Just a few days after Daastan’s self-publishing portal Qissa went live, Tooba Arshad, whose debut novel ‘Unveiling the Unknown’ would be published through us, messaged our team on the page and requested that we help us realize her dream of being an author of a book published both digitally and in print. A little while later, she would become the beneficiary of Daastan’s first ever crowdfunding campaign. Her novel of 600 pages required a minimum of PKR 30,000 to go into print, which neither her nor Daastan had the resources to fund. Daastan’s Founder Ommer being a dreamer and whose book was also rejected due to technicalities, decided to take on this mission and help her gather enough capital so as to bring her dream to life, and that is how Daastan’s first ever crowdfunding campaign was launched. The campaign was a success, and at the end of one month of struggle and efficient marketing strategies, the author finally had the amount she needed which was collected through more than 30 pre-orders of her upcoming book.
The author, Tooba Arshad:
Tooba Arshad, is an undergrad in BioMedical Engineering at NED, a part time teacher having taught at many private educational institutes, and an excellent public speaker. Her artistical talents are not limited to writing only, as she also has experience in directing many theatrical plays in both English and Urdu over the course of her years of schooling. Her debut novel, ‘Unveiling of the Unknown’, is a masterfully written mystery thriller which pulls the reader in with its imagery and keeps them glued until the last page of the book is flipped. Order her book now to support the author and experience the thrilling journey by yourself.
Tooba Arshad’s book, Unveiling the Unknown
Book Launch:
After the printing of her book was complete, Tooba became the first ever author to have her book launched through Daastan. The book launch ceremony took place at Nest I/O and was inaugurated by Jehan Ara, President of P@SHA and Founder of Nest I/O. Tooba has had much to say about Daastan, some of her words are quoted below:
“I would like to sincerely thank team Daastan, because if it weren’t for them, I would still be like those hundreds of rejected, discouraged, and unpublished authors who never got the chance to start their professional career. What they are doing here, is basically shaping a better future for the society, and I urge them to continue doing so!”
If you are an author who is looking to get published, reach out to us at Daastan, or upload your manuscript to Qissa by signing up, to let the magic begin.
A year and a half into the struggle that was Daastan, and very many rejections but also quite a few notable achievements later, Daastan finally launched its self-publishing website by the name of Mera Qissa. The website was to be a writer’s as well as a reader’s one-stop-solution for publishing their work in print ready formats, which would then be refined and edited to perfection, ready to be read online by the thriving amount of readers that visited the website in search for quality literature. It was an all in one solution for writers across the country as it helped them build a profile by putting up a bio, garnering readership, and also enabled the readers to give the authors constructive reviews on their work. It also helped the writers earn revenue from opportunities furnished by Daastan’s client base, which ranged from various genres of content writings to digitizing handwritten works or ghost writing for their clients.
The Plans Offered:
The services offered by the portal were categorized into three plans according to their needs, and could cater to any and all of the writers who wished to get published. The Basic Plan was free, it only required that you sign up on the Qissa website, upload your work, wait for the editorial process to be completed and voila – at the end of all this your work would be published online for all Qissa viewers to read, and you would also get access to other writers’ work published on the website. The Pro and Pro+ plan came at a minimal cost per month and with it your account would be upgraded to receive additional benefits such as the ability to sell services online, as well as getting advertising credit. It also included a pro online reader which offered more features while reading eBooks, and the pro plus members also got to receive a monthly swag box featuring all the raging goodies of Daastan’s literary empire.
Baby Steps Turning into Leaps and Bounds:
The portal upon its launch had more than 30 stories available online, most of them from Daastan’s recent story-writing competition ‘The Stories Untold’. It also had works published by Daastan throughout the previous year. By the end of 2016, we aimed to have published more than 100 books and signed up over 1000 writers. Within Qissa’s first few days of initiation, it received more than a thousand visitors, with 5 minutes being the average time spent per person on the website.
Qissa aimed to be a medium which gave voice to those among us whose voice remained unheard, and words unspoken. If you have ever felt the same way, learn more about what we do by signing up on Qissa.
