Swati Hegde's Blog

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve graced your inbox with my presence, hasn’t it? I’d love to tell you it’s because I’ve been on a book tour talking about my bestselling romance novels with hundreds of readers who are obsessed with my work, but the reality is, I’ve simply been too burnt out and dejected to even function.

And that doesn’t just include updating my newsletter or writing my third adult romance novel that has a looming deadline of April 14, but also finding the will to write anything at all.

Well, shit.

I haven’t experienced burnout like this in many, many years. It’s the kind of burnout that seeps into your bones, draining you in ways that neither coffee nor a nap can fix. The kind of burnout where you start wondering if any of this—writing, publishing, being an author—is worth it.

The kind of burnout that makes you hate yourself for ever daring to dream big.

Let’s call a spade a spade: I might have a 5-book deal with Penguin Random House, but my two books from that deal (Match Me If You Can and Can’t Help Faking in Love) are virtually unheard of in the romance reader space, and don’t even get me started on the low sales numbers that haunt me every night.

Most authors dream of getting a book deal and think it’ll fix all their problems, give them everything they ever wanted, and finally, finally, finally make them happy. I used to subscribe to that school of thought too. After all, I’d wanted to get published since I was 8 years old. I didn’t need anything else except to achieve that goal.

Unfortunately, putting your first book out into the world is only one part of the whole author dream puzzle. And it’s a thousand-piece puzzle where half the pieces are either missing, in the hands of someone you will never meet (publishing executives, readers, or even Lady Luck), or simply from a different jigsaw puzzle altogether.

I’ve realized now that attaching any expectations to my author goals is setting myself up for failure and a broken heart. After all, no matter how many Reels I post or how much I talk about my books online, the fact is, no one can predict which books become bestsellers. Especially not when those books aren’t the big splashy titles that publishers are putting their money behind.

I have another three books lined up across adult and YA romance, and as much as I want to hope that they’ll change the prophecy and do what Match Me If You Can and Can’t Help Faking in Love couldn’t do, I know that isn’t realistic. The best way to safeguard my broken heart is to remind myself why I write—because it is my way of breathing, of exhaling, of processing my emotions and feeling all the feels without detached logic getting in the way.

All I can do is write what calls to me and write it well, market my books while getting sufficient rest (god knows I need it), and let my publishing team and my readers work their magic.

If you’re an author, have you experienced the crippling disappointment that is the weight of your own expectations? Comment below or hit ‘reply’ and tell me how you’re coping with it—I need all the help I can get!

And hey, if you want to read romance novels that are high on slowburn and low on spice, you might enjoy my books, linked here.

What I’ve been reading lately: The new Hunger Games book, Sunrise on the Reaping. GAH, the feels!

What I’ve been listening to lately: Olivia Rodrigo’s entire discography. Pop rock princess energy, 10/10, no notes.

What I’ve been watching lately: Uhhh, does staring off into space when I’m supposed to be writing count as watching something?

Love hard & dream big,

Swati 💛

If you’ve been with me on my journey for a while, you might remember that 2023 was one of the worst years of my life. Sure, my career was looking good, with a 2-book deal for my adult romances and a young adult queer romance ready to be submitted to publishers, but my social life and love life had gone down the drain. I’d invested all my time and energy into one failed relationship instead of being a present friend, which meant I had no one to rely on in my city, unless you counted my mom and my therapist.

Yeah. 2023 SUCKED.

All I wanted for 2024 was to focus on my career, new friendships, and most importantly, my relationship with myself. My word for the new year was SELF. I decided to look inwards, work on my traumas and insecurities, and fall back in love with life.

So… how’d that go?

Amazing. 2024 has been the best year of my life yet! Let’s take a look back, shall we?

My 2024 Wrapped

1: I found a girl gang that I love to pieces, and I realized friendship isn’t about how long they’ve known you, but rather how well they get you and how much they’ll go to bat for you. These two women are my champions, my rocks, my besties. I also rebuilt a friendship that had fizzled out over the years due to my fixation on my love life. Now, these are the people I text as soon as something happens, whether it’s a career milestone or a personal setback. I can’t imagine going into 2025 without them by my side.

