Ravi Subramanian

When 'If God Was a Banker' became a success, it changed my entire perspective. I wanted to write more and wanted to be lot more successful as a writer.

The problem with most of the want-to-be authors is that they are unable to focus. Either they have no idea of where to begin, or they have hundreds of ideas and don't know which one to pick. Both scenarios leading to one result... they give up even before they start.

For 'The Bestseller'... there was hardly any research, but I had to give each person a quirk and develop their stories so that it would relate to who they are.

With thrillers, I tend to concentrate on the research and pace more than the characters.

I write about banking because it is something I'm familiar with. Also, I don't have to do much research on it.

Any author gets inspired by the experiences and events that happen to him or his immediate circle. While that's where the seed or the idea germinates, by the end of the story, it accounts for hardly anything in the book.

Corporate career is like my wife, and writing is my girlfriend. My priority is the first but enjoy doing the second, as I have taken to writing as a stress-beater.

People take shortcuts to meet ends in MNCs.

When James Bond presses the watch and the car explodes, the writer doesn't go into the science of it. One should leave it to the leap of faith. I have tried to explain as much as possible, and what I can't, I have left it to people's imagination.

I would like to implore all the governments of the world to come together to form a protocol to regulate virtual currency.

If there is one currency that helped Wikileaks take on the might of the U.S. Government, it was Bitcoins.

Thousands of books are published every year in India, and it's becoming more difficult to stand out and get people to buy the books. The only way to get people notice the book is to create a buzz much before it's released.

There's a market for fiction based on financial services. People wanted me to write stories based on this sector. There's a gap in the market, and I'm trying to fill it.

As authors, we know that it is very difficult to unleash one's creativity.

A profession which is seen as intellectually glamorous is often the most misunderstood when it comes to the commerce involved.

A misconception that exists in the eyes of the general reading population is that authors make truckloads of money.

For me, writing is fun. The day I quit my job and take up writing full time, writing will become just another job. A commercial necessity.

Write something that you are comfortable with. Do not venture into something that you do not want to write about, because gradually, your discomfort with the subject will begin to show.

If somebody says that they want to write a book but do not know what to write about, they will never write a book.

Most writers write from their own experiences. That is where the honesty and intensity of emotions come from.

I do not think I will ever write screenplays based on my books. I would not know what to cut out and what portions to keep. I like all the characters I have created. I cannot imagine chopping them off.

I feel as long as people enjoy what they read and learn something more, I have done my job as a writer.

Saying 'I am not interested in politics' is no guarantee that people will leave you alone. The politically-inclined will single you out as a soft target and go after you.

A lot of things that I write about have happened to people around me, if not necessarily to me or in the organizations I've worked in. Having said that, it's fiction and has a lot to do with my imagination and creativity.

While a lot of management development books try to teach you a lesson or give you a scenario of what corporate culture and work practices are about, they're theoretical and written in a sermonizing way. Most people don't get past the first chapter, and they just look nice on the bookshelf.

People think writing is a very distinguished, cerebral thing, where all you do is write. It doesn't work that way. People have to see online promotions, see piles of your book in stores, and you have to make sure the guy recommends it!

I'm an executive director at a company which gives out retail loans.

I write largely plot-driven stories.

I get to office early at about 8 A.M., and I'm back home by 6 to write.

I am very adventurous with authors, but not very with genres.

I am not a great fan of serious, heavy writing. I prefer simple, short sentences, light on prose.

I read almost everything that comes my way.

My preferred genre of reading is crime thrillers - books by Harlan Coben, Jo Nesbo, David Baldacci, James Patterson, Ashwin Sanghi and a few others - and I write crime thrillers.

Books should be both enlightening and entertaining.

To me, a good storyteller should be able to tell stories across genres.

I can write in my living room with my wife and kid around.

I have a day job where I make money and satisfy my self-esteem. Writing is for fun, and I want to keep it that way.

Most MBA graduates are hungry for intellectual glamour.

One shouldn't say yes in desperation to the first publisher who approaches. New authors especially should wait and weigh their deal and agree only when they are sure that they have landed themselves a good offer.

I believe if you've written a book, you have to stand up and say, 'Guys, buy the book.'

The royalty any author gets is dependent on his track record and marketability and often on the price of his book, too. The higher you price a book, the more comfortable your publisher will be in paying you a higher royalty.

Writing with a film in mind - writing like a screenplay - is a sureshot recipe for disaster.

As long as youngsters learn the right things, it really doesn't matter where they learn it from.

I look at every book as a new learning opportunity.

A bookstore has thousands of titles to sell. You need to be the guy the store attendant recommends to the reader.

After my first book, many of my readers came back to tell me that the female characters I had created were not strong enough. I have consciously rectified that in my next four books. In any case, it's true that women run the world, and men would do better to listen to them!

It's not research if you're really interested in what you're reading.

Writing in India will not dramatically change till we learn to value books.

I must say that books in India are not only underpriced but are also undervalued.

There were many times in my initial days as a writer when I had felt the need to talk to someone, to leverage on someone's experience, to learn from someone who had written and published a book.