The Publisher’s Post: Vol I Ed. XLI
Dated: 15th June 2008
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
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. That’s what publishers do. Share.
Govt may allow Indian editions of foreign news, current affairs magazines
Sources: indianexpress.com
With web editions flooding the Internet, the UPA Government plans to tweak the country’s media policy to allow foreign news and current affairs magazines to print their Indian version, without any restriction on reporting local news.
“In keeping with the spirit of the Cabinet decision of 13th September, 1955, it is proposed to allow publication of Indian editions of magazines publishing news and comments on public news i.e. periodicals falling in the news and current affairs category,” says the proposal seeking Cabinet approval.
The Information & Broadcasting Ministry has proposed that the content allowed would be up to “100 per cent identical to the foreign magazine”, with “the Indian publisher free to add local content”. “The Indian publisher would also be free to insert local advertisements,” say the proposed guidelines.
So far, only foreign scientific, technical and specialty magazines, periodicals and journals are allowed to print their Indian editions, with 100 per cent investment in the Indian-registered publishing firm. Indian editions of foreign news and current affairs magazines are not allowed, but foreign investors can take 26 per cent equity in Indian magazines.
The full text of this article can be accessed here
Scheme for financial assistance for book promotional activities
National Book Trust, India, has launched a scheme for financial assistance to voluntary organizations for book promotional activities. The scheme is for any one of the following purposes:
a. To organize book fairs/seminars of Indian authors/publishers/booksellers on subjects which have direct bearing on book promotion in India
b. To organize training courses on a subject directly related to book promotion
c. To organize annual conventions/conferences of writers/publishers/printers
d. To conduct research/survey connected with book industry
e. Any other activity which may be found conducive to the development of the book industry
Detailed terms and conditions and prescribed forms for submitting an application may be obtained from the Deputy Director (Exhibition), National Book Trust, Plot. No. 5, Institutional Area, Phase-II, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070 or may be downloaded from nbtindia.org.in
English-Assamese online dictionary
Sources: The Assam Tribune
Xobdo, a non-profit organisation of volunteers spread across the globe, is inviting others to help develop what it calls the “World’s first and only English-Assamese online dictionary”. Even though the dictionary project (www.xobdo.net) is already on, the team behind it is dreaming big. There is an aim to make it an online access tool to as many languages of Northeast as possible in the near future.
The vision of Xobdo has been stated as, “…to demolish language barrier and thereby fuel mutual understanding and cooperation among the people of the entire North-East India and to bring the languages of the region to the fore-front of the IT age.”
Xobdo is the brainchild of Bikram M Baruah, a petroleum engineer now based in Abu Dhabi. With more volunteers coming together following its launch in 2006, 10,000 words were gathered by December 2007. The target for 2008 is to collate 20,000 words.
According to Buljit Buragohain of Xobdo, the online dictionary seeks to document the languages as they are used today in their original forms. There is no attempt to enforce or express Xobdo’s own viewpoint about any spelling or semantics being right or wrong.
Amazon pulls out big guns in disputes with publishers
Sources: International Herald Tribune
Amazon, the online retailing giant with a fast-rising share of the consumer book market, has adopted the literary equivalent of a nuclear option for rebellious publishers who balk at its demands.
In the latest in a series of disputes over the division of revenue from online sales, Amazon has disabled the “buy now with 1 click” icon on its British Web site for hundreds of books published by Hachette Livre UK, from back-list Stephen King novels to, naturally, “The Hachette Guide to French Wine.”
The button allows registered users to purchase titles instantly, with free shipping. Customers can still buy the affected books, but they have to navigate to an open marketplace that links them to third-party sellers of new or used books. And they have to pay for shipping.
The struggle comes at a time when Amazon’s power as a bookseller is increasing, with sales growing online in an otherwise tepid global book market.
“The buy button is their weapon of choice and that’s how they impose market discipline,” said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, an American trade group that also briefly lost the buy icon, for titles sold from BackinPrint.com, a print-on-demand service for infrequently purchased works. “This is such a clear indication that once they have the clout they are willing to use it to the full extent that they can. It’s ugly with Amazon and will probably get uglier.”
Amazon is saying little about its tactics. But bloggers have been organizing letter-writing campaigns and petition drives accusing Amazon, which bills itself as “Earth’s most customer-centric company,” of transforming itself into the bully of the publishing industry.
The dispute with Hachette is not the first in which Amazon has resorted to removing the “buy now” buttons for certain books. In the spring it started disabling the icons for some small publishers in the United States who resisted Amazon’s demand that they use an Amazon-owned company, BookSurge, for print-on-demand services. Amazon is the dominant seller of such titles.
