NOT A RUPEE LESS, NOT A RUPEE MORE! (with apologies to Lord Archer): Buy a Signed Copy of GODS OF WAR at the printed price – delivery free within India!
UPDATE: SIGNED COPIES of GoW will only be available here till Wednesday 30th September. Stock almost over.
Those are pics of a few of the signed copies received by the early birds, those who took advantage of my offer right away.
The orders are still pouring in by the dozens daily. Barely managing to keep up with them!
In a few days, once the present batch of copies are sold out, I’m going to have to discontinue this offer – because it’s too popular! If I continue at this rate, I’ll be a professional autographer and bookseller, not an author. 
But until then, I’m keeping the offer open. And if you can find a better offer anywhere, then take it. Because it’s not possible to top this:
The printed MRP (Maximum Retail Price) of Gods of War is Rs 300/-. That’s what it would cost you to buy a copy of the book in any bookstore. For that amount, in a bookstore, all you’d get is the book. By ordering directly from me, you get a signed copy, personally inscribed to yourself or to anyone else you wish, for the exact same sum of Rs 300/-. Delivery is free to any location within India! There are no other charges.
What are you waiting for? Email me at akb DOT readerswrite AT gmail DOT com and book your order now: Mention your full postal address+tel.no. in the email and I’ll reply with details of how to make your payment. You could be holding a signed copy of the first edition of Gods of War within a couple of days!
WANT SIGNED COPIES OF MY OTHER BOOKS? READ ON
If you look at that last picture on the left, the one right at the bottom, you’ll have to squint hard to spot the copy of Gods of War. It’s there all right, lying on its side on top of a sideways copy of Vertigo, which itself is on top of the entire paperback set of my Ramayana Series. For a limited time, I’m also offering copies of Vertigo, all three hardcover volumes of the Ramayana Series, and the paperback copy of Prince of Ayodhya (the other five paperbacks are currently undergoing a reprint and are out of stock with me). All for the printed MRP, delivery free anywhere in India! And of course, your copies will be signed by me personally, and inscribed to yourself or anyone you please.
So if you’ve been wanting to gift someone a signed copy of Prince of Ayodhya, or the entire set of Ramayana Series hardcovers autographed by me, or purchase a copy of Vertigo, apart from Gods of War, then now’s the time to order them. Email me at akb DOT readerswrite AT gmail DOT com with your full postal address+tel.no. and I’ll provide you with details of how to make the payment. And you can have the books in hand in a day or two!
PS: I’m unable to deliver any of these books at cost price outside India. For deliveries abroad, I’m afraid you’re going to have to use the AKB Books Bookstore where only the international edition of Gods of War is currently available. But if you wait a few months, the rest of my books will also be listed there. Meanwhile, you can always order the Indian editions and have them delivered to a friend or relative in India, to be collected later! This may be your only chance to get signed copies after all.
GoW still MiA
I know, I know. The revised and updated publication date of 15th September (originally 15th August) has come and gone, with no sign of Gods of War in a single bookstore across India.
I’ve been receiving emails, tweets, direct messages, emails, comments and status updates, wall notes, and even a few smses and phone calls from readers wondering what’s up.
I have no idea.
This time, I know the book is printed – I’ve sent out close to a hundred copies myself so far, with as many more orders in the pipeline. (Last month the delay was because the book wasn’t printed on time, I was told.) I’ve also been reassured by Penguin that the book would be published on 15th September and would be available in all bookstores.
Now, I find that not only is it not available anywhere, people asking for it at bookstores are meeting blank expressions as sales staff claim they have no knowledge of such a book and have no idea when it will arrive.
Sigh.
I have no comment to offer and nothing to say about it. I’m just reporting the facts as they are.
Meanwhile, you all know you can continue to order signed copies directly from me at the printed MRP (shipping free to anywhere in India) right here or visit the bookstore to order a copy of the AKB Books international edition for overseas delivery.
Want a signed copy of Gods of War? Order now!
By popular request, I’m offering copies of Gods of War, signed and personalized. Please note that these are Penguin India editions, and will ship only within India. (For delivery outside India, you need to order the AKB Books edition – which only comes unsigned, since it’s a Print on Demand edition which ships directly from the printing press in Goa, whereas I’m here in Mumbai.) To place your order, please email akb DOT readerswrite AT gmail DOT com, mentioning your full postal address with pincode and telephone number (for the courier) and the name and/or inscription you wish me to write in the book. Payment instructions will be intimated by email. Happy, na?
FREE signed copies of GoW to be won – on the Facebook Ashok Banker Fan Page!
