“We regret to inform you that we shall be unable to publish your novel. We do…”.Justin crumpled the letter and threw it out of the window. This was the 47th publishing house that he had approached in the last 3 months and it was the 47th time that he had been turned down but he could not stop smiling. Everything was going according to plan.
Justin knew that his story was weak and no self-respecting publishing house would ever touch his book but then he also knew that it would be a bestseller the minute it was released. Justin had a management degree in marketing and he knew that all it needed to turn a bland book into an instant bestseller was the right bit of marketing magic. Justin always joked that even Jack Trout would have been proud of the strategy that he had picked to promote his book.
Life for Justin was about taking risks and he was always on the quest for that ultimate high. He had tried everything from diving with sharks to snorting cocaine, but nothing seemed to do the trick for him. He called his latest obsession “racing blind”. He spend the entire day waiting for the clock to strike twelve and he would take his Yamaha out and wait till the traffic lights turned red and as soon as they did, he would close his eyes, turn the headlights off and pull the throttle down all the way. He felt most alive when he was racing blind, he could hear the engine revving, he could feel the breeze blowing against his face, and he could hear his heart pounding. But lately, even this daily adrenaline rush failed to excite him. All he could think about was getting his book published.
Writing the book was the build up for his biggest thrill yet. He had quit his high paying job, given up his 6 figure salary and had swapped his 3-bedroom apartment for a single room in a dark forest. He had given himself 3 months to finish the book and he had done it with 29 days to spare. He had totally cut himself off from the world and hardly eaten or slept. He didn’t bother with the prose or style, all that mattered was that the timelines were accurate and that every detail was captured.
Justin always said that the excitement in any high was not in the final result but in the anticipation. Ask any junkie and he will tell you that the moments that are to be savored are not after shooting up but the buildup - Filling the syringe, carefully checking for bubbles, tightening the arm to find the vein and then pushing the syringe in gently, waiting for the sweet release. Justin savored each rejection in the same way. They were part of the plan and would only add to hype that his book would create. Everyone would wonder how any of these morons could have ever given up a bestseller.
It was 27th December and Justin needed to get the book published by the 2nd of January which was his birthday. He felt hat it would give the launch a nice touch if it coincided with his birthday.
Over the next few days, Justin approached 3 more publishers and his excitement only grew as each of them rejected his book. He could contain his excitement no more. He had finally reached 50 rejections and now according to his plan, it was time to publish his book. Even his doorman noticed the spring in Justin’s step. Justin could feel the glory, he already felt famous, he pictured himself on every billboard that he saw, he saw the reporters talking about the success of his book on the television and he saw his name on the India Today Bestsellers list.
On the 31st of December, Justin decided that the time had come to put the final screws in place. He met with his lawyer before he went to meet his book’s publisher. His lawyer did not question Justin’s decision although he did find Justin’s request a bit strange but then he did not know about Justin’s soon to be found glory. Justin then went to Vinny’s publishing house.
He had chosen the least known publisher in India to publish his book because he wanted his book to be the first commercial success that the house ever tasted. Vinny’s agreed to publish the book because he made them an offer that they couldn’t refuse. He promised them that his book would sell at least 100,000 copies in the first week and if it didn’t then he would pay them Rs 20 lakhs, which was much more than the cost of publishing his book. His only stipulation was that the book should hit bookshelves on the 2nd and not a day later.
Justin spent the rest of the day partying and snorting coke with his close friends. On the first day of the New Year, Justin decided to “race blind” at a new time and a new place.
Vinny’s sent a check of Rs.50 lakhs to Justin’s lawyer on the 2nd of January itself. They had not even dreamt of such success. The phone had not stopped ringing since the morning papers had hit the stands and they already had pre-orders for 120,000 copies of Justin’s book.
The India Today Best Sellers list was announced on the morning of the 3rd of January and the no.1 spot belonged to a first time writer, Justin Andrews. The article said that the bestselling book chronicled Justin’s search for the ultimate high and how he found it in the release of his autobiography. The accuracy of the timelines is the USP of the book but then the success of the book was largely due to the headlines of the previous day which read,
Justin Andrews, India’s most awaited author -A young man, Justin Andrews achieved instant stardom yesterday when he rode off the Mandovi Bridge into the Mandovi River in broad daylight. Bystanders revealed that he came out of nowhere and all that they heard was the roar of his Yamaha but they very clearly recalled the words painted in red on his jet black jacket,
“My Book, ‘Death of a writer’ releasing tomorrow, Book your copy with Vinny’s today.”
Divers are still looking for his body.
In Mumbai, ‘Hamare Apne’ orphanage was overjoyed to receive a check of Rs.50 lakhs from an anonymous source.