2: So many career achievements! My debut romance novel Match Me If You Can released, and I officially became a published author in June, with my sophomore novel Can’t Help Faking in Love releasing in early 2025. But that’s not it—I signed a 2-book young adult romance deal, again with Penguin Random House, starting with As Long as You Loathe Me (Spring 2026) AND I got another book deal that I’ll get to talk about in the new year. So yeah. That’s a total of FIVE books to my name. Two years ago, this would have been a pipe dream. Today, it’s my reality.

3: I’m still a regular at karaoke, although I no longer go there alone. Now, I have someone to cheer me on and take videos of me when I sing Taylor Swift songs off-key. I can’t say much about this person just yet, but I hope that someday, I get to.

4: I moved to a new place in a completely new neighborhood in the heart of the city, away from my family—and it brought me so much peace. I’m 15 minutes away from most restaurants, pubs, cafes, and parks. I get to see my friends more often. I no longer feel lonely or out of place in my own city. I have a place I get to call home that’s all mine. It’s the best feeling in the world.

5: I traveled a lot. Being the workaholic that I am, I’m not fond of vacations. I love my job so much that I hadn’t taken time off in years. This year, though, I went on two beachy vacations and barely opened my laptop. It was refreshing and relaxing, my chronic headaches were less intense (I guess my parents were right about the pitfalls of too much screen-staring), and I clicked a lot of great pictures.

So… what do I want 2025 to look like?

A year of joy. A year of fun. A year of hard work. Of working on self-love and faith in myself. Of saying yes to new opportunities and dreams. Of saying no to the voice in my head that tells me I’ll never be good enough.

My word for 2025

Like I said before, my word for 2024 was SELF, and focusing on my own journey led me to so many unexpected connections. For 2025, my word is BUILD. I want to build on everything I made happen this past year. My friendships, my career, my lifestyle, my dreams. And for the first time in forever, I know I’ve got this.

Goals for 2025

Can’t Help Faking in Love releases on February 11, so doing marketing & promo will be my main focus, alongside working on my projects slated for 2026 and 2027. I also want to sell my online course, Self-Editing School, to more students who are hoping to polish their first drafts and get published.

As for my non-career goals, I want to get back to working out regularly, learn to better manage my anxiety, and find peace and joy in the journey, not the ever-changing, unattainable destination.

Hit ‘reply’ or comment below and tell me: how was 2024 for you, and what’s your word for 2025? Who do you want to become in this new year? How will you care for yourself in the months to come?

Until next year (lol)!

Love hard & dream big,

Swati 💛

The past five and a half months since my debut romance novel Match Me If You Can’s release have been… a rollercoaster ride of emotions. And anxious thoughts. And unresolved childhood fears and insecurities making a comeback.

So yeah, um, it’s not been suuuuper fun?

I’m grateful for so much, of course, like getting to call myself a published author with Penguin Random House, with another four books to follow, including Can’t Help Faking in Love (Feb 11, 2025) and As Long as You Loathe Me (Spring 2026).

But I can’t deny that the overachieving, type-A, people-pleasing perfectionist in me is disappointed that I didn’t hit any bestseller lists, make it to any “best of 2024” round-ups, or sell enough copies that the dreaded Question doesn’t affect me anymore.

What is this dreaded Question, you ask?

Well, it’s this one: “So, how many copies have you sold?”

I don’t quite understand how readers, family members, and even complete strangers feel comfortable enough to ask that question to a debut author. Like, you wouldn’t ask someone who’s just starting out in their career how much money they’re making, especially not if you barely know them.

The people who know how many copies I’ve sold are the people I trust with my whole heart, who don’t ask me about the “success” of my book unless I broach the topic, with whom I share my sales numbers unprompted because I know they’ll either cheer for me or commiserate with me, all without judgment.

And then there are those nosy strangers who literally have no business asking any random person about their career milestones, and yet they want to know everything. Only one day after my book released in India, a middle-aged man saw me with my debut novel, and after I told him it just got published, his first question to me was, “So, how many copies have you sold?”

