Interview with Sudha Nair

Bestselling KDP Author

Jul 15, 2020

Dear readers,

I’m glad so many of you found my posts on Amazon KDP useful. I also thought it would be a great idea to connect you to some successful authors who have published their books on Amazon KDP.

The first author I thought of was Sudha Nair who has published 8 books in the past three years. Here are some questions I asked her and her responses.

When did you get into self-publishing on Amazon KDP and why?
I got into self-publishing in 2017 because it provided an easy, viable, and sustained way of publishing books without gatekeepers. The traditional route was unreliable and cumbersome and time-consuming. A platform like KDP gave self-published authors like me a chance to tell the stories that I wanted to tell.
What was your experience in terms of readers and gaining visibility?
KDP has given me a platform where I can publish a lot of books in a short time. The way to get more readers and build an audience is to write stories that they love and which will give them a few hours of great entertainment. That has always been my goal with my books. The more interesting and engaging books you write, the more readers and fans you gain.
Although I write in the romance genre, I think every genre has its readers. As writers, we write for ourselves and for our readers. A golden rule is to find the sweet spot between the books that you love to write and the books your readers love to read.
Visibility takes time and patience. As you write more books, you improve your visibility. Contests like the Pen to Publish and social media platforms also give you visibility and a chance to reach more readers.
Your first book - The Wedding Tamasha won the Pen to Publish contest in 2017. What was that experience like and has that helped you get more readers?
The Wedding Tamasha won the KDP contest in 2017 and is a bestseller even today. It was my debut novel and helped me gain a foothold in self-publishing and to reach readers who appreciated my work.
A contest or platform provides a launching pad for a writer, but sustaining readers and growing your audience comes with publishing stories that your readers continue to love. Instead of resting on my laurels after one book’s success, I continued to write and publish stories that my readers enjoyed. It has held me in good stead over the years.
How many books have you published so far with KDP and how long has it taken you to do that?
I have published 8 books on KDP in the last three years. They can be found at author.to/sudhanair.
My stories are about inspiring women to achieve their dreams and go after the life that they want. I enjoy writing family dramas, romance, and women’s fiction. My characters range from teenagers to protagonists in their 20s-30s to grandparents. I write contemporary stories that revolve around Indian families and the myriad issues that Indian society faces.
The Menon Women series books, which start with The Wedding Tamasha (mybook.to/theweddingtamasha) follow the story of all the main, strong women protagonists of a South Indian family.
The Nambiars series (mybook.to/nambiars) is about a couple into retirement and how they adjust to life after Mr Nambiar retires.
Dr. Heartquaker (mybook.to/heartquaker) is a romantic comedy about a young doctor who falls in love with an older girl.
Do you get your covers professionally designed? By whom?
Cover is an important aspect of a book. While traditionally published authors have a team to decide on covers, this aspect of a book also falls directly on the self-published author. I have used several freelance cover designers over the years because I like to try out different styles. I have also used Canva to design my own covers. The best part about self-publishing is that you can try out different things, whether it’s covers or content, and experiment with different styles of writing.

Thank you for talking to me Sudha! Readers, do check out her books on Kindle.