The Publisher’s Post: Vol I Ed. XLII
Dated: 22nd 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.
Varsity to develop Tamil into a modern tool: New V-C
Source: The Hindu
Tamil University here will take steps in the next three years to develop Tamil into an effective modern tool, said M. Rajendran, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil University. He took charge as the Vice-Chancellor on Thursday.
He told presspersons that the frontier of Tamil usage has been expanding in public administration, education, temples, media and cinema. To meet this, a carefully planned package of initiatives with the use of information technology will be prepared.
The package includes e-dictionary, online translation, voice to text, simplifying Tamil letters, auto tutor, reforming teaching texts, changes in teaching methods and phonetic simplification.
Tamil University will also engage itself in preservation and meaningful use of Tamil treasures. Tamil books, palm-leaf manuscripts, paper documents and stone inscriptions are available in Tamil Nadu, in other parts of India and outside. With a view to preserving these and making these accessible for Tamil development and research, it is proposed to convert these into e-text in a phased manner.
The university will also take up co-ordination and integration of the work of Tamil development and research occurring in different centres. This will include setting up a machinery to co-ordinate and collect all Ph.D and M.Phil dissertations in Tamil as also other research work, and publishing them through a website for universal access. This will ensure that the same research effort is not undertaken by more than one institution or researcher and pave the way for upgrading research, the Vice-Chancellor said.
This will also help avoid duplication of financial outlay and research efforts.
Hyderabad-based Green Gold to launch English comic series
Source: indianmediaobserver.com
Hyderabad-based Green Gold Animation has entered the comic space. The company plans to launch an English comic series based on the Hindu mythological character, Chhota Bheem.
According to Green Gold Animation founder and MD Rajiv Chilakalapudi the comic would be made keeping the Indian audience’s taste in mind.The comic series’ first issue is slated for release in August 2008 across all major Indian cities as well as in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
Sarala Award for 2008 presented
Source: The Hindu
For internationally-acclaimed Indian writer and diplomat Sashi Tharoor, English has offered a unique opportunity to explain India’s voice and multiple truths and realities.
On his maiden visit to the state of Orissa, Mr. Tharoor, clad in the traditional ‘mundu’ attire of the Malayalees, was speaking at the prestigious Sarala (literary) Award presentation ceremony in the capital, Bhubaneswar. Mr. Tharoor presented the Sarala Award for 2008 to noted Oriya writer and civil servant Hara Prasad Das. The coveted literary award for Oriya literature, instituted by the IMFA Group 29 years ago, carries a citation, a shawl and a cash award of Rs.1.5 lakh.
Founder of the IMFA Group and Sarala Samman and scientist turned industrialist B.D.Panda, who chaired over the function, felicitated lyricist Binod Pasayat, music composer Prafulla Kar, social worker Abhay Charan Chalan and sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik (in absentia) on the occasion in recognition of their pioneering contribution in their respective fields.
Working President of the Sarala Advisory Board and noted writer Santanu Acharya analysed award Mr. Hara Prasad’s book poetry book ‘Harmoniumre todi‘ that fetched him the award while the awardee also spoke about his book and sensibility as a writer.
Marathi libraries fade away
Source: Mumbai Mirror
While politicians are vying with one another to hog the limelight as the “protector of Marathi interests”, libraries in the city meant for readers of Marathi books are closing down.
Out of 29 Marathi libraries run by the Mumbai Marathi Granth Sangrahalaya (MMGS), 11 have closed down in the past two years. In the past two months, the libraries at Dadar and Abhyudaya Nagar, Parel, have shut down because of insufficient number of members and lack of infrastructure. Similarly, eight more libraries are expected to pull their shutters down soon.
Former editor of a newspaper and well-known Marathi writer Arun Tikekar was of the opinion that the Marathi libraries are not keeping the kind of books that can draw the younger generation. “Most of the Marathi literature is religious, spiritual, or relating to cookery and technology. The young are hardly interested in such literature. Also, the Marathi literature available in the libraries is not good enough to hold the attention of young readers. There are nearly 2,000 types of Marathi books coming in the market every year, but hardly any of them are of general interest.”