I blinked. “Uh, the book just released yesterday.”

He nodded, gesturing for me to continue. “Yeah, so how many copies have you sold since then?”

Are you kidding me? First of all, authors don’t get that information from their publishers in real time. Second of all, it’s been 24 hours of the book being on shelves. And thirdly, how dare he?

I was pissed, naturally, so I fired back, “How much does your job pay you?”

“W-what?” he stammered out.

“If you can ask me about my sales, why can’t I ask you how much you make?”

The man grimaced, whispered an apology, and walked away. I told myself not to worry about it—it had only been a few weeks since the US release and a day since the India release, and the numbers I knew so far had been, well, low. But it was still early.

Things could change.

Reader, things did not change. Match Me If You Can hasn’t sold nearly as many copies as anyone on my team had hoped for, and with every passing week, the hype for my desi friends-to-lovers Emma retelling is dying down.

Now, when some random person inevitably asks me the dreaded Question, I just smile and say, “Good, thanks for asking!” because I don’t have the energy to put them in their place, not when my hopes for my book have fizzled out.

I’m undoubtedly more successful than I could have ever hoped to be three years ago. But I’m not where I want to be or where I… expected to be? And I tried so hard, you know? I did so many podcast interviews. I posted about my book on social media every day (something I still do, silly delusional me). I attended a bunch of virtual and in-person author events and talked about my work.

And yet…

Sigh.

Don’t worry, though—things aren’t all that bad. I have two more books releasing in 2025 and 2026 that I can actively talk about, and two more scheduled for 2026 and 2027 that I haven’t announced yet.

There is still light at the end of the publishing tunnel. I just need to open my eyes and keep going forward, no matter how many people ask me that Question. The only answer that matters is: “I did my best and I’m doing my best. I have more chances. I’ve got this.”

Comment below and tell me your thoughts, whether you’re an established author, a debut author, or simply a reader following along on my journey. I’ll talk to you soon!

Love hard & dream big,

Swati 💛

PS: Click here to read all about my books!

Back in November 2023, I did the cover reveal for my debut romance novel, Match Me If You Can (out now!). Somehow, I can’t believe I get to do ANOTHER cover reveal less than 9 months later—this time, for my second romance novel with my publisher.

So here’s the cover of Can’t Help Faking in Love, which comes out February 11, 2025 with Dell Romance/PRH. Are you ready for it???

Like… that is stunning. The way Veer and Harsha are looking into each other’s eyes—that’s true love right there! And Harsha’s hair and mint green lehenga look exactly as I imagined. And the book title (which I came up with) is perfection, of course. *takes a bow*

So many thanks to my illustrator, Sudeepti Tucker, and the cover designer, Belina Huey over at Dell/PRH, for such a fantastic follow-up to my first cover.

Here’s the official back cover copy of the book, so you know what to expect:

A young woman with Bollywood roots hires a barista to act as her boyfriend for her cousin’s wedding—only to learn you can’t fake chemistry like theirs—in this desi romance from the author of Match Me If You Can

Harsha Godbole has never felt love from her family, but she’s always been surrounded by their Bollywood business mogul wealth. Now back in Bangalore after studying in America, Harsha is ready to start her adult life without their money. But that becomes impossible when everything she’s worked so hard for comes crumbling down. Fearful of showing up to her cousin’s upcoming wedding as a failure—and worse, a single failure—Harsha decides to put her trust fund to good use . . . 

Veer Kannan does everything for his family. He even gave up his dreams of becoming a Bollywood star to get a more consistent gig . . . although working as a barista wasn’t really the big break he was hoping for. It’s a humble life, but a happy one, nonetheless. Then financial aid falls through for his brother’s first year in business school, so now Veer needs to come up with a large sum of money, and fast.

Harsha’s outlandish plan to hire her favorite barista as her fake boyfriend for the weekend-long wedding bash is received surprisingly well by Veer, who hopes this will be his ticket to Bollywood. But Harsha and Veer get way more than they bargained for in this heartwarming journey to finding unexpected love and courage.

