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Indiwords Journal

The Journey of Voices, Old & New

It is the start of 2015 and in keeping with the time of year, the first book we are publishing this year is an anthology of short stories penned by a group of new and talented young writers. Some of these writers have been previously published, while the larger majority is being published for the first time—hence our title—Voices Old & New.

Voices Old & New encompasses the scope, values and aspirations of Indireads as a publishing house. The genres of stories are in the realm of popular fiction, the space that we occupy and aim to excel in and ultimately revolutionize by creating homegrown Sidney Sheldons, John Grishams, Nicholas Sparks and Nora Roberts. Romance, Drama, Crime & Mystery and finally Paranormal, the anthology provides something for everyone in all these popular categories.

Some of the stories are by writers we have come to know via our 1st Short Story competition, some are by writers and bloggers with whom we have developed ties over the past months, but fittingly, most are by new writers whose enormous talent we have been delighted to discover. All these gifted and passionate writers reaffirm our own faith, in our commitment to uncover new voices and showcase them to a global audience.

Finally, the winners, and this year we had two winners for each category, were offered the chance to work with us to challenge themselves and move beyond short stories to create a full-length novel. We salute them in this endeavor and commit to support them with all the learning, craft and experience we have garnered in working with over 40 new authors, some who completed the journey and others who found that they could not.

We begin the New Year with this brave new group of writers and hope that they will make it all the way to the top. And we present to you this year, an exciting new line-up of books by those who have already made the journey and have emerged victorious in this labor of love. Thank you for your support and we hope that you will show your love and appreciation to the new and exciting stories that will be emerging from our press—for you and your enjoyment. We toast you all, writers and readers and celebrate the New Year with voices, both old and new.

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News & Events

Double Win in the Drama Genre

dramaWe couldn’t decide. Both of these stories were exceptional. So we gave them both the prize.

Mohammed Musthafa Azeez for A Plate of Rice

and

Neha Puntambekar for In Exile

Both stories, as different as night and day, were strong in language, originality and racked up the votes (considering In Exile was the last story to be released on Indireads, it collected a great deal of votes in a very short span of time). Their individual qualities meant that we could not pass either of them up, so we offer them both our deepest congratulations.

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News & Events

Crime Winner None Other Than ‘A Second Chance’

crimeThis was a tough one. Not only was there strong competition, but we had the author’s second entry to consider as well. So when we picked

Dr. Roshan Radhakrishnan for A Second Chance,

it was a hard, long haul. Up against the likes of Mr. and Mrs. Sampath, and Sowing Seeds, A Second Chance edged ahead on the strength of snappy dialogue and crisp language. Congratulations, Roshan, this win was well-deserved!

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News & Events

‘Together Forever’ Wins Paranormal Spot

paranormalFor her incredibly twisted and fantastic short story, our winner in the paranormal genre is

SS Kuruganti for Together Forever

SS Kuruganti’s short story sent chills down our spines. Here is an author with a great imagination, and we think she deserves her place as a winner in the Indireads 1st Short Story Competition. Great job, SS Kuruganti!

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News & Events

‘Beautiful’ Wins in the Romance category

romanceOur first winner for Indireads 1st Short Story Competition is:

Yamini Vasudevan for Beautiful

Indireads felt that Yamini’s ability to turn a simple memory into a powerful story gave her a decided edge over the competition. This was a fairly easy choice for us, so congratulations, Yamini!