Today we are featuring the first of a two-part discussion with AuthorPod Flip-zine & podcast founder Nilshree Yelulkar. She describes herself as "An Engineer, a wife, a mother, a homemaker, a published author (of 6 books), and founder of Authoropod trying to add an EXTRA to an ORDINARY life." * Part 2 will be published on January 13th.
Fascinated by this we just had to have her as a guest for a series of interviews. The first 2 will be discussing her work with Authoropod. Authoropod has 2 main sections, the e-magazine that utilizes flip book technology & the podcast that focus on topics of interest to authors. Interestingly, on of our articles appeared in her magazine just last year... Find it HERE.
Nilshree invites you to check out her personal blog, Love At First Write @ : www.loveatfirstwrite.in & visit the Authoropod website @: https://authorpod-magazine.vercel.app
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World of Writing Interview : with the founder of Authoropod, Part 1
A: We chose Flip-book because:
1) It can be accessed easily, as well as working on it was comparatively less tedious for us!
2) Since we had this clear in mind that it is going to be an e-magazine only, we still wanted readers to give a feel of reading a magazine, and we thought, the page-turning feature helps us give that feel to some extent!
Q: Being an entrepreneur isn't easy - What led to your being in the position you are now?
A: I am a self-published author of 6 books. I faced a lot of challenges in promoting my books. After connecting with fellow authors through social media, I realized they were sailing in the same boat! So thought of making it easy for all of us! That is the time when the idea of the Authoropod came to me. I am the Founder, Chief Editor as well as strategize editions with my team.
Q: That is a lot of hats to wear - Founder, Chief Editor, author, podcast host... We'll definitely have you back to talk about your experience as an author later on in the year. What are your favorite aspects of running a business like this? What gives you the most joy?
The latest extension to our existing e-magazine is podcast, and it has been such a value add! A totally unpredictable decision that turned out to be a massive hit. It gives me the most joy, as I get to interact with authors, on topics that are beyond their books. I am someone who believes that we keep evolving only if we keep learning, and podcasting is something new I learned and execute thoroughly on my own!
Q: How do you go about attracting a customer base/readership?
A: We majorly do our promotions on Social Media (Facebook and Instagram) as well as have managed a database of 200 authors through our three editions. We make sure our email marketing is on point. Also, ss we invite all the contributions for free, the only thing we expect in return is to share and refer us, which went well to date!
Q: What kind of culture exists in your organization and how did you establish it?
A: I started it with 3 very close friends of mine, and made it clear that there would not be any monetization happening in the first year as to make a mark for ourselves, and make a name in this industry, we first need to prove ourselves, and they were fine with it. However, we plan to start chargeable services after the completion of the first year.
The culture here has been very open, as we know each other well. We connect over a conference call every 15 days to see what content has been received, how to drive the existing campaigns further, etc.
Q: How do you generate new ideas?
A: All 4 of us brainstorm. After the release of each edition, we discuss a proper SWAT analysis kind of thing, not formally, or casually! We also think of how to be better the next time. Our readers have been kind enough to share inputs, hence every time we had a new domain to work on.
"We keep evolving only if we keep learning"
Q: You mention "we" and "us", does this mean that you have employees?
I would not call them employees, they are my team members cum friends, who trusted me when everyone else was busy ignoring my plan to start Authoropod.
Renuka Mahesh who is the MD of her family venture, Explore Kid's World is our publishing partner as well as takes care of the Rising Star Section in the magazine which is dedicated to kids.
Surekha Pandit Verenekar is the editor as well as works towards strategizing and following up with inquiries that come on social media.
Akshay Amabtwart is the guy behind all the technical happenings at Authoropod. He has designed the website, keeps checking on the database, and sends bulk emails.
Q: There are often so many areas that one could improve when it comes to running a business. How did you come to decide on which changes to take on first? (what inspired you to make changes, talk about the current or future action plan ).
The kind of feedback that we have received, has been the sole reason for making changes in the running business. While strategizing, we consider all the angles and sides, however, the reader's perspective is above all! Hence we prioritize working on the feedback that we receive.
... watch for part 2 of this discussion on January 13th !
Thank you Nilshree for helping us understand this interesting publishing format, your work and more. :)
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