Also, preorders are now open for Can’t Help Faking in Love! Click here for US preorder links and click here for Canada preorder links. If you’re from a different country, stay tuned for more info soon. Preorders really help newer authors and count towards first week sales, and it would mean the world to me if you gave my second book baby a chance.

I can’t wait to share more exciting updates with you. Until next time!

Love hard & dream big,

Swati 💛

Holy motherforking shirtballs, we’re 21 days into May. Like… WHAT?

I can’t wrap my head around how my debut romance novel, Match Me If You Can, comes out in just TWO WEEKS. June 4th is right around the corner, folks. Wow.

And on that note, I’m thrilled to share the schedule for my Instagram Live series with three incredible romance authors who will be helping me celebrate the launch of Match Me If You Can! Here’s the full schedule:

June 1st, 10 am EST: I can’t wait to chat with Hannah Bonam-Young, author of Out on a Limb (also out June 4th!!), about release day anxiety, being non-US authors, and our experience writing our marginalized identities in romance novels.

June 4th, 9 pm EST: Join me and Naina Kumar, USA Today bestselling author of Say You’ll Be Mine, as we talk all things romance, Bollywood movies, and how being desi shapes our author journey.

June 5th, 9 pm EST: I’m excited to talk to fellow debut author Mae Bennett about her romance novel, Barely Even Friends (also out June 4th!!!) and gush about writing retellings of classics and tales as old as time—and, of course, Taylor Swift.

I hope to see you at these IG Lives! Follow me on Instagram so you get notified when we start.

Aaaand now, for my big news…

My queer YA romance novel, As Long As You Loathe Me, comes out Spring 2026 with Delacorte/PRH! Click here to add it to your Goodreads shelf.

I might have more events lined up, so I’ll keep you updated on that front as and when I know more. Don’t forget to preorder Match Me If You Can if you haven’t already—preorders help debut authors immensely and I would be forever grateful to you.

Love hard & dream big,

Swati 💛

As you may know, my debut romance novel Match Me If You Can comes out with Penguin Random House on June 4. Less than two months!!!

So naturally, my nervous system has broken down and is in need of urgent maintenance.

I don’t understand why anxious, impatient control freaks (like me) end up in publishing, given how much panic it induces in even the most emotionally stable people.

But for some reason, here we are—and here I am.

Anyway, as soon as the calendar’s pages flipped to April, I became a mess. Gut issues. Anxiety attacks. Panic-induced crying. Because it felt so…real all of a sudden.

All I could think was: my debut novel—the sixth one I’ve written, but the first to be published—comes out in two months. I don’t know what to expect. I don’t know how many people have preordered. I don’t know if it’ll do well. I don’t know if my posting on Instagram is moving the needle. I don’t know how to give myself space to breathe instead of trying to control every uncontrollable variable.

I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know.

Thankfully, I spoke to my psychiatrist, who prescribed a small but helpful dose of anxiety medication. And with my therapist’s help, I’ve come up with a Plan of Action to keep myself calm, composed, and maybe even optimistic about release day.

Swati’s Plan of Action™️ for Publishing AnxietyFocus on the What-Is, not the What-Ifs

Sure, I can think all I want about the negative possibilities—what if readers hate my book, what if sales aren’t good enough to guarantee a book 3 release, what if I lose this one shot at author life before it even begins?—but that neither helps my anxiety nor benefits my book’s chances of doing well.

Instead, can I focus on the What-Is aspects of this anxiety-inducing journey? Reviews so far for Match Me If You Can have been overwhelmingly positive. My Instagram posts have decent engagement. I’ve gotten amazing blurbs from established romance authors. My publishing team at Dell/Random House are absolutely rocking it with their marketing and publicity efforts.

Just repeating these What-Is facts in my head helps in calming me down and reminding me that some things, if not all, ARE in my favor.

Continue doing things that give me a false sense of control

This may not apply to you, but because I’m a control freak, going with the flow, being in my ‘feminine energy,’ and detaching from the outcome + trusting the process sounds like an absolute nightmare. So I’ll keep at my social media efforts, whether they’re actually making a difference with preorders or not. At least I’m building an Instagram audience, finding new readers, and making full use of my Canva subscription. Right? Right????

