Will IIM alumni rewrite publishing rules in India?

Buoyed by the success of his debut work, the publisher of IIM alumni Karan Bajaj's second novel is eyeing to achieve new heights with a unique and massive marketing campaign for the first print run of an impressive 50,000 copies of the thriller "Johnny Gone Down".

Says Lipika Bhushan, marketing head at Harper Collins India, "We toyed with the idea of how we can achieve new heights with ?Johnny Gone Down? since there is growing market for such books. Karan has a definite fan following and so the book has the content to click with the masses. And when we talk about masses we have to aim at high numbers and lower price points."

The book is priced at Rs 99 and the publisher is aiming to achieve nearly 100,000 copies in a year.

Full report here PTI

Amish Tripathi talks about life at IIM-C

MBAUniverse.com brings to you exclusive interview with IIM Calcutta alumnus, leading finance and marketing professional and author Mr. Amish Tripathi. Mr. Tripathi’s debut book The Immortals of Meluha  has recently been published and is rocking the bestselling charts across leading bookstores in India. In this interview Mr. Tripathi talks about his life at IIM Calcutta, key issues confronting Indian management education sector and what MBA aspirants should focus on to achieve success in life. Excerpts from the interview:

First of all, please tell us what inspired you to write a book on Lord Shiva?
Actually, I started the book as a philosophy book. The key philosophy in it was the nature of evil. But I got some good advice from my brother and sis-in-law that a pure philosophy book would have a narrower audience. The suggestion was that I should write a thriller/adventure and let the philosophy come across with the story. This would have a mainstream appeal. Now if I have to write an adventure on the nature of evil, who better to be the hero than the destroyer of evil himself, Lord Shiva.

Tell us about your life as a MBA student, as a marketing head of a big insurance company, and now as a writer? What all have been the learning at each of the aforementioned stages of your life till now?
Well, the MBA stage and my early career was quite different from what it is now. I guess we are trained to be competitive - maybe even slightly insecure. That is good for the career no doubt. But it is not good for our personal happiness. Writing the book has been transformational for me in that sense. I have become more balanced. I still work hard - but I am not obsessed with my position & status in the corporate world. I used to be a non-believer, but I have become a shiv bhakt now. I am much more appreciative of how kind fate has been to me, what a wonderful family I have. The book has been a blessing.

Full report here MBAUniverse