Daastan launched its very first story-writing competition in 2016, providing the writers of Pakistan with a chance to prove themselves and let the tales that they carry inside them out. With the launch of this competition, Daastan was on the hunt for the emerging stars of the literary industry of Pakistan. It was targeting the storytellers who keep their world concealed from the rest of us, carrying within themselves a plethora of stories and scenarios which never see the light of the day.
The Criteria for the Competition:
The theme of the competition was ‘Perfect Imperfections’. The Stories Untold expected the authors to talk about the people or sections of the society deemed as ‘imperfect’, and how they are above any such label and rather are very much worthy to be branded as ‘perfect’. The authors were encouraged to write about local characters, settings and plots, so as to make it relatable for the readership of Pakistan. The target also was highlight and in turn humanize the transgressions against minorities and any other convention violating body that is ostracized for its inability to ‘fit in’. The entire concept of the theme was to present everyday harsh realities in a way that would spread awareness about the social issues plaguing our society, and for the authors to develop their characters in a manner which would enable them to face and beat the odds.
The word count was limited to 4000-6000 words, and the language of entries was specified to English only. Almost around 100 submissions were received in a short span of five weeks, making the competition a monumental achievement for the team of Daastan.
The winners:
What followed was days and weeks of meticulous and careful analysis, which carried the top stories through various rounds of the competition. Initially, the top 30, followed by the top 15 of the entries were announced. These would go on to be published on the Qissa website, and made available for everyone to read. The winner, Wafa Zaka writer of ‘Cursed and Healed’ was selected from the top 5 after her story was put through a grueling contest. She was awarded a cash prize of PKR 10,000, along with publication both digitally and in print with a designated ISBN.
The winner of The Stories Untold Season 1
If you want to participate in one of our writing competitions, keep an eye out for our updates on our social media pages such as Facebook, so the opportunity doesn’t pass you by.
The journey of Daastan and its self-publishing platform ‘Qissa’ started in the year of 2014. The founder, Syed Ommer Amer, also the author of Qissa’s debut novel, put his heart and soul into two things. First, the novel itself, which was to be the first domino in the disruption of the literary industry of Pakistan. Second, after being rejected by a publisher and seemingly at a loss of another way to bring his work to the public – the creation of Daastan. That is where it all began.
Fast forward two years – through a six month incubation in Plan9 and bringing Daastan’s vision to national and international media and making waves throughout the industry – to the start of 2016, which finally brought with itself the fruit of countless hours of toil, rejections, sleepless nights, extreme criticism and dejection, and the fruit was as sweet as the team had predicted. Qissa – Pakistan’s first self-publishing platform – a service to make publishing easier, and to finally bring forth all the opportunities that the writers of this country had been previously deprived of, was here.
The protagonist of The Forbidden Story
What The Forbidden Story is About:
And with it, came the realization of the founder’s dream – in the form of his novel finally getting published. ‘The Forbidden Story’ is Pakistan’s first action thriller novel. It features the life of comrades under the banner of ‘Flame’ who are code named Angel and Hamza. It is a story of the quest that follows when they find their colleague and fellow Ignitors brutally murdered by the followers of Flame’s enemy, and their corpses left in cold blood. It isn’t until Flame’s Secret Database gets broken into and their finest marks-woman is captured, that Angel and Hamza realize that they might have blundered.
The tale follows the visionary Rex, leader of the Flame, and the evil antagonist Sal, the creator of the assassins, through eleven chapters written in a manner that one can’t help but keep flipping pages to get to the end.
Daastan presents you literary legends of Pakistan. We have compiled a list of ten (10) legends we lost in the year 2015. This effort is a tribute to the invaluable work they did for the Pakistani literature.
About Abdullah Hussain:
Urdu Novelist
In Urdu literary circles that is a familiar name. When a reader comes across the title ‘Udas Naslain’ on a bookshelf then what comes to mind is the philosophy of Mr. Hussain. One of the renowned Urdu novelist of Pakistani literature and the genius behind the very famous Urdu master piece ‘Udas Naslain’.
Abdullah Hussain passed away in Lahore in July, 2015 due to health issues.
