Ram C/O Anandhi : How a marketing campaign and viral videos created a bestseller

Akhil P. Dharmajan’s Malayalam novel Ram c/o Anandhi sold around 20,000 copies in its first four years since hitting the shelves in 2020, but over the past two months, it has sold 1.3 lakh copies

Writer Akhil P. Dharmajan with his book Ram C/O Anandhi at the Kerala Literature Festival in January.

Four years is a period long enough for the sales of most books to dwindle after the initial surge during its release. But a Malayalam book which had a modest run at the market in the first four years after its release has now suddenly become the talk of the town, aided by some astute marketing and a book reels campaign in social media platforms.

Akhil P. Dharmajan’s Ram c/o Anandhi sold around 20,000 copies in its first four years, but over the past two months, it has sold 1.3 lakh copies, clocking up one of the highest sales figures for a Malayalam book in such a short time in recent years. The surge began in January, with a video of Mr. Dharmajan’s book signing session at the Kerala Literature Festival (KLF) going viral. Later, DC Books, the publisher, organised an online campaign during Valentine’s Day, centred on books focussed at the youth.

Over the past two months, Instagram and Facebook reels of people posing with the book have spread like wildfire. The book’s tastefully designed cover has also been used as a template by Lok Sabha election candidates for their campaign posters and for advertising campaigns by various brands. According to bookstore owners, the last time a Malayalam book had such surge in demand was after the release of Benyamin’s Aadujeevitham.

“The Valentine’s Day campaign caught on, and suddenly Ram c/o Anandhi was everywhere. We have sold 1.25 lakh copies in the past six weeks, and over the past two weeks, it has topped the Nielsen BookScan bestseller list nationwide. Though it all started with a campaign, the growth after that was organic with a lot of people who don’t read that frequently getting attracted to it. We also promoted N. Mohanan’s Orikkal, Bineesh Puthuppanam’s Premanagaram and Aswathy Sreekanth’s Kaali, all of which now feature in bestseller lists,” says Ravi Deecee, Managing Partner of DC Books.

Though there have been heated debates over the literary quality of the book, the fact that it is an easy read with a fast-paced narrative seems to be aiding its popularity. The story revolves around Ram, a young Malayali, who arrives in Chennai to study at a film school, and the incidents that happen in his life with his new set of friends in the city. Incidentally, Mr. Dharmajan lived in Chennai for a couple of years and learned filmmaking, to gain experiences to write the book.

“Storytelling has been a passion for me from my younger days. This led to writing, and I wrote my first book Ouija Board when I was 17 years of age. But, no publisher was ready to take it. So, I self-published the book and I sold the 1,000 copies that were printed by taking it around bus stands and railway stations. The second book Mercury Island was also self-published. I started publishing Ram C/o Anandhi over 38 days on my Facebook page. Later, DC Books published it and it is now getting the kind of popularity that I could only dream of when I began,” says Mr. Dharmajan.

The 30-year old Alappuzha native, who co-wrote the script for the Malayalam film ‘2018’, has completed his fourth book, which is expected to be released this year.