Karan Sharma's Blog

Let me start straight from where I left it in my previous blog.
How did I take the negative reviews or criticisms in my stride and learn from it to make ‘ It Happens ’ a better book :
1. The romance between Roshni and Gautam was shown less, thereby reader felt a little lack of connection between the couple. The emotional and physical side of their relationship was not explored much.                          This was a good point and I agree with this assessment partly. Even though the close bond between them was shown, I made it a part of narrative which did not express the emotional connect in a distinct and descriptive way. This I have addressed by adding a detailed scene of a date the couple have at Roshni’s apartment.
The physical side of the relationship I have tried to keep it restricted to a kiss. This has been deliberately done as I was very conscious about my readership which would include my children, relatives and parents. Hence I wanted to stay away from steamy scenes as I was personally not comfortable with this space.
The book that an author writes is also reflective of his attitude and views and it is very important to stick to those values in which he or she truly believes.
2.   Given the Indian context of the storyline, Gautam’s parents agreeing quickly for the marriage without showing any debate was a let down for many. Indian parents can’t be so easy going.
In my first edition my thought process was not to drag the story by harping on repetitive reasonings and hence I showed that Gautam’s father was a carefree person who himself cared a damn about society norms thereby making it easier for his parents to accept the age gap relationship without creating much of a fuss. This point was very much appreciated by majority of the readers. But many avid readers and reviewers felt that given the Indian society context, it was too easy and hence difficult to digest. I agreed to this point and added a long conversation between Gautam’s sister Richa and her parents where the various points were deliberated in detail giving the parent’s perspective. However I ensured that majority of the issues were not same as those raised by Rohit earlier in the book. Else to the reader it might become boring and hence repulsive. A lot of research went in to get the right answers to the concerns raised.
3.  Relatives or society in general talking negative about the relationship was missing as the readers wanted to have a debate on the practicality of this kind of bond.
Again my idea was not to make the age gap debate very repetitive and hence wanted to stay away from these scenarios which sounded very cliched. When I wrote my book it was meant to be a fun story and not too heavy on emotions. A light story which one would enjoy reading and finish in one go.
However I too felt that the topic deserved a bit more serious approach especially given the Indian context. Discussing various points of views especially the negative ones was important to give a more mature feel to the story.
Hence I added this part at the end as the relatives start to leave the wedding by giving a touch of emotional drama.
4. The story did not have enough sadness and trauma which generally life has.
This is one point I completely disagree with. I feel that there is anyways too much tragedy and sadness in real life today, then why end up adding to your reading discourse as well. Every character goes through its ups and downs but the severity of their downturn does not make the story real. Not everyone’s story is tragic and laced with enough dosage of sadness. Every story and genre is different and the spirit in which it is written is very important.
The additional scenes which I added have seamlessly been woven into the story. This was important as I wanted to maintain the same flow as in the first edition.
5. The word ‘very’ has been used innumerable times.
Coincidentally I got this feedback when I had just started re-editing the book. I found that it was used around 170 times in the book. Got this situation corrected and now the count stands at little over 25 times. Simple points like these are missed out and it is this kind of feedback which helps you to become a better author.
6. Chapter names were unnecessary
I agree with this. I gave the names for it to be like a header for every chapter. But in the second edition all chapter names have been removed as I felt they used to give away the flow of the section and I wanted the curiosity to remain.
7. The language was too simple.
For me the story and the narration of it are the key. If the reader can seamlessly read without getting bogged down or confused by the language then it is even better. I have always maintained that my forte as an author is that I am a storyteller rather than being a literature person.  
8. Some of the scenes were too descriptive thereby hindering the flow of the story.
In my opinion it is important as an author to create a proper account of the surroundings to a) develop the contextb) to let the reader get the right picture about where the characters are.This helps in placing the reader right amongst the characters making him/her even more engrossed in the book.
The reader should be able to imagine the entire story as if it is being played in front of him, giving a cinematic experience.
As the author we sometimes get too invested in the story and hence you need another person to audit it. This is where the importance of a very good editor lies. Before publishing one should always get the book edited and also let 3-4 of your confidantes be it avid or casual readers, read the story before going ahead with it. All the feedback will only make your book better and hence being patient is a virtue which all authors should have.