Remind myself that this ISN’T my last chance, and I’ve already come so far

I have another book coming out with my publisher next year! I can’t say much about it just yet, but it’s proof that I have more chances to prove myself and find my footing in publishing. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon—and I won’t let imagined or presumed fears stop me from growing as a published author.

Well, this is my Plan of Action™️ for Publishing Anxiety. If you’re also an author struggling through publishing, I hope this helps—and if you have any bonus tips for this anxiety girlie, please let me know by either commenting below or hitting ‘reply’ depending on how you’re reading this post.

Be sure to preorder Match Me If You Can and submit your preorder receipts using this link. There’s also a Goodreads giveaway happening through April 30—click here to enter!

Until next time,

Love hard & dream big 💛

Hello, it’s me… 🫠

After 3 months of ghosting all of you lovely newsletter followers, I’ve decided to pop back into your inbox with some life tidbits and writing updates. Let’s get to it, then?

I turned 28, hooray!

March 21 was my birthday, and it was probably the best one I’ve had as an adult. (Even though I feel SO OLD NOW OH MY GOD)

It’s funny, because I remember my 27th birthday last year when I was newly single and struggling to find someone to celelebrate the occasion with. I was venting to my therapist about how depressing birthdays were, and how much I hated them. I didn’t have enough friends in the city to host a party. My parents have never done the whole cut-the-cake-at-midnight thing. What was I to do?

This year, though…

Why don’t you see for yourself in the video below?

YEP. I invited 5 of my closest friends in the city to the party. (I have friends here now! Woohoo!) We did karaoke, had cotton candy vodka shots, ate my favorite peanut butter chocolate cake, AND made the iconic Whipped Rose cocktails from my book.

Speaking of which…

Get drunk on rosy love by preordering my book

My debut romance novel comes out in a little over 3 months! As a thank you to all my lovely readers who have preordered the book or are planning to, my publisher and I have put together an exciting digital kit of preorder bonuses for you:

💜 Downloadable bookmark
🧡 An exclusive sneak peek at my second book releasing in 2025
💜 Whipped Rose cocktail recipe from Jaiman
🧡 Jia's top 3 tips for finding your "perfect" match

Click this link to fill out the Preorder Campaign form with your proof of purchase. If you haven’t preordered yet, the same page has purchase links available too!💃

Note: This is for US preorders only, open through 5/27. One entry per person.

MMIYC preorder campaign

My next free workshop for fiction writers

Besides alllll this exciting stuff happening so far, I also have something else up my sleeve: my free Polish Your First Pages Zoom workshop. Not only do you get my best tips on how to write the best first chapter, you'll also learn the mistakes I made with my first FIVE manuscripts before my 6th one got a book deal with Penguin Random House.

PLUS, there's a Q&A at the end, and I will also critique one attendee's first pages live on the call. 16 people have already signed up, and I can’t wait to see your name there too! Click here to sign up!

Details of the Zoom workshop:
Date: April 13, 2024
Time: 11 am Eastern Time/8:30 pm India Time
Recording: 48-hour access to the recording in case you can't make it live.

Polish Your First Pages workshop

So, that was my first quarter of 2024. How are things going with you? Comment below if you’re on the Substack app or hit ‘reply’ if I’m in your inbox and catch me up on everything! I love hearing from you.

Until next time!

Love hard & dream big,

Swati 💛

If you’ve been around here for a while (like, before my debut author days), you’ll know that 2022 was the best year of my life. I signed with my agent and got a 2-book deal with Penguin Random House, I was in a relationship with my best friend, and I was just… so happy.

2023, unfortunately, did not live up to my expectations. Although it was a great year for my career, it was a really, really difficult time in my love life. Let’s take a look at my 2023 Wrapped, shall we?

My 2023 wrapped

1: I ended a relationship that had run its course. Think going from Taylor Swift’s Cornelia Street (“I hope I never lose you”) to You’re Losing Me. It was a difficult decision, but looking back, it was for the best.

