Sunny Leone was used to being offered film roles. So she was taken by surprise when the proposal that came her way was not for a meaty part - but for a book. She said yes to the publisher, and in four months came up with a collection of 12 short stories.

"It was much more difficult finding my writing groove than I had anticipated," she says. "So the first story, called Seat 7E, took the longest time to write."

The book Sweet Dreams is now available on the newly launched Juggernaut app. And it marks a trend in publishing that seems to be going from strength to strength.

There was a time when books were written by people who wanted to be authors. Today, publishers approach people who they know have a story to tell - and persuade them to put it down on paper. So you have authors such as Leone, an adult film actor, and student leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who shot to fame with his address to Jawaharlal Nehru University students, after being released from jail in March.

Publishers, indeed, are zeroing in on celebrities or people in the news. And readers are lapping up their stories.

"Publishers are always on the lookout for variety. So if there is an entrepreneur, academician, politician or even a student leader who has an interesting story to tell, we will put it out," says Kapish Mehra, managing director, Rupa Publications.

Earlier, celebrities wrote their biographies, and usually did so at the end of successful careers. But now even an important part of someone's life - young or otherwise - can lead to a book. So you have Kumar's journey from his home state to a Delhi jail in Juggernaut's From Bihar to Tihar, or actor Emraan Hashmi's recollections of his son's cancer in Kiss of Life. Sahara chief Subrata Roy writes from his prison cell in Life Mantras, cricketer Yuvraj Singh about fighting cancer, and mathematician Anand Kumar of Super 30 fame on coaching students.

One of the reasons for this, clearly, is the growth that the Indian publishing industry - ranked third largest in the world - has witnessed in recent years. "Making a celebrity write has always been a publishing trend worldwide, based on assumed public interest, and therefore higher sales. For us the quantum may seem a bit more now as the Indian market has matured slowly," says Thomas Abraham, managing director, Hachette India.

The other factor is the growth of new media, an effective barometer for gauging someone's popularity. For instance, Leone's interview to a news channel - where she impressed viewers with temperate answers to some quirky questions - became an instant hit a few months ago on social media, as did Kumar's azaadi speech in JNU.

So the publishers' quest is not for stars in the traditional sense of the word, but instant newsmakers. "The highlight is not the star quotient, but what they have achieved and where their expertise lies," points out Milee Ashwarya, editor-in-chief, commercial and business books, Penguin Random House India, which will soon release books by scientist C.N.R. Rao, filmmaker Karan Johar and yoga guru Baba Ramdev.

Other experts whose stories - or experiences - have an audience are people connected with stars. Nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar, who won fame as Kareena Kapoor's diet adviser, has written several books. Psychiatrist Shyam Bhat, who shot into prominence when he accompanied his patient, actor Deepika Padukone, to a television news show in which she talked about how she tackled depression, is the author of How to Deal with Broken Heart, released by Juggernaut earlier this week.

"I used to give public talks on dealing with depression. In the interaction that followed I realised people would be interested in reading more about it. So I wrote about it," says Bhat, who is also the trustee of Padukone's Live Love Laugh Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation working on mental health awareness in India.

Industry watchers say the mushrooming of new genres in English language publishing in India can also be attributed to a well-travelled readership base, technological advancement which makes writing easier and a market ready to experiment. The industry is no longer ignorant of what its readers want, and is looking at new ways of selling a book.

It can be a win-win situation. "With an interesting life story and a large fan base, one is hoping for a sizeable, readymade readership for the book. There is also the hope that it will continue to sell over a long period of time," says Karthika V.K., publisher and chief editor, HarperCollins India.

Next month, HarperCollins India will publish the memoir of Anu Vaidyanathan, the first Indian woman to take part in the Ironman contest and, in December, it will launch Aishwarya Dhanush's book on growing up in the world of cinema as the daughter of superstar Rajinikanth. Rupa Publications will come out with the next two books in Subrata Roy's trilogy titled Thoughts from Tihar, while Hachette India will release an "inspirational memoir" by the first Indian in space, Rakesh Sharma. Juggernaut Books will have titles by political strategist Prashant Kishor and actor-columnist Twinkle Khanna.

In the international publishing scenario such a trend has prompted publishers to come up with dedicated imprints. Simon & Schuster Inc. launched Keywords Press in May 2014 to publish the works of popular stars in the digital world. "Most of the 10 books we have published so far are on the New York Times bestsellers' list, so we think we are doing something right," says a spokesperson. Their biggest successes are YouTube stars Connor Franta's memoir A Work in Progress, which sold almost 1.68 lakh copies, and Zoe Sugg's Girl Online, which sold 1.4 lakh copies, within six months of their publication.

Back home, while there may not be a dedicated imprint, books by television stars have been selling in good numbers. "Two years ago, when the host of MTV Roadies, Raghu Ram, wrote a book on his television journey it sold over 60,000 copies," Mehra points out.

Not all such books, however, are money-spinners. Abraham of Hachette India believes that the risk with a celebrity may be higher because of the "higher cost of acquisition".

But good timing, as the wise man said, can go a long way in bolstering sales. The challenge lies in quickly persuading somebody in the news to write a book - and to bring it out without delay.

"Till the time the celebrity is in public memory we can hope to cash in on them. Once the interest fizzles out it will be tough to sell their books," Mehra says.

Leone is still in the news. The actor, last seen in a film called One Night Stand, released earlier this month, may well continue to grab eyeballs - which may mean more books in the future. "For my first book the correct idea was in place" is all that she'll say for now.