Earlier this year, content creator and actor Prajakta Koli added another feather to her multi-hyphenate cap, debuting as an author. With Too Good To Be True, already a bestseller, now also available in audiobook form on Audible India, Prajakta chatted with t2.

You have done work with Audible India in the past. Does this project feel a lot more personal considering that this is not only your debut book which is getting an audio format, but that you have been involved with almost every aspect of its telling and retelling?

Definitely! I feel a lot more responsible. There is a lot more onus that I have to take on in this. For all the work that I have done with Audible in the past, I was cast as an actor. I would reach the studio and my director would tell me what to do. I would do it and move on. But in this case, it was a lot more because as we were reading and recording the audiobook, I realised that a lot of the writing, every now and then, was not so interesting when it was spoken. So we had to work on it as we went about it.

The fact that it was mine also gave me the freedom to take it the way I wanted to. It was very, very challenging, but exciting at the same time. It was fun... I had a really good time.

Prajakta and Vrishank Khanal on their wedding day

At what point did you think that Too Good To Be True could become an audiobook?

Honestly, I always knew that I had to make it an audiobook. As someone who likes listening to books as much I enjoy reading them, I wanted my book to be a wholesome experience. I am someone who gets fixated on books... I am an obsessive reader in the sense that if there is a book that catches my attention, I will put everything aside to read it. That includes running late for meetings, not being able to meet my deadlines and, in general, everything that I am dealing with in life at that point will be all over the place! (Laughs) I will read a physical book till the time I can and the minute I have to do household chores or get my make-up done, or I have to drive, I immediately move to my audiobook. That is how I knew that my book had to have both a physical format as well as an audiobook presence.

The one thing I really wish is that one comes up with a tool for authors where, as you are writing a draft, you can listen to it so that it can help you with working further or adapting it differently for the audio version.

So what kind of changes did you have to make to adapt it to this format?

I didn’t really have to change much, to be honest... that was not much of a challenge. There were a few terms here and there which I felt were more text-friendly than they are when they are spoken. So we either took them out completely or we replaced them with more spoken language.

What was the starting point for Too Good Too Be True?

Initially, I actually wanted it to be a show. The idea for the book was originally to make a six-part series out of it. But when I started writing it, I would read it out to a friend and it started sounding a lot like chapters of a book. That is how it developed into a book.

So the fact that you are such a voracious reader had nothing to do with it?

I didn’t have the guts, honestly. Even now, I am very surprised that I have actually managed to write this book. I never thought I would have the guts to tell myself: ‘Okay, I am going to write a book.’ It is too daunting a thing to say, you know. It started as a thought and it was only after I wrote the first 10-12 chapters that I felt: ‘Oh, this is looking a lot like a book.’ That is how I could get through it.

But given you are a creator, you are used to writing your own content. What made this so daunting? Didn’t it feel like a natural extension of what you have been doing for so many years?

There were very contrasting days. There were some days when I would be able to write easily, and then there would be days when I couldn’t even put pen to paper. It felt like a very, very steep climb to get from one chapter to another.

It has been a mix of a lot of things. Some things came to me out of habit... like I have always enjoyed developing characters... that is my most favourite thing to do when I am writing a script for YouTube or doing any brand work. So while working on the book, I spent a lot of time on that. But other than that, a lot of times, I would feel lost.

What has the feedback to the book been like so far?

It has actually been a lot more positive than I had expected. When I started writing the book, I wasn’t sure how many people would read it. That is because a large chunk of my audience doesn’t organically comprise readers. I also knew that it calls for a huge commitment to come into a 350-page book... you have to spend money and buy it and then you have to have the commitment to sit down and read it. I remember telling my publishers that even if we managed to sell 10,000 copies in the lifetime of the book, I would be happy. They told me the lifetime projection should be around 30,000 copies. I was like: ‘Oh, 30,000?! I don’t think I will be able to sell that many!’ But over this weekend, I was told that we had sold almost 200,000 copies, which is crazy. I was like: ‘This is ridiculous!’ I think my brain has kind of shut down at that number.

Does this encourage you to write more books?

A hundred per cent. I know what I wanted my second book to be, but I didn’t have the guts to start writing it because it is in the same universe as the first book. So I needed to see what kind of reception the first book gets.

I thrive a lot on validation and attention from my audience because that is what my cycle of creation has been for the past decade. I had to see what they think about my debut book and what they like and don’t like in it and what can I learn from this. The feedback that has come my way so far has been very motivating and inspiring, so definitely I know that I will do more.

How much has the voice work that you have done on audiobook content in the past enriched other aspects of you as a creator?

I always wanted to be a radio jockey, but I never got to fulfil that dream. I did do it for a bit, but I was a terrible one. I got fired... and thank God for that! So being on Audible is the closest I could get to fulfilling my dream while also doing it with people who help me, train me and direct me in a way that results in a good outcome.

The work I did on Audible for Marvel as well as on Desi Down Under helped me a lot in recording this audiobook because I was comfortable with the mic... I now know how to project emotions the minute the visual medium is taken away, how to make it effective and how to differentiate between characters and voices.

As a multi-hyphenate talent, what can we expect from you next?

There are a couple of exciting conversations happening around the book. Hopefully, I will get to a point where I can speak about it publicly soon. There is a bunch of acting work, including a supernatural thriller called Andhera on Prime Video. It is very different from anything I have done before. There are two other projects that I am shooting for another OTT platform.

And in the middle of all this, you made time to get married. What is it like being married to your best friend?

When you spend so many years being with someone (Vrishank Khanal), you kind of plateau to a point where it all feels the same and we had begun to reach a point like that. So 13 years in, we decided to take the next step and get married. That we live together now is very, very special and exciting. It is new for both of us. It is kind of a fresh coat of paint on the relationship and that has both of us very excited.