The Publisher’s Post: Vol I Ed. XVII

Dated: 29th Dec. 2007

The Publisher’s Post is a weekly newsletter that contains information relating to the book publishing and book selling industry in India.

News This Week

2008: Year of the Bookworm
Source: Hindustan Times
With big authors and bigger numbers, the Indian publishing industry seems all set for a grand new year. Says Thomas Abraham, MD, Hachette Publishing India, “Next year is going to be really unbelievable with more than 20-25 big names for release as opposed to the usual seven or eight.

The optimism within the industry circles stems from a number of factors. First, the industry is getting increasingly corporatised. Secondly, a lot of retail space is due to be added. Sugata Ghosh, VP, Commissioning, Sage Publications, says, “Retail chains like Crossword and Landmark [are] to expand. Future group and Reliance [are going to] to open up retail spaces.”

Third, industry insiders expect changes in the relation between publishers, distributors and retailers. In addition, as Ravi Singh, publisher, Penguin Books, India, says, “The one truly positive development to my mind is the emergence of Indian literary agencies based in India and headed by people with an understanding of publishing realities here.”

International Book Fair begins in Kerala
Source: The Hindu
The capital city (Thiruvananthapuram) will play host to an eleven-day-long international book fair beginning Thursday, December 29th. The book fair, being organised in the Kanakakkunnu Palace Grounds by the Kerala State Institute of Children’s Literature as part of the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival, will be inaugurated by Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

All the major publishers in the country such as Penguin Books, Oxford University Press, Roli Publications, Rupa Publications, Sahitya Akademi, Pearson International, Orient Longman, Scholastic, Sage, Macmillan and National Book Trust of India besides all the major publishers in Malayalam would be participating in the fair, Children’s Institute director Rubin D’Cruz told a news conference here. A workshop on book publishing is also being organised as part of the fair. It will be inaugurated by former NBT director Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharya.

Mills and Boons Desi Style
Source: Hindustan Times
The sugar candy romance factory, Mills and Boon, has come to India on the eve of its centenary year in 2008. Started in 1908 in the United Kingdom, and exporting to India for the last 30 years, M&B now has an office in Mumbai.

Its Mumbai office set up in India in August, M&B will now print in India. The publishing house has already appointed an exclusive distributor to release five new titles every month on the same schedules as the UK and North America. Also, there are plans to have more Indian settings and characters in the romances published from now on. The books will be available at Rs 99.

Comics are Serious Business
Source: Business Standard
If you are Indian and over 30, you probably know these characters well: Vikram and Vetal, Shikhari Shambu and Suppandi.

There are a couple of generations that connect their childhoods with these iconic animated characters, and the comic books in which they appear. Well, Chandamama and Tinkle are still around but, like you, they’re changing with the times. On the cards are licensing agreements involving content and characters, leveraging the growing opportunities in the online games and movie segment and, perhaps, merchandise.

The renewed interest in comic books — the sector had been dormant for some years, with the advent of cable television and 24×7 cartoon channels — started a couple of years ago. Analysts point to the growing popularity of gaming and graphic novels among older teens and young adults helping the trend spread to younger consumer groups as well.

Taslima Nasreen cancels publication of book
Bangladeshi Author Taslima Nasreen who has been in hiding at a government safe house for over a month has decided to put her next novel on hold. The writer has asked her publishers to cancel the publication of the sixth part of her autobiography.

The book was to be released during the Kolkata Book Fair in January. Taslima has said she will not be able to meet the deadline as she is finding it difficult to concentrate on her writing.

Following the Centre’s directive (asking her not to return to Kolkata), Taslima’s publishers and the Publishers and Book Sellers Guild have become jittery and are not sure whether her novels can be displayed at the Kolkata Book Fair.

In Other News…
The Seventh Nagaon Book Fair got underway at Nehrubali on December 22.The Fair is organised by Kollol , a leading socio-cultural organisation of Nagaon , in association with Nagaon district administration.Several state level seminars were held during the 7-day carnival which will focus on the need of Books in a civilized society. A record number of book sellers and publishers in and outside of the state participated in the fair.
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In a bid to “help out” the Publishers and Booksellers Guild in organising the annual Kolkata Book Fair, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to provide tax relief to the organisers. However, KMC will take a token sum from the organisers as ground rent for organising the fair at the Park Circus Maidan.