“In English, people get a variety of books. Marathi literature needs to catch up to attract readers. Moreover, the government does not have a specific policy over library and book printing. There should be integrated approach. Also, the government should increase its grant to improve the infrastructure and the variety of books in libraries. Old book shops are closing down,” he said.
Information for press directory requested
Source: The Assam Tribune
Aank-Baak Publications, which is preparing a press directory, has solicited different information including name, profession, designation, postal address, telephone, email from all journalists (any medium), photo journalists, publishers, writers, poet, novelists, proof readers, etc. Individuals are asked to submit the same details to Four Colour Advertising and Publishing, Rajgarh Road, opposite Bye Lane No 8 (Ph-9864122631) before July 30.
Design for modern State library in Tamil Nadu finalised
Source: The Hindu
Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi is likely to lay the foundation stone soon for the Rs.100-crore state-of-the-art library complex coming up in the city. The construction work was expected to be completed in April 2010.
The first floor would accommodate the children’s section, newspapers and periodicals, while Tamil books would be available on the second floor. The third floor was exclusively for English books and the fourth floor for books in Dravidian languages (except Tamil) and other Indian languages.
The fifth floor was for back issues of newspapers and periodicals and the sixth floor for government documents. Donors’ collection, audio and video section would come up on the seventh floor. The eighth floor would accommodate rare books, a preserving unit, a photo library and a digital library.
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
India and the UN
A New Hope: India, The United Nations, And The Making Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights
by Manu Bhagavan
has been published by Modern Asian Studies (copyright Cambridge University Press) and is now online at http://journals.cambridge.org
Abstract: This article explores India’s role in the development and design of the United Nations, refracted through the Commission that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Through an analysis of sovereignty, citizenship, nationality, and human rights from the 1940s to 1956, the paper discusses what India hoped the UN to be, and more generally what they intended for the new world order and for themselves. The paper challenges existing interpretations of international affairs in this period. It seeks to reform our understanding of Jawaharlal Nehru’s intellectual vision, and in the process attempts to recast the very concept of postcoloniality.
Kamala’s Agony
Source: Outlook
The Blaft Anthology Of Tamil Pulp Fiction
Translated By Pritham K. Chakravarthy/Edited By Rakesh Khanna
Blaft Publications
I don’t know Tamil so I can’t tell what’s been lost in translation, but the magical thing about this anthology is that I never once thought of the stories as Tamil stories. In Pritham Chakravarthy’s translations, the characters in these stories live and breathe an English that smells like a neutral ether: neither elaborately English nor annoyingly vernacular.And it’s hard to convey the delight I felt in reading time-pass fiction where the starlets, the hard-boiled detectives and the vengeful goddesses came from the world I inhabited, were mine.
There are two reasons to buy this book. One, it’s a wonderful read and, two, it’s the best-produced paperback in the history of Indian publishing. From the luridly brilliant cover (complete with gun-toting, full-breasted Tamil rose) to the colour plates, the line drawings, the perfectly judged author introductions and the high-quality paper inside, this book is an object lesson in how publishing is done.
Dream Destinations
A coffee table book on exotic travel destinations, UNESCO world heritage sites and structures designed by renowned architects, titled Dream Destinations by Urmi Popat, is a travelogue on 11 global destinations (Israel, Iceland, Russia, China, Tibet, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Greece and Brazil). It covers: art, architecture, culture, destinations/places, food, shopping, politics, archaeology, history of these destinations and much more; from the dense rain forests of the Amazon to the horrors of war-ripped Israel to the beauty of the largest glacial formation in Europe in Iceland.
The book with over 350 images helps glean information on various UNESCO recognised sites, structures designed by world renowned architects as well as the New Seven Wonders of the World. Details of the book including sample pages are available on www.manaspublication.com (http://www.manaspublication
Looking to Learn
Source: Business Standard
Nature guides that can show your children (and you) how to observe.