It feels great to be back writing my blog, sharing my writing experiences after a gap of four months. A lot of interesting things happened during this time which kept me overly occupied and away from blogging. I though still remain very active on my other social networks ie Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. So those who wish to interact with me more often, know my views on various current topics or just be aware of what I am currently doing, can always follow me there. All details are mentioned on my first blog.


I am extremely pleased to announce that my first book It Happens has been picked up by Srishti Publishers, one of the top 5 Publishers in India. It took me nearly a month and a half to understand and finalise my first book contract and I am so happy and excited that I finally managed to do it. During this interim period I realised that if the book has to go to the next level, that if I as an author was to go to the next level, it was important for me to listen to the incredible feedback I received on the book from the readers and make my story even better.


My book was primarily being sold as an ebook with paperback books sold only through Amazon, contributing 5% of the total sales. As per my new contract with Srishti, I had to delist the book and by the time I did, I had crossed the figure of 1500 sales / downloads of my book within a period of seven months. I had 85+ reviews/ratings on Amazon and 110+ on Goodreads. All these figures make me proud of what I managed to achieve especially when a book in India sells on an average less than 2000 copies in its lifetime.



I feel It Happens as a book has a long way to go in fulfilling its potential. This is where the tie up with a name like Srishti Publishers is so important for me and the book. Their network will give me the bandwidth to be available across majority of the bookstores and digital stores across the country. It is one thing writing your story in the confines of your home on your laptop and another to ensure that the reading audience ultimately finds it. I will always be grateful to Srishti and Arup Bose for giving me this amazing opportunity.


In January 2018 I went to see the World Book Fair which is annually held at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. It was my first time ever to a book fair of this size and I was simply amazed by the enthusiasm of the crowd there. I went on a friday and majority of the stalls were packed with avid readers. For me first hand experiencing the passion of readers there was incredible.



When I published It Happens on 21st September through the self publishing format which was done through Notion Press, I was in a hurry due to my lack of patience in wanting to quickly experience the happiness of turning an author and have a book on sale in Amazon. I was so keen to read reviews and check my book ranking that I would keep refreshing my Amazon page at least 50 times a day. Still remember the elation I felt when I got my first 4 star rating on Goodreads. Couldn’t wipe out the smile from my face that day.


So when my book was being picked by Srishti and to be made available across India, I knew I had to listen to all the feedback that I received over the last seven months, be it good, bad or negative and ensure my book becomes an incredible experience for the reader. It took me 4-6 weeks to re-edit my book, make the language better and more polished, plug certain gaps and the end product was that I ended up adding another 6000 words to the first edition, making it now a 43000 word book.



Whenever you enter a creative field and put your work out in the open, you have to be ready for receiving both positive and negative feedback. Many people don’t publish their stories in this fear itself that their bubble of self confidence might burst if they get too much criticism.

First and foremost you should have confidence in your own ability and belief in the story and characters that you have written. If you have this, the rest you can take in your stride.

There would rarely be a book or a movie which would not have received negative reviews from anyone. Everyone reads a book with their own perspective, their own logics and hence will have their own view about your story. However majority feedback has to be positive to ensure that the book is a success and the reader has got his or her money’s worth.


When I started assessing It Happens for the step up, there were two aspects to it, first and foremost the storyline and second language and the presentation.

The Positives :

Everyone loved the age gap factor of the relationship especially with woman being the elder by 12 years. It’s a theme which has rarely been written or presented especially in the Indian context. Thus being a different concept in romance, it made the readers love the storyline.

The flow of the story was appreciated. The book starts with the couple already in love and debating the next step in their relationship rather than the cliched way of the man and woman meeting each other and then falling in love. The pace of the book and the characters everyone loved, especially the interaction between Gautam and Rohit. The fact that readers pitied Payal and even considered Roshni as a grey character, showed the passion brought out in the readers by the characters.


The negatives :

The romance between Roshni and Gautam was shown less, thereby reader felt a little less connection between the couple. The emotional and physical side of their relationship was not explored much.

Given the Indian context of the storyline, Gautam’s parents agreeing quickly for the marriage without showing any debate was a let down for many. Indian parents can’t be so easy going.