Book Releases & Events

Fictional Hero on Comeback Trail
Source: The Telegraph, Calcutta
Daishyu Bhaskar, Assam’s very own Robinhood, is back to torment the bad men and play saviour of the oppressed. Assamese literature’s most popular thriller series of the seventies and eighties has made a comeback in grand style, going by the rate at which the Daishyu Bhaskar series disappeared off the shelves during the just-concluded Guwahati Book Fair.

Written by Robin Dey under the pseudonym Rongmon, the series was one of the first to explore the thriller genre in Assamese literature and became an instant hit among children and grown-ups alike. Dey was born and brought up in Tezpur. He shifted to Calcutta later.

Daishyu Bhaskar literally means Bandit Bhaskar, a hero in the mould of Robinhood who robbed the rich to help the poor. Like Lee Falk’s Phantom, Dey’s Daishyu Bhaskar wore an overcoat and hat, as depicted in the cover of the books. And like the Phantom’s famous skull mark, Bhaskar too left a mark on the people he targeted — the red imprint of a palm.

The series went out of circulation in the nineties with a new a breed of writers coming in and cable television attracting children more than the written word. A source in the Assam Book Sellers and Publishers’ Association attributed the renewed interest in the fictional character to “curiosity” among the new generation. A spokesperson of the Calcutta-based Sribhumi Publishing Company said the management decided to come out with new prints after inquiries from booksellers as well as Bhaskar fans from Assam.

Indian myths for children
Source: Deccan Herald
Anita Nair, the author of the best-selling novels The Better Man, Ladies’ Coupe, Mistress and a short story collection, Satyr of the Subway, is busy planning the launch of her new book, The Puffin Book of Magical Indian Myths, on January 9 in Bangalore.

There are some 50 myths from India recounted in the book. From wise sages to demonic asuras, beautiful river deities to arrogant kings, wayward gods to brave princes, this collection of myths showcases the most enchanting and magical stories from Indian mythology. The book is a companion to her earlier published book — The Puffin Book of World Myths and Legends, published in 2003.

Sunderbans–The Mystic Mangroves
Source: Down To Earth
by Biswajit Roy Chowdhury and Pradeep Vyas
ISBN : 8189738135
Niyogi Offset, 2007

Among the two coffee table books on the Sunderbans to hit the bookstores this year - this one has the distinction of being compiled by two persons with the right credentials to write about the world’s largest mangrove expanse. Biswajit Roy Chowdhury, who’s shot most of the photographs in the book, is a noted conservationist, wildlife photographer and writer, who has spent 15 years working in the villages and mangrove forests of the Sunderbans, painstakingly documenting not only the local flora and fauna, but also the life and culture of the deltaic regions’ human inhabitants. Co-author Pradeep Vyas, is former director of the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve who’s known for his efforts to minimize human-tiger conflicts and promote anti-poaching activities in the Sunderbans.

Striking Images
Source: Express News Service
Designed as a large matchbox, complete with slipcase and striking edges, Shaid Datawala’s Matchbook is the first-ever collection of Indian matchbox labels.

Curious and visually stunning, match labels come in a staggering variety of designs, now the collection is all pressed under a cover and preserved for posterity. In case one has forgotten, standard images like the ship and the lantern are included the book that showcases almost 1,000 colourful images of brands as Cheetah Fight, Judo Deluxe, Tip Top, and New Ship. “I’ve always been an obsessive collector of curios and this book is one way of bringing together images I have been connected to as a child,” says the designer-photographer.

Datawala is not just concerned with the images—he has balanced out the kitsch quotient of the book with a serious essay by writer V Geetha providing insight into India’s complex match industry where an unjust economy throws a shadow over the vibrant graphic art it produces.

Of a Naughty Wind and an Excitable Chameleon
Colours create mood and lively fun in two playful picture books from Tulika Publishers. Jhakkad is a story by Amra Alam, a prolific writer who lives in Karachi, Pakistan. In this, her first children’s book published in India, she follows a mischievous wind through a stormy night, one that illustrator Shailja Jain deftly captures in rich, deep hues.

With Colour-Colour Kamini, Radhika Chadha, adds an excitable chameleon to the population of Tulika’s most endearing bunch of animals, brought to life by illustrator Priya Kuriyan’s colour and detail. This one is the third in a series that’s topping the bookstore charts. It is available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati and Bangla.

That’s How I See Things
That’s How I See Things by Sirish Rao and Bhajju Shyam (Tara Publishing, 2007) has been chosen as one of the Best Books for Children 2007 by the Sunday Times, UK.

