Mou ii kai? –Madadayo!
Updated 1st Sept: Scroll to end of post if you’ve read it already.
“Mou ii kai,” is Japanese for “Ready or not, I’m coming”.
The proper response is “Madadayo!” which means “Not yet!”
It’s what children shout to one another while playing hide and seek in Japan.
It seemed appropriate since after all, two of the five protagonists of Gods of War, Akechi and Yoshi, are Japanese and the book is partly set in Japan.
Gods of War Penguin India edition
As far as I can tell, it’s still delayed.
The revamp of this website (www.ashokbanker.com) was due to be launched when Gods of War was published and in stores, hence the launch date of 31st August.
Since the book is delayed and now can’t possibly be in all bookstores before the middle of September, perhaps even later than that, I’ve had to postpone the relaunch of the website as well.
The same goes for the upcoming bookstore – while my AKB Books edition of Gods of War is proofed and ready to print and offer for sale (it’s a PoD edition so each copy gets printed when ordered), I can’t offer that for sale on the bookstore till the Penguin edition is in Indian bookstores. Ditto.
All I can say is wait a little longer. Those of you who’ve waited for my next book probably know by now that publishing is often plagued by such delays.
All I can do, as an author, is what you as a reader are forced to do: Wait patiently.
Meanwhile, if you like you can go run and hide…
And when I yell “Mou ii kai?”
You yell back “Madadayo!”
Until it’s time.
UPDATE (1 SEPT 2009): Just got this from my editor at Penguin: “Production says the books are in transit from the press so you’ll be getting an advance copy any day now and they’ll also be sending out copies from the warehouse to the market very shortly.” Whew! Finally!
That means that the books should start popping up in bookstores across India anytime from 7th September onwards. And the official launches are likely to start from mid-September onwards. Will update as and when I have more info.
A very Random (and very nice) book deal!
Hi.
This is just a brief news announcement to let you all know that I’ve accepted a very nice offer from Random House India for my first major non-fiction book.
Those of you who recall my career as a journalist, reviewer and columnist may be aware that I have over 2,000 published bylines to my credit, and that I had the pleasure of writing for most of the major print publications in India as well as a few abroad. I even broke a few front-page news and cover stories for publications like Outlook and Times of India.
The book in question is non-fiction – is NOT based on my life (in case you were wondering) – and is a new kind of concept in non-fiction in many ways. In case you were wondering, yes, it has a title (a very good one) and my proposal to RHI included a fairly detailed chapter outline, and is based on research that I’ve already completed: I’ll begin writing it in a few weeks and will complete it later this year.
The book will be published next year.
And that’s all I’m going to tell you about it. 
What I can tell you is that four major publishers showed keen interest in the book.
One of them, who also happens to be the only publisher with whom I’ve worked before – Penguin Books India – passed at an early stage. This may seem strange, and yes, it’s true that publishing can often be a strange business. But Penguin India were also the first publishers to whom I offered my Ramayana Series way back in 2001 and they also passed on Prince of Ayodhya back then. It was only much later in 2003, when there was an international buzz about the book and the series that they suddenly became excited about it, as if discovering it for the first time.
Well, Penguin are and shall remain my publishers for many books (14 so far, and counting) and years to come. But being a great old lady, they are sometimes slow off the ground: after all, Penguins don’t fly, do they? 
Hachette Publishers India was very keen on the book too, and made a wonderful editorial approach that really swayed me. I would so very much love to work with that imprint. Their offer was substantial too, but…
HarperCollins India made a much more substantial offer, almost one and a half times what they offered, plus made an offer for another completely unrelated non-fiction title.
At the end, I thought I would go with HCI; in fact, I was very keen to do so. I know the people there, and have known them for some time, and they are a very strong imprint with some great strengths.
But when I first pitched them the proposal they weren’t very keen on the book. In fact, they didn’t think it would ‘work’. That’s quite understandable since the book is a bold new step in non-fiction, Indian or otherwise. But I believed very strongly in it, and needed a publisher that believed as strongly.
Quite quickly, though, HCI came around and had a rethink, and admitted that on second thoughts the book sounded great. Fantastic. Excellent.
Which was much more encouraging. And at that point, I was all set to take their excellent offer and go with them, end of story.
But Chiki Sarkar of RHI is an editor with a reputation: for building a small but high-quality list of authors and books, for focussing the resources of one of the world’s biggest and most prestigious publishing house’s Indian subsidiary on the ‘less is more’ precept. And for quite an impressive track record in a very short time.
And the offer was pretty damn good too! In fact, her conviction in this particular book was so strong, it was infectious.
I was happy to accept, even though I was more than a little sad to say no to HCI – and Hachette. (Penguin had already said no to me, which is always a sad-making thing for an author.)
I’m not a person who likes to choose sides, or to take up competitive stances. I’m the person who wants everybody to get along and work together.
(Yes, sure, I’m more than a little communistic in my outlook, I admit it freely. Radical Leftist would be accurate too.)
But in a business/capitalistic/free market system, you have to choose. And so I did. And am thrilled at the choice I made.
So I’m now a Random House India author and proud to be one!
