Crowd-funded publishing platform LetsAuthor debuts with book on microbiomes

Because of this commercial gatekeeping, less-known or first-time authors get ignored, Banerjee told PTI.Our crowdfunding model brings these two ideas together - we utilise the power of the author team and their networks to fund the publishing cost of the book through pre-orders.

Crowd-funded publishing platform LetsAuthor, which encourages one author to lead a team of co-writers to pen a book together, will come out with its first publication - a volume on microbiomes.

''I, Microbiome'', written by lead author Germany-based molecular biologist Vladimir Jakovljevic and a group of 11 global researchers, the book introduces the concept of microbiome and how it is deeply connected to everything around us - from genes to hormones, and environment to consumer goods.

Helmed by Saumita Banerjee, Bengaluru-based LetsAuthor began with the idea that accomplished people want to write books but may not always have the time or will to commit to this task.

''So, we created a platform where one author leads a team of co-authors to write their book together. This reduces burden on an individual and makes the book happen within a much shorter span of time,'' she says.

''While validating the idea of open authoring, we realised the power of collaboration and also realised how tricky the book publishing business is. Publishers bet on authors to bring commercial success, and only choose those who show promise from an economic point of view. Because of this commercial gatekeeping, less-known or first-time authors get ignored,'' Banerjee told PTI.

''Our crowdfunding model brings these two ideas together - we utilise the power of the author team and their networks to fund the publishing cost of the book through pre-orders. Once the funds are raised, we publish the book. With our crowdfunding model, we remove the gatekeepers and allow people and communities to decide whether a book deserves to be published or not,'' she adds.

Banerjee says the firm has successfully crowdfunded four books so far and all are now in publication.

''The first crowdfunded book we publish is 'I Microbiome'. Our next title 'Don't Ask Me How I'm Doing' releases in December. It is a collection of stories of young people recounting what it's like to be diagnosed with cancer and how they navigated or are navigating their lives through such difficult times,'' she says.

Jakovljevic has been passionate about microbiology and microbiomes for more than 20 years and during the last two years, through his company Microbiome Power, he has been actively engaged in communication about microbiome research and its applications.

''Starting with the simple idea of writing about gut microbiome or about nutrition, I realised that many other aspects such as other body microbiomes, their importance for our health and well-being, therapy approaches and various other issues have been largely uncovered, especially not in one single book,'' he says.

Jakovljevic then sent his list of various topics to Banerjee, who asked him if he would like to be the lead author, and thus the book was born.

Some of the co-authors were brought onboard by LetsAuthor while some, known to Jakovljevic, were approached with an idea on which chapter they could contribute.

''Some of them brought new ideas, expanded the spectrum of topics even further. Some co-authors brought in new co-authors and I think this is the beauty of the open-publishing concept, because the creativity can go beyond the limits of a single author, leaving much more open space than in standard publishing flow,'' says Jakovljevic.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)