That’s How I See Things tells the story of Siena Baba, a happy artist with an extremely weird and wonderful way of seeing the world and an even weirder and more wonderful way of painting it. Renowned Gond tribal artist Bhajju Shyam illustrates Sirish Rao’s humorous and profound tale about the power of art and imagination.

Book Launches by Prism
Sri Thyagaraja Yoga Vaibhavam - Vol 6

This is volume 6 of a series of 20 volumes of Encyclopedia Thyagaraja in Kannada, planned and executed by Bharatha Bharathi Sangeetha Seva Prathisthana - Bangalore, and published by Prism Books Pvt Ltd. Bangalore.

Each volume consists of between 50 and 55 Kritis composed by Thyagaraja. The Shuddha Sahitya is followed by prathipada artha ( word meaning), Notations, Bhavaanuvada, Tatparya (summary). In addition, variance in notations as given by scholars, ragalakshanas for all the ragas, model raga sancharas, are also recorded.
Thyagaraja Shabda kosha, a glossary of Thyagaraja Vocabulary will also be a part of the series.

ISBN: 9788172865498
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Maha Samparka - The great contact of the Extra Terrestrials in the land of Bharata ( 2 volume boxed set)

A research work on the great contact of the Extra terrestrials in the land of Bharata high lighting the logical, scientific and social evolution of the human race.

Vol 1: Book of Reason
Vol 2: Book of Probable

The Kannad version of this book published 4 years ago was a run away success.

Contact : Prism Books Pvt Ltd
1865, 32nd cross, BSK 2nd stage
Bangalore 560070
India
Tel: 91-80-26714108

Other Book Launches
Islamic Reform and Revival in Nineteenth-century India: The Tariqah-i Muhammadiyah
with a Forward by David Lelyveld
Harlan O. Pearson
New Perspectives on Indian Pasts
ISBN: 978-81-903634-5-7
Yoda Press, 2007
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Administration of Justice in Ancient India
by K. Srikantan
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Kulapat Munshi Marg, Mumbai-400007)
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English Couplets
by Mulki Shetty
Pentagon Press, 2007
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The Penguin Companion to the Mahabharata
by Debjani Banerjee
ISBN10 : 0143102087
ISBN13 : 9780143102083
Penguin India, 2007
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Other Voices - The Struggle for Community Radio in India
by Vinod Pavarala and Kanchan K. Malik
ISBN: 9780761936022
Sage, 2007
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Muthuswamy Dikshidhar (Tamil)
by Veeyesvee
New Horizon Media Pvt. Ltd.
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Nallappillai Bharatam (Tamil)
by R. Srinivasan
Self-published
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Hyderabad Naaneelu(Telugu)
by C. Bhavani Devi
Self-published
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Kuttikalude Bhagavatgeetha (Malayalam)
by C. V. Sudheendran
Mathrubhmi Books

Jobs

“Open Book Reviews” Planned
We are planning a review section where original reviews of books will be posted. The section will serve books published by various publishers all over India. We request publishers and reviewers to please sign up for this service by emailing us at newsletters[at]dogearsetc[dot]com with the word “REVIEWS” in the subject line. The process is envisaged to work thus:
a. The publisher will request a review for a book. Title and subject must be mentioned during this request
b. Any reviewer may request for the book so that he/she can review it
c. The publisher is then expected to send a copy of the book to the reviewer. The reviewer is expected to deliver the book review once the book is delivered. However, the reviewer is not expected to return the book.
d. The review will be published first in “The Publisher’s Post”. The reviewers will not be reimbursed for the review published in The Publisher’s Post (the publisher is also not charged for the review). However, they may get their reviews posted elsewhere and get reimbursed for the same if they so wish, subject to approval by the publisher.
e. Reviews have to be unbiased and offer an independent evaluation that is not influenced by marketing concerns. Please don’t reveal crucial plot elements and copy other people’s material. Your thoughts and opinions are what we seek. And, of course, refrain from content that is in poor taste.
f. Reviews are to be of just 200-350 words. Reviewers will initially get upto 2 books at a time and once they ‘prove themselves’, upto five. Reviewers who don’t submit reviews back in time will not get any books then on.

Associate Service Provider
CinnamonTeal Print & Publishing Services offers partnership opportunities through their Associate Service Provider (ASP) initiative. For details, visit this page.

Organizations and Publishing Houses willing to advertise for various positions related to publishing are invited to do so in this section.
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This newsletter is developed by Queenie Fernandes and Leonard Fernandes, founders of CinnamonTeal Print & Publishing Services with inputs from various individuals, publishing houses, websites and blogs.

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