Will you publish a book on Facebook? Well, this Pune woman did

[related-post]

On the inception of the idea, Kirloskar says she observed that a lot of her young friends and acquaintances, under 30 years, were neither reading books nor watching TV. “I thought we all love stories, so where are these young audiences looking for stories? As I spend a lot of time online, I observed that many stories are found in the form of posts — Facebook posts, WhatsApp posts, videos, pictures, jokes etc. So I thought in the future, fiction too could be presented in the same format,” she says. She adds she started It’s Complicated as an experiment to bring together her hobby of writing and her expertise in social media.

Being a full-time professional, Kirloskar works on the online fiction during the weekends and in the late nights. Kirloskar says, “The important thing is to pace the story. Readers don’t want to be overloaded, yet the story must progress. I post about 4-5 days each week.” She adds that each post creates a different engagement. Some, especially those with pictures, can get 500 likes or more.

A painter by hobby, Kirloskar says that It’s Complicated is her first serious attempt at creative writing, but she has written extensively in the past on marketing and management. She also used to edit and publish a magazine on marketing and has worked on a graphic novel for children which has not been published yet.

On the plot of the story, Kirloskar says, “When I had launched the page, the main characters were introduced. So when people see the page, they can read that. Now, the story is moving forward. There is a major plot point planned around three-four months from now.”

She adds that depending on the reader response, she will decide whether to continue the same story or start a new one, after that.