Stop calling it a manuscript. Start calling it a book.
You send us the pages — typed, handwritten, Urdu or English. We read them properly and come back in three working days with an editorial review and a sample edit. If you like what you see, we edit it, design it, print it, put an ISBN on it and put it on sale. You keep the rights the whole way through.
Start your submissionWhy most manuscripts never become books
It is almost never the writing. It is that the next step is invisible. Nobody tells you what an ISBN costs, or what a print run costs, or whether the thing is any good yet — so the file sits on a laptop for another year.
The other way it fails is worse: you pay a printer, boxes arrive at your house, and there is no cover worth photographing, no listing anyone can find, and no way for a stranger to buy a copy. You have spent the money and you still have not been published.
Everything that happens after you send the pages
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A refundable fee, then a real review A single Rs 10,000 submission fee — refundable in full — puts your manuscript in front of our editors. Real feedback comes back in three working days, and if you decide not to go ahead, the fee comes back with it.
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Editing and interior layout Copy-editing and typesetting, in Urdu or English, done in house rather than farmed out to whoever is cheapest that week.
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Cover design that works twice On a shelf at arm's length and as a thumbnail on a phone. A cover that only works at one of those sizes is a cover that costs you sales.
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An ISBN registered to your book Your own number, on the national registry, in your name.
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Print production, managed end to end We handle the press, the paper and the binding. Printed proofs are available on press runs and charged separately — they are not part of a short run.
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Your listing and author page on Daastan Built to be found, not merely to exist — it reaches 871 cities and towns across Pakistan and readers in 49 countries have accounts on it.
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A launch, if you want one Online or in a room with people in it. We have run them at NIC Islamabad and Plan9 Lahore.
The people who did it
A schoolboy in his prefect sash. A poet in a niqab. A doctor in his eighties. None of them were published before they were published.
Six steps, and you only do the first one
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1
You submit the manuscript
A free account, then our guided submission — typed or handwritten, Urdu or English. A single Rs 10,000 fee, refundable in full, and that is your part done.
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2
We read it — 3 working days
Editorial feedback comes back to you. If something needs changing we say exactly what, and you can revise at no extra cost.
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3
Your discovery call
We plan the publication together and put the quote in writing. Decide not to go ahead and your fee is returned in full.
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4
Editing and design
Copy-edit, interior layout, cover — under the package you agreed. You approve each stage.
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5
Print
Files go to press. 10–15 working days from final approval of the artwork.
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6
On sale and earning
Listed on Daastan, shipped nationwide, and your royalty worked out from rates you can check yourself.
What we put at risk instead of you
Your fee comes back if you walk away
The submission fee is refundable in full until you decide to go ahead — read our feedback, take your call, and if it is not for you, you have lost nothing.
You keep every right
The work stays yours. We publish it, print it and sell it. We do not own it, and you can walk away with it.
You approve every file before it prints
Interior layout and cover come to you for sign-off. Nothing goes to press on our say-so — though a printed proof is a paid extra, and only on press runs.
Three things most Pakistani publishers will not do
Show you the maths
You keep 70% of the profit on every copy, and the calculator on our home page works it out from the same rates your royalty statement uses.
Take Urdu seriously
201 of our 669 books are Urdu, typeset by people who read the language rather than people fighting the font.
Publish a fourteen-year-old
And a doctor in his eighties. 503 authors, and the only entry requirement is a finished manuscript.
Authors who published with us
Thank you so much Daastan for making me a published author in 2023, making my 40,000 words worth publishing and helping me complete the project which was very sacred and personal to me — my grief journey after the passing of my adorable daughter. Thank you Omer for making DUST worth publishing.Read the review
Earlier Pakistani writers could only dream of getting published. Now it is easier with the more than supportive team of Daastan which is now more of a family to me. Amazing experience publishing my first book with Daastan.See the original post
I had an amazing experience working with Daastan. In our country, publishing opportunities are limited, especially for writers who are just starting their journey. Not knowing where to go, how publishing works, or what steps to take can be intimidating. Daastan has taken a beautiful step in helping writers turn their dreams into reality. Holding your own book in your hands and seeing it on bookstore shelves is something truly special.Read the review
Ready? Start your submission
A single, fully refundable Rs 10,000 fee puts your manuscript in front of our editors — feedback in three working days, and the rest planned with you on a call. Want a price first? The calculator on our home page quotes from the same rates.
Questions people ask
How long does the whole thing take?
The editorial review comes back in three working days. After that it depends on the length of the book and how fast you approve each stage, but printing itself is 10–15 working days from final files.
Do I keep the rights to my book?
Yes, all of them. You retain full intellectual property. We publish, print and distribute it; the book remains yours and you can take it elsewhere.
Do you actually publish in Urdu?
201 of the 669 books on Daastan are Urdu — roughly a third. Prose and poetry both, typeset by people who read the language.
My manuscript is handwritten. Is that a problem?
No. Send photographs or scans. We have taken plenty of books from handwritten pages.
What if my book is not good enough?
That is exactly what the editorial review is for. We will tell you honestly what needs work rather than print it anyway — and if you decide not to go ahead, your submission fee is returned in full.
What does it cost?
It depends on length and format, so instead of a number that will not fit your book, the calculator on our home page prices it from the same rates we quote from. No form, no call back, no waiting.
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