Similarly relatives or society in general talking negative about the relationship was missing as the readers wanted to have a debate on the practicality of this kind of bond.

The story did not have enough sadness and trauma which generally life has.


How I responded to the above aspects in the new edition of the book and my opinion on them, we will dwell in the next blog which should be up within 2 weeks. Stay tuned.

It is very important to get the logics and reasoning right for the readers to believe in your story. I have received a lot of compliments for all the characters in the story as they seemed very real.  In a recent interview I was asked, what is more important...the story or the characters ? My answer was that the story is like a drawing one creates but characters are like paints which add colour to the story. Both are interdependent on each other and the success of the book lies in both the story and characters complimenting each other.
Originally the book was 10000 words as I explained in my earlier blog. It took me 5 weeks to rewrite and convert it into a 38000 words book. On one sunday in the month of June with the rain pouring, it was a nice day to sit home and do some reading. I was recommended a few management books by my Ascent business group colleagues which I decided to take up. While browsing through the kindle library I came upon a book named ‘ How to write a Book and sell it on Amazon ‘ by Jenny Loveless. The title intrigued me and I ended up reading the book over the next 4-5 days.
The book excited me and showed me the outlet for the stories I had written more than a decade ago. I also recommend this book to any budding authors out there. More than the writing part, it gave me a lot of inputs about how amazon works, marketing and promotion tips and much more. After reading the book my mind was made up for becoming a published Author.
Then I got in touch with Create Space a publishing company owned by Amazon which specialises for releasing paperbacks for first time authors. They also undertake book editing, cover design, book interior layout, conversion into ebook format and distribution. Kindle is a separate company and they are more focussed on the digital publishing and areas around it. Simultaneously I did my research on the length of the fiction books which pointed to an average of 70000 words as a good length which in turn translates into approximately 280-300 pages of a standard 5x8 book.
I had a few late nights on phone due to the time difference between India and the USA discussing various issues with the createspace and kindle teams and understanding the whole process of self publishing. I have to appreciate that the customer service was very helpful. Since I was doing a lot of research on the book writing process, Google through its target marketing put an ad of Notion Press in my inbox. Notion Press is based in Chennai and specialises in publishing books especially for first time authors and works in a way very similar to Createspace. They too gave me a quote for various activities in the book publishing process similar to Createspace.
However in the end I decided to go for Notion Press as it would be easier to coordinate with an Indian company rather than an American one especially given the time difference. Notion Press too were very professional and accommodating in their approach. They asked me to initially email them the first 2 chapters of my book along with the blurb to assess the writing style, flow and marketability of the story. I received their positive response within 2 days which indeed was very quick.
Editing the book is probably the most boring but important work. It took Notion Press 3 weeks to come back to me with the first round of edits. Every subsequent round took lesser time and in all there were 4 rounds of it. The issue while reading the book with every subsequent round of editing is that as an author you always keep on adding new things. Addition of anything new means that editor needs to relook the same again. By the end of it I had to literally force myself to stop making any more changes.
Just to give you an idea of the changes, in the 4th and final round of editing I decided to change the name of Gautam’s best friend to Rohit from the original name Malav. I thought that Malav was a slightly uncommon and a more Gujarati name rather than a North Indian and hence Rohit seemed to be more apt. At the end to build a little suspense I added the part of Payal boarding the flight back to Mumbai for Gautam’s wedding. For the final read before the book went for print I actually had to ask my friend to do it as I had developed a blind spot for my own book.
Thus it may feel very boring to read the book again and again but it is definitely worth it as the whole process of editing makes your book even better. A crisply edited book adds to the reading experience.
The book cover was being simultaneously developed while the edit work was on. One of the important points during my research about covers was you should avoid dark covers as in dark blue, black etc as they dont stand out on the colour screens of the kindle app where the background is black. The kindle app has recently updated and now offers both black and white background options to the readers. However my personal opinion is that you should stick to colours which will be easily seen against a black background.
Hence I went with a golden yellow cover. The significance of the two women was to bring out the confusion in Gautam’s mind about the older and the younger woman. I deliberately refrained from mentioning the second woman in the blurb thereby adding to inquisitivity of the reader about her presence on the cover.  
The cover is made using silhouettes so that the look of every character is left to the imagination of the reader. Giving a particular face to the character somehow takes away the element of imagination from the reader. I remember when I watched the movie Pelican brief based on the book of the same name by John Grisham, I was left very disappointed with the choice of actors as I had developed a different image in my mind while reading the book.
Keep reading the blog and sharing your feedback as my writing experience continues...

