February 2017.

Savi feels what did wonders for her book was the honesty with which she approached the story. The connectivity factor worked well. So much so that the unflattering reviews didn’t bother her. She used Facebook for promoting her book as she had limited access to funds as a student. “I’d had to borrow from my parents, because just the first print run of 1000-1500 copies was expensive. After that, I’d reinvest the royalties for further print runs.”
 

This might be one of the reasons why she grabbed the opportunity with the big house publications. Savi opines that, “As a short term plan, self-publishing is good, but conventional publishing gets you long term benefits, even in terms of royalties.”

Academic excellence is one aspect but undertaking the herculean task of getting your book published, is laudable. Savi smashed the age-old persona of a ‘jhola-kurta-pyjama-clad writer’ who roams around helplessly from one publication house to another, to get his novel published. We are fangirling over Savi’s #TakeCharge attitude.