Journalism of Courage
After creating a gripping plot with the right mix of mythology and history,Amish Tripathi deployed marketing tactics to see The Immortals of Meluha top the list
It was probably difficult for Amish Tripathi to keep his marketing instincts in check. When this IIM graduates part-time writing resulted in the first part of the Shiva trilogyThe Immortals of Meluhahe applied all the marketing strategies to get it noticed. Result: Within a month,the book has been reprinted four times and has sold 25,000 copies. This sales figure has helped the book secure the top position on multiple Indian bestseller lists.
The idea of writing a novel came during a conversation with his family as they watched a mythological show on television together. First,I attempted a book on philosophy. But my sister told me that nobody will read one. So my writing started taking the shape of a fiction, he says.
The author has no qualms about admitting that he has no prior experience of writingbarring penning poetry which only his wife appreciated. What worked to his advantage was his love for history and the mythological stories he had grown up listening to by virtue of being the grandson of a Banaras priest,also the head of the mathematics department at Banaras Hindu University. The book is set in 1900 BC in the near-perfect land of Meluha (more popularly known as the Indus Valley Civilisation).
