Meet the doctor of Oman who is a Tamil writer for the world!

One of the talented writers who won is Senthilbalan Manickam—an orthopaedic surgeon who heals the sick in Oman but also writes mysteries in Tamil.

It’s quite an old stereotype that doctors have terrible handwriting. We’ve all heard the jokes about illegible prescriptions. But you won’t have to worry about handwriting because this doctor published an e-book using Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing.

“Parangi Malai Irayil Nilayam” is Sen Balan’s second book in a mystery series that won at the KDP Pen to Publish Contest in the Tamil long-form category. The story is set in a suburban railway station in Chennai, infamous for frequent train accidents, and solving the mysteries is a detective named Karthick Aldo. Read on to learn more about the brilliant mind who wrote this award-winning book.

Sen Balan took to reading at a very young age and found himself immersed in the works of Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, Kalaingar M. Karunanidhi, Kalki, Paulo Coelho, Dan Brown, and Sidney Sheldon to name a few. He would pick a book wherever he went, and wandered around in the world of the protagonist. Since childhood, he found reading books the most interesting visual medium as it gave him the freedom to explore and express his imaginations.

Senthil Balan’s path to publishing wasn’t an easy one, it was laden with commas and full stops. As a full time working doctor, it was difficult for him to find an accepting publisher. It was a more tedious process for him as his book needed to be published in a regional language, which unfortunately wasn’t accepted by many publishers. But thanks to the service of Kindle Direct Publishing, he was able to publish his works, at no additional cost and without any effort of meeting any publisher. He loved that he had the freedom to write and publish without having to take time off from work.

But how did a surgeon in Oman learn about KDP? The tech-savvy writer follows a lot of well-known Tamil authors who posted about their experience about the KDP on their social media handles. He couldn’t believe that publishing could be a penniless process. According to him, KDP is unparalleled in many ways including simplicity, market size, and royalty. He also highlighted the many advantages of choosing this platform – its worldwide reach, absolutely no printing and storage of books, effortless online marketing and of course no logistics. Not to forget that books are sold round the clock on Amazon! Speaking about other benefits he adds that the kindle is eco-friendly as it is paperless, and editing and working on this platform is easy and quick! He also enjoys the freedom to put his own pricing mark and believes that stories on this platform can also be priced more competitively when compared to paperbacks.

Sen Balan became an internet-writing sensation for his mystery novel! Tamilians across the world appreciated his work and his online friends threw him a surprise celebration when he visited the motherland. The young winner was even lauded by the former Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr. M.K. Stalin.

When asked if he had any message to share with budding writers and artists, the doctor eagerly replied, “It has never been easier to publish a book like now. KDP transformed everything in the publishing industry. Technology has made life so simple. So, go ahead and express your imagination!”