I have always been fascinated by movies and especially by the stories on which the movie is based. For me the storyline is the key which holds the attention of the audience be it a reader or a movie watcher.
The film stars may attract you to go watch the movie but your liking of it will completely depend on whether you enjoyed the story or not. Similarly when you pick up a book, the first thing one reads is the blurb. If the concept of the story appeals you, then only the book is picked up. Now characters like actors are extremely important for the story. You can have a brilliant story but with poor actors, the movie will not work. Similarly your blurb can attract people but the characters who play out the story have to be likeable and strong enough for the reader to enjoy the book.
When I watch movies and nowadays the catching up is more on tv rather than cinema halls, my first instinct is to give my opinion on the storyline and then comes the acting whether if some other actor would have been better suited to the role or the ones who did it were apt. When you watch some movies, you get a feeling why did the director or producer even bother making it and wasting so much resources....few stories are just rehashed just because the original concept did well and you get a sense of deja vu. It was this instinct of being highly opinionated about stories that finally made me challenge myself to come up with themes which have to be different.
In the late 90s Apple under Steve Jobs came up with a famous line for their ad campaign which put the company in the limelight and on the path of glory from which they have never looked back. The line was “Think Different”. This will be the basis for my story writing. 2 movies whose stories which have left me in total awe have been Lago Raho Munnabhai with the Mahatma Gandhi concept and 3 idiots. I aspire to be a writer at that level.
So when I start thinking of a topic to write about, the first thing I ask myself... is the theme different from what I have read or seen and if the answer to that question is yes then I start working on it. Many people in my social circle asked me the question whether this episode of age gap romance happened to me since many writers are inspired by real life events which they went through. Honestly it never happened to me nor to anyone whom I personally knew.
As I mentioned in my earlier blog, It Happens was the second story which I took up after completing a romantic thriller. I wanted to try different genres of story writing and thus I decided to work on a love story but wanted it to be different rather than the usual boy meets girl, followed by some complications etc etc. In the early 2000s I had developed a big crush on the hollywood actress Meg Ryan and I believe if ever there was a contest for the cutest female in the world, she would have won it hands down. Her movie You’ve Got Mail I would have seen umpteen times.
That is when it struck me. What if I ever got the opportunity to be in a long term relationship with Meg Ryan would I let go of it just because she was elder to me ? This became the crux of my story...falling in love with the elder woman….this was the easier part but taking this relationship to its logical conclusion of a marriage was the difficult part.
So the entire story when I penned it down the first time 10-12 years back, I imagined myself as the main protagonist ie Gautam and Roshni as Meg Ryan. All scenarios that Rohit, Gautam’s best friend brought up were all thought with me in the situation personally. If logically I decide not to marry the elder woman, what will be those scenarios and how would they pan out. All the points took a long time to think and debate their sensibility to the situation but it was indeed fun just to find yourself in the situation of reasoning so many doubts.
Every reader of the book has absolutely loved the character of Rohit, the witty, smart ass and suave delhi ka launda. Rohit is the character I wish I was whereas Gautam is the character who I am...strong on the outside but emotional and sensitive on the inside. I guess everyone wishes they are as funny and outspoken like Rohit and hence the fondness to that character.
The character of Gautam in terms of his physical presence as well as his work profile, I picked up from my very close school friend with the same name. He has done very well for himself and is currently a Director in Citibank Asia. He was picked up by Citibank for management training from India and has not looked back thereafter. That’s from where the Singapore part of the story was inspired. The similarities between the real Gautam and the character Gautam end there before anyone thinks whether the age gap romance involved the real Gautam.  
When you write a book, a lot of things from the real life inspire you. One has to be very observant of things around as you never know when they could be just right for your story. As a writer I feel, the power of observation is extremely important to put logical line of thinking in the stories you write. Sometimes one can get too creative and readers can think that such a thing can never happen and hence the story seems very hard to relate to. One example of such a scenario is the movie Catch Me If You Can, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo di Caprio. The movie was based on the life of Frank Abagnale, Jr. who became a master impersonator and made millions of dollars in the 60 and 70s before he was arrested by the FBI. If the same movie was made based on pure fiction, no audience would have believed that such a thing can happen and would not have related to the story.
More about how the story developed, how other characters formed, my style of writing and much more in subsequent blogs.
Please do share your feedback about the blog or the book It Happens. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Amazon KindleIt’s been two months since my first book It Happens released on Amazon Kindle and subsequently on paperback, thereby giving me so much experience to share. During my research on book promotions, it was well pointed out, that blogging for Authors is a great way to connect to readers and should be taken up. So here I am starting my blog to connect with everyone out there, being just myself.