Gods of War – Another update
Got this email from Penguin Books India today about the status of the Indian edition of Gods of War and the book appearing then disappearing from their website:
“I spoke to our Production department and they have informed me that it has got a little delayed (some technical issue due to the weather, I believe) — but will be out by the end of this month and you’ll get advance copies around the 28th. About the website—it’s under reconstruction and there’s a lot of stuff missing because the content is still in the process of being uploaded.”
And this one from their online marketing department:
“Due to some technical reasons, all the books from our homepage and many from our website vanished temporarily for a few hours today. The problem has now been sorted and the books restored. Please click on the link below to see the book page for Gods of War (which is also amongst the 8 books promoted on our homepage):
http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/Bookdetail.aspx?bookId=3638
We will also be promoting Gods of War with a banner on our homepage. I will inform you as soon as the banner is up.
Well, at least we now have some idea of what’s up. And when the book will be out.
I guess you should now expect it to start appearing in some stores in the first week of September and definitely be available at all bookstores across India by end September.
Meanwhile, the AKB Books International edition is still in proofing at the printers – and will be printed and ready for sale via the new upcoming website (right here) by end-August too.
Gods of War – an update
Hi!
A very happy and peaceful 62nd Independence Day to us all!
Today is the official publication date of the Indian edition of Gods of War. No, there was no deliberate planning or significance to the date – even I didn’t even realize it was slotted for precisely 15th August until a couple of weeks ago!
Unfortunately, for reasons unknown to me, the Penguin Books India edition (shown above) is not yet off the presses – even I haven’t got my copies yet – and therefore is not in bookstores. I don’t believe the H1N1 problem is the cause since the copies were expected off the press weeks ago. Honestly, I haven’t a clue. It’s the first time in my 21-book career that a book hasn’t been printed by the publication date, let alone appeared in bookstores!
I’m sure there must be a very good reason for the delay and that Penguin India will inform me of it in due course. Meanwhile, all I can do is request you to wait and keep checking this blog for updates on when copies are off the presses. The day I receive my author copies, you can probably expect to see the book in stores about two to four weeks later. Which means, as of now, Gods of War isn’t likely to hit Indian bookstores till early-to-mid September and that’s if the book’s been printed, which doesn’t seem to be the case. It could be later. How much later? No clue. And as I mentioned, I have no word from Penguin so your guess is as good as mine.
Meanwhile, this edition featured here is the AKB Books International edition published by me. It will go to press next week and be available on the upcoming AKB Bookstore by this month-end or early September latest. This edition is meant for shipping to readers around the world and can be purchased only online through this website/blog.
Check back from week to week and I hope to have news of GoW’s delayed but much-awaited release soon.
As always, thanks for your support and patience. As you know, there’s much more to books than just writing them! Often, that’s only the beginning of the long journey that ends finally with us buying a book and holding it in our hands, ready to crack open and read. All an author can do is write them as best as he/she can.
Back Cover Blurb+Flyleaf Excerpt from VENGEANCE OF RAVANA
Excerpt from VENGEANCE OF RAVANA: BOOK 7 OF THE RAMAYANA SERIES
“Everything you thought you knew until now is a lie. The war of Lanka, the battles preceding it…every single thing that happened upto this day…was all part of the epic vengeance of Ravana. The real battle has just begun. And this time the final victory will not be your’s. It will be Ravana’s. Today you shall see the culmination of his great strategy, a battle plan put into place decades ago whose intricate details and ramifications you cannot even begin to understand…Boy! Compared to the ancient wisdom of the lord of rakshasas, you are still a boy. And always will be!”
Kala-Nemi roared with laughter. And with every exhalation of putrid breath, a cloud of greenish black particles were released into the air from his bruise-purple maw to rise high into the air like a swarm of insects; they dispersed across the rooftops with malicious speed, spreading their foul asura pestilence among the people of Ayodhya.
Rama realized with a sinking heart that everything the prophecy had said was coming true. The world as he knew it was about to end.
EVIL NEVER DIES. IT ONLY CHANGES FORM AND SHAPE.
Ravana is dead. Lanka lies in ruins like a broken sword. The asura threat is ended and Rama, rightful heir to the throne of Ayodhya, has finally returned to claim his birthright. Finally, he and his beautiful wife Sita can live in peace and well-deserved comfort.
But their peace does not last long. An old enemy breaks free of his subterranean prison to convey a shocking message: Surrender or die! And there is indeed an enemy at the gates – just not the one that might have been expected. Now Rama must choose between the tyranny of imperialism and the tragedy of betrayal. Dharma leaves him little choice.
Yet as time passes and Rama’s ‘just’ war campaign grows ever more relentless, the banners of Ayodhya may come to be feared rather than loved. And the most unlikely victim of the people’s wrath and distrust is…Sita herself! Not even Rama’s brave brothers, the wise Valmiki, loyal champion Hanuman, or even his own aging mother Kausalya can rip the veil of deceit that clouds Rama’s vision. Could it be that Ravana will triumph after all?
This long-awaited 7th volume in Ashok K. Banker’s dearly loved Ramayana Series® begins an enthralling two-part conclusion to the epic saga. Don’t miss the stunning 8th and final volume Sons of Sita coming soon from Penguin Books India.
Sold out on pre-order! 
Available only from me directly. 
Available only from me directly. 
Available only from me directly. 