Subhechcha Ganguly 
Meera Gopal is a woman who wants to bring smile on people’s face with my writing. She loves to enjoy life like a dew drop before it melts. Let us know more about her in this interview.
Q1) Since when did you start having interest in writing ? Tell us something about your writing journey.
Ans : Writing has been my passion since childhood. But then it was mostly non fictional. Have won multiple prizes for essay writing at School level District and State Level Competitions.However once I secured a seat for B-Tech in one of the prominent colleges in Kerala writing took a backseat and it was rekindled when I joined Infosys. I wrote a travel blog for the internal magazine Thoolika which was accepted and the positive comments for the same encouraged me to write more.
Then my first article was published in Hindu Open page and my blogs started getting favorable responses in Mouthshut.com.
My foray into fiction started with publishing two short stories in Yourstoryclub.com followed by writing in Wattpad. The encouragement I received from these platforms gave me courage to publish my first full length novel Seven Vows in 2018 in the pen name Shruthi.
Q2) How did the idea of “Seven Vows novel (Pen Name ) Shruti” come to your mind. Tell us more about the plot of the book. Also share the link of the book.
Ans : See multiple factors have contributed to the development of Seven Vows. It’s a story of love set in the 90s in the pink city of Jaipur.
The seed of the story originated in the contrast I saw in our culture. On one hand we say women are Goddess and we celebrate nine days in honor of her and the same society which worships the Goddess doesn’t want a daughter in their homes and commit female feticide.
The other factors that helped in the development of the plot was the IT revolution followed by financial independence of women that happened in 90s. The plot is also influenced by the reports I have read on how families discard widows in Vrindavan and how at times they are treated inhumanly calling them witches.
All these social issues are woven into this romantic thriller. Basically it’s the journey of two youngsters Sreedhar Varma and Suman Rajput on whom destiny had dealt a heavy blow. The story takes you through their challenges and how they make each challenge an opportunity for social transformation.
The book is available in Amazon in ebook and paperback format.
Q3) Tell us something about your hobbies . Have you mastered the art of managing your hobbies and your passion by now or you are still finding ways to do it ?
Ans : Apart from writing I love traveling. I also love analyzing TV shows if something catches my attention.
If you ask me whether I have been able to manage my passion and hobbies my answer would be that ,”If I want to do something I will get it done somehow”. Currently I am working with a NGO Sakshama as a social worker. I am also a Podcaster with micro podcasting platform Swell. In addition I collaborate to do book reviews. Along with all these I am a hands on mother to a 4 year old. The thing I want to tell is that if you enjoy the activities you are doing time management will happen on its own. So the trick to manage passion and hobbies is enjoy everything you do.
Q4) From preparing the draft of the book , to selecting the cover page to publishing it , it is a process that requires total scrutiny and involvement . Tell us about your experience and were there any hardships that you faced in the process ?
Ans : Definitely it’s not an easy journey to publish a book especially if you are self publishing.
You just get guidance from the publishing company and everything else you have to do. Editing was really difficult for me. More than writing the story, I spend more time in editing it.
Then of course there was issue of cover page. For Seven Vows thankfully my niece designed the cover page. Other two books the publishing house designed it but they didn’t ask my opinion whether I liked it or not. As I got to see the cover page only after the book was published.
I had a fourth book published. However currently it’s not available in Amazon and the publication contact person is unavailable.
The most difficult part of self publishing a book was marketing . You need to have a good knowledge of digital marketing if you want to ensure your book reaches the target audience.So in a nutshell there has been difficulties at every phase,but I have learnt quite a lot of lessons with those difficulties.
My advice to everyone who wants to self publish is to first ensure there is a written contract with the publisher so that later you are not cheated out of royalty. Also have some knowledge of digital marketing to ensure your book gets audiences.
Q5) There is a large section of the youth who thinks of writing their solo book but lack the courage to do so . What is your advice to them ?
Ans : See if you are unsure about publishing a solobook , first try out writing in platforms like Wattpad.Advantage of starting in Wattpad is that you get to know whether your work attracts readers or not as people can read books freely in Wattpad. Getting audience will improve your confidence.Another positive aspect of platforms like Wattpad is that your work gets regular feedback which helps you to improve your work.
Second and most important thing you need to publish a solo book is the conviction that your story is great and it will find its audience if not today maybe tomorrow.Third understand that there will be more distractors than supporters for any creative work. You might get more brickbats than bouquets. Accept this social reality than fearing it. Listen to your instinct and go ahead telling your story. Finally its your name that’s going to be printed in the front page of your book not that of your distractors or critiques.
