(AI generated translation of  राइटर्स की सुनियोजित लूट बंद होनी चाहिए! )

By Shikha Tailang, Bhopal

Writers were there yesterday and are there today too. They express their experiences, emotions and ideas by writing. They work hard. They work hard. They put in all their efforts to give meaning to each word. Then, by enduring the pain like a shell, they can give birth to a pearl in the form of a creation.

When it comes to evaluating these creations and getting some money from them, they get caught in the clutches of some publishers who only want to fill their pockets. They want to earn money by trading the creations of writers! And some publishers are so cunning that they take donations from writers to publish their creations.

Just yesterday I saw an ad of such a publisher on social media. They want the writer’s poems, photos and all the information. Then they also want a contribution of Rs. 651! That is, the writer should work hard, use his brain, and also bear the cost of publishing his creation. And when a collection of such creations is published, the publisher should pocket whatever profit is received.

What will the writers get in return for this hard work, investment or contribution – just publication of two-four poems, a medal and a fake digital certificate! That is, the publisher neither used asafoetida nor alum, but the result was spot on! They collected the goods and did business by taking donations from writers suffering from the disease of publishing and turned down the one who gave birth to a creation after facing hundreds of obstacles!

Then I saw another writer’s social media post. He lamented about the negligible income from writing and put up a QR code that whoever reads my creation should scan the QR code and send the money! In front of Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, the writer’s respect, skills etc. are all sacrificed! There are thousands of other writers who fall into the trap of getting fake digital certificates and collecting likes by posting them on social media. The magicians of words themselves, i.e. writers, get fascinated by the heavy vocabulary of the certificate of honour and wander in the streets of false self-praise and end their skills and duties!

Writing has been a respected profession since ancient times but there is still a lack of money in it. Writers keep wasting time and money by getting trapped in the clutches of random publishers. They become victims of the tricks and planned loot of these impostor publishers. Now this phase should stop.

To be contd. …