In this series of blogs I will be sharing my experience of writing and publishing a book, from where it started etc. I will be sharing my experience about the whole process which went into making and marketing this book.

The book just happened to me....till June 2017 I had no idea that the stories which I had written 12 years back would be revived and I would end up publishing them, be it after a lot of additions, from originally a 10000 word story to a 38000 one.

The original story of It Happens was written in only 10000 words with setups, emotions etc being left to the reader’s imagination. But truth be told when I wrote this and other stories I was a 24-25 year old movie buff, smitten by the glamorous bollywood. So the only avenue I thought such stories could go was a bollywood producer. Given that I am a July born Cancerian, I was very shy to approach people and tell them I write scripts or stories.

In those days ie 2005-2007, the Indian film industry was not so well organised and was more owner dependant and driven. I did however manage to get through one very famous studio who were very corporate in their approach and did decide to take up my amateurishly written and unedited 10000 word story for consideration. At that time the story was titled Kabhi na Kabhi. After more than a month of imagining that I am going to be the next Salim Javed rolled into one, I finally got the bad news that they would not like to pursue my story. The exact feedback which still rings in my ears was, “ We liked your writing style and thought process but the topic is not something we would like to pursue. However if we have any project which comes up and requires writers like you, we would surely call.” I guess it was a nice way of saying Goodbye though I honestly hoped for the next 6 months that I might get a call. The Original Cover for Kabhi na Kabhi

Kabhi na Kabhi aka It Happens though was not the first story I wrote. My first foray into writing stories was with a romantic thriller called Khoj. Now whoever is thinking that I was being totally filmy by trying to ape Ekta Kapoor and Karan Johar by naming my stories with K, is absolutely right. The third story which I wrote, I named it Koshish. My own name starts with K, though that is a sheer coincidence. Luckily I got over this K fascination in due course. I just felt at the time of submission to the film studio, that a different kind of love story would be a clincher rather than a thriller but alas.

12 years hence, I continued with the same thought process and thus when I thought about publishing my first book, I decided I would do it with the story on Age Gap relationship where the woman is the elder one in the relationship...a topic which till today has not been much written or spoken about. However more on the book and the topic in my subsequent blogs.

I did try getting through to other production houses on phone but never mustered enough courage to land up at their office with a script in my hand and maybe line up with other people trying to break into the industry. I can’t pinpoint any particular reason but it could have been that I was too shy, too proud, too young.. thinking eventually I would get in or just that I was growing and making our family business successful that I just left it to fate to take its own course. It was not that if I did not succeed in writing I would deem it as a failure in life...after all it was a hobby and not my earning source.

A little later I met my beautiful wife and the next 10 years just went by cherishing and making memories with her and having two handsome boys. The business continued to flourish by God’s grace and kept me extremely busy, working minimum 12 hours a day. In 20 years of being in the business, we made it grow 30 times which in itself was a matter of great satisfaction. This experience has held me in good stead when I decided to take the plunge in publishing my story. I soon realised that writing a book is one aspect but ensuring that people read it is altogether another ball game.

Given that originally my writing was inspired by movies, I kind of feel it as a compliment when readers tell me that it is an ideal bollywood script, even though a few readers also mean it as a criticism.

So my wait of 12 years was finally over when the book released on 21st September and my life changed and got more exciting. How I managed to do it without knowing anything about the industry has indeed been very satisfying. I will continue with my experience sharing about the process in subsequent blogs.