#Daastan #Literature #LiteraryLegendsLost
About Ada Jaffri:
Urdu Poetess
She was a Pakistani poet who is regarded as the first major Urdu poet who published as a woman and has been honored with the title “The First Lady of Urdu Poetry“. She presented many wonderful contemporary literary pieces and became popular among critics and general audience. She was also an author and was considered a prominent figure in contemporary Urdu literature.
She died on 12th march, 2015.
#Daastan #Literature #LiteraryLegendsLost
About Ali Sufyan Afaqi:
Urdu Editor
He was the Editor ‘Family’ Magazine of Nawa-i-Waqt Group, senior journalist, eminent writer and film producer. He was the pioneer of ‘Filmy Review’ which he started in ‘Afaq’ under title of ‘Daam-e-Khayal’ and ‘Darechey’. He also contributed as a columnist to Nawa-i-Waqt, Amroz, Ahsan, and Jang daily.
He passed away in January, 2015.
#Daastan #Literature #LiteraryLegendsLost
About Amin Faheem:
Sindhi Poet
Yes the name instantly rings a bell. Although he was a well-known politician, he was a writer at heart. He once said ‘Poetry is my first love. I am still fond of saying verses and reading poetry of others‘. His forte was mystic poetry. His poetry speaks about love, Peace, and simplicity.
We recently lost him on 21st Nov, 2015 due to blood cancer.
#Daastan #Literature #LiteraryLegendsLost
About Ishtiaq Ahmed:
Fiction Writer
Renowned for entertaining people of all ages and particularly enchanting youth with his spy and detective novels. Though the legendary mystery raconteur is no longer among us but his spirit is still alive in ‘Inspecter Jamshed‘ and many other such characters.
Unfortunately we bid farewell to this legend on November 17, 2015 in Karachi, Pakistan.
#Daastan #Literature #LiteraryLegendsLost
About Jameel uddin Aali:
Urdu Poet
Mr. Aali was a well acclaimed Pakistani poet, critic, playwright, essayist, columnist, and scholar. His scholarly spark was the reason for his column’s popularity. He was a master essayist and playwright, and his work is still inspiration for all. His popular patriotic poems are “Jeevay Jeevay Pakistan” and “Aye Watan K Sajeelay Jawaanon“.
We sadly lost this legend on 23rd Nov, 2015.
#Daastan #Literature #LiteraryLegendsLost
About Muhammad Nawaz Khan:
Pashtun Hitorian
Muhammad Nawaz Khan was a famous Pakistani writer, historian, columnist, and poet of the English, Pashto and Urdu languages. This multilingual writer is most recognized for his work as an historian.
He died on 3rd Oct, 2015.
#Daastan #Literature #LiteraryLegendsLost
About Sabeen Mehmud:
Human Rights Activist
Most popular name among the youth, two words best defined this lady i.e. brave and honest. A Pakistani human rights activist and social NGO worker. She devoted her struggles for the rights of minorities. She was founder and director of the Karachi-based cafe The Second Floor (T2F) and president of the Karachi branch of TiE. She continually hosted seminars to shape the perspective of people on positive and liberal grounds.
On 24 April 2015, she was unfortunately shot dead by unidentified gunmen on her way home after hosting a seminar at T2F.
#Daastan #Literature #LiteraryLegendsLost
About Saeed Quershi:
Book Collector
“Saeed Book Bank” a name that have been every student’s companion. He was the owner of the famous Saeed Book Bank. Mr. Qureshi claimed that his bookshop was the largest in South Asia, in terms of space and volume of books.
He passed away in Sep 2015 at a ripe age of 77.
#Daastan #Literature #LiteraryLegendsLost
About Ved Bhasin:
English Journalist
Well known journalist and a respected editor. Popular for his contributions to the Kashmir Times. He boldly voiced his opinion against social injustices and was a strong voice of reason among his many readers.
He died a natural death due to old age in 2015.
#Daastan #Literature #LiteraryLegendsLost
Credits:
Written By: Narmeen Taimoor Nehal (Daastan Freelance Writer)
Edited By: Tahniat Saba
About Daastan:
Daastan is a literary forum working for revival of literature in Pakistan. We connect writers with opportunities. Our active projects are Freelance Marketplace and Qissa Self-publishing.
