One on One with Karan Sivalingam

I had a chance to sit down with author Karan Sivalingam and talk about his experience with his first book, It is What it is.

Your debut book is called, It is What it is. What inspired you to write this?

One day I was driving to work and nearly hit a whole family of geese crossing the street. I stopped to let them cross the street, but the car from the next lane didn’t even see the family of geese and ran them over. This incident gave me the idea to write my first short story. From that point on my passion for writing short stories grew.

What inspired the title of your book, and the theme of your stories?

In life there are times when things happen that was never planned. During these moments, I was always told, “It is what it is.” I never planned to write a book but now that I did, It Is What It Is.


Your book It is What it is is an anthology of short stories. Some people say that short stories are a dying art - what made you go 'against the grain’ in terms of publishing short stories?

I live [my] life believing [and having] faith, that all will work out in the end and I knew I had to start somewhere. Especially for all those people that don’t have time to read novels, It Is What It Is is an easy to read, on-the-go type of book.

A lot of people write things, but what gave you the confidence to go out and get it published?

I wrote many stories and I knew there was no point to keep my talent a secret. So I took the risk and got my stories published.

Which route did you use to publish and why?

I took the self publishing route for my first book because I needed people to see my talent first. I also felt that it was the more affordable route to take.


Who came up with the cover art of your book and do you have any advice on choosing the cover for a book?

I searched the internet for an image with the right theme. Once I found the picture, I gave it to the [self] publishing company to give them an idea of the image I wanted to go for and they produced several images for my cover book. I worked with the [self] publishing company and together we came up with [the] perfect cover.  

Any advice for those who are also trying to publish their work?

Never give up hope on getting your story published, it just takes time to get to where you want to be. Don’t lose hope. Research all the different companies out there before you chose to pay for one. Ask as many questions as you can, even if it sounds silly. Be well informed [in order to] make the right decision.

What’s been the hardest thing about publishing your book?

I would say editing was the hardest part of getting a book published. No matter how many times you fixed up the grammar or punctuation, there was always something that just didn’t seem right.  

What has been the most rewarding?

The support from all my friends and fans was rewarding. There were many fans I didn’t even know I had until they approached me and said they loved the book. It was great to hear that people couldn’t put the book down.

How can people get a copy of your book?

You can get the book at www.karansivalingam.com, www.amazon.com or you can email me at bb_karan@hotmail.com to arrange something. They are available in soft cover, hardcover and e-reader.