Do you actually need a big personality online for your book to succeed? The answer might surprise you.

In this episode, Tara sits down with Naiyya Singh, Assistant General Manager of Marketing at HarperCollins India, to pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to get a book into the right hands.

They get into what a book marketing campaign really looks like and why fiction and nonfiction get treated completely differently. Naiyya tells us how plans have to adapt to news cycles and trends, and why an intimate launch of 20 people can be as significant as a packed auditorium.

Naiyya also breaks down the question of virality every author asks, as well as the other elements that go into marketing a book.

From escape-room campaigns to intimate roundtable launches, they explore the creativity, unpredictability and occasional frustration of book marketing. They also dig into the resurgence of book clubs and why the best metric for a successful book has nothing to do with first-week sales.

If you are an aspiring book marketer or an author nervous for their launch, you don’t want to skip this chapter!

Press play to get the scoop on what really sells a book and why even the best ones take time.

Books mentioned in this episode:

1. The complex by Karan Mahajan
2. Politics, Policy and Predictions: Views from the Front Row of Parliament by Derek O’Brien
3. Dream Count - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
4. Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
5. The Only City: Bombay in Eighteen Stories by Anindita Ghose
6. Lightning in a Shot Glass by Deepanjana Pal
7. Dakini by K. Hari Kumar
8. The Enclave by Rohit Manchanda
9. August 17 by S. Hareesh, translated by Jayasree Kalathil
10. The Complex by Karan Mahajan
11. Ghost Eye by Amitav Ghosh
12. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
13. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

What do you do when the person you love wants something you're not sure you can give?

In this episode of Books & Beyond, Tara speaks with Rahul Singh, debut novelist and academic, about his book Unfolding, which follows two gay men navigating a long-term relationship where their expectations of love begin to diverge.

The conversation moves through the emotional complexity of open relationships, and how the book holds space for desire without rushing to label or judge it. They also discuss the novel’s domestic world, where much of the story unfolds inside the home, and how class and gender shape the characters’ lives and choices.

Rahul also shares the unusual journey of writing the book without a publishing contract, across multiple drafts and years of uncertainty, all while his parents still don’t know what the novel is really about.

If you’ve ever struggled to stay on the same page in love, this one will stay with you.

Books Mentioned in the Episode:

1. Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar
2. Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai
3. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.

Are you one of those who cancel plans because you’re tired, then spend the next two hours feeling guilty about it? Let’s talk.

In the latest episode of Books & Beyond, Tara chats with Ankur Warikoo about his new book Winning People Without Losing Yourself, and what it actually looks like to keep everyone happy all the time.

Ankur talks about spending years trying to be the person everyone liked, and why that never really works out the way you think it will. They get into boundaries (especially with family), that turns into resentment when you don’t set them, and how often we end up breaking our own boundaries before anyone else does.

They also talk about the idea that the right relationships in your 20s shouldn’t be a distraction, but an enabler, what really happens when you expect someone else to make you happy, and how most conversations fall apart when you’re only trying to get your point across.

The episode touches on comparison in the age of the internet, and how easy it is to measure your life against what you see online.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing a lot for people but still feeling off about it, this one is just for you.

Books Mentioned in the Episode:

1. Do Epic Shit by Ankur Warikoo
2. Get Epic Shit Done by Ankur Warikoo
3. Beyond the Syllabus by Ankur Warikoo
4. Make Epic Money by Ankur Warikoo
5. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
6. Rework by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried
7. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
8. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck

‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.