Lights, Camera, Action – But how did we get here? No one waved a magic wand. There were no abracadabra spells, you get what we are saying, right?
Ladies and gentlemen, books and events don’t get done by osmosis. If only!
It begins with an idea, which turns into multiple ideas, which become a chaotic echo of concepts that cancel out each other. The team almost gives up, drenched in sweat, stress, and heated debates.
Then the Eureka Moment arrives. There is a collective sense of relief. Finally, we have a starting point.
The Chaos is only about to begin. The format of the book and the launch event needs to be locked. The tug of war begins again. Between the 100-odd open tabs, countless missed calls, WhatsApp messages, and a few existential crises, the ball gets rolling.
Interviews are planned, rescheduled at the last minute, sometimes at 3 am in one time zone and some other ungodly hour in the other. While this process drags its heels, elsewhere the events team is breaking into hives – why? Take your pick – from the colour of the invitation cards to whether or not we should go with buffets or a sit-down dinner.
In the editorial room, the writers are waging wars with word counts, client feedback that often comes in piecemeal e-mails with one-line messages, “Can we just make one small change?”, which continues till the book goes to print (sometimes even after that!)
The design team has its own challenges – balancing creative genius with the ordinary reality of page constraints and image pixels.
But the book is sent to print, so you can relax? No, we cannot. Because the printer’s requirements are akin to baptism through fire. We missed a page. We did not send the right file format. Oh no, someone spotted a glaring typo that was missed in the 20,000 back-and-forths of client approvals and proofreading checks.
Elsewhere, the event team has hit rock bottom and is considering renouncing the world and taking up hermit robes.
Yet somehow, the entire team fights back and gives their best. The book is released; the event is done. In between, we have almost lost our chief guests, scripts have been rewritten, and technical glitches have been handled.
A hundred moving parts. A thousand tiny details. A million opportunities for something to go spectacularly wrong.
The physical graft takes its toll, but the mental aerobics is worse. People clash, egos get bruised, but somehow the human spirit rises above it all to conquer the day. Friendships become stronger, confidence grows, and applause is the reward.
Picture This: You are sitting in a cinema hall, packed to the rafters. The hero is conquering the villain, and you leap up in unison and let out cheers. Here’s what you don’t know: the actor has gone through gruelling rehearsals and training to pull off that one moment.
In a publishing house, there is no single hero. There is a team of individuals – everyone is fighting the good fight. The marketing warriors, the editorial guardians, the design den, the digital hub, the logistics kings, and the finance magicians – all working day and night to ensure that your stories make it to print in impeccable time, and the stage is perfect for your star to shine bright.
It is extremely hard, chaotic, and work-life balance goes for a toss. Yet when the curtain rises, the book is appreciated, the event receives applause, and it becomes all worthwhile.
No one knows what has happened behind the events. And perhaps that is how it should be.
Because if we have done our job right, then all you see is the magic.
We get to keep the memory of victory, the badge of glory, and that extra grey hair that serves as the ultimate trophy of controlled chaos.
The success is our daily reminder that we are ready to do it all over again.
