Amish Tripathi: Breaking all rules to create bestsellers

A banker turned author, Amish Tripathi studied at IIM Kolkata and quit his fourteen year old career in financial  services to focus on writing. His first book, The Immortals of Meluha (Book 1 of the Shiva Trilogy), was a surprise bestseller. The Shiva Trilogy was named the fastest selling book series in Indian publishing. 

The series sold 2 million copies in print, grossing over Rs 500 million since 2010. Amish has been ranked among the top 100 celebrities in India twice in a row, in 2012 and 2013 by Forbes India. His main forte is history, mythology and philosophy, which he packs into a fast paced narrative.

Latest Book: The final instalment of the Shiva Trilogy, The Oath of The Vayuputras, retells the Shiva mythology as an ecological allegory, and concludes India’s first bestselling mythological series. Post the success of his trilogy, Amish bagged a $1 million book contract for his next venture for which he says he  has not even thought of the story. While Bollywood director Karan Johar has obtained the rights for adapting of the first book in the Shiva Trilogy series, the English rights of the same has gone to an undisclosed American producer. 

Quirky fact: The marketing of the book has been commendable, with the first chapter of the first book initially distributed for free at major bookstores. Tripathi also marketed his books with cinematic trailers, a first in India for books.