New Book Releases and Events
This section reports on new book and journal releases, besides other announcements. Authors and publishers are requested to take advantage of this section and ensure that their new releases are reported here. All it takes is an email to newsletters at dogearsetc dot com. The newsletter has a readership of about 700. Trust me, you don’t want to miss on that
In Words and in Deeds
An Annotated Rights Catalogue of the Works on and by Mahatma Gandhi
published by National Book Trust, India
Especially brought out on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi, this Annotated Rights Catalogue has nearly 700 entries of the works on and by Mahatma Gandhi published in India and abroad with their annotations, bibliographic details, copyright details, availability of translation and other rights with full contact details for Rights enquiries about each title.
Compiled from the International Rights Exhibition of Works on and by Mahatma Gandhi organised by National Book Trust, India at 18 New Delhi World Book Fair, Pragati Maidan, 02-10 February, 2008, it also has separate sections on Books by Gandhiji, Books on Gandhiji and documentaries/films made on Mahatma Gandhi.
With excerpts from A Handbook of the Copyright Law published by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, it is an ideal handbook for publishers, translators, editors, literary agents, researchers, documentary makers and for anybody interested in Gandhian Studies.
Price:
Rs. 200.00 (Paperback) ISBN 978-81-237-5218-1
Rs. 900.00 (Hardbound) ISBN 978-81-237-5219-8
Pages 168, Size: 8.5″ x 11″ (demy quarto oblong)
Printed on Indian Art Paper (130 gsm) in Four Colour
Write to:
The Manager (Sales & Marketing)
National Book Trust, India
A-5, Green Park New Delhi-110 016
Phone: 91-11-26564540, 26564020, 26564667
E-mail:nbtindia@ndb.vsnl.net.in
www.nbtindia.org.in
Balaka
Balaka is a Bengali magazine published since 1992. Till date, approximately 350 writers have written in this magazine on different issues. The “About Balaka” page reads thus:
Balaka seeks and wants to preserve Indian heritage and culture. Its literary circle spreads all over Bengal and abroad. Day by day readers are increasing and Balaka is exceptional to capture readers mind accurately.
Our one of the valuable issues was ‘Life & Works of Kangal Harinath Mazumdar’ (1833-1896) and that was published in National Library (Kolkata) in March 2007. In this special issue social life of 19th century is reflected and this issue is treated as a valuable issue in Bengali Literature.
Our forthcoming issue is on 19th century. We want to search the history and evolution of Printing Media (Mudran Jantra). We are going to select twenty valuable antique books published in 19th century. Relevance of these books in modern perspective should be analysed in this forthcoming issue.
Simultaneously we want to spread our publicity globally. Bengali readers wherever in the world can read our issues through internet media. So, we are going to launch magazine web site to connect all the readers throughout the world. We can say our such endeavor is an everlasting bonding between readers versus writers.
We need eye to eye contact, heart to heart interaction, and mind to mind journey. Hope, you will come with us to elevate Bengali literature. Your kind cooperation will be highly solicited. We are waiting for you to move more better.
Writer’s Side
Writer’s Side is India’s first professional manuscript assessment service.
Launched by 26 year old Kanishka Gupta, who has earlier worked as an editor with Platform and Siyahi, and backed by a team of nine skilled editors, Writer’s Side offers services like Manuscript Reading, Critique, Editing (ranging from Proofreading to Substantive editing) for both fiction and non-fiction. Besides this, it also recommends manuscripts to scouts, literary agencies and publishing houses. For this, Writer’s Side is in direct contact with 17 publishers abroad and 3 in India (most of them famous literary imprints), 13 top Literary Agencies and 2 scouts.
The response so far from corporate and individual authors has been favorable.
Writer’s Side is currently open to dealing with literary and commercial fiction, women’s writing, dark novels, children’s fiction, science fiction, business management books. It is also open to recommending books already published in India for foreign markets.
The website: www.writersside.com
Writer’s Residency - Call for Applications
The Sangam House Writer’s Residency Program in the winter of 2008 is the inaugural undertaking of what will become an on-going annual program in arts and letters located in India. Sangam House will invite approximately 20 writers to live and work on the Adishakti property outside Pondicherry, on the east coast of southern India. Lodging (single rooms) and food will be provided free of charge. Each writer is responsible for travel costs to and from Pondicherry. However, travel funds and bursaries are available through various cultural organizations.
Residencies are structured in 1-3 month intervals, determined by individual needs. We recommend a residence period of no less than 2 weeks for each writer. Of the twenty invited writers, ten will come from the South Asian subcontinent (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and ten from other countries around the world.
Sangam House is open to writers in all languages.
The first winter session will run for approximately three months from
mid-November 2008 to mid-February 2009.
Residents are selected through an application process.
Deadline: July 31, 2008 (All materials must be post-marked by this date.)
All questions and inquiries from the South Asian subcontinent should
be directed to:
Arshia Sattar at arshia.sangam@ gmail.com.
All questions and inquires from non-subcontinent writers should be directed to:
DW Gibson at dwmgibson@yahoo. com.
