Behind the Scenes of India’s Literary Industry: What No One Talks About
- Kwik Branding
- Nov 18
- 5 min read
The book industry isn’t broken—it’s just crowded with middlemen selling shortcuts. Real credibility still comes from real work.
📖 Contents
The Reality Check: The Industry You Think You’re Entering
Everyone romanticises the Indian literary scene: quiet writers in cafes, editors who deeply care, publishers discovering “the next great voice.” In reality? It’s a marketplace. And a noisy one.
Here’s what’s actually happening:
Ghostwriting agencies are mass-producing books like factories, often using AI to increase throughput.
Self-publishing platforms are charging lakhs for “author branding packages.”
Fake editors who simply run text through Grammarly or other such AI tools call themselves “publishing consultants.”
PR companies guarantee “Amazon #1 Bestseller” status in categories like Insects & Arthropods.
A large chunk of the industry is built on selling the feeling of being an author—not the actual craft.
And many first-time authors, and quite often a few seasoned authors fall for it.
Because the industry knows one emotional truth very well:
People don’t just want to write a book. They want to be seen as someone who has written a book.
That desire is vulnerable. And it is being exploited.
The Shift: The Real Game Isn’t Publishing. It’s Credibility.
Most first-time authors think the hardest part is getting published.
But getting published today is easy.
You can upload a word doc to Amazon in 20 minutes and call yourself an author.
That’s not the challenge anymore.
The real challenge is: How many people trust you enough to actually read what you wrote?
Because:
Anyone can publish a book.
Very few can write a book people remember.
Books are no longer gatekept. Reputation is.
So the mindset shift is this: Don’t aim to be published. Aim to be respected.
The Framework: How to Navigate India’s Literary Industry Without Getting Played
1. Choose Craft Over Convenience
Bad ghostwriting is a problem. But good ghostwriting is one of the most valuable services in the industry.
Because a good ghostwriter doesn’t “write for you.” They write you better than you can write yourself.
Good Ghostwriting Looks Like:
Deep interviews to extract your tone and worldview
Clarifying your ideas—not inventing them
Thought partnership, not word count generation
A narrative that reads true to you
Bad Ghostwriting Looks Like:
AI + copy-paste templates
Generic tone
Content stuffed with clichés
No emotional insight
“Done in 30 days” promises
And here’s the shady part no one mentions:
Some agencies recycle the same manuscript structure across multiple clients. Same chapter arcs. Same metaphors. Same quotes. You’ll never know—until someone else publishes the same voice.
If someone claims they’ll write your book in 30 days, run. Books written fast read forgettable.
2. Treat Publishing Models Like Business Models
There are only three real publishing paths:
Path | You Pay? | Who Controls Creative? | Best For |
Traditional Publishing | No | Publisher | Big audience, expertise |
Hybrid Publishing | Shared | Shared | Niche experts, consultants |
Self-Publishing | Yes | You | Personal brand, speed |
The problem isn’t self-publishing.The problem is self-publishing companies that pretend to be traditional publishers.
Always ask:
Who owns ISBN?
Who controls rights?
Who sets pricing?
Who owns the royalty percentage?
If they hesitate, they’re reselling dreams.
3. Market the Meaning, Not the Message
Buying 500 fake reviews? Running artificial bestseller campaigns? DDOs-ing your own book rank on Amazon? Everyone can tell.
Instead:
Speak about WHY you wrote the book.
Create micro-stories from your chapters.
Host intimate launch conversations—not flashy events.
Readers don’t buy books because they exist. They buy books because they matter.
4. Your Reputation Is the Long Game
The goal isn’t to sell 2,000 copies at launch. The real win is selling 200 copies a month for 3 years.
Books age like wine only if the author ages like wisdom.
Write the book your future self won’t be embarrassed by.
Case Studies from the Field (What Actually Happens)
Case Study 1: The “Instant Bestseller” Trap
A first-time leadership coach from Bengaluru (name not disclosed for confidentiality) wanted to publish a book to attract corporate clients. A self-publishing agency pitched him an “End-to-End Author Success Package” for ₹2.4 lakhs, which included:
Ghostwriting
Editing
Cover design
Amazon Bestseller guarantee
300 fake reviews
A press release in 5 newspapers
The book was delivered in 27 days. It sounded generic, repetitive, and emotionless—because it was almost entirely AI-generated and lightly edited.
He became an Amazon #1 Bestseller for 48 hours in the “Office Productivity > Leadership Guides for Teens” category.
Outcome: He got the title, but not the respect. Within months, clients stopped
mentioning the book at all. The book existed—but it didn’t build credibility.
Case Study 2: The Founder Who Did Ghostwriting the Right Way
A Mumbai-based founder in the fintech space (name not disclosed for confidentiality) had powerful experiences—but struggled to articulate them clearly. Instead of outsourcing everything, she worked with a seasoned ghostwriter over 6 months. They:
Did weekly interviews
Created a clear narrative arc
Wrote in her voice, not the writer’s
Fact-checked every story
Crafted ideas that were truly hers
The book wasn’t just well-written—it sounded like her mind, on the page.
Outcome: The book didn’t trend on Amazon or become a flashy bestseller. But it built her authority.
She was invited to:
Speak at 3 universities
Do 2 panel discussions
Get featured in publications
Close 4 enterprise deals directly referencing the book
That’s the difference: She wrote to be respected, not to be seen.
Case Study 3: The Copy-Paste Manuscript
A Delhi-based entrepreneur (name not disclosed for confidentiality) bought a ghostwriting package for ₹80,000 from a “premium author studio.” He received a finished manuscript in 45 days.
Later, during a podcast recording, a listener messaged him:
“I think I’ve read a book with almost the same stories and analogies.”
Turned out: The agency had recycled at least 5–7 chapters across multiple clients—changing only names and examples.
Outcome: He pulled the book off Amazon. The embarrassment lingered far longer than the book did.
Case Study 4: The Editor Who Wasn’t an Editor
A therapist (name not disclosed for confidentiality) writing her first book hired an “editor” recommended by a self-publishing agency. The person didn’t actually edit—they ran the document through Grammarly Premium and increased synonyms to look “literary.”
The manuscript came back:
Dense
Overpolished
Emotionally flat
The original human voice was gone.
She had to redo the editing later with a real editor, doubling her time and cost.
Where These Stories Point
Not “ghostwriting is bad.” Not “self-publishing is bad.” Not “PR is bad.”
The issue is: The wrong people are selling the wrong outcomes using the right words.
And it works—because the desire to be an author is emotional.
Practical Takeaways
Credibility > Visibility
Craft > Packaging
Long-term Respect > Short-term Bestseller Labels
Closing Thought
You don’t need to play the industry’s performance game. Write because you have something worth saying—not because you want to be seen saying it.
Real work always finds its readers. Sometimes slowly. But always surely.
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