This column is a continuation of the happy scene when, having published The Adventures of Amir Hamza, a major internationally acclaimed translation, my second novel, The Story of a Widow, by Canada’s biggest publisher, and The Cobbler’s Holiday Or Why Ants Don’t Wear Shoes, a children’s picture book by one of the most celebrated children’s publishing houses in the US, I was justifiably basking in hard-earned glory.

I had already been working on my third novel, Between Clay and Dust, and the translation of Tilism-i-Hoshruba. One of the reasons I had published The Adventures of Amir Hamza was to provide the background to Tilism-i-Hoshruba, the world’s greatest and longest magical fantasy, whose translation I had hoped to complete in 10 years’ time.

My agent-editor, Bob Wyatt, a veteran publisher himself, warned me that, with the current publishing industry trends, it would not be easy for a publisher to commit to a large project like Tilism-i-Hoshruba — 24 volumes of approx 500 pages each — and even if they did, they may discontinue publishing it if sales lagged. At the same time, he encouraged me to not give up, and consider self-publishing for the Hoshruba project, through which I could exercise control over the publishing rights, as opposed to a situation where a publishing house sits on the rights after discontinuing publishing it for slow sales.

Here I must acknowledge the role Bob has played in shaping me as a writer and publisher. Those interested may look up the celebrated publisher Robert B. Wyatt on Wikipedia, who has led several major publishing houses, where he ran his own imprints. A feisty 86-year-old, he is still one of the sharpest minds in American publishing. We had become friends and, after my first book, Bob worked pro-bono, refusing his professional fee for the books he placed for me.

Beyond a great friend, I could not have found a better guide for my work, as he helped me understand the thinking and working of large publishing houses, and the importance of small, editor-led publishing houses. He also taught me to not let the publishing industry trends perturb me, and to develop a long term, patient view of my career as a writer. It is the same counsel I give to new writers who approach me for publishing advice.

Bob tried his best to find a home for Hoshruba, and we worked on more than one plan of “presenting” Hoshruba for newly launched digital-publishing-only platforms, none of which were successful. Chiki Sarkar, who headed Random House India and had earlier acquired the South Asia rights for The Adventures of Amir Hamza, proved to be the bravest of international publishers, by committing to publishing Hoshruba in India. I self-published it for the international market, using Ingram’s Lightning Source service under my Urdu Project imprint. Both the Urdu Project International edition and Random House India edition came out in 2009.

I had prepared my own marketing strategy for the Hoshruba project and, other than approaching literary bloggers, I sent out over 400 personal emails to members of The Middle East Studies Association (MESA), a private learned society that promotes scholarship in Middle Eastern, North African and Islamic studies. I explained Hoshruba, its importance as a great fantasy originating from the Indo-Islamic culture, and included references to the international acclaim its introductory book, The Adventures of Amir Hamza, had received upon its publication. Out of those academics, only one wrote back, asking for a free copy. I still remember that as a hilarious insight into the nature of Middle East studies in the US.

I had planned to return to Pakistan by that time, and went to meet a Canadian editor to discuss my new novel, Between Clay and Dust, on which I had been working for several years. The editor brought me a book with the theme of Pakistan and terrorism, and suggested that a novel like that would have a good chance of being accepted by the publishing house.

In June 2009, I returned to Pakistan, where Oxford University Press Pakistan invited me to join them as publisher for their English language programme. I made a counter offer to them, to join them as Urdu publisher instead, and create a vibrant Urdu language adult and children trade publishing programme, encompassing both classical and contemporary literature, which I felt Pakistan needed more than an English language publishing programme. Happily, they agreed, but this engagement lasted only for 13 months, during which I supervised the preparation of over 20 titles, including Urdu classics, modern Urdu classics, contemporary Urdu literature, criticism and travelogue.

For a year after leaving Oxford University Press Pakistan, I worked on my novel. Both Chiki Sarkar and David Davidar were interested in acquiring it. David had just founded Aleph Book Company in collaboration with Rupa Publications, one of India’s largest independent book publishing and distribution houses. Between Clay and Dust was chosen as Aleph Book Company’s inaugural title.

A small back story here: David assigned the book to a new editorial hire, Simar Puneet, who later rose to the position of Aleph Book Company’s editorial director. Simar told me that, during her job interview, David asked her about her favourite novels from the last few years. And Simar began: ‘There’s this novel, The Story of a Widow by Musharraf Ali Farooqi…’ David listened quietly, without letting on that he had already acquired Between Clay and Dust; he hand-delivered the manuscript to Simar’s desk on the day she joined.

Between Clay and Dust was later shortlisted for the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize. A new US publisher, Restless Books, launched their publishing house with Between Clay and Dust, and thus it acquired the rare honour of being the inaugural title for two newly launched publishing houses. A small Canadian publisher, Freehand Books, later acquired the novel’s US and Canadian rights.

[To be continued.]

The columnist is a novelist, author and translator.
He can be reached via his website: micromaf.com

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, October 25th, 2026