The Publisher’s Post is a bi-weekly newsletter that contains information relating to the book publishing and book selling industry in India. For this and previous editions, visit the publisher’s post website
News This Week
On what’s happened in the industry this last week. If there’s news you have heard of and think it would make for interesting reading, please share it with us.
Sage to go regional, publish in regional languages
Source: Mint
Sage India, publishers of books for professionals, academics and students in English will now be bringing out translated works using a co-publishing model with regional language publishers.
“This will address the paucity of content in regional languages,: said Vivek Mehra, managing director and CEO of Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd.
At some point in the future Sage will look at original works too. He explained that in Marathi they already have a co-publishing arrangement with Diamond Publications of Pune. They released the first set, under the programme on 19 September.
Stephen Barr, managing director of Sage Ltd and president of Sage International, said that the house is stressing on selling out programmes in regional languages. Making a deliberate attempt not to get into fiction, he sais that they would remain with academic books, high-level non fiction and textbooks.
According to Mehra, Sage has entered into co-publishing arrangements in Tamil (with Vikatan Media Services Pvt Ltd., Chennai), Malayalam (DC Books, Kottayam), Hindi (Rawat Publications, Jaipur and Diamond Pocket Books Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi).
Bringing books to people’s doorsteps
Source: merinews.com
45-year-old hardware engineer and entrepreneur Pankaj Kurulkar has launched his ambitious ‘Books-on-Wheels’ project here on Wednesday.
This is first of such projects in India where, to begin with, as many as ten mobile vans have been deployed at various vantage points of Mumbai, where book distribution mechanism is poor. These vans fulfill the dream of getting books at people’s doorsteps free of cost.
In the next six months, Kurulkar plans to have 20 more vans in 27 districts of Maharashtra to sell books published in 22 Indian languages. If he succeeds in raising enough private equity, the project is expected to be launched nationwide in the same period.
Every mobile or Granthayan store has been fitted with a global positioning system and a satellite-linked point of sale software that will help Granthayan’s 65-strong staff keep track of the position of the mobile bookstores, and help them keep a running track of sales made from any of the bookstores. Kurulkar also has a call centre where book lovers can call on 30 lines if they want a Granthayan store at their doorstep.
Speaking at the launch ceremony of Books-on-Wheels project, Kurulkar said: “Books are not reaching masses as expected. That’s due to poor book distribution network. There are hardly any bookstores available at many places. There are 500-odd pizza outlets, but there are only 20-odd Marathi book stores in Mumbai. I wanted to fill this gap between demand and supply. Therefore I hit upon the idea of launching the Books-on-Wheels project. The project affords us tremendous advantage over conventional brick-and-mortar stores because it allows us to travel. We will reach youth with over 20,000 books in each van, who have never seen a bookstore in their lives.”
Kurulkar also plans to create cultural shows that will be staged where his mobile vans are stationed. “We will stage poetry reading sessions, author- reader interactions, plays and other cultural events, so our customers get an experience beyond just the buying of books. We would also invite literary figures to participate,” he said.
Kurulkar also plans to bring brilliant regional works into the mainstream and visit campuses and pick up students post-graduating in different languages and hire them to translate. He said 70 per cent of his stock would comprise of Marathi books while the remaining would be books in English.
In the next six months, Kurulkar plans to have 20 more vans in 27 districts of Maharashtra to sell books published in 22 Indian languages. If he succeeds in raising enough private equity, the project is expected to be launched nationwide in the same period. He has already set himself targets of growth – 100 mobile book shops in a year and 1,000 in three years, covering a majority of the states in the country.
To order books in English and Marathi, call the toll free number 1800 209 8074. To avail this facility, one has to place an order worth a minimum of Rs 250. The books will be delivered at your doorstep at no extra cost.
In London, it’s India unbound
Source: Hindustan Times
So it’ll be India in London at one of the world’s biggest trade events for publishers and booksellers. The London Book Fair 2009 has, for the first time, India as its ‘market focus’. It is a great opportunity for Indian publishing to get international exposure as well as expand its trade.
Emma House, in charge of the fair’s ‘international development’, who was in Delhi earlier this month, said market focus is designed to put the spotlight on business opportunities in one specific region. “We’re hoping to showcase a lot of younger, independent publishers, regional language writers and smaller publishers,” she says.
Ray McLellan, head of a major distributor of Indian books in Britain hopes that the fair will fast-track the aspiration of Indian publishers for exporting their publications worldwide. “The exposure Indian publishers will receive next April will be unprecedented, and a chance to greatly increase trade and public access to Indian authors, scholars, and others in the field of knowledge.”
House also informed that the key target segment of the fair would be the service providers for outsourcing. “There is a growing market for outsourcing publishing, printing, graphics and technical aspects to India,” she added.
