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'I didn't think I'd become the next Rushdie'

At 22 he wanted to change the whole world. At 24 he had changed two jobs -- in the advertising and television industry -- and wrote a book on the advertising industry that must have deflated at least a dozen egos.

When Omkar Sane set out to write Welcome To Advertising! Now Get Lost when he worked with MTV, he was pretty aware of what he was getting into. He had made up his mind by then that he would never go back to advertising. That gave him all the guts he needed to write a scathing yet humorous account of the ad industry as he sees it.

He is not done yet. His next book, which he is confident will hit the shelves by April 2010, will take on the television industry. Though as a first-time author Welcome To Advertsing... may not have made him a rich man he is sure his second book will make him rich and famous.

In an interview with Prasanna D Zore, Omkar discussed the difficulties and challenges faced by first-time authors, the advertising industry and gives out some light-hearted advice to young aspiring writers.

How did Welcome To Advertising! Now Get Lost happen?

It happened to me. I was welcomed to advertising and then asked to get lost. That's where the title came from. I lived the industry for close to a year as a full-timer and for quite some time now as a freelancer. I saw the ad industry as a world that had fancy designations but very little inside it. So I thought of poking fun at all of us.

Did you poke fun at yourself too?

Yes. I am the copywriter in the book. There is no place for any egos: theirs or mine. I was hoping that everyone is sporting and cool enough, as they call themselves, to laugh at themselves. So far, as far as I know, people from advertising have loved it and appreciated it.

No criticism whatsoever?

There always is but I wouldn't want to get into that. Some people probably don't like being made fun of. When I set off writing this book I didn't think I would please everyone. But I was pleased with my efforts and was confident enough to get this out.

As a first-time author were you confident you will get a publisher?

I worked the wrong way out of this. There's a famous saying where there's a will, there's a way. I didn't have a publisher in mind when I started writing this book. I just started writing it without worrying about anybody publishing it. However, dating the right girl helped. So I found a publisher quite easily and they liked the book. It was a usual send a synopsis and introduction... I sent it and they loved the title.

Did it take a lot for you to woo this date?

Thankfully, it didn't take so much. Maybe my actions made her laugh, she fell for it and I am happy I was in that situation then.

How many copies have you sold yet?

I really don't know. I didn't write this book to make money or I didn't think I would become the next (Salman) Rushdie after writing this book. I had no dreams of becoming rich and famous out of my first book.

I wrote it because I wanted to write it.

'There's fame in anonymity when you are a writer'

How do you feel after writing this book?

Oh, it's like peeing after a very long time. I feel very relieved, very happy and you are ready to go all over again. It's a wonderful feeling. It's a great feeling to see yourself on shelves and to see people buy your book while you are standing there. So there is fame in anonymity also when you are a writer and that is wonderful.

So when are you going to pee next?

I should be peeing again next April I hope. I will submit my next manuscript sometime in October if I make it and I hope by my next birthday on April 14th my next book will be out there on the shelves.

What's this new book about?

It is about the television industry. It's a worm's eye view of the television industry. It looks at the television industry -- like Welcome to Advertising... looks at the ad industry -- but it looks at in a very serious way. So I am hoping my humour from being satirical or farcical in Welcome to Advertising... could become existential or dark. The premise of my next book remains the same in that it exposes the television industry for what it really is.

But this time around this book also tries to offer insights and solutions to what can be or what should have been.

Your dos and don'ts for youngsters who want to make their career in the ad industry...

You should join advertising to enjoy the free beer, free Internet connection, and the host of books that you get your hands on in the library, and to not join it you should join it. Because that's the only way you will ever know why you should not join it from my point of view.

Your book portrays a feeling that nothing creative comes out of the advertising industry...

But that is so true. When were the last time you stopped at an ad while flipping through a newspaper or a magazine? When was the last time you wished you passed by a hoarding because you thought it was so tastefully or creatively done?

Today, advertising has become more of a business and less of an art which is where the problem starts and ends. When it becomes business it is just a bunch of prostitutes trying to sell each other to each other. The dearth of creativity in advertising is what pricks today and it is just growing each and every day.

Is that the reason you quit advertising?

One of the reasons; that was one of the disillusioning part because I thought that with great ideas and great writing I can get noticed. But then it was my own entire fault. I was a 22 year old then looking at an industry and thinking. I am going to make a difference... I am going to change the world with my creativity.

Look at Indian copywriters from yesteryears and you thought I want to write like this because that was real work. Those were released ads and even the clients were brave enough to release them. Now, the system of scam advertising has come in. Now, the real work means only award work. If you don't win an award your work has s**t value.

Three ads in the recent past that you like the most and hate the most...

Can the first lot be smaller and the 'hate the most' become longer?

One ad that I liked the most in the recent past is Airtel's Special 5. Walk While You Talk was very cool. As a thought it's very good; I know people who actually do it, that's real insight and the not-so recent one is the Vodafone ad where the boy follows the girl. I didn't like the Zoozoo ads, which got so much attention, very much.

And apart from this I don't like very many ads. All soaps and detergents ads just suck. All toothpaste ads are really, really ridiculous. Celebrity ads also suck.

'The Internet is not as prejudiced as other traditional media'

What are the challenges in front of you as a writer?

First of all: how to convince people to buy your book. Everybody wants a free copy. Everybody wants to read a borrowed copy. The biggest challenge is that when you are nobody, people don't believe in your abilities howsoever talented you may be.

When I first floated the idea that I am going write a book the first reaction was: what rubbish! Paagal ho gaya hai kya? This is the classic middle class trap. You have grown up always aspiring to work for somebody; you've seen your dad slogging for 30 years in one company and so you also want to continue doing it.

Society has set one stupid timeline for everything: earn xyz amount by this age; get married by 27; have children by 30...

So to break that trap in your mind first and then in other people's mind and then actually go and prove them wrong is really a big task. Theirs is a constant fear of maybe I will prove them right.

The other challenge was getting good publicity for the book. Because if you are a nobody, the press is really not interested in you. They will look at you only if celebs get behind your book.

Is that your personal experience as well?

The leading dailies were not interested in covering me. I've had terrible experiences with many of these newspapers in the past one month, to the point of going insane, that I thought of writing a book on why not to write a book.

Publicity is the toughest aspect for a first-time writer unless your last name is Kapoor or Ambani.

Did that unnerve you? How did you manage to get publicity for your book then?

No, it didn't disappoint much when newspapers rejected me because it's part and parcel of the game. I am hoping to reject them when I become really big.

But thankfully, the Internet is not as prejudiced or biased as other traditional media. The word-of-mouth publicity that Facebook generated for my book was unbelievable. I don't know how many people posted my blog link on their profile, on their blogs and of course googled it. Internet is really magic!

Internet sort of gives you a huge push and you don't need to be anybody, it's everybody's medium.

So now that you have been asked to get lost from the advertising world and you are planning to come out with your next book in April next how do you eke out a living?

I freelance with many other people. There are too many names to name so no point in doing that. But I get by with a little bit of help from my friends and with a little help with my own words. I hope the book on the television industry gets me money and fame.

Your advice to young aspiring writers...

Start drinking, get good girlfriends, get a good critic who also pays your bills, get a good commode to sit on, always carry a pen and paper because for all the genius of the human beings there is faster way to transfer ideas from brain to paper and before you set off writing a book know your end points. If you don't know where you want to take it you will end up in a tangle.