A printed book in a box is not a published book.
The hardest part was never the writing or the printing. It is that nobody knows the book exists. We have spent eleven years building the readership — a newsletter, a WhatsApp community, launches people actually turn up to — and marketing is how your book gets in front of it.
Talk to usThe quiet launch
The book arrives. You post a photograph. Your family congratulates you, a few friends buy a copy, and then it goes silent. Three months later you have sold thirty books and every one of them to someone who already knew your name.
That is not a failure of the book. It is what happens when a launch is an announcement to people who already agree with you, instead of an introduction to people who do not know you yet.
How we put it in front of strangers
-
Launch events, run properly A room, an audience and logistics handled. We have run them at NIC Islamabad and Plan9 Lahore, and online for authors abroad.
-
Newsletter features To a list built organically over eleven years, not bought.
-
Social campaigns Facebook, Instagram and X — written to your book rather than dropped into a template.
-
Author spotlights On the blog and across Qissa, where 1,302 reader reviews already live.
-
Press and media outreach We have been covered by VOA, Dawn and TechJuice, and we know who to call.
-
Literary festival partnerships Where readers who buy books actually gather.
-
WhatsApp community broadcasts Direct to readers who opted in because they wanted to hear about books.
-
Cross-promotion Through Literati, The Stories Untold and WriteForPeace.
Launches we have run
History of the Pukhtuns, Partition to Pioneer, readings in Multan and Islamabad. This is what a launch looks like when somebody organises it.
Campaign: Wings of Brotherhood
An Air Force memoir. Gritty, sepia, built around aircraft and the men who flew them.
Campaign: عشق الہام ہے
Urdu poetry by Iqleem Fatima. Candlelight, warmth and Urdu typeset properly — nothing about it borrowed from the campaign above.
What we will and will not promise
We will not promise you sales
Anyone who does is guessing. What we will promise is that the book reaches an audience that was built to read, not bought to inflate a number.
You see the figures throughout
Reach, engagement and sales, reported while the campaign is running — not summarised at the end when nothing can be changed.
The diaspora counts
Qissa ships worldwide and an e-book has no border at all. Readers in 49 countries have accounts.
Why engaged beats large
Eleven years, no shortcuts
The list was built one reader at a time since 2014. That is why it opens things.
Readers, not followers
1,302 people have written a review on a book they bought. That is a different audience from one that scrolls past.
A launch is a room, not a post
Photographs below. Real people, real chairs, real copies being signed.
Authors who published with us
An excellent publishing house with a team of cheerful people that is ever ready to help emerging writers for the love of literature. Wish you success to infinity and beyond!See the original post
Their solid commitment to facilitate emerging writers in Pakistan is worth every ounce of praise. Immensely happy and grateful to have my first book published through this commendable publisher that is truly one-of-a-kind in the country.See the original post
A good online approach, where I could hand over my data without the fear that it would be stolen. A safe and secure platform.See the original post
Tell us about your book
We will tell you honestly what we would do with it — and what we would not bother doing.
Questions people ask
What does book marketing actually include?
Launch events, newsletter features, social campaigns, author spotlights, press outreach and coordination with the wider literary community. Which of those fit depends on your book.
Do you organise launch events?
Yes, in person and online, with logistics and media support. Past venues include NIC Islamabad and Plan9 Lahore.
Can you reach readers outside Pakistan?
Yes. Readers in 49 countries have Qissa accounts, and an e-book has no shipping to worry about at all.
How will I know if it is working?
You get regular updates on reach, engagement and sales for the length of the campaign, while there is still time to change something.
Is marketing included in a publishing package?
Core support is included with some packages and fuller campaigns are an add-on. Tell us about your book and we will say plainly which applies.
How many copies will this sell?
We do not know, and neither does anyone who tells you they do. What we can tell you is exactly what we will do and exactly what it reached.
Login with Google
