Amish has often used unconventional ways to engage his readers and fans during the process of bringing his new book out to them. Having been one of the first authors to effectively use YouTube for launching a book trailer (during the launch of his first book) to launching a music CD for the promotion of his third book, he has always pushed the envelope to keep his readers and fan base engaged innovatively. This time around Amish announced the ‘Fan Art Cover Contest’- #DesignForAmish through Facebook Live Videos for his up-coming book - ‘Sita - Warrior of Mithila’.Participants entering the contest get a chance to be a part of theunique universe created by Amish through his books. Readers get an opportunity to design their version of the cover for the new book. There will be a panel of designers along with Amish will select 5 artworks that represent the spirit of Sita. The winning 5 covers will be made into special edition copies and the winners will be invited and felicitated at the main book launch event that will take place in Mumbai in late May or early June. All the 5 winners will share the stage with Amish. To help fans along through their creation process, Amish went Live on Facebook through a series of three videos and dropped clues so that his readers can design a relevant cover.
Clue 1: Sita’s Character
In the first video, Amish unveiled Sita’s character and shared her personality traits in detail. He shared, “She had a wheat-complexioned, round face which was a shade lighter than her body. She had high cheekbones and a small nose. This reflected in the way she dressed as well.”
The details made fans a lot more eager for up-coming clues since it also began to raise the curiosity about the plot, up another notch.
Clue 2: Sita’s Weapons
In his second FB Live session for the competition, Amish gave the second clue where he described the weapons used by Sita. He revealed that Sita used three weapons namely the ‘Lathi,’ ‘Spear’ and ‘Knife.’ He also revealed Sita’s special skills and her love for Chariot Racing. Using this clue he described Sita as a true, fearless and a brave warrior.
Clue 3: Mithila and Dandakaranya
In his final and third FB Live session, Amish described the different settings in the book that played a crucial role in shaping Sita and these included namely Mithila and Dandakaranya. He described Mithila as “a place which housed the wisest and most knowledgeable people from all over India which did have its flaws as a city”. The second place was Dandakaranya where Sita spent a big part of her life.“The dense forests of Dandak were also Ram and Lakhsman’s pitrabhoomi, the land of their ancestors. This is where Sita, Ram and Lakshman found a safe haven during their 14-year-exile.”All the three videos are up on facebook.com/authoramish which can be viewed anytime. Also the participants can also read the terms & Conditions of the contest on Amish’s Facebook page. They can also use the hashtags #DesignForAmish & #UnearthingSIta to know more about the contest and upload their entries using the same hash tags .The final date of submitting entries will be April 30th, 2017.Sita- Warrior of Mithila, Book 2 of the Ram Chandra Series will release late May or early June 2017. Readers can pre order their copies on various e