It would be a mistake to assume that The Write Order is just a publishing house. It might be that now, but soon, presumably after the lockdown ends and some sort of normalcy sets in, they are waiting to burst on to the scene as a start-up and begin an out-and-out literary revolution. "Students think it is easy to score marks in literature, but that's not the kind of attitude they should be having towards the subject. If students are aware of creative-writing through our workshops, which we intend to hold in the future, we can find the next Tagore," says Niket Raj Dwivedi, Founder, The Write Order. But before talking about their aspirations for the future, the 22-year-old takes us through their past.
In a bid to bring transparency and offer to not just publish a book but actually establish the author, The Write Order was started in October 2018. They even offer higher royalties, going up to 50 and sometimes even 100 per cent, and can publish books in 10 to 12 days, flat. Started with an investment of `8,000 from Niket's own pocket, their first book, The Art Parade, was an anthology for which they had invited writers to send them their poems. As many as 52 writers were selected and with their very first book, they broke even. This Bhubaneswar-based publishing house's author packages start from as less as `5,000 and go up to `30,000. "The main difference between the packages is with regards to the marketing which can range from setting up social media pages, paid promotions and preparing the author to handle all of it after our association with them has ended. We think that anyone can open a publishing house, but no one truly focuses on establishing the authors. That is the difference we offer," says alumnus of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology who pursued Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
The Write Order have published over 10 anthologies, 13 novels and another 10 are in production. They have engaged 500 authors across India and currently, retail from Amazon.in only. They're also transparent about the fact that they do not hamper a writers' poetic or literary freedom by changing entire sentences or paragraphs but adhere to correcting grammatical issues only. They do offer professional editing in the higher packages.
The plan was to shift base to Bengaluru after funding and start offline distribution of books. But because of the lockdown, all plans have been halted. But the one plan that hasn't stopped is their app. "Our app, which is currently under development, will be a single integrated platform for readers, writers, publishers, distributors and other stakeholders too," informs Niket and stops at that. The app will be out later this year and then we will know what's it all about. Their offline monthly open mics, Bell Jar, is quite popular and currently, they are keeping their followers on social media pages engaged through writing challenges.
Book reccos
Post-Apocalyptic Narrative
This is a book studies the inversion of power structures and shifting of gender roles
With Love, Ralph
Is a thriller novel about a boy and his past
Words Of Destiny
A collection of poems about life and emotions
Butchers of Malevolence
Is a book about a world where nothing seems like what it is
For more on them, check out thewriteorder.com
