Chetan Bhagat next book slated for October release

Author Chetan Bhagat has announced his new novel, a love story, due for release this October with the book being available for pre-orders on the e-commerce website Flipkart.
Bhagat, who is considered a bestseller, today took to twitter and Facebook to announce his upcoming book along with a short video teaser. "Hi all! Happy to announce my next book titled 'Half Girlfriend'," he wrote. A major newspaper here also carried the announcement as a front page advertisement.
"'Half Girlfriend' is a simple love story. It is about a boy who doesn't speak English well and brings out the issues related to English in the country today. It is a rural-urban love story that not only touches the heart, but also inspires the reader," Bhagat said in a statement.

Previous books by the author include "Five Point Someone", "One Night @ the Call Center", "The 3 Mistakes of My Life" and "2 States" The author took three years to come out with his new book after his last one "Revolution 2020."
The author wrote, "English is the new caste system. Half Girlfriend explores this aspect of our society today."
Bhagat said, "One of my goals is to make India read. For this, I wanted a partner that could make my story reach pan-India, right from the big metros to the interiors. Who better than Flipkart to do the same?"

The homegrown e-commerce site, which recently raised USD 1 billion in funding said it is delighted to associate with the author.

"We are delighted to associate with Chetan Bhagat for online exclusivity, and are looking forward to make this book available to millions of our customers. This is yet another endeavour at our end to expand our selection and offer widest and most loved range of titles and authors to Indian readers," Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Senior VP-Retail, Flipkart said.
An investment banker-turned-novelist, the 40-year-old's books have been adapted for the big screen.
Bhagat's "Five Point Someone" was adapted into blockbuster "3 Idiots" starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor in the lead. He also scripted the screenplay for the recent Salman Khan starrer film "Kick".

Soon after announcing the release of "Half Girldfriend" Bhagat also tweeted that his website, where he had posted the first chapter had crashed due to traffic.
"My site has crashed. Will be up soon. Meanwhile you can watch the "Half Girlfriend" teaser directly on youtube," wrote the author.