So please give a big OA welcome to Damanyti!
How do you become an Amazon First Read?
My US debut literary crime novel, THE BLUE BAR, is published by Thomas & Mercer, an Amazon Imprint for crime fiction. My editor submitted my book into the Amazon First Reads for approval, and it was picked up. I'm not sure if a writer can initiate the process--in my case it was done by my excellent editor, Jessica Tribble.
What are the benefits?
Amazon First Read e-books are emailed to Amazon's massive list of readers, and they can download it for free, which increases its chances of being seen.
Are there any downsides?
Since the emails are not targeted and are sent to all Amazon Prime members, it exposes the book to readers who are not its primary audience. In my case, a lot of readers picked it up expecting an all-American thriller, and have responded with racist comments like "Couldn't finish because this book has strange names."
Since the book already has more than 500 Amazon ratings two weeks before its release, and almost that many on Goodreads, I'm hoping it will prove an auspicious start to my career in the US publishing industry. At any rate, it seems to have introduced me to new readers, readers I definitely wouldn't have found on my own.
What's next for you?
THE BLUE BAR is part of a two-book deal, so I'm working on the edits of the next book in the Blue Mumbai Series. I'm also working on other proposals, and already have a project almost ready to submit after a quick round of edits!
Is there anything else you'd like our readers to know?
THE BLUE BAR is set in Mumbai, a megapolis of 21 million people. It homes the most expensive private residence in the world worth 2 billion USD, with 400,000-square-feet area divided into 27 floors.
The city also features Dharavi, one of the biggest slums in the world--2 million people crammed into 0.81 square miles.
About the Blue Bar:
So the contrasts are extreme, and everyday reality is overwhelming to the senses. In terms of color, sounds, scents, and the sheer density of humanity, this city has few equals. With this novel, I try to take you to this megacity, its skyscrapers and its underbelly, its stories of love and hate, its beaches and swamps, its movie sets and police stations. I hope you'll come along for the journey.
On the dark streets of Mumbai, the paths of a missing dancer, a serial killer, and an inspector with a haunted past converge in an evocative thriller about lost love and murderous obsession.
After years of dancing in Mumbai’s bars, Tara Mondal was desperate for a new start. So when a client offered her a life-changing payout to indulge a harmless, if odd, fantasy, she accepted. The setup was simple: wear a blue-sequined saree, enter a crowded railway station, and escape from view in less than three minutes. It was the last time anyone saw Tara.
Thirteen years later, Tara’s lover, Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput, is still grappling with her disappearance as he faces a horrifying new crisis: on the city’s outskirts, women’s dismembered bodies are being unearthed from shallow graves. Very little links the murders, except a scattering of blue sequins and a decade’s worth of missing persons reports that correspond with major festivals.
Past and present blur as Arnav realizes he’s on the trail of a serial killer and that someone wants his investigation buried at any cost. Could the key to finding Tara and solving these murders be hidden in one of his cold cases? Or will the next body they recover be hers?
So the contrasts are extreme, and everyday reality is overwhelming to the senses. In terms of color, sounds, scents, and the sheer density of humanity, this city has few equals. With this novel, I try to take you to this megacity, its skyscrapers and its underbelly, its stories of love and hate, its beaches and swamps, its movie sets and police stations. I hope you'll come along for the journey.
On the dark streets of Mumbai, the paths of a missing dancer, a serial killer, and an inspector with a haunted past converge in an evocative thriller about lost love and murderous obsession.
After years of dancing in Mumbai’s bars, Tara Mondal was desperate for a new start. So when a client offered her a life-changing payout to indulge a harmless, if odd, fantasy, she accepted. The setup was simple: wear a blue-sequined saree, enter a crowded railway station, and escape from view in less than three minutes. It was the last time anyone saw Tara.
Thirteen years later, Tara’s lover, Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput, is still grappling with her disappearance as he faces a horrifying new crisis: on the city’s outskirts, women’s dismembered bodies are being unearthed from shallow graves. Very little links the murders, except a scattering of blue sequins and a decade’s worth of missing persons reports that correspond with major festivals.
Past and present blur as Arnav realizes he’s on the trail of a serial killer and that someone wants his investigation buried at any cost. Could the key to finding Tara and solving these murders be hidden in one of his cold cases? Or will the next body they recover be hers?
About the author:
Damyanti Biswas lives in Singapore. Her short stories have been published in magazines in the US, UK, and Australia, and she helps edit the Forge Literary Magazine. Her debut crime novel You Beneath Your Skin has been optioned for screen by Endemol Shine, and her next, The Blue Bar, will be published on Jan 1, 2023 by Thomas & Mercer.
1 comment:
Hi Damyanti! Great interview and congratulations on your successful book launch. I'm ashamed to say The Blue Bar has been waiting patiently to be read on my kindle since January, but I'll get to it asap. All the best for book two! Lucyxx
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