Page 35 - DAIS - DAISPORA ISSUE 05

Writing a book can feel like a solitary mission - just you, your story, and an
overworked keyboard (or pen, if you’re old-school like me). Once the words are
down, the real chaos begins: pitching, publishing, promoting. That’s when
synergy steps in - not in a business school case study kind of way, but in the

quiet solidarity of Authors Anonymous.

It started when I (having just signed my first book deal for Suzie Mistry and the
Imagination Factory, a children’s fantasy) connected with fellow alumna Ambika
Vora, who had just published a young adult fantasy book Spin of Fate in the US.
Different genres, different markets, different journeys - but the same swirling
questions. Is this normal? Should I panic now or later? How do you survive the
endless waiting?

The publishing world, especially for first-timers without agents or celebrity
status, is a murky maze. Cold submissions, LinkedIn follow-ups, opaque
timelines, ghosted emails - been there, done that. The hardest part for me
wasn’t the writing; it was navigating everything after. That’s where Authors
Anonymous helped.

How do we do it? Debriefing whenever we’re in the same city (two in-person
sessions so far, over coffee and dinner), and a WhatsApp thread filled with
suggestions, encouragement, and a lot of venting.

There was a rhythm to our group - one of us panicking, the other calm. One
pushing forward, the other pausing to reflect. We weren’t competing; we were
co-creating sanity. We learned together – about markets, what sells, what
doesn’t, how books find their readers (or don’t); while reminding each other
that writing is brave. That putting your story into the world is no small act. The
joy of storytelling, and creating something meaningful even when the world isn’t
watching is still worth it.

Aditi Ratho is the author of the Amazon bestselling children’s book, Suzie Mistry Synergy isn’t always about joint projects. Sometimes, it’s about having others in
and the Imagination Factory. Beyond writing for children, Aditi is an education the trenches, lifting when you spiral and celebrating when you soar. So here’s my
consultant and founder of MindSparkle Academy, where she mentors students message to any creator out there: write something you’re proud of. The rest will
and young professionals in their higher education and career transitions. fall into place

Before founding MindSparkle, Aditi had a career spanning over a decade in risk
advisory and public policy organisations such as Alvarez & Marsal, Kroll,
Observer Research Foundation and the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime.

Aditi Ratho
Aditi holds an MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a BA (Hons) from the
University of Toronto, where she was awarded the prestigious Pearson Class of 2010
International Scholarship, given to only two students worldwide in her year.