They don’t get much attention, and not just because some of them are not very good. It’s the adults who shop, even for children’s books, and how can butterflies compete with the blockbuster fantasy fiction that everyone else in school is reading?
What sets these books apart is the seriousness with which they attempt to work at child’s-eye level, laying the ground for a category of Indian children’s non-fiction that is non-textbook, non-preachy, non-jargonistic, and non-specialised. These books, let it be said now, will not help your children pass exams.
They may, however, help them to learn how to look at living things, and to take observation seriously. This is possible even if you live in a 10th-floor apartment with few trees around and a park that has given way to a concrete jogging track. There’s still plenty of natural life around, especially at child’s eye level (and very little of it is dangerous).
That said, the publisher is marketing these books as teaching aids, aimed at the lucrative school market. It’s a reasonable idea, and so are the prices, but will books like this really allow teachers to break the stranglehold of “syllabus” that even very young students are subject to? It seems doubtful.
More on this review here
WWF-OUP Nature Guides
Butterflies Of India
by Thomas Gay, Isaac David Kehimkar, Jagdish Punetha
Trees Of India
by Pippa Mukherjee
Fishes Of India
Seashore Life Of India
by B F Chhapgar
Pages: 52-108
Price: Rs 145-195
Indian Writing titles shortlisted
Two titles published by Indian Writing have made it to the shortlist of six books for the Crossword award for the best Indian fiction in translation into English for the year 2007. They include Ashokamitran’s Star Crossed translated by chief editor V Ramnarayan and Era Murukan’s The Ghosts of Arasur translated by Janaki Venkataraman. Other titles by Indian Writing include:
Krishna Krishna
by Indira Parthasarathy, translated by Indira Parthasarathy
9788183682848
I, Ramaseshan
by Aadhavan, translated by Padma Narayanan
9788183682824
Where the Lord Sleeps
by Neela Padmanabhan, translated by M Dakshinamurthy
9788183684712
New Books by Sage
RSS, School Texts And The Murder Of Mahatma Gandhi - The Hindu Communal Project
Aditya Mukherjee, Mridula Mukherjee And Sucheta Mahajan, All At Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
ISBN: 978-8-1782-9854-2
Strong Religion, Zealous Media - Christian Fundamentalism And Communication In India
Pradip Ninan Thomas, University Of Queensland
ISBN: 978-8-1782-9834-4
Prostitution And Beyond - An Analysis Of Sex Work In India
Edited By Rohini Sahni, V Kalyan Shankar And Hemant Apte, All At University Of Pune
ISBN: 978-0-7619-3638-1
Thinking Creatively At Work - A Sourcebook
Premila D’cruz, Indian Institute Of Management, Ahmedabad
Response Books
ISBN: 978-8-1782-9853-5
For details on these and more contact Ketan Mhatre at ketan.mhatre@sagepub.in
Blogs and Articles
Blogs and articles commenting on trends and events in the book industry
A Sketchy Plot
Source: Indian Express
It is not all fairytales and happy endings for people behind the colours of a children’s book
Illustrators mostly jostle with the text written by someone they have never met. An author who has asked for a small illustration to aid a story or from a publishing house that has sent a script to be translated to drawing. “The few things to keep in mind while drawing for kids is that you’ve got to be honest and true to your feelings. You have to keep it simple and it is never a translation of the text but an interpretation,” says Suddhasatwa Basu, a renowned illustrator, painter and animation filmmaker. His first book for children as a writer is The Song of the Scarecrow. “When I illustrate I don’t interact with the authors. An author has written and that’s it. I try to read it as someone who reads it for the first time, without knowing who or where the author has written the story. I like to approach the story just like the stranger who will pick up the book.”
Very rarely does the author-illustrator meeting take place. “Then the manuscript has to be something different,” says Neeta Gangopadhya whose illustrations are included in the book Once Upon a Time in India, which has been nominated for the IBBY Honours List in 2006. Neeta has illustrated Bimal Kar’s Satyadas for Katha. She recounts an incident where she was called to illustrate for a hardcore Islamic book. “I was totally clueless but somehow read up and managed to create something!” she says.
