Correspondence with Chaudhrey M…
October 13, 2011
‘As I know that you are a famous writer of Penguin Books India, I a 13-year old student and I want to get published like you by Penguin India. Can you help me out? Or tell me that will the editorial team accept bribes to publish one’s manuscript.’
Chaudhrey M…
Oct 14
Dear Chaudhrey M…
I am glad to know that a thirteen year old boy has enough money to offer bribes to editors. This is certainly evidence of rapid economic and educational progress. At your age I had very little money and I don’t think I had any idea what an editorial team was. And if I’d known I certainly would not have thought of spending my pocket money on them.
Fortunately I have not (so far) had to pay bribes to anyone at Penguin India or any other publisher. In any case, I doubt I could afford it because most of the people who work at Penguin India seem to be extremely well off. If they have a going rate it is likely to be out of my reach.
My general impression is that bribery is not very common in the publishing industry. But now that you have brought it up I think you may be on to something. I have certainly wondered sometimes how certain books managed to make it into print.
Perhaps you could organize a ‘sting’ operation and film it with your mobile phone? I am sure the major TV channels would be willing to offer a good deal of money for such a tape.
If you should happen to proceed with this experiment I do hope you will keep me informed. I would be most interested in the results.
Best wishes
Amitav Ghosh
Oct 15
I do not have the money yet but my plan is to fist e-publish it, collect money and then bribe. So It seems a quite difficult task indeed so I want you to do some “sifarish” for me to Penguin India or just edit it to fix it according to the “Penguin style”.
Chaudhrey M…
Oct 16
Dear Chaudhrey M..
By coincidence, I have just received an e-advertisement that may provide a good solution for you (below). It will certainly be a lot cheaper than a bribe.
Best wishes
Amitav Ghosh
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At Accurance, we want to do all we can to help you publish your manuscript, so we put everything in one convenient package and do it all for you
We are once again offering our Whole Nine Yards Package:
-Complete Copy Editing
-Interior Formatting
-Custom Cover Creation
-Print Publishing Account Set Up
-Print ISBN
-Proof Copy
-Global distribution to Amazon.com, BN.com, etc.
Everything you need to turn your manuscript into a published book
(reg. $799)
Comparable packages elsewhere cost thousands…
*Based on avg. 333 words per page/250 pages (80,000 words) per book and online pricing as of 08/10/2011
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Very interesting. Thanks Amitav. I listened to your interview in NPR and really enjoyed the insights you gave about your book and about China. Hope Seattle is treating you well and you will be back!
Yes, I enjoyed Seattle very much!