To Share, or Not to Share - A Writer's Dilemma, by Harini Nagendra

Here's the question of the week: How much should a writer share about their personal life? 

Sally Rooney has refused, in interviews, to talk about her private life. Author Debbie Urbanski recently wrote a piece for Literary Hub titled: If I tell you secrets about my personal life, will you look at my new book? The point Debbie made was, most of us are desperate for publicity, we need our books to sell, so we feel compelled to participate in the sharing of personal information. What are your thoughts on how much writers should share?

I'm not comfortable with putting details of my private life out for public consumption. But even if I was, the basic premise doesn't make sense to me. Sure, many readers are eager to know even the smallest details of celebrities - their sleep and work routines, what they like to eat for breakfast, the names of their pets, salacious details of their romantic lives, what their kids wore to go on a play date - but that's celebrities. I don't see why anyone would be interested in the daily life of a regular writer. Just like my fellow Minds writers this week have described this week, I don't think I have done anything terrifically adventurous - nor do I live a life that is glamorous and full of parties, fine clothing and late nights. 

If a reader wants to hear about a regular day in my life, I'd be happy to share it with them on a podcast - one of those podcasts you play at night when you want to go to sleep.      

I really think it's a myth, that sharing the tiniest little details of your personal information with readers will make them buy your books. Many of my favorite authors, whom I follow on social media, post very little about themselves - I read their posts for any details they may reveal about their writing life, their processes of writing, and the books they are working on now. Especially if they're writing a series, and I want to know when I can expect the next book that tells me what my favorite characters have been up to since the last time I read about their shenanigans.

I do know a number of writers that work assiduously to post at least 3-4 times a week, trying to increase their follower count, because that's what their editors and agents asked them to do. Has it increased their sales? Hard to say for sure, but it seems unlikely. From my own experience - and I do post a lot, and have a decent number of followers on some platforms like LinkedIn, but that's mostly on ecology and sustainability (my day job) - I don't see my social media posts on books moving the needle on sales. In-person events do make a difference, and the independent bookstores that I visit often in Bangalore move close to half the books I sell in India - the lovely people at these stores hand sell my books, and are absolutely the best friends a writer can have. 

Do they know about my personal life? No, and I think they would be horrified if I began to overshare. I don't know much about their life either, which is fine with me. I am very touched and honored to have faithful readers who turn up at these events and chat with me, and line up to get books personalized and signed for friends. I can recognize several by face now, and some by name as well, and we chat a bit about this and that - but it's mostly about the books, or the traffic and the weather, or sometimes about plans they have to write a book themselves - which is always lovely to chat about. 

When we don't exchange personal information about ourselves with readers when we chat with them in person, why would it be any different on social media?

But let's move from discussions of personal life to something better - new books! Into the Leopard's Den, Book 4 in The Bangalore Detectives Club series, released on 1 July in the US and other parts of the world - the India release date is July 18.

Here's the gorgeous US/world cover

 And the stunning India cover - it's hard to say which one I prefer, both are so different but I love them equally.

And now, about the book. 

Amateur detective Kaveri Murthy returns with her most complex case yet: investigating a series of murders that take her from the bungalows of Bangalore to the mist-enshrouded mountains of Coorg.

Bangalore, 1922: Pregnant and confined to the house by her protective mother-in-law, Kaveri Murthy has resolved to take a break from detection. But when an elderly woman is murdered at night and dies clutching a photograph of Kaveri while asking for her help—how can she refuse? Missing the assistance of her husband Ramu, who is working in Coorg, Kaveri investigates her new case with her able assistants, milk boy Venu and housemaid Anandi. They find a trail of secrets that lead them to suspect the killer may be in Coorg.

Eager to be reunited with her husband, Kaveri sets off to Coorg to investigate. When she arrives, she encounters a thorny thicket of cases. Why does a ghost leopard prowl the forests at night, terrorizing the plantation workers? And who is trying to kill Colonel Boyd, the Coffee King of Coorg? She finds suspects in every coffee bush and estate—from Boyd’s surly plantation manager and security guard to the feuding brothers who own the neighboring plantation—and the many women the Coffee King has pursued and abandoned.

When two vulnerable children appeal for her help, Kaveri is drawn deeper into the case, becoming emotionally involved in finding the killer. Soon, one murder turns into two—and then a few days later into three. Now the killer has tasted blood and needs to be stopped. Racing against time, Kaveri must take on her most complex challenge so far, with the assistance of Anandi and Venu in Bangalore, and with Ramu and Inspector Ismail in Coorg. In this stunning new novel by an acclaimed master of the form, the Bangalore Detectives Club must find and expose a brutally intelligent killer before they strike again.

Get the book at your favourite local bookstore, or

https://bookshop.org/p/books/into-the-leopard-s-den-a-bangalore-detectives-club-mystery/RGgUs59vWC29VzRS?ean=9781639368976&next=t&

or your online platform of choice!