Literary Algorithms: The Evolution of Literature in the Digital Age

Gayatri Pahlajani holds an MSc in Gender and the Media from the London School of Economics (LSE), followed by a stint in film direction at the New York campus of New York Film Academy. She provides commissioned film, voiceover, scripting, and book writing services through her firm-of-one The Big Sneeze Content Company. Depending on the project, she also fully ghostwrites or edits books but does not, as someone asked her once, specifically write about ghosts. She hopes she never has to. Of the twelve books that Gayatri has been commissioned to ghostwrite or edit, seven have had national releases, two have been private commissions and three are in production. Of the seven national releases, five became bestsellers, some have been published in multiple languages to include Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali and Marathi, one was nominated for a Crossword Book Award (the winner is through public vote), one was reported by the Times of India as the fastest-selling motivational book, and one won a Gourmand World Award for 2020 for India. She has also ghostwritten a column in Bombay Times for many years, as well as multiple articles for The Times of India.  She provides end-to-end book services to include conceptualizing, positioning, ghostwriting, editing, liaising, and securing the publishing contract for the client. Her list of book clients include a Padma Shri and OBE awardee, CEOs, a Guinness World Record holder, celebrity trainers and nutritionists, and her clients are published with either Penguin or HarperCollins. The books have had multiple celebrity contributors and endorsements to include Alia Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan, Kiara Advani, Ananya Panday, Vaani Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Deepika Padukone, Karan Johar, Ranbir Kapoor, Preity Zinta, Sushmita Sen, Anand Mahindra and also forwards by Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the Soul) and Katrina Kaif. Of the private commissions, she has written a book on the construction of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link as well as a commissioned book on the founder of the Landmark Group, Dubai (owner of the brands Lifestyle and Home Centre). She featured in the book How to Get Published in India (by Meghna Pant) and has contributed a chapter on Ghostwriting (other contributors included Jeffrey Archer and Shobhaa De). The book charted at #1 on Amazon. She has also been awarded the Women’s Economic Forum’s Exceptional Women of Excellence award in 2018.

Meghna Pant is a multiple award-winning and bestselling author, screenwriter, journalist and speaker. Recognised as one of India’s best writers by multiple publications, Pant has been felicitated with various national and international honours for distinguished contribution to literature, gender issues and journalism, including the Bharat Nirman Award, Frank O'Connor International Award, Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Society Achievers Award, Laadli Media Award and FICCI ‘Young Achiever’s Award’. She’s published eight books, including her recent bestsellers BOYS DON'T CRY (Penguin Random House, 2022) and THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, VERY BAD GOOD NEWS (Penguin Random House, 2021) that have been picked up for movie adaptations. Her next novel THE MAN WHO LOST INDIA will be published shortly.

A journalist and books columnist based in Mumbai, Sonya Dutta Choudhury is the author of Career Rules. After a degree in English Literature,  from Delhi University, and a post graduate degree in management from IIM Calcutta, Sonya started life as a banker. Soon after, she pivoted to writing. She is founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a bespoke book subscription service, and teaches Storytelling in Business at NMIMS Mumbai. She runs three book clubs, in Mumbai, Manali and online.

Mansi Zaveri is the Founder & CEO of India’s most Trusted discovery platform for parenting and child care kidsstoppress.com. She has been in the business for 10 years now and continues to lead the parenting and kids space in India. Kidsstoppress boasts of a digital reach of 15 million per month. Mansi Zaveri was also awarded as Business World 40 Under 40 - Content. Along with that, Mansi Zaveri also hosts interviews with celebrated people across the industry, experts and collaborations with big brands who want to tap into the parenting space. She is also an advocate for women empowerment and entrepreneurship. Mansi is the voice of the new age discerning Indian parent and has emerged as the first and strongest influencer in the parenting and baby care space.

Tanuj Solanki, Senior Insurance Executive and Author, has authored four books of fiction. His debut novel Neon Noon was shortlisted for the Tata Lit Live First Book Award 2016. His second, the short-story collection titled Diwali in Muzaffarnagar won the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar in 2019. His novel The Machine is Learning was longlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature 2020 and was listed by The Hindu as among the 10 best fiction books of 2020. Manjh's Mayhem is his latest novel. In his job with Kotak Life Insurance, he is a digital transformation leader with ~12 years' experience in product leadership, product management, problem solving, and kicking on with adoption in the life insurance space.