2: I did a solo trip to Mumbai twice. It’s the one place that feels like home to me—the city where I went to college and became the person I am today—and sitting by the sea at Bandstand reminded me that I can get through anything, as long as I have faith, hope, and trust in myself and the Universe. Of course, anxious doubts and frustrations still persist in the back of my head even today, but hope is stronger than fear.

3: Dating apps exhausted me, but I persisted… in vain. Although I met some great people, it was just never the right fit. Either they walked away or I did, and I’m ending the year single and choosing to be okay with it.

4: I became a regular at karaoke night. Almost by chance, I discovered a pub that hosts karaoke night every week—and as it turns out, singing Taylor Swift songs and millennial pop tracks from the 2000s (very off-tune) is deeply cathartic. I usually go to karaoke alone, but I’m learning to love my own company.

5: Match Me If You Can, my debut novel, went up for preorder. I was introduced to my marketing team, who are currently running a Goodreads giveaway of 20 early copies. Speaking of which, I got to hold an ARC (advance reader copy) of MMIYC in my hands for the first time!! Yes, many happy tears were shed.

6: With my agent’s help, I finished writing my first queer YA novel. I’m so proud of it, and I hope someday it finds its home in publishing.

7: I sent a draft of my second book to my editor. She loved it and had lots of feedback to make it an even stronger romance novel. I’m elbow-deep in edits right now!

Those were the highlights (lowlights?) of 2023. It was a rough year emotionally, but I’m choosing to heal from and process all of it—the good, the bad, the ugly.

So… what do I want 2024 to look like?

A year of healing. Of learning and unlearning. Of saying yes to things, people, and experiences that light up my soul. Of saying no to everything else.

My word for 2024

I always have a word for every year. My word for 2023 was COMMUNITY, and it happened. I found my people who have cheered me on even when I didn’t think I could get through it all. For 2024, my word is SELF. I'm choosing myself. My joy, my growth, my peace. And if someone comes along to join me on that journey, great. But if not... I can face this.

Goals for 2024

Match Me If You Can releases June 4, 2024, so marketing and promo will be my main priority for the year. I’ll also be finishing edits for book 2, and hopefully getting a book deal for my YA project?

As for my non-author goals? Staying consistent with my fitness journey. Cooking more. Enjoying the present moment vs. living anxiously in the future. And most importantly, being kind to myself whether I achieve my goals or not.

Hit ‘reply’ or comment below and tell me: how was 2023 for you, and what’s your word for 2024? Who do you want to become in this new year? How will you care for yourself in the months to come?

Until next year (lol)!

Love hard & dream big,

Swati 💛

Sooo as you may know, my debut romance novel Match Me If You Can’s cover reveal was a couple weeks ago.

My initial reaction was to be overwhelmed in the best way possible. I got so many notifications of people liking, commenting, and sharing my cover reveal post that my Instagram app crashed. What more does an author want?

Unfortunately, that high faded days later, as did the notifications. Then the worst thing happened: I started to compare myself with other authors whose books were coming out around the same time as mine.

They had more engagement on their cover reveals.

Their Goodreads numbers were higher.

They got featured on more bookstagrammers’ posts than me.

I felt like shit. In some ways, I still do. Not just because I’m scared my book will flop, but because comparing myself to other authors doesn’t serve me, them, or readers. And then there’s the whole “feeling like shit for feeling like shit” spiral.

So I thought I’d talk to you about how I’m going to cope with this vile case of comparison-itis, and how maybe you can too, if you’re in the same boat as me.

Coping Mechanism 1: Don’t compare your chapter three with someone else’s chapter thirty

I’ve learned a lot of things in my years as a certified life coach working with authors, and the biggest lesson is probably that everyone’s journey is different. I may have been writing novels since I was 11 years old, but my stint as a published author is only just beginning. The book of my life is still being written—both by me and, well, fate.

Why, then, should I compare the still-being-written journey of my debut novel and publishing career with those of authors who might be in a different phase of their lives for reasons totally unknown to me?

I shouldn’t… and I won’t.

