Shades of Prey is the culmination of a pilot project which began as an extracurricular activity in the academic year 2004-2005 at a private school in North Nazimabad, Karachi.

A 52-chapter murder mystery set in Karachi, the book has been collaboratively written by six teenagers who have just begun their college education Taha Azher (LUMS), Hiba Ilyas (Columbia University), Dur-e-Shahwar Khalil (NED), Arsalan Latif (NED), Yumna Sarwar (Altamash Institute of Dental Medicine), and Rajab Ali Sayed (NCA).
The training students undergo for their English Language O' Level examination is phenomenal. They learn to write creative, concise, and compact compositions. In addition, many of them, by this time, are voracious readers who are attracted to fast-paced thrillers and mysteries. They may never have considered writing a book, but they know what makes a good page-turner. Combine these with their budding cognitive skills, and you have the beginning ingredients for a promising novel.

Well, that is what was being banked on when the idea of the book was conceived. The execution, of course, did not go as smoothly as planned. Initially, the intention was that three such books would be simultaneously written by three groups of students. However, the stress of teaching and studying in an O' Levels institution (and preparing for O' Level exams, no less) burdened the teacher-mentors and the students alike, and soon the groups disintegrated.

The project stagnated for almost two years before it was revived with a refurbished team of the above six individuals who were by then pursuing their A' Levels at various schools in Karachi. In the first phase of the project the students wrote, turn-by-turn, each extending what was previously written. After two such rotations, however, we decided to change gears and shifted into the parallel writing phase.

In those notoriously long meetings, we would first discuss as a group how the plot would progress based on what had already been written. Then, each student would be assigned his/her respective chapter topic for, say, the next 12 chapters. Not only did this speed up submissions (six chapters at a time instead of one), it also widened the writers' vision the process of writing a novel became more interactive and hands-on.

After the writing part of the project was completed, the text was compiled and edited into a seamless novel. Once the manuscript was complete, we began exploring publishing options. I surveyed Pakistani authors who had been published in Pakistan, and the feedback seemed to be the same don't expect to make much money. (In other words, do not expect many of your books to sell. In other words, do not expect too many people to read your book.)

This view propelled me to research marketing and distribution — and pretty soon one realised that we are operating with a defeatist mentality when it comes to books. It was the same story when I spoke to a publisher or a marketing manager at a distribution chain or a bookseller (even a printer!) people in our society do not read books and do not buy books.

Although I have never formally studied marketing, I intuitively know one thing for any product to be sold, we must create widespread awareness about it, thereby creating a demand for it. Books, no matter what anyone wishes to call them, are products. In fact, generally speaking, they are the kinds of products which are rather beneficial for their consumers.

Besides, isn't the point of advertising and marketing to convince people to buy something which they may ordinarily not consider otherwise? The trouble with people and reading in our society is that the vast majority hasn't tasted the fruit, and hence, doesn't know what they are missing. It is our job as publishers, writers and booksellers to change this reality, and until we believe that we can change it, we will be stuck in the same vicious cycle.

In the end, not only did we decide to self-publish the novel, we decided to market and distribute it ourselves too (at least for the time being). I am very grateful to Sabeen Mahmud of The Second Floor for readily agreeing to host its launch. In the mean time, we are working on spreading the news about Shades of Prey, and plan to go to schools, universities, and institutions to promote it, along with utilising the various media print, broadcast, and electronic. We already have a website-in-progress, www.shadesofprey.com and the book is now available at bookstores throughout the city.

It is hoped that the project will not fade away with the publication of Shades of Prey. One wishes that it will be the first in a long line of indigenously produced quality fiction in English within Pakistan. Let us replicate this pilot project so that similar groups of youth are mentored by various Pakistani writers, causing a greater quantity of such books to be in the market, leading to an increase in interest in reading and writing among the general population.

We have the talent before us; let us create an environment of support for writers in our society, instilling in our youth the confidence to pursue writing as a career or as a hobby no matter where their lives lead them. As the renowned developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky said, 'What a child can do in cooperation today, he can do alone tomorrow.'