'Writing saved my life, my sanity..' Andaleeb Wajid on self-publishing, her creative process & writing her way through grief.
Welcome to the Ask an Author series on Swell, where we get to meet a new author every episode and talk to them about their books, their creative process and more. I'm Ramya and I have author Andaleeb Wajid joining me today to talk about her extensive body of work. With over 35 books to her credit Andaleeb is among the most prolific of authors in the Indian writing landscape, she's managed to consistently churn out bestsellers in romance, young adult horror and speculative fiction
Andaleeb Wajid
@Andaleeb · 2:58
I don't really people, when they see me, they assume that I'm lost in my own world or whatever, but actually I'm observing a lot of things quite minutely and very, I would say subconsciously. So most of this somehow ends up going into my books, into my writing. I think the idea is to be as open as possible to the possibility of being able to convert an idea into a book. Because ideas are aplenty
That was so interesting, Andaleeb. Thank you so much for sharing that. Do correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you've authored over 35 to 40 books in the past twelve years, right? What is this secret sauce to your writing productivity? Also, you've dabbled in both self publishing and being traditionally published as well. Having seen in both ends of the publishing spectrum, what are the lessons that you've learned? And is one better than the other?
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Andaleeb Wajid
@Andaleeb · 5:00
I feel that anytime someone asks me whether they should self publish, whether they should go to a publisher, I always ask them, what's your end goal? Why do you want to publish your book, whether it's with a publisher or with the or on your own? And I ask them to ask themselves these three questions do you want to make money?
Andaleeb Wajid
@Andaleeb · 2:52
Because self publishing, the entire, I would say objective behind it is very different because people have to discover you on self publishing. You have to do all the marketing yourself. You are the publisher, editor, the Cover designer, in some cases everything. Or of course you can hire people for this. You can hire people to do your marketing, to do your cover, to do your editing, and it can be good enough
Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 2:27
And you connect food with people, with emotions, right, with relationships. And I also love the layers within these relationships that you explore through these characters in your books. And very often, I'm reminded of somebody I know right when I read the book. So it's so very much close to who people we see, people we deal with day to day life
Andaleeb Wajid
@Andaleeb · 1:19
Tehseeb has an arranged marriage with an eligible man, a young man called Ayup. And he is like very briefly, this book touches upon class differences. And Tezeep comes from a middle class family and Ayub is very rich. So there's a huge difference in their lifestyle and the culture shock that Tezeep faces once she gets married. And then the second book and you know how whether they can overcome those differences
Andaleeb Wajid
@Andaleeb · 1:48
And I love over the top drama, so I enjoyed this. And then the third book kind of becomes even more explosive. And it's the story of Athya and Luhman's older brother Fadhan, who is there is a slight age gap. So there's a very popular trope in romance called age gap. And she's not like very young or anything. She's 22, 23 and he's just 31 and he thinks he's too old for her
Andaleeb Wajid
@Andaleeb · 1:22
I can't choose one and identify with Yap. So I think I would identify with these four at different levels. Maybe Madhyam could possibly be the woman I grow into. And Asmara is an alter ego, the kind of girl I could have been in one other life. And Aber is yet another young girl, very ambitious and very sorted. Complete opposite of asmara, actually
Andaleeb Wajid
@Andaleeb · 3:24
You. Thank you so much. Sija this was delightful hearing from people who enjoy my books. I mean, I feel very privileged and honored that I managed to make this out of my life and was able to write books and bring this sort of pleasure to people. Because this is at the end of the day, this is what I want, apart from making money from my books, but this is what I really want
Andaleeb Wajid
@Andaleeb · 4:00
So writing was a substitute. It kind of took the place and it helped me navigate my way through this, and I'm still finding my way. It's not like is something there is an end goal or anything because this is a way forward. This is what life has. And I'm still navigating and trying to find my way back in the world