Potery of Success
Source: Deccan Herald
Sibanthi Padmanabha K V in a chat with Bharathi Devi, a poet who represented Kannada literature at the recent Saarc Poetry Festival.
“The two years I spent in Chennai really proved of great advantage in my life as I got a unique experience through a wide range of exposure, by mingling with friends from varied backgrounds. It is in fact Chennai that imbibed the interest of linguistics and translation in me,” she says, who has already published a translated work titled Saamskritika Anusandhaana. Her poetry compilation Nillisabeda Kayuvudannu was selected for the special scheme of Kannada Book Authority last year. Bharathi’s PhD subject (Bhaashe Mattu Samskrutiya Antsambandhagalu), which she is currently pursuing from Hampi Kannada University, also derives from her keen interest towards linguistics.
Not Content With Books
Source: Business Standard
Making sense of change in the Indian publishing industry, by meeting the people at the forefront.
Big things are happening in the little world of publishing. And for once, India is at the forefront of change along with the rest of the (publishing) world. Publishers are just beginning to adapt to a changing business environment.
One of the few ways to track change in this tightly networked, yet highly fragmented, industry is to keep an eye on people movement, in particular the changing profile of the people at the top. Most recently in India, Pearson Education, a subsidiary of global publishing giant Pearson (which also owns Penguin) lost its long-time head Subroto Mozumdar to Pearson UK. In his place came Vivek Govil — an IIM grad who’s worked in ad agency Lintas, spent 15 years with Gillette, and headed sales at the Oberoi hotels group.
In late 2006, Sage, a leading academic publisher, became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sage UK. As a consequence, its India founder, part-owner and head since 1981 Tejeshwar Singh (who passed away last year) was replaced by Vivek Mehra — who like Govil had no conventional publishing experience, but has degrees in marketing and engineering and has worked at Calvin Klein and in online education.
In other instances, old hands have left large and successful publishers to join startups. Thomas Abraham, recently head of Penguin India, shifted to Hachette India, a brand-new subsidiary of the European publishing giant Hachette Livre. And V K Karthika, a respected editorial chieftain, lately of Penguin, now heads HarperCollins India’s publishing programme.
Books make the move from bookshelves to TV screens
Source: afaqs.com
Books, it seems, are going through a visual journey. Publishing house HarperCollins India has just launched TV commercials for its new titles, White Tiger and Brida.
PM Sukumar, chief executive officer, HarperCollins India, explains the strategy of pitching a new book to readers through television. “The idea is to create interest about the book while reaching out to a wider audience. A lot of our readers are based down South and television as a medium allows us greater access to this particular bunch of serious readers,” he says.
Most publishers think they must change with the times in order to remain relevant to the existing bunch of readers and reach out to a new set of readers. Commenting on innovative marketing strategies for promoting new titles, Kapish Mehra, chief executive officer, Rupa & Co., says, “If we look at advertising opportunities in general, new innovative media have cropped up in recent years. Today, mobile is seen as a big advertising platform, but who knows, tomorrow, some other bigger medium or platform might emerge and attract advertisers. The challenge for individual publishing houses is to think ahead of the times, as Rupa did by advertising Gavaskar’s book on television when the whole concept of promoting books on TV was unheard of.”
With technology ruling our lives, publishers have also taken to inbox advertising, mailers, putting up banners on websites and creating dedicated websites for a new title. Author Chetan Bhagat says, “One should avoid getting judgemental or emotional about any particular medium or platform for advertising a new book. It goes without saying that it is herd mentality that rules in our country. If one author has tasted success by launching a website and a TVC for his book, several other authors or publishers will follow suit, whether it suits the genre and target group or not.”
How well are Indian publishers faring when it comes to launching and marketing a title vis à vis the West? Mehra of Rupa & Co. laughs off the comparison, “Agreed that India is one of the largest and fastest growing markets for all kinds of books, but the West is still way ahead of us. Imagine, books there get dissected on the Oprah Winfrey Show… that sort of thing will take years to happen here.”
The whole article can be accessed 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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