Coping Mechanism 2: If they can do it, it’s proof that I can, too

If one person has successfully done something once, that is proof that it can be repeated again. Science, you know? A scarcity mindset never helps. Another author getting more likes, comments, or Goodreads adds does NOT mean I’ll get fewer. Someone else selling a thousand copies of their book during their preorders in no way means I’ll only sell ten. If anything, it means readers are hungry for books—which only helps my career.

Why, then, should I allow jealousy to take over and make me spiteful toward my colleagues and allies in this difficult publishing industry?

I shouldn’t… and I won’t.

Coping Mechanism 3: Social media metrics mean literally nothing when it comes to actual book sales

Every debut author frets over their Goodreads “want to read” numbers, negative reviews, and social media engagement. It’s normal. I’m experiencing this right now.

But there was a time before social media when people still found and bought books even if they didn’t follow the author on Instagram. Many readers aren’t as chronically online as you’d believe them to be. One person’s 1-star review (“friends to lovers is such a boring trope!”) could very well convince another reader to buy the book and fall head over heels for it (“friends to lovers is THE blueprint for a good romance novel!”).

Why, then, should I focus on the unimportant, algorithm-controlled metrics when I could instead be working on my next book? Why should I care that my reel only got 20 likes if there’s still a chance that someone could discover my book elsewhere and hit that preorder button?

I shouldn’t… and I won’t.

Comment below if you’re on the app, or hit “reply” if I’m in your inbox, and tell me if you’ve ever struggled with the comparison syndrome monster. Were these tips helpful? What are your coping mechanisms for it?

Love hard & dream big,

Swati 💛

I cannot effing believe it. Since I was 10 years old, I’ve wanted to be a published author. I’ve dreamed of seeing my name on the cover of a book I wrote, wondered what it would be like to celebrate that cover with the whole world.

It’s finally time.

I’m thrilled to show you the cover of my debut romance novel, Match Me If You Can, which comes out June 4, 2024 with Dell/Penguin Random House. Are you READY???

The purple and orange colors! The Mumbai skyline and seaside backdrop! The way they’re looking at each other! Her pink dress! His hands making a heart! I may be biased here, but this is the most gorgeous book cover I have seen in my entire life. So many thanks to my illustrator, Sudeepti Tucker, and the cover designer, Belina Huey over at Dell/PRH, for this thing of beauty.

Here’s the official back cover copy of the book, so you know what to expect:

A young magazine writer in Mumbai must prove her matchmaking skills—and contend with growing feelings for her close family friend—in this debut romance

Jia Deshpande, the ever-confident fashionista, is a writer for Mimosa, Mumbai’s top women’s magazine, where she begrudgingly writes cliché articles about finding “the One.” Out of the office, Jia writes the messy truth of real love on her anonymous blog while balancing competitive family game nights and growing feelings for her childhood friend. If that wasn’t enough, Jia has been tasked with successfully setting up a coworker to get her boss’s approval for her new matchmaking column. Thankfully, orchestrating meet-cutes has never been difficult for Jia.

Jaiman Patil can’t help but be enamored with Jia and her meddling spirit. They’ve known each other since childhood, playing while their fathers bonded over business. Now he’s an honorary part of her family, ever since his own moved to America, leaving Jaiman behind to pursue his dream of running a local pub. Life with the Deshpandes is chaotic and loud, but it’s more love than he had growing up. It’s also a lot to lose, so confessing his deep feelings for Jia is completely out of the question.

When Jia’s attempts at office matchmaking go haywire, risking new friendships and her relationship with Jaiman, she must reevaluate her own thoughts on love. For the first time, Jia Deshpande doesn’t know how to juggle the obstacles ahead of her. Love may be a bit more complicated than she thought, but luckily, happily-ever-afters are never in short supply in Mumbai.

Also, preorders are now open for Match Me If You Can! Click here for US preorder links and click here for Canada preorder links. If you’re from a different country, stay tuned—more info to come soon. Preorders really help debut authors and count towards first week sales, and it would mean the world to me if you gave my book baby a chance.

I can’t wait to share more exciting updates with you. Until next time!

Love hard & dream big,

Swati 💛