A tale of courage, hope and self-discovery

It revolves around three main characters — Shaurya, a CA student who dreams to be a filmmaker, Miraya, an interior designer who has lost her belief in love, and Anubhav, an aspiring entrepreneur who learns to give life another chance. It’s a tale about how their lives get connected and how they realise that they have the power to rewrite their stories. “The main protagonist, Shaurya, is fleshed out of my real-life experiences. I quit my CA studies as I wanted to become a storyteller and when I revealed my decision to my parents, they were shocked. But my determination convinced them. After my first book came out last year, many readers messaged me that they wanted to follow their own dreams but couldn’t because of social and parental pressure. That is when I decided to write  This Is Not Your Story ,” begins Sharma, who was recently in the city to launch her book at Starmark, Phoenix MarketCity. 

Speaking about the similarities and differences with her first book, she says, “With my first book, I wanted to inspire people to follow their dreams. With this book, I don’t want to just inspire, but rather compel them to take a step forward to change their lives. I want to make them realise that the life they are forced to live is not their story and they can choose to write and be the hero of their own stories. The characters of this book are far more complex, their problems more complicated, and their journeys, intensely emotional.” 

Sharma’s debut book went on to sell over 1,00,000 copies in just 100 days, a record of sorts, setting new standards in the commercial fiction space in India. All that success, nevertheless, did put Sharma under a bit of pressure of delivering something better and bigger. However, she says, “My first book set a benchmark for my brand of storytelling and readers had high expectations from my second. So, while the writing this book, I had to initially fight the battle between readers’ expectations and what I wanted to write from my heart. Gradually, I realised that if I don’t tell the story that comes from within, I will fail to touch them.” Sharma first self-published  Everyone has a Story backed by a strong social media campaign, before being acquired by Westland Publishers. To fledgling authors, she says, “I think self-publishing allows anyone to publish and share their work with the world. If you think you have a good story to tell but don’t want to wait for many months to be reviewed, rejected or accepted by traditional publishers, you can go ahead and self-publish it. Also, if you use social media smartly, you can promote your work targeting the right kind of audience and hit some good sales numbers as well.” However, self-publishing does come with its share of challenges. “Self-publishing is a oneman job. You must write, print, publish and market your product, and you will also need some financial assistance and a lot of patience to facilitate all that,” adds Sharma. 

We can’t help but ask what her next book is going to be about. “I have no idea yet. Currently, I am busy promoting my book across 27 cities in India over the next three months. During this journey, I hope to find inspiration for my next,” she finishes.