Sheeba Vinay: Championing New Voices in Publishing Through WeTalk Literary Agency.
Being a writer, especially a beginner can become a daunting task when not aware of the functioning of the Publishing industry. Finding their paths and getting to reach a wider audience has now become easier with WeTalk Literary Agency for several aspiring writers. Founded by Sheeba Vinay an accomplished author who wears many hats as an editor and compiler. As a writer herself, she knew the hardships writers go through to get their work published. Her passion for literature and aim to provide a robust support system for budding authors gave birth to WeTalk Literary Agency.
Beginnings Of A Passion Turned Into A Profession
Sheeba began her journey of writing at the tender age of 16, though there were pauses and shifts, her literary pursuit did not diminish. Family and other pressures may have dominated her time; however, she managed to balance it out and toiled to make a name for herself in the literary circles. The pandemic played a pivotal role in providing an impetus to pursue her dream. That’s when WeTalk was conceptualized, it became a community for women from all walks of life to explore writing and seek job opportunities. Her vision led to the establishment of a publishing consultancy that guided aspiring writers and prevalent authors to new-age publishing norms.
Initial challenges in entrepreneurship
Setting up a literary agency can get challenging when you are a new entrepreneur. As with all businesses, Sheeba had to face uncertainty and unpredictability, but she managed to pull through. Initially, WeTalk was a supportive community and later Sheeba converted it into a full-fledged agency, her team continued to rely on their day jobs while working to keep their literary dreams alive. It began with publishing anthologies and transitioned to enable solo authors to self-publish their work. From providing guidance in manuscripts to a publishing deal, Sheeba has set to make publication more accessible with the WeTalk literary agency through a steady progression.
A breakthrough for WeTalk
WeTalk Literary Agency got to work on several self-publishing projects, however, Sheeba felt the need to expand the business to traditional publishing. Her invaluable expertise in manuscript evaluation for publishing houses and adept knowledge of the intricacies involved in the industry prompted her to establish the agency as a client-centric enterprise. Over a year and a half, WeTalk has developed a strong portfolio for submitting numerous proposals to publishing houses while handling editing and ghostwriting projects. Sheeba has managed to reflect the scaling up of the agency consistently and providing authors opportunities outside of traditional publishing.
The team of WeTalk
The driving force for WeTalk Literary Agency is a strong-knit team consisting of Vinay Kulkarni, cofounder and legal advisor to look into the legal aspects, and Lakshmy, editor and manuscript specialist to meticulously refine each project. Tanushree Dholpuria oversees public relations and promotions and Sanila Sandhan, an illustrator is the artistic talent of the agency. The core team including Sheeba have passionately provided their unique skill sets to ensure the agency’s operations run seamlessly.
Key lessons in an entrepreneurial journey
Reflecting on her journey in the literary business, Sheeba emphasises how success was hard-earned and took years of hard work and determination in this digital age. The patience coupled with vision enabled them to create space of their own. They found consistency and steadfast focus a force to meet long-term goals. A team effort and passion to succeed sustained her drive to grow her business. WeTalk’s achievement was recognized as the ‘Most Promising Startup’ by Women in Corporate Allies in 2022. Also, the agency was featured in the ‘I am #Breaking Barriers’ campaign showcasing how Sheeba’s has managed to stand out from the clutter and create a great business venture.
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Advice for women entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship can empower women, as they may have to work twice as hard. Sheeba’s advice is to not give up because patience and time will reward you in the long term. While risk and investment are common for all entrepreneurs, however, getting into the business with a positive perception is crucial to success. She further adds that regardless of age and circumstance following your dreams should not stop. In her words. “If someone tells you that you can’t, that’s exactly when you show them you can!”
WeTalk’s Vision for the Future
With plans to expand WeTalk’s influence and reputation in the industry. Sheeba has envisioned making WeTalk into a credible trusted partner for debut authors. She aims to find hidden passion in writers producing exceptional stories and get them to reach a wider audience through publication. Her goal is to provide a platform for emerging talent and nurture them aptly suggested by their tagline “If you have a thread, we will help you make it a book.” Securing a chance to publish encourages many more budding writers to collaborate with us to fulfil this exciting dream in the literary world.