CONTEST CLOSED Sunday 13th Sept as all 50 copies had been won!
Have finally set up a Facebook fan page at the request of so many readers who are unable to add me via my personal profile page. (Personal profile pages have a friends limit of 5,000 which limit I hit barely months after joining FB. Fan pages have no limit.)
To encourage readers to sign up and help reward the many who keep in touch with me via online media, I’m offering several FREE SIGNED COPIES of Gods of War. All you have to do is sign up as a fan and answer a simple question.
And don’t get disheartened if you don’t hit paydirt the first (or even the 5th or 8th time round.) You’ll get plenty more chances to win!
After all, I want to give you these books!
Start by clicking on the box in the right-hand sidebar…
The (b)eagle has landed…on my desk!
Well, the wait is finally over. Gods of War is finally off the presses – and in my hands. Those pics aren’t very good, they’re taken on my iPhone in poor light. But they’re proof that the book is printed and that’s a beautiful sight to my anxious eyes!
The second pic shows a bunch of new books I’ve got recently. The lowest three were ordered from Amazon and are books I just couldn’t wait to buy in paperback in India or aren’t available here at all. The top three include two books from the new publisher of my forthcoming non-fiction book Random House India, and right on top is the same copy of Gods of War!
I have to say it was well worth the wait for GoW. The book is beautifully designed and produced. The cover looks amazing. The title is embossed which you can’t see here and the overall effect is fantastic. The last-minute changes and reprint of the cover – which were also the reason for the delay – now seem worth the extra time taken. The interior layout and typography are excellent too.
All in all, this is a beautifully edited, designed, produced and published book that I’m very proud to have authored. I’ll leave it to you to judge the contents for yourself, but will say here and now: I consider it my best published work so far.
As one epic ends, another begins… The Krishna Coriolis, coming soon from HarperCollins India!
I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve finalized a book deal for The Krishna Coriolis, the eight-book series that will immediately follow Sons of Sita, the 8th and final book of The Ramayana Series, and precede my Mba.
HarperCollins India will publish the first two books in the series in 2010. Thereafter, the series will appear at the rate of three books a year over 2011 and 2012.
The storyline will take us beyond the tale of Rama into the life of Krishna and beyond. It will intertwine with the events of the Mahabharata itself, with many characters appearing in The Krishna Coriolis as well, and many events overlapping, but with the emphasis always on Krishna’s story and journey. After all, the most informative basis for our knowledge of Krishna is the Harivamsa section of the Mahabharata itself, also known as Srimad Bhagvatam Volume X. So while Krishna’s story takes place against the backdrop of the events of that larger epic, it is no less an epic unto itself.
Those of you who’ve been following my career for the past decade know that I’ve been working on and off on the Krishna tale for several years – some of you have even read the early drafts and variations of style. Now, I’m thrilled that a publisher of HarperCollins’ stature has offered to publish the series and that they’re going to bring out the first two books so quickly.
As I may have mentioned elsewhere, The Ramayana Series was my first attempt at this genre of epic retelling. I’d like to think that I’ve gotten better with each subsequent book, further study and research, and valuable feedback from critics, editors, and most of all, readers such as yourself. I believe The Krishna Coriolis will deliver all the excitement, thrills, romance, intrigue, action and rousing battles that you enjoyed so much in The Ramayana Series, and much more! After all, while Rama was a man unaware of his own role as an avatar of a god, Krishna is god incarnate. With all that power comes great responsibility…on the part of the author! I hope you’ll agree that I’ve done justice to this great tale in my own way. I know I’ve worked hard and sincerely for years to attempt to do so. Soon, in about 8 or 9 months if all goes on schedule, you will be able to judge for yourselves if I’ve succeeded.
THE KRISHNA CORIOLIS will be published as 8 paperback volumes of around 400 to 500 pages each:
Slayer of Kamsa (2010)
Dance of Govinda (2010)
Flute of Vrindavan (2011)
Throne of Dwarka (2011)
Field of Kurukshetra (2011)
Chariot of Arjuna (2012)
Coils of Ananta (2012)
Lord of Vaikunta (2012)
HCI plans to later collect them into 4 hardcover volumes as was done with The Ramayana Series:
KRISHNA LEELA (2013)
RADHEY SHYAM (2013)
GITA GOVINDA (2013)
VISHNU ANANTA (2013)
NOTE: All publication dates are approximate and are subject to change by the publishers.
Sold out on pre-order! 
Available only from me directly. 
Available only from me directly. 
Available only from me directly. 