Top 55 Ravi Subramanian Quotes

My understanding is that a book becomes a best seller only when it is pirated, sold on footpaths and at traffic lights.

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.

I keep saying my books don’t have superheroes. They have ordinary people in extraordinary situations.

I write largely plot-driven stories.

Generally, people who crib about corporate politics are, more often than not, those who’ve played the game but lost it.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

An author needs to be in the market. He or she needs to come out with a new book every year. That keeps you alive in the public mind and gives a push to your older books.

The distribution might which Penguin brought to the table and the stature they gave me as an author is unparalleled.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In Indian companies, people aren’t too worried about the pace of growth as long as you’re setting up a business which will survive for years.

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

If I did not have a de-stresser such as writing novels, I would lose focus at work.

In fiction, if people like one of your books, they tend to pick up your other books as well.

One can become drab, dull, and boring doing the same thing every day. Writing helps break the monotony.

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

I firmly believe that there is no better thriller writer than Harlan Coben.

I look at every book as a new learning opportunity.

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

It is almost impossible to win back a reader’s loyalty once it’s gone.

I believe Bitcoin is a very convenient way to shop and to transfer money to any account around the world. Governments should work around a framework for the currency instead of putting restrictions on it.

Books should be both enlightening and entertaining.

If you see in all my books, I have two key intentions. One is obviously to entertain and make sure that the reader has a good reading experience. I also try to write on subjects that nobody has dealt with before to make my works different from other page turners.

There is a certain amount of intrigue that gets created by revealing portions of the book and, in the process, generating a certain amount of interest. Often, authors do this by releasing a few chapters online or even releasing film-like trailers.

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 probably one of the few authors in this country who could very comfortably live off my writing.

Bitcoin is complex: the entire private and public key issue, the transfers, the mining of bitcoins… but if you tell it as fiction, people would understand and remember.

Most MBA graduates are hungry for intellectual glamour.

A self-confessed fan of Harlan Coben, I find it difficult to not read a new Harlan Coben novel the week it comes out.

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.

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

I read almost everything that comes my way.

Kids who read are bright.

In India, we don’t read thrillers; we read authors.

I had, at a point in time, decided not to write on the corporate world. But if people expect me to set stories in a work environment, then why go away from it?

People take shortcuts to meet ends in MNCs.

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

After my first book, I figured that since it was successful, I wanted to continue things better.

If you are careful about the content and writing style, readers will not feel that you are in a hurry.

If a reader likes a particular author, they keep reading all his books, and if the supply is not kept up, then the reader shifts his loyalties.

Books marketing has moved from the review culture to a preview culture.

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.

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

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!

My favourite authors are John Grisham and Jeffrey Archer. Grisham rapidly established himself and now completely owns the legal space of fiction writing, something I want to do in financial space. I like Archer because he keeps his readers engaged: every chapter is a page turner, and he keeps his writing simple.

Given my extensive background in foreign banks, writing about them came quite naturally to me. Thankfully, God has been kind to me.