20 December,2020 07:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Jane Borges
Sion resident Sundari Venkatraman wrote her first book in 2001 when she was "incredibly frustrated", but ended up self-publishing only 13 years later. Pic/Atul Kamble
For this writer, romance novels, especially the Nicholas Sparks variety, were the flavour of the season only and briefly in our 20s. So, reading Sundari Venkatraman's Shweta ka Swayamvar, a love story of a 20-something pretty model with a "charcoal gaze" and a handsome Mumbai industrialist who makes women go weak in their knees, was an indulgence that required some reacquainting. We had forgotten all about the chemistry in lingering first glances, sleepless and yearnful nights, the endless daydreaming, and the secret stalking that comes with being the lovesick protagonist of a book.
Fifty-nine-year-old Venkatraman, mother of two, lives these stories daily in her head.
For the last six years, the Sion-based homemaker has been churning out one bestseller after another, predominantly romance novels. In November, she hit a new milestone, when she released her 50th book. A week shy of releasing her latest title, Once Bitten, Twice Lucky, Venkatraman is targeting 60 books by the end of next year - a gift she has promised to give herself on her 60th birthday.
Venkatraman's eBooks have got featured among the Top 100 Bestsellers on Amazon's romance as well as Asian drama categories. In 2019, three of her books were published for the first time by a leading publisher
If her Amazon rankings are anything to go by, Venkatraman is one of the most read writers currently. Yet, she remains an underappreciated talent in the vast pool of storytellers, who mostly rely on the backing of big publishing houses. She doesn't. Venkatraman self-publishes her work on Kindle Direct Publishing. "This means I am my own boss, publisher, editor and proofreader," she says, in a telephonic interview. "And, that is quite liberating."
The journey to becoming a bestselling writer, though, has been marked by rejections and self-doubt. What has not changed is her appetite for romance, which goes back several decades to when she was a 13-year-old, growing up in conservative Madras (now Chennai), and had chanced upon a Mills & Boon novel. "Unlike the recent books [by the publishing imprint] where the focus is only on the physical desire that the couple has for each other, the books that came out in the 1970s and '80s gave you a glimpse of a world you were unfamiliar with. Like the clothes people wore, the way they lived, the cuisine, and the way they spoke - it was literally like travelling to another place, through the pages of the book. Of course, the strong attraction that the lead protagonists had for each other was the thrust of the story. But, I realised later that the reason I enjoyed Mills & Boon novels was because they always had a happy ending." For a teenager, that was a big draw. Venkatraman remembers reading a novel every single day, especially during exams, because it helped calm her nerves. "It never came in the way of my grades," she says.
Soon after graduating, she got married and moved to Mumbai, where family and home took precedence. It was in the late 1990s, while working in the admin department of a local school, when she was asked to go through a bunch of school essays and short stories, checking them for grammar and punctuation, that she had a moment of epiphany. "What really struck me was that the kids were not bothered about what someone thought about their writing. They wrote freely and creatively." When she quit her job sometime later to help her daughter, who was in Class X, she turned to writing to keep herself occupied. "I was almost 40 by then, and incredibly frustrated. I thought I was wasting my life. One day after a walk, I came home, hurriedly pulled out a few pages, and started writing. I put my pen down only after writing 14 pages. That's how it all started; everything was unplanned." Having begun that journey, Venkatraman realised her mind was also bursting with ideas. "The stories just came tumbling out of me. The characters would wake me up in the middle of the night, and interact with each other." Her first three books were born with little intention of having them published.
It was only later that Venkatraman visited a Crossword bookstore in the suburbs, noting down the names of publishers mentioned on the book spine, and copying addresses to send across her manuscript. She doesn't recall how many publishers she approached, but she does remember getting 28 rejection letters. Rupa Publications got back within a day, with a "no". Mills & Boon, UK took nearly a year, before declining. "That really broke me. I cried all night," she remembers.
Meanwhile, Venkatraman took up a job with a daily tabloid, where she edited copy, before moving to a news website. Undeterred, she also posted new chapters weekly on her blog. Finally, in 2014, she learnt about Kindle Direct Publishing, a platform where she could have her works published in ebook format. "The popular notion is that self-publishing is for those who don't have a way out. It is always looked down upon." But that's not exactly true, says Venkatraman, who having published an average of 10 books a year, has understood the nitty-gritties of the business too well. "Initially, it seemed overwhelming, but the more I was part of the process, and the more I wrote, it became a breeze. My readers have also been built over a period of time. With every new book, your audience grows in concentric circles. It takes effort, and a bit of self-marketing," she admits. "The returns are good. I make at least R50,000 per month, but that is because I am writing regularly," she says, matter of factly. By October this year, she had made around Rs 40 lakh from her books.
Of the 50 books she has published till date, 42 have been romances, while the others include Indian mythology, short story collections and a book on how to self-publish. A quick search on Amazon will throw up an array of ebooks by the author - most are part of a special series, The Bansal Legacy, Written in the Stars, The Groom Series, Marriages Made in India, to name a few. Her eBooks have gone on to become so popular that she even got featured among the Top 100 Bestsellers on Amazon India, USA, UK, Canada and Australia in both romance as well as Asian drama categories. Her success has even forced mainstream publishers to take notice. In 2019, three of her books - Runaway Bridegroom, The Smitten Husband and The Drunken Wife - written as part of the Marriages Made in India series were published by Westland Books.
She describes her romances as "hot". "It's not to be confused with erotica," she insists. "There is a thin line between tasteful and vulgar. My readers tell me that the lovemaking scenes don't make them uncomfortable. It should not put you off, it should make you want to read more."
The saree-clad Venkatraman has very strong beliefs about love. Her own idea of romance, she says, has evolved with time to suit her readers, many of whom are millennials. "They look at life very differently, especially [institutions like] marriage. But, the idea of romance in itself has not changed; it's just how we respond or react to it that is different." While she addresses issues of queer love and online dating in her books, she is indifferent to polyamory and open relationships. "I wouldn't call that romantic love. Sex and romance are not synonymous," she says. "I also like to write about empowered women, who can make choices in love and life."
If there has been a high point in her dogged career, it was when she threw the 28 rejections letters that she had kept in a file for the longest time. "I was extremely hurt. A few years ago, when I was invited to the Jaipur Literature Festival, I finally got a sense of closure. That's when I knew I didn't need them anymore."
A romance novel you wish you had written?
Not really a romance novel, but I wish I could have written JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. I have read the first five books 13 times.
Love or arranged marriages?
It's not an easy answer because my marriage was arranged. But come to think of it, what is love? People confuse chemistry or attraction, which happens at first sight, with love. Love is something that grows only with time. So, it can grow in an arranged marriage, and also between two people who are getting to know each other. You learn to love each other.
Describe millennial romance in one word.
Impulsive.
What's the biggest myth about romance?
That it's going to be a long sweet road.
Can love survive a lockdown?
If it is true love, it should.
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