I have quite a few favourites to list here. Mostly with strong women characters. Pinjar has Puro, The Ghost has Sarah Ferguson and Swami has Ramabai.

Danielle Steel. Her's is an old school descriptive narrations that take us to another world altogether. Sally Rooney has that magical effect too. And ofcourse Murakami. But then there's Sophie Kinsella who will wrap me up in a warm blanket of her words and narratives she weaves. Appreciate all of them. 

Quality of writing has definitely suffered maybe because writers write but the self-publishing houses do not have a trained & efficient editing system in place despite charging exorbitant prices for publishing these books. Having said that I also believe self-publishing has sort of helped most of us to get our stories out in the world faster than the traditional publishing could have done. Traditional publishing is a long wait, we all know it is worth it. But writers only crave for appreciation. And self-publishing has become a source of that validation. 

I think it is wonderful. I am among those people who are always craving for stories. I will sit and listen to a good story with rapt attention. Books to movies or web-series is a great way to be able to persue those stories which otherwise I would have missed. We won't be reading all the books in the world, right? And we are here on borrowed time and I don't want to miss out on a good piece of literature. 

As far as I can see poets are appreciated. Perhaps because I am a poetry connoisseur and usually surrounded by poets. But spoken word poetry format and short insta poetries are definitely here to stay. 

Highly possible. Marketing matters. The more you market the more chances of you selling better. Be it a book or any other product. Marketing is a game changer for the authors.  Right marketing even for a wrong book will make it a bestseller & vice versa. So one has to make sure alongside writing and publishing their marketing game is equally strong.

Efficiency in editing and marketing. Publishing houses aren't putting in much efforts when it comes to hiring content driven book bloggers or editors. There's an influx of vendors who provide reviews & services for cheap and that is a sad state of affairs because the book doesn't get its due. 

I love books in all formats. I will be reading 5 books at a time and in different formats. Best audiobook platform is indefinitely Storytel. However, they should change their pricing policy to suit the Indian market, in my view. 

One needs to understand that reading is an exercise for the mind and soul. Whatever you read adds to your personality. Good, bad and the ugly, too! Making reading an imperative will happen when you have a set goal in mind - self-improvement, developing a hobby, your me time - it can be anything. And once that's done you can begin small. Reading 50-100 pages everyday or setting aside 20-30mins everyday to read, is doable and achievable goal, I think.  

Well, I love romance, fantasy, romcoms but what empowers me is women's fiction. So my top 5 picks always are - 

The Ghost by Danielle Steel 

Pinjar by Amrita Pritam

Diary of a young girl Anne Frank

A matter of time by Shashi Deshpande

Swami by Ranjeet Desai

Write. Keep writing. The more you write the better your art will be. And once you are done writing and publishing, market your books to max! Sales won't happen overnight, they never do. So don't ever run behind those numbers. Publish and promote to establish yourself in the market.