Please feel free to leave your feedback about my blog or the book. Love hearing different perspectives. You can also leave your email so as to be part of my emailing list for all future updates.

You can also connect with me on social media :

Facebook : thekaransharma18Twitter :   thekaran_sharmaInstagram : thekaran_sharmaWebsite : www.thekaransharma.com

It’s been two months since my first book It Happens released on Amazon Kindle and subsequently on paperback, thereby giving me so much experience to share. During my research on book promotions, it was well pointed out, that blogging for Authors is a great way to connect to readers and should be taken up. So here I am starting my blog to connect with everyone out there, being just myself.
In this series of blogs I will be sharing my experience of writing and publishing a book, from where it started etc. I will be sharing my experience about the whole process which went into making and marketing this book.
The book just happened to me....till June 2017 I had no idea that the stories which I had written 12 years back would be revived and I would end up publishing them, be it after a lot of additions, from originally a 10000 word story to a 38000 one.
The original story of It Happens was written in only 10000 words with setups, emotions etc being left to the reader’s imagination. But truth be told when I wrote this and other stories I was a 24-25 year old movie buff, smitten by the glamorous bollywood. So the only avenue I thought such stories could go was a bollywood producer. Given that I am a July born Cancerian, I was very shy to approach people and tell them I write scripts or stories.
In those days ie 2005-2007, the Indian film industry was not so well organised and was more owner dependant and driven. I did however manage to get through one very famous studio who were very corporate in their approach and did decide to take up my amateurishly written and unedited 10000 word story for consideration. At that time the story was titled Kabhi na Kabhi. After more than a month of imagining that I am going to be the next Salim Javed rolled into one, I finally got the bad news that they would not like to pursue my story. The exact feedback which still rings in my ears was, “ We liked your writing style and thought process but the topic is not something we would like to pursue. However if we have any project which comes up and requires writers like you, we would surely call.” I guess it was a nice way of saying Goodbye though I honestly hoped for the next 6 months that I may get a call.
Kabhi na Kabhi aka It Happens though was not the first story I wrote. My first foray into writing stories was with a romantic thriller called Khoj. Now whoever is thinking that I was being totally filmy by trying to ape Ekta Kapoor and Karan Johar by naming my stories with K, is absolutely right. The third story which I wrote, I named it Koshish. My own name starts with K, though that is a sheer coincidence. Luckily I got over this K fascination in due course. I just felt at the time of submission that a different kind of love story would be a clincher rather than a thriller but alas.
12 years hence, I continued with the same thought process and thus when I thought about publishing my first book, I decided I would do it with the story on Age Gap relationship where the woman is the elder one in the relationship...a topic which till today has not been much written or spoken about. However more on the book and the topic in my subsequent blogs.
I did try getting through to other production houses on phone but never mustered enough courage to land up at their office with a script in my hand and maybe line up with other people trying to break into the industry. I can’t pinpoint any particular reason but it could have been that I was too shy, too proud, too young.. thinking eventually I would get in or just that I was growing and making our family business successful that I just left it to fate to take its own course. It was not that if I did not succeed in writing I would deem it as a failure in life...after all it was a hobby and not my earning source.
A little later I met my beautiful wife and the next 10 years just went by cherishing and making memories with her and having two handsome boys. The business continued to flourish by God’s grace and kept me extremely busy, working minimum 12 hours a day. In 20 years of being in the business, we made it grow 30 times which in itself was a matter of great satisfaction. This experience has held me in good stead when I decided to take the plunge in publishing my story. I soon realised that writing a book is one aspect but ensuring that people read it is altogether another ball game.
Given that originally my writing was inspired by movies, I kind of feel it as a compliment when readers tell me that it is an ideal bollywood script, even though a few readers also mean it as a criticism.
So my wait for of 12 years was finally over when the book released on 21st September and my life changed and got more exciting. How I managed to do it without knowing anything about the industry has indeed been very satisfying. I will continue with my experience sharing about the process in subsequent blogs.
Please feel free to leave your feedback about my blog or the book. Love hearing different perspectives. You can also leave your email so as to be part of my emailing list for all future updates.
You can also connect with me on social media :
Facebook : thekaransharma18Twitter :   thekaran_sharmaInstagram : thekaran_sharmaWebsite : www.thekaransharma.com