Books from India include scientific, technical and medical publishing in which the country is said to be the strongest. But the biggest Indian publishing area in Britain in terms of sales is spiritual development. Yoga, meditation and self-improvement are the books the Western reader wants from India.
2008 Principal Prince Claus Award to Indian writer, Indira Goswami
Source: assamtimes.org
Indira Goswami is a scholar of Assamese and Ramayana literature, a former professor and Head of Modern Indian Languages and Literature at Delhi University. She works together with others to translate her works into English, to make English literature available in Assamese and vice versa. She plays a significant role in local literature at a time when much Indian writing is mediated by the West.
Writing in her Assamese mother-tongue, Goswami highlights the diverse cultural context of this remote region. She depicts contemporary political and social dimensions, avoiding romanticism and anthropological tendencies. Her intimate knowledge of community realities is closely woven into strong narratives that tackle controversial subjects such as the plight of widows (The Blue-Necked Braja, 1976) and the experience of Sikhs in the anti-Sikh riots (Pages Stained with Blood, 1994), as well as examining the impact of the caste system, prostitution and ethnic strife on the human body and psyche. Her Unfinished Autobiography (1988) is remarkable for its utter frankness. An important voice for the marginalised, she also writes about Madhya Pradesh, Kashmir and Vrindavan, bringing local issues to the fore.
Indira Goswami is honoured for “the unique quality of her writing, for identifying and expressing the inscription of cultural norms in the body, and for her influential social and cultural activism through literature”.
AMU institutes international award for literature
Source: indiaedunews.net
In line with the prestigious academic and literary organizations such as the Nobel, the Pulitzer and the Gyan Peeth, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has instituted an international award for literature in the name of its founder.
By announcing the “Sir Syed Ahmed Khan International Award” for literature, AMU has become the first ever university in the world that will confer an international award for propagating scholarship, creativity, literary dexterity, education and literal values propagated by its founder.
AMU Vice Chancellor Prof. P.K. Abdul Azis informed that in order to turn attention to Sir Syed’s vision and mission, the university will confer the International Award along with a cash prize of Rs.5 lakhs.
The award will be given every year on the Sir Syed Day (October 17) in different disciplines. For this year, the award will be given for literature to pay tribute to literary pursuits of Sir Syed.
The university has invited nominations from all quarters who have undertaken work that promote the vision and mission of Sir Syed.
First Kovalam Literary Festival to be star-studded affair
Source: IANS
Book lovers in Kerala are in for a treat as the first Kovalam Literary Festival is set to get off to a star-studded start at the sprawling Taj Green Cove on the picturesque Kovalam beach next month.
The festival, which begins Oct 6 and ends Oct 8, is an attempt to give readers in Kerala, one of the most literate states in the country, an opportunity to hear their favourite authors read extracts from their new books and interact with them, said a spokesperson for Noctilucent, the event management firm handling the event.
The festival, said to be the first such event in south India, will be sponsored by the The Taj Group, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and publishing house, Penguin India.
Three authors will read out from their latest works at the festival, the spokesperson said.
“Tarun Tejpal will read from his yet-to-be-published novel ‘The Story of My Assassins’, cricketer Aakash Chopra will read extracts from his new book on the game, along with Shashi Tharoor,” he said.
The festival will also feature its glamour share of chick lit writers like Shobhaa De, who will read from her book “Superstar India”, and Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan, who has authored ‘You Are Here’.
Writer Patrick French will read from the biography of V.S. Naipul, “The World is What It Is”, and will be in conversation with William Dalrymple later.
Award winning writers Namita Devidayal, author of “Music Room”, and Usha K.R., who wrote “The River And Us”, will read extracts from their books, followed by a session on “Writing In A Globalised World”.
The event will be attended by Mike Bryan, CEO of Penguin India, eminent writers K. Satchidanandan, Shashi Tharoor and editor-in-chief of Harper Collins V.K. Karthika. William Dalrymple will also participate in the fest with a talk about Christianity in Kerala.
Tharoor will deliver the third K.C. John Memorial Lecture on “Soft Power of India’ at Siri Mulam Club.
IPDA is now “in”
Source: Scholars without Borders
IPDA- Independent Publishers’ Distribution Alternatives- publishes books covering a wide range including in the social sciences, women’s/gender studies, the humanities, left literature, development studies, international relations, politics, cultural studies, fiction, books for children and young adults, general interest non-fiction, and even some poetry.
PDA was formed in response to the “globalisation of publishing and its domination by a handful of conglomerates in the global North and West have had a ripple effect on small and medium independent publishers everywhere. In India, too, with liberalisation of the economy and foreign direct investment, indigenous publishers are being pushed to the margins by the entry of multinational corporate publishing houses. “
IPD Alternatives’ collaborative marketing and distribution initiative is “aimed at providing the widest possible exposure of books published by independent publishers. It seeks to redress the lack of visibility of independent publishing in India by using both mainstream channels and alternative networks for the dissemination of these books. IPD Alternatives also seeks to promote independent publishing in India by developing new, alternative markets for it.”
