"I'm a published author."
Throw this line at a bar and you won't have to pay for any of your drinks all evening.
Say this in the classroom and the class will go silent every time you rise to speak.
Write this on your Tinder profile and every conversation will begin with your story.
Put this on your CV and you will get called for most interviews.
Mention this to any relative and he won't bring up your marital status again.
That is the power of those 4 words. And we at InsideIIM felt that we need to make getting published easier for the b-school community - after all, they have pretty much run the Indian publishing industry in the last decade or so. A lot of bestselling authors in India are MBAs - Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathi, Durjoy Datta, Sidin Vadukut - and on and on the list goes.
So here we are with our next big property. We give you a platform to write and get published and get read by thousands of InsideIIM's subscribers. We are putting together a book of short stories collected from InsideIIM's massive reader base.
What will the book be about?
The book is a compilation of short stories from across campuses in India. The eligible entries will be by students who are either currently studying on an Indian b-school campus or have studied in one in the past. Out of the entries we receive, the 20 - 25 top stories will be published not only on
insideiim.com as an e-book but also will be available as a physical copy which can be bought online.
Short stories can be fictional or actual instances or a mix of both that takes place on a b-school campus or related to it.
The short story should be more than 2,000 words for it to be considered to be a part of the contest.
You may not use the submitted entry in any form on any other platform. Only original pieces which haven't been published elsewhere till now will be considered. Any plagiarised entries will immediately be disqualified from the contest.
What do you need to do to enter?
Firstly, you need to
fill this form to register. Do register immediately so we can help your story-writing process with ideas, thought-starters and updates.
Once you have filled the form, you can send your short stories to
ayana@insideiim.com with a picture of you on campus and a brief bio. Please keep in mind that you have to be the sole author of the story. Co-authorship is not allowed for this contest. Also, the story should either be in English or Hinglish. No regional languages allowed.
It's that simple.
Who all are eligible?
The contest is only open to b-school students and alumni of b-schools.
What is on offer if your story is selected?
You mean apart from being published as an author, there's more? Yes, there is. Authors of selected entries will get Rs 5,000 plus Kredits worth Rs 5,000 to take online courses on Konversations.com PLUS a
uthors of all selected stories will undergo online and offline training on creative writing and getting published over the course of 2 weeks, making it a unique opportunity to combine 3 exciting benefits - making money, getting published and getting trained on the job.
What are the timelines?
The contest begins on 2nd November 2017 and will be until 4th February 2018, 11:59 pm. (You can fill the form first and send the entries later).
Result Date : TBA
The e-book will be released by April 2018.
So give your stories some air. For long they have been suffocated in the midst of stoned friends in a tiny hostel room. Or been dismissed by angry professors in a hurry to finish their course. Look around you - there is plenty of inspiration for you to draw from your campus. Write a horror story or a romantic one, a full-on drama or a murder mystery - there are no restrictions.
We promise that some of you will be able to say these magic words someday soon - "I'm a published author."
For rules, and T&C, please click
here.
Have more questions regarding this? Email Nidhi at
nidhi.malkan@insideiim.com.