It pays to get an agent. Take Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi. When the 27-year-old wrote his first novel, The Last Song of Dusk—a tale set in '20s India—he didn't rush his manuscript to a publisher as other Indian writers are wont to. Instead, his agent sold the book abroad and only then brought it here. The result: a princely advance from the normally tight-fisted Penguin. Even if it can't compare with what his UK publisher has paid, Shanghvi is set to make a splash with his April debut.
Verbal skills, yes, but who would have known V.S. Naipaul is also an ace at non-verbal communication? At a recent reading in Bangalore, a website (newindpress.com) reporter noticed a curious thing about Sir Vidia and his lady wife. "The minute he handed over his fine hat to her, it was a signal for her to take charge." Lady Naipaul handled the hordes like a field marshal, telling off the photographers with a stern, "He won't talk until you leave." The paparazzi trooped out meekly, but the edginess hung in the air. When a fan moved to the front to hear him better, the irascible Sir Vidia stopped his reading to wail, "Why do you do this to me?"