For more information, visit www.sangamhouse. org
Blogs and Articles
Blogs and articles commenting on trends and events in the book industry
Internet Bookselling
Source: thinkingaloud.in
A recent survey done by Oxford Bookstore, one of the earliest and foremost entrants in book e-tailing in India, showed that Internet users feel positive if a credible brand is selling its products online, perceiving its website an useful channel for buying that niche or speciality product and related services - that adapting new technology may offer better means of selling a product like books to customers. Secondly, given the right customer care, novel user experience vis-à-vis book search, buying and browsing backed by adequate 24 x 7 technical support, booklovers and book browsers/investigators are more than willing to visit and try out the services of performance-oriented book websites.
The article by Satarupa Ray, Editor (Content) at offline-online book retailer, Apeejay Oxford Bookstores Pvt. Ltd, can be accessed here
Seriously Comics
Source: indianexpress.com
We can’t say it has arrived, but the graphic novel in India is walking down many interesting paths
Accessibility is one the things going for the form. When much of our life fits into the four corners of a screen—TV, computer, cinema, video game—when youngsters grow up on a diet of multimedia gluttony, a story told in images and text is a familiar template. A warning: this is not for the dumbed down reader reluctant to dive into pages and pages of type. The graphic novel is not light reading—it is determinedly unfunny. Once you open the book, there are no concessions to pulpiness or short attention-spans. Sacco’s Palestine was based on the time he spent at war camps and shelters in Palestine as a journalist. Closer home, Kashmir Pending and The Believers have been explicitly political, with far less success. “There is something about this genre that is against the grain, against populism. It tends to dwell on urban angst, on marginal characters,” says Pinaki De, an illustrator in Kolkata who is working on his first graphic novel.
Indian writing hits prolific peak
Sources: Hindustan Times
186 entries, shortlisted for the Vodaphone Crossword Book Award (VCBA), will be announced on July 3. The three categories - English fiction, English non-fiction and Indian language - have collectively attracted a record number of 186 entries this year, proving in turn that the award had gained prominence, as also that Indian literature is seemingly hitting some sort of a prolific peak.
Rimi Chatterjee, whose second novel The City of Love is one of the five shortlisted works in the fiction category, says:”It’s a great idea. The VCBA is our own literary award for which Indians can compete. Indians, however, seem to only be aware of the Booker, which just recognizes the books that are published in Britain. I would like to see people in India get more excited about the VCBA.” In the decade that followed its inception in 1998, the award has gone to the likes of Amitav Ghosh, Salman Rushdie and, most recently, Vikram Chandra.
Even though these big names may be formidable, many believe it’s the recognition which relatively smaller artists get that makes the VCBA heart-warmingly novel.
Debut novelist Anjum Hasan is gladdened by the fact that there is finally a literary award that is “indigenous to India and one that sets our own standard to judge English literature.” Set in Shillong, Hasan’s Lunatic in my Head sees the hitherto known poet dabble in fiction for the first time. She says: “The fact that this award has been sponsored by a bookstore can do much for the marketing of a book.”
Bound and Gagged
Source: runawaysun.blogspot.com
Searching for information on the book publishing industry in India is a frustrating experience. Internet searches generate miscellaneous and dated information. Publishing industry people never volunteer anything; nor do they come forth with anything specific upon probing. It seems, not only are books bound in India, when it comes to sharing information, their publishers - and their staff - are proverbially gagged.
The English-language book market is growing the fastest – thanks to India’s globalisation. If we were to consider 2% of India’s population as English-language book readers, that’s a huge potential of 24 million consumers for English books.
This fact has changed the dynamics of the Indian publishing industry. More and more retail brands like Crossword, Landmark and Oxford are opening up bookstores in major cities. More and more Indian publishers are realising the importance of reach and setting up their own distribution channels. More and more foreign English-language publishers are eyeing the Indian market for their books and publications. More and more Indian writers are beginning to write and publish their works in English.
Although these changes are bound to rub off on regional-language publishers sooner or later, at the moment, they’re feeling a little gagged.
Books go tweet
Source: publishers weekly
With the proliferation of new media, it was only a matter of time before the publishing industry worldwide embraced the use of such media. DailyLit, which publishes books in serialized digital format and then e-mails them to customers, is launching a reading group on the social networking site, Twitter. Through the effort DailyLit will release three titles - Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Tom Peters’ 100 Ways to Succeed/Make Money and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice - in free downloadable snippets starting on June 16. Twitter users, who communicate about daily activities and other odds and ends with friends (a la Facebook or MySpace), can sign up to receive the installments through alerts, or “tweets,” sent to them on instant messenger or on their cell phones. The installments will be sent out to all members of the groups at the same time, so readers can discuss the works, in real time, on Twitter forums. “We’re interested in exploring new ways to make books more accessible to readers, and sending book installments via Twitter is an innovative way to do just that,” said DailyLit CEO Susan Danziger.
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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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