Ravi Subramanian Quotes

If you see in all my books, I have two key intentions. One is obviously to entertain and make sure that the reader has a good reading experience. I also try to write on subjects that nobody has dealt with before to make my works different from other page turners.

If evil wins in a Bollywood film, it is bound to flop. A lot of people here want to change society, so they like to read about it being changed. And that means good usually triumphs.

A thriller needs to hold the interest of the reader from the very beginning. It needs to engage with them, hold them in rapt attention, and prevent them from putting down the book.

A self-confessed fan of Harlan Coben, I find it difficult to not read a new Harlan Coben novel the week it comes out.

If I did not have a de-stresser such as writing novels, I would lose focus at work.

You don’t have to be a criminal to write about fraud!

Any author gets inspired by the experiences and events that happen to him or his immediate circle. While that’s where the seed or the idea germinates, by the end of the story, it accounts for hardly anything in the book.

You need to be the CEO of your own book.

I believe any fiction writer is inspired by real life.

I believe if you’ve written a book, you have to stand up and say, ‘Guys, buy the book.’

If there is one currency that helped Wikileaks take on the might of the U.S. Government, it was Bitcoins.

When James Bond presses the watch and the car explodes, the writer doesn’t go into the science of it. One should leave it to the leap of faith. I have tried to explain as much as possible, and what I can’t, I have left it to people’s imagination.

If you are careful about the content and writing style, readers will not feel that you are in a hurry.

The royalty any author gets is dependent on his track record and marketability and often on the price of his book, too. The higher you price a book, the more comfortable your publisher will be in paying you a higher royalty.

People think writing is a very distinguished, cerebral thing, where all you do is write. It doesn’t work that way. People have to see online promotions, see piles of your book in stores, and you have to make sure the guy recommends it!

Generally, people who crib about corporate politics are, more often than not, those who’ve played the game but lost it.

Saying ‘I am not interested in politics’ is no guarantee that people will leave you alone. The politically-inclined will single you out as a soft target and go after you.

After my first book, I figured that since it was successful, I wanted to continue things better.

In India, we don’t read thrillers; we read authors.

My understanding is that a book becomes a best seller only when it is pirated, sold on footpaths and at traffic lights.

Books marketing has moved from the review culture to a preview culture.

The opportunity to create wealth in foreign banks exists only in the investment banking space. Working in a local company teaches you to think long term.

Writing with a film in mind – writing like a screenplay – is a sureshot recipe for disaster.

People take shortcuts to meet ends in MNCs.

A bookstore has thousands of titles to sell. You need to be the guy the store attendant recommends to the reader.

Given my extensive background in foreign banks, writing about them came quite naturally to me. Thankfully, God has been kind to me.

I find writing to be a great stress-buster.

It is almost impossible to win back a reader’s loyalty once it’s gone.

The problem with most of the want-to-be authors is that they are unable to focus. Either they have no idea of where to begin, or they have hundreds of ideas and don’t know which one to pick. Both scenarios leading to one result… they give up even before they start.

When you write, you put your thoughts in the public space. You get both positive and negative feedback.

A writer must experiment with genres. Otherwise, it is a restriction on the craft.

My favourite authors are John Grisham and Jeffrey Archer. Grisham rapidly established himself and now completely owns the legal space of fiction writing, something I want to do in financial space. I like Archer because he keeps his readers engaged: every chapter is a page turner, and he keeps his writing simple.

I feel as long as people enjoy what they read and learn something more, I have done my job as a writer.

The first draft is usually junk. You have to work on it seven to eight times.

A profession which is seen as intellectually glamorous is often the most misunderstood when it comes to the commerce involved.

In fiction, if people like one of your books, they tend to pick up your other books as well.

I read almost everything that comes my way.

Bitcoin is complex: the entire private and public key issue, the transfers, the mining of bitcoins… but if you tell it as fiction, people would understand and remember.

With social media, one can target the audience and reach out to the segment in a very precise, cost-effective manner.

When you write stories linking reality to a big storyline, people relate to it better.

Write something that you are comfortable with. Do not venture into something that you do not want to write about, because gradually, your discomfort with the subject will begin to show.

After my first book, many of my readers came back to tell me that the female characters I had created were not strong enough. I have consciously rectified that in my next four books. In any case, it’s true that women run the world, and men would do better to listen to them!

I write largely plot-driven stories.

I always felt that one needs to be remembered long after one has gone.

At times, parents foist their own choices on kids and try to get them to read the classics. But kids have very high filters and don’t take to it. At other times, parents simply don’t know what books to select for their children and end up giving books that aren’t appropriate.

I’ve always wanted to write, but coming from a small-town background – I was born and brought up in Ludhiana – you think you’re not the kind of literary person who will write books that will sell. There was always a kind of defensiveness in me.

I get to office early at about 8 A.M., and I’m back home by 6 to write.

Thousands of books are published every year in India, and it’s becoming more difficult to stand out and get people to buy the books. The only way to get people notice the book is to create a buzz much before it’s released.

To make time for writing, one has to take time out from somewhere. Obviously, a fair amount of time that you spend with the family gets compromised. But my family has been very understanding and supportive.

I enjoy writing and promoting my books. I enjoy the feedback. But all this is because I don’t depend on it commercially. I don’t need that money. I have a career.

One shouldn’t say yes in desperation to the first publisher who approaches. New authors especially should wait and weigh their deal and agree only when they are sure that they have landed themselves a good offer.

My favourite authors are Jeffrey Archer, for his story telling skills; John Grisham, for the completely new genre he created; and James Patterson, for the way he created a new business model out of writing.

There is a certain amount of intrigue that gets created by revealing portions of the book and, in the process, generating a certain amount of interest. Often, authors do this by releasing a few chapters online or even releasing film-like trailers.

I do not think I will ever write screenplays based on my books. I would not know what to cut out and what portions to keep. I like all the characters I have created. I cannot imagine chopping them off.

I keep saying my books don’t have superheroes. They have ordinary people in extraordinary situations.

Most MBA graduates are hungry for intellectual glamour.

I have a day job where I make money and satisfy my self-esteem. Writing is for fun, and I want to keep it that way.

If a reader likes a particular author, they keep reading all his books, and if the supply is not kept up, then the reader shifts his loyalties.

To me, a good storyteller should be able to tell stories across genres.

As long as youngsters learn the right things, it really doesn’t matter where they learn it from.