My First Book Publishing Journey | Author Comeback Story,
A true Indian author comeback story, how I turned a failed publishing experience into an Amazon bestseller through self-publishing and belief.
COMEBACK STORY
Every book has a story. But sometimes, the journey behind the book is more intense than the story written inside it. This is the true comeback story of my debut novel, a journey filled with belief, mistakes, silence, struggle, and finally, redemption.
I wrote my first story back in 2016. It was a historical patriotic fiction, A Genre like Dhurandar, Raazi, and Goodaachari that celebrate intelligence, sacrifice, and the unseen warriors who protect the nation from the shadows. I travelled a lot to experience the how a soldiers life and how they live in borders like Kashmir, Rajasthan and Arunachal Pradesh, visited museums spoke to couple of soldiers.
Life, however, took me into the IT industry. I grew professionally and was doing well. Yet, every night, there was a quiet dissatisfaction. A feeling that said: “You are meant to tell stories.” Whenever I watched similar themes on the silver screen, the urge returned stronger.
Two small but powerful moments pushed me forward:
A close friend, Shyam, who had written a book, asked me: “Why don’t you write a novel instead of leaving that story untold”
During an office outing, a colleague casually said: “Why don’t you write a book?” That was enough.
My goal was simple: the story must reach people no matter the medium.
The Biggest Mistake I Made
Like many first-time authors, I trusted a publishing company without fully understanding the risks. I paid the entire amount upfront for:
Paperback
eBook
Audiobook
The manuscript was locked. Designs were finalized. Then came the shock. Before giving me an author proof, the publisher printed the book. The quality was unacceptable:
Poor cutting
Bad finishing
A half-printed barcode on the front cover
When I raised the issue, I was told to pay extra to fix their mistake. Wanting my debut book to look right, I paid again. And then followed months of frustration:
No proper responses
False promises
No royalty statements
No transparent sales reports
Even when my book became a bestseller, I had no clarity on actual sales. The order IDs I tracked did not match the data shared with me. Five months passed. Despite paying ₹11,000, the audiobook was never delivered.
Emails, messages, follow-ups, and even legal notices received no response. What hurt the most was seeing my bestseller status used for their marketing, misleading new authors, when every bit of promotion was done by me.
Those months were emotionally exhausting.