“I manage all my social media accounts. It’s strange to see people hire agencies to manage their social media after years of hoping to reach this stage,” says Sudeep Nagarkar, one of India’s best-selling fiction writers.
He continues, “ I reply to as many fans as possible. They are a big source of motivation. But sometimes, they still get upset if I don’t reply immediately. Ironically, despite social media, we are more lonely than ever.”
This year, for promotion of his tenth novel, She Friend-Zoned My Love , he has decided to visit at least 10 to 15 new cities. He says, “When I visit new cities, I learn what readers expect from other parts of India. For instance, a few years ago in Chennai, some fans shared that it was hard for them to understand Hindi poems and since then I have made a point not to use Hindi poems in my novels.”
Nagarkar decided to be a writer after a friend suggested he publish his diary entries as a novel. That’s how in 2011, he published Few Things Left Unsaid , a book about how two engineers fall in love.
In 2013, he decided to become a full-time writer, quitting his corporate job. Since then, he has written seven romantic fictions, which are popular among 16 to 26 year olds. He continues, “Till date my family finds it strange that I write for a living, mainly because I don’t have a monthly source of income.” Nagarkar keeps his novel titles trendy and tries to involve current social issues.
In 2016, his novel She Swiped Right Into My Heart , had a lesbian protagonist. Similarly, his latest novel, She Friend-Zoned My Love , addresses how fat-shaming can disrupt anyone’s self-confidence.
He says, “We rarely think twice before calling names to the ones we love.”
Nagarkar says, “I don’t like to re-read my books. I have improved over time and am working on my skill patiently.
My biggest strength as a writer is to create characters which connect on an emotional level.”
Nagarkar is currently reading Calling Sehmat by Harinder S. Sikka and also writes for Lakshya , a Marathi serial.