Books purchased at IPDA are fulfilled through Scholars without Borders.
SEZ books under scrutiny as publishers protest
Source: Economic Times
A controversy has erupted over sale of books published in special economic zones (SEZs) and foreign direct investment (FDI) in book publishing. The government has set up a committee of senior bureaucrats to study the aspects as domestic book publishers have complained that books published in SEZs are sold here at a lower price, putting them at a disadvantage. They are also opposing government proposal to allow 100% FDI in book publishing. The issue has assumed political dimensions too with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce examining the issues.
During a meeting at the department of industrial policy & promotion (Dipp), book publishing industry representatives expressed concern over sale of books published from SEZs which enjoy tax concessions. Supply of such books to the domestic market is considered import. Indian publishers, represented by the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP), want anti-dumping duties to be imposed on the books that they allege are being sold here at prices far cheaper than other countries.
Allowing SEZ-published books to be sold here without import duty skews the level-playing field in favour of firms located in the zones, domestic players argue. They want the government to protect them from the unfair competition.
According to government sources familiar with the development, one option under consideration is to create a level playing field by imposing Customs duty on the import of books from SEZs. This has to be done in accordance with the country’s commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Another option is to prevent SEZ-published books in the domestic market. The second option is cumbersome in view of the policy changes required, officials feel.
The Dipp is also taking a serious look at the industry’s demand for bringing down the FDI in book publishing from 100% to 49%. The government allowed 100% FDI in book publishing in 2000. The domestic industry has been seeking reversal of the policy ever since. However, the government has shown no inclination to accept the demand since the FDI policy is being liberalised in most areas.
New Book Releases and Events
This section reports on new book and journal releases, new imprints and other similar events.
New Releases by Social Science Press
New Mansions for Music - Performance, Pedagogy and Criticism
by Lakshmi Subramanian
Social Science Press-Orient BlackSwan Joint publication
ISBN 978-81-87358-34-3 / 81-87358-34-3
August 2008
THE ESSAYS in New Mansions for Music: Performance, Pedagogy and Criticism look at one of the most ancient and rigorous classical musical traditions of India, the Karnatik music system, and the kind of changes it underwent once it was relocated from traditional spaces of temples and salons to the public domain. Nineteenth-century Madras led the way in the transformation that Karnatik music underwent as it encountered the forces of modernization and standardization. This study also contributes to our understanding of the experience of modernity in India through the prism of music. The role of Madras city as patron and custodian of the performing arts, especially classical music offers an invaluable perspective on the larger processes of modernization in India
In an immensely readable book peppered with anecdotes and conversations with leading musicians and critics of the day, as well as humorous visual representations, part caricature, part satirical, the author describes a rapidly changing society and its new look in early twentieth century Madras.
Lakshmi Subramanian is Professor, Department of History and Culture, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Her earlier publications include From the Tanjore Court to the Madras Music Academy: A Social History of Music in South India, O.U.P, Delhi, 2006.
Resistance and the State - Nepalese Experiences
Revised Edition
Edited by David N. Gellner
ISBN 978-81-87358-41-1 / 81-87358-41-6
In all developing countries, the state, aided and supported by foreign donors, has held out the promise of development and tangible benefits to its citizens. Nearly always this has involved unprecedented interference in people’s lives — which has provoked various forms of resistance in response.
Resistance and the State: Nepalese Experiences uses ethnographic case studies to explore healthcare programmes, forestry, national parks, political parties, and ethnic revivalism. This fascinating and readable book also gives a graphic description of conflicts over the interpretation of history, and various perspectives on the Maoist insurgency that has taken control of large parts of rural Nepal since 1996. This is arguably the longest and most widespread Marxist rebellion that South Asia has known.
David N. Gellner is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls.
For more details contact:
Social Science Press
69, Jorbagh
New Delhi - 110 003
Ph: 91-11-24645159
www.socialsciencepress.blogspot.com
Poetry Reading Program in Delhi University: Assamese Culture and Contemporary Politics Discussed
Source: assamtimes.org
Aruni Kashyap, young English language poet from Assam, opened up for discussion several problems and issues relevant to contemporary Assam in a Poetry Reading Program held at Hansraj College, University of Delhi, on 26th August, 2008. This was the monthly reading series that the Department of English, Delhi University organizes. He read his poems along with eminent Hindi poet Jitendra Srivastava.
