Trailblazers: Small Town Girl, Rises Like A Phoenix From the Ashes

Laiba Sehrish Nawaz:

Daastan’s co-founder Sidra Amin, has been long known to be the fairy godmother of mentorship, and always has an eye out for talent that she can groom and launch forward into the world. It was through her that Laiba Sehrish Nawaz first came in contact with Daastan. The beautiful 18-year-old girl from Peshawar, who was a student of journalism, had faced many a trauma since the young age of 9, when she lost her mother to breast cancer. Since then, Laiba suffered at the hands of anxiety, depression, and abuse. Her only solace lay in one thing, putting to words all that weighed her down. Writing to both unburden herself, and also preserve each emotion that found its home in her heart. This was how at such a young age she compiled a complete book of her very own work, and was seeking a publisher to help bring her work to print and start her career as a distinguished writer.

[TRAILBLAZERS] Presenting a brand new product where we showcase Daastan's social impact on community. See how we are challenging the status quo and providing authors the platform through which they can chase their dreams.Our first ever trailblazer is Laiba Sehrish from Peshawar who lost her mother at a tender age of 9. She fought her way through depression, anxiety and abuse to become Peshawar's youngest published author at age of 19.Her debut book 'Abductions from Lethe' has inspired readers across the globe to stay resilient in face of hardships. Using Daastan's platform, Laiba was able to raise 35,000 PKR in three days through pre-orders to publish 100 copies of her work. She earned the title of 'Daastan's fastest and youngest crowdfunded author'.Her life turned upside down when she had to take some tough choices in her life. She chose to follow her dreams and passion over her family and friends. Hence she moved and resettled in Quetta.Her books arrived a week ago and the biggest issue which we faced was to cover her travel costs so she could fly to her hometown for her book launch. However, we are pleased to inform that some angel from our community stepped forward and helped us raised 20,000 PKR in mere five minutes of announcement.Our #EmergingStar Laiba is now all set to be a part of the book launch which is scheduled in Feb'18. If you believe in what we do and want to support us then place an order of her hard copy @ https://www.meraqissa.com/book/154Price: 1000 PKR#Daastan #EmergingStar #TrailBlazer #LaibaSehrish #Peshawar

Posted by Daastan on Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Abduction from the Lethe:

Her book, Abduction from the Lethe, was put up for a crowdfunding campaign, and that is when she bagged the second honor of her professional journey with us – she became the fastest crowdfunded author, breaking all previous records and raising her required funds of 35,000 PKR in a week’s time. It was heartwarming to see our community so ready to support a girl destined for greatness.

In the May of 2017, her book went into print. She was later on interviewed by a news TV channel Mashriq, in which she talked about her upcoming book, her struggles, and how Daastan was empowering writers to seize their destiny and materialize their dreams.

The Book Launch:

In the beginning of 2018, her book launch was held in the city of Peshawar. Laiba, having moved to a different city to pursue her passion and study journalism, lacked the funding to fly back to her city for her book launch. Once again, our community came to the rescue, and we raised a fund of 20,000 PKR to cover her airfare. Her book launch was a huge success, where numerous dignitaries from the literature community were present along with creatives and poets, and was covered by Dawn News.

If you have a manuscript that you’d like to see brought to print and become the next sensation of Daastan’s literary community, drop us an email at merasawal@daastan.com or a message on our Facebook page.