Last week, I picked up a book to read after months and felt a rush of adrenaline while I was walking back from the park after sitting there and reading for an hour. Quite honestly, my life flew away from me in the past few months. Although I'm supposed to be in control of it, it took over, and I went from being the driver to the passenger looking out the window at all the flying balloons.
In this context, balloons refer to all the hobbies and routines I had before I jumped headfirst into writing and self-publishing my first book, titled Admitted, aimed at helping anyone who aspires to study abroad.
My book took over everything
Everything.
If you remember me from my previous newsletters, I had a fantastic routine. I used to wake up, play badminton in the mornings, get ready leisurely, walk to the office while thinking what I'm grateful for, spend the day between projects and people, go to the dog park in the evening to read a book, sit in the library for a few hours to write (or read more), and finally go home past 9 PM and cook dinner while talking to my family and friends. And read again before sleeping. Ah.. it feels so good to reminisce.
The past few months... I have been working on my projects at Salesforce and working on the book. Day and night. That's it. In between, I also moved from Bellevue to San Francisco.
My book took over everything because I decided to do everything myself.
Aside from brainstorming, researching, and writing my book Admitted, I also got involved in designing, marketing, and sales. I did not want to go through a publisher. Thankfully, the "I" soon became a "we". Somehow, over the past eight months, seven others decided to join and help me in different capacities: for editing, researching, graphic design, marketing, and more. Not to mention the dozens of people who proof-read, gave reviews, and promoted on social channels. Now, I know what it takes to launch a product from the notion of an idea to completion.
Speaking of which, Admitted is now officially launched on Amazon India!
But first, what's so special about it?
When I began this project, I wanted to spend one week and build a 10-page guide. But now, we have a 368-page book that covers every single step of getting your dream admit and studying abroad. Each chapter is a deep dive into a specific topic with personal stories from my past and actionable templates.
Of course, it doesn't stop there. Every page was designed in Adobe Illustrator and contains beautiful illustrations and other vignettes. And, I also borrowed concepts from history, psychology, and behavioral economics to (hopefully) make it an intriguing read. You know I had to!
In fact, instead of saying all this, let me show you a page from the book.
...every page looks like that. ;)
I need your help...
I'm a frugal person who only cares to spend money on the most basic necessities in her life. But, when it comes to spending money for a good cause, I tend to be more liberal. And this is a great cause for me, personally.
I haven't told this to many, but my team and I decided to pledge 100% of all the profits from the book towards helping children who don't even get access to basic education. We haven't yet dotted the i's and crossed the t's on it, because we want to focus on first selling the books and generating the money. Once we do a good job there, we will have the luxury to work on the next problem.
That's where I need your help.
I made the decision to mass print 3000 books for starters in the hopes that I will find a way to sell them, with the help of people like you.
If you're thinking that... yes!!! There are many things you can do to help:
Purchase the book on Amazon if you are an aspiring international student yourself. If youโre still unsure of the value, check out the first chapter that we published for free and gauge the value.
Share this post (or your own) on social media so those who are aspiring students can lay their eyes upon it. Below is an example message for you to kick things off:
"Hi, folks! I've been reading Soundarya's newsletters on neuroscience and productivity for a while. Recently, I got to know she launched her first book, titled Admitted, on higher education. It's aimed at helping anyone who wants to study abroad. Seems like a ton of work went into making it, and it looks promising. Check out the link to learn more: goto.admittedthebook.com/order.โ
Forward this email to just one friend of yours who would find it useful or who knows someone who would.
It all begins with a single step.
Before you leave
I began this newsletter with the question, where is Soundarya?
The answer is, she is just an email away. :)
Although I haven't sent out the past couple newsletters, please know that I'll be back very soon. I cannot thank you enough for being patient with me.
And you can expect even better quality content when I return.
Very happy to have you back as a blogger :) It just appears that your journey of soul searching and self realization has just begun, my wishes to you on becoming an author and finding the true purpose of life
Congrats on leaping as an Author, Glad to see you back... Waiting for the next big news ;)