Jitendra Srivastav teaches Hindi at Indira Gandhi National Open University and Aruni Kashyap is a student of MA English Literature at St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. Jitendra Srivastav has published three poetry collections and they are In Dino Halchal (2000), Anbeli Katha (2003), and Asundar Sundar (2008). He has also written critical works on Hindi literature and they are Bharatiya Samaj Ki Samasyae Aur Premchand (2002), Bharatiya Rastrabaad Aur Premchand (2004), and Sabda Mein Samay (2008). He is also the winner of “Kirti Sanman (2005)” and “Ramchandra Shukla Puraskar (2006).”
Aruni Kashyap has published in Amar Asom, Sadin, Satsori, The Assam Tribune, Tehelka, Postcolonial Text , The Daily Star, Indian Literature, Muse India and Pratilipi. Aruni debuted in Assamese with his popular column “Dilli Vishawavidyalar Pora” in Amar Asom daily, when he was a young student of BA English at St. Stephen’s College Since then, he has written reviews, essays, short stories in Assamese and English. Homen Borgohain wrote in “Prothom Kolom”, Amar Asom that, “Aruni Kashyap’s name is one of those names that would be uttered among the best writers and scholars in Assam after ten years.”
Almost all of Aruni’s poems are about Assamese rural life, history, and borrows extensively from folklore.In the section “Blood, Guns and the Sun” he read out poems that depicted the plight of common people caught amidst insurgency due to ULFA and racist attitudes faced by Northeastern people in Delhi.
He was also asked about the theme of exile, and he said that it “Has a historical lineage. Had I not come to Delhi to study, may be I wouldn’t have written in such a nostalgic manner about Assam. In this way, I feel myself linked to the Assamese students in Calcutta in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Dr Moheswar Neog in his history of Assamese literature says that it was the nostalgic feeling among Assamese students that lead to “swajon preeti” and thus they formed the Asomiya Bhasar Unnati Sadhini Sobha in 1884.”
Aruni plans to publish a collection of poems in English soon. “I want to continue writing in English and Assamese. It’s more liberating to write in my mother tongue, but since English came too, I’d continue as it opens up Assam for the rest of world more easily.”
Blogs and Articles
Comments and posts on trends and events in the book industry.
Bookstores tell a tale of dying Urdu
Source: The Times of India
While some shopkeepers are happy and satisfied with the rising sale of religious books, there are others who believe that there is much more to Urdu language than religious texts. “There are a large number of Urdu books, from fascinating fairy tales and magical stories to absorbing shayari by great writers to thought provoking novels. Why is Urdu script associated with religious texts only,” asks M Q Farooqi, the 60-year-old Nuh Book Stall owner and a great lover of Urdu books who nostalgically slips a decade back to remember the craze Urdu magazines like Sadabahar , Sadrang and Hazaarrang would generate.
The reasons for Urdu scripts fast disappearing from Hyderabad’s bookshelves are many. Farooqi says, “Today Urdu no longer provides the economic advantage. Unlike English, Hindi or regional languages, studying in a Urdu medium does not give an edge while seeking employment.”
Popular bookstores predictably see no reason to stock them. “We have seven stores in the city, with each having a collection of over a lakh books but we don’t have a collection of Urdu books as they are not much in demand,” says Tayyab, a staff member of Universal Book Store. Booksellers note they stock books in English and Telugu as Urdu books are neither in fashion nor in demand.
C. Anto Thomas, Lecturer, Department of English, St. Thomas College, Trichur, said children’s literature was marginalised in India. While western universities dedicated full-fledged courses in children’s literature, it was only an optional paper in Indian universities. “Children’s literature is perceived differently in other parts of the world. Children’s literature produced in India has not been able to rise to international standards,” he added.
The full article can be accessed here
Reprints are king in parts of book world
Source: Los Angeles Times
Whether the increasing number of reprints is because of reader dissatisfaction with contemporary literature or the flowering of an archivist, curatorial instinct, they are certainly part of the decentralization of literary culture. Miller says that, with space shrinking for print reviews and the Web as an overwhelming presence, people are trusting their instincts to figure out what to read. The threat this poses to the literary establishment is that whenever one of these new-old titles connects with a reader, whenever a reader wonders how Rose Macaulay’s “The Towers of Trebizond” or Hamilton’s “Hangover Square” could ever have been forgotten, it raises distrust in the establishment that proclaims certain books important. Especially if the reader has slogged through the pages of some highly praised snoozer.
Reprints may be how new novels that surely deserve larger audiences — Kate Jennings’ “Moral Hazard,” for instance — may finally find the readership they should have had the first time around. The reprint houses are not going to put the big houses out of business. But it could be that the bigger publishing houses are on their way to losing something more valuable than readers’ money. Their trust.
The whole article can be read here
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This newsletter is developed by Queenie Fernandes and Leonard Fernandes with inputs from various individuals, publishing houses, websites and blogs.
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