"Youngsters want to become YouTubers the way they once wanted to become engineers & doctors": 'Booming Digital stars' authors Harsh Pamnani & Manish Pandey

-The journey of Manish and Harsh writing the book together

It’s been an enjoyable ride of over 400 days, and both of us have witnessed many ups and downs together. We’ve found many benefits to writing as a duo

Both of us have complementary skills and different sphere of influence. So, in a way coming together helped us to share the load, and doubled our skills and reach.

For any partnership to work, respect and trust are the two important criteria. We respect each other’s personal space. Patiently listen to each other’s ideas and trust each other’s decisions. So, we never had conflicts on small issues. And even if some difference of opinion was there we discussed and came on the same page through open minded conversations.

In a nutshell, all the things worked in our favor because we both had a common dream and we both were equally passionate about it.

- The inspiration behind writing 'Booming Digital Star'

Today, youngsters are being drawn to become YouTubers the way they were once attracted to becoming engineers, doctors and lawyers. One key reason for this rising interest is the financial windfall digital creators achieve, especially those with million-plus followers. The market will inevitably see an inflow of a lot of creators. Consequently, the chances of creators getting lost in the crowd are higher than the chances of getting noticed.

In crowded markets, customers use brands as quality-guarantee shortcuts to make choices. There have been many books written about becoming the CEO of a large corporation or creating a fast-growing start-up, and business schools teach how to analyze and manage product and business brands. But it is hard to find a book or business school course on creating and managing a single-person brand in an emerging Creator Economy. Hence we wrote this book to fill the void.

- How did the name 'booming digital stars' was finalized

Harsh: I started Booming series a few years back in which I cover the inspiring journeys of new age Indian brands. In the past, I have written Booming Brands volume 1 and Volume 2. Manish suggested that the way I write for start-up brands, I should also think about writing on single person brands or personal brands, especially from the context of Creator Economy. So we extended the scope of Booming series and came up with the name Booming Digital Stars.

- Challenges faced while writing the book

We started writing this book in 2020. During this period, on the one hand, traditional entertainment sources such as Bollywood and events were breaking under the strain of the Covid-19 pandemic, and on the other, the new entertainment sources such as YouTube channels and video games, were proliferating. So, many digital creators were super busy. It was hard for us to get their time. So we had to be patient and persistent in our follow-ups.

- How has the response been

By God’s grace the response has been great. The book became a National Bestseller within 15 days of launch. It also turned No. 1 Bestseller in Entrepreneurship, Creativity, Starting a Business, and Internet & Social Media categories on Amazon. We are thankful to all the readers for giving so much love to Booming Digital Stars.

- How the creators who are a part of the book were finalised

We were focused on creating a mix of journeys in different creative spaces (dance, music, comedy, cooking, etc.) so that our readers get a portfolio of learnings. So, we created the list of 30 to 40 leading creators from different fields. We are thankful to the ones who gave us their time and hope that others will give us their time for our future books.

- Where can one buy the book

The book is available on Amazon and Flipkart, major airports and retail stores.

- Future plans

This book is not only a tribute to India's Creator Economy, but also a small contribution to its further growth. With the rise of more creators, the demand for their stories will also increase, so you can expect that we will be writing more volumes of these inspiring stories. We eagerly await the day when the creators we cover in our future books will tell us that this, our first book, played a meaningful role in their journeys.

- anything else we would like to share

Advice for content creators:

· When you start, don’t focus on numbers. Just focus on content. Content is King. If you figure that out, everything else will fall into place.

· If you want to become a content creator, then create a content publishing timetable and follow it with discipline.

· Follow your dream. If you are consistent and put your 100%, something good will happen.

Published on: Monday, February 21, 2022, 10:54 AM IST