The Delhi Walla Books – They Are Bestsellers
5,000 copies sold.
[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]
The Delhi Walla has got company. The other evening US President Barack Obama was sitting beside me. I mean Bob Woodward’s Obama’s Wars was placed next to my books, The Delhi Walla series, at the front shelf of Khan Market’s Faqirchand Bookstore.
“Your books are doing very well,” the lady in Faqirchand said. “They will keep on selling well,” Anuj Bahri of Bahrisons Booksellers said. “The Delhi Walla is selling like hot cakes,” said the man in Full Circle bookstore.
It’s official: my books have become bestsellers. All three volumes have been in the Top 10 bestselling list of Asian Age – for two consecutive weeks. Just hours before writing this, I got a text message from the sales team of HarperCollins India, my publishers.
1,600 copies of each sold out. Repeat orders coming in.
That means 1600*3=4800 copies have been sold. That means – almost 5,000 copies. In India, that is a very good number. A few days ago I got an e-mail from a reader.
i am in the airport lounge in bangalore as of now while reading the google reader and there is an crossword book store in the airport and i did not find any delhiwala here and when i asked about it they said they were out of stock :))
But The Delhi Walla series have been ignored by the media. (And I don’t have money to afford a PR firm.) Outlook Traveller magazine devoted a small passage that merely introduced the books to its readers. A very big national daily, the name of which shall remain a secret, dismissed my hard work in 4-5 flattering lines, in which it talked more about me than the books. Mint Lounge’s review was short but intelligent. Time Out Delhi, for some mysterious reason, has chosen to pretend that the books do not exist. Same with other publications.
One day soon, I will argue why these three volumes, despite their slim size and despite being ‘guidebooks’, are some of the most important books on Delhi that have come out in decades. Watch this space.
Selling like hot cakes
Somebody just bought them
You seem to be desperate to sell that book which I am sure doesn´t contain anything different from what we see on this blog i.e. Delhi´s filthy Muslim ghettos and their yucky food!
@MG
I totally agree with you but still there is something which attracts one to Mr. Mayank’s writing.
@MG,
I am sure you are getting paid to write this.
Congratulations Mayank.Dont worrysale will go up.After some time every visitor have a copy of your books.God bless you
Congratulations Mayank.Dont worrysale will go up.After some time every visitor have a copy of your books.God bless you…
There’s nothing more painful than creating something you deeply care about and not getting the response you hope. Don’t get bitter, though, and don’t get upset — your time will come. Because if it’s worthy, it’ll attract the attention it deserves. And it IS worthy.
forget the media. they will catch up. what does not fit what they are used to gets ignored. Its the people that matter
To succeed in spectacular fashion you have to be spectacularly unusual!
The other day I was at Full Circle and I recommended your books to a German tourist. I think she bought ‘Hangouts’.
That’s the downside of publishing, bro. Your work is excellent. I guess there would be very few international bloggers who have taken in almost everything of their cities and have painted a realistic motif — good, bad and ugly.
@MG: You arI ge not wrong but I g with Priya’s comment
@Priya: Agree
@MAS: Well done, your writings are enjoyable, though PROPORTIONALLY NOT REFLECTIVE OF DELHI, may be apt title would be ‘OLD Delhi’ or ‘ISLAMIC DELHI’ or “SHAJAHANABAD’ or ‘MUSLIM whatever’.
As a writer, this is your niche and nothing wrong in having a specialization in a certain demographic contained within a certain small subset of Delhi’s geography, hence it is not a encompassing ‘DELHI WALLA’.
But you write well, your writings are addictive and treat to read. I am sure you will go far.
It is a matter of time before books pickup with word of mouth. You offer an alternative, off the beaten track, down to earth, humane view of delhi.
Though your writing are restricted to a small section of old delhi with mainly Muslim themes, they still offer variety as in cuisine, street food, book shops, personalities, one in million, monuments, scarce nature within concrete jungle. Hence, interesting. It is just a matter of time before sales pics up with word of mouth. Congratulations already for being among top 10 list. Best luck mate, Im a fan you yours.
MAS: DO you have a facebook page to promote these books. If so, pls share here, I will promote within my network on fb
Wow….just saw this news. Congrats MAS….on the release of book. I tried Amazon in US but still cant see the books. I will need to get someone from Delhi to mail them to me. Cant wait to read.
I knew this kid’s was going to go places…Harper Collins…
Now Mayank…dont let the celebrity status get to your head!
Best of luck anyways…and thanks for all these years of your wonderful blog.
Congratulations! Its a treasure trove for anyone wanting to explore Delhi. A facebook page as suggested will definitely help the publicity.