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Blogs and Articles
Comments and posts on trends and events in the book industry.
The Paperback Turns 75
Source: business.in.com
Strictly speaking, the paperback is a little older than 75. The first paperback got published in 1931. But this pioneering effort by German publisher Albatross Books failed to attract any takers. It was only in 1935 – when Sir Allen Lane launched the now legendary Penguin Books – that the paperback took off. The high quality books priced at 2.5 pence – the same as a pack of 10 cigarettes – were a runaway success. The age of the paperback was upon us.
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Growth of Tamil publishing industry
Source: The Hindu
According to The Book Sellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) the publishers come up with about 6,000 Tamil books a year, of which 1,000 are re-prints. This means 5,000 new Tamil books enter the market. The publishers can be classified as those who bring out text books, all genres of books, literary and philosophical books, research books meant mostly for libraries, translated works, only astrological books and religious and children’s books.
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Copyright, copywrong
Source: Business Standard
Many great books, especially histories, biographies, science writing and world literature/poetry/drama in translation will never be stocked in Indian bookshops. Many will come in after six-eight months, or will be prohibitively expensive, or will be stocked in limited copies. For readers, one way around this is to order online or invest in an e-reader, but that’s still restrictive – you lose out on the serendipity of browsing, the accidental happiness of stumbling across books you didn’t know you wanted.
From that perspective, the amendments proposed to the Indian Copyright Act might seem like a great idea. The core principle underlying the amendments applies equally to the Internet, digital media, film and broadcasting, and print publishing. Open up the markets, allow books, films and other media to move freely across countries, and give the Indian consumer and reader a much wider choice. So, why is Indian publishing unhappy about this, and how is the Indian Copyright Act set to change the way you read?
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Learning the Ropes
Source: Daily News and Analysis (DNA)
According to author Usha KR, “The stories of success that we hear, like a Chetan Bhagat giving up his original occupation to become a writer, may sound romantic but they are individual cases.” She believes writing is perceived more as a hobby than a vocation. In order for it to be recognised as a discipline that can be taught, it needs to be part of a “mature literary environment”, which can be facilitated by courses in writing that follow certain “universal standards and modes of communicating.”
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Price point every one
Source: livemint.com
Today, every large publishing house in India is focusing on mass-market fiction. Penguin India started its new imprint, Metro Reads, which will only publish mass-market fiction. Hachette India has seven titles this year. HarperCollins has just published Johnny Gone Down, a slick page-turner that jumps from Delhi to Boston, Cambodia, Brazil and back, and has priced it at Rs99. The book has an initial print run of 50,000 copies and stacks of it can be spotted in mass retail chains that sell consumer durables, not books. Mumbai’s Star Bazaar has about 200 copies of the book on a stand next to its magazine rack. Read more »
‘Vanity’ Press Goes Digital
Source: online.wsj.com
Much as blogs have bitten into the news business and YouTube has challenged television, digital self-publishing is creating a powerful new niche in books that’s threatening the traditional industry. Once derided as “vanity” titles by the publishing establishment, self-published books suddenly are able to thrive by circumventing the establishment.
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Johnny’s Doing Good
Source: livemint.com
The author of ‘Johnny Gone Down’ on writing an intercontinental novel and raising his standards to make it a commercial success.
The relationship between an author and an editor can often be a tenuous one, but in my case, inputs from such experienced editors helped me figure out my own motivations for writing better. I think I understood my characters and story in a lot more depth because of the editing process which I think has led to a more honest novel. Overall, the publishing process has been delightful for me this time over. It also helped that Harper bought the novel within a few hours of submitting the manuscript versus the few months it took the first time.
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Dirty books no more
Source: Daily News and Analysis (DNA)
When Ruchir Joshi first tried to persuade popular authors to write erotica, some rejected the idea outright. “Me write porn? No f***ing way,” was one reaction. Others simply didn’t respond to his emails. Joshi’s compilation of erotic stories by Indian writers in English, titled Electric Feather, finally came out late last year, its cover a suggestive image of the hardbound book placed delicately between a pillow and a soft-looking bed. The book’s reception exceeded expectations; in fact, so happy is the publisher Tranquebar that a second volume is in the works.
Another publishing house, Zubaan, is now planning an anthology of erotic stories in 2011. This one will feature stories by women writers from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
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At BEA, publishers agree changes are coming
Source: news.yahoo.com
Giants and upstarts of publishing gathered at the annual BookExpo America agree e-books will transform the business, although exactly how it will all shake out remains unclear.
From biggest publishers to newcomers there was agreement on one thing – the big change will come when there is a standard format across which all e-books can be published and shared. Read more »
Tourism goes literary in India
Source: expressindia.com
In Himachal Pradesh there is a proposal to consider developing sites along the Hindustan-Tibet road, where noted author Rudyard Kipling had stayed and penned novels such as the classic “Kim.”
“We had proposed to call it the Kipling trail after the famous author who is said to have stayed at various places along the Shimla-Kinnaur route,” says Avay Shukla who was additional chief secretary, forest department of Himachal Pradesh when he forwarded the proposal in 2008.
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Little Wordsmiths
Source: livemint.com
Indian publishers find a new, fairly lucrative category in books written by tweens and teens
Most of these publishers are serious about promoting their authors. Take Sterling, which launched 18-year-old Anirudh Vasdev with the collection of short stories, Of Ghosts, Wizards and Other Fantasies (in May last year). Vasdev got a launch at the London Book Fair. Says S.K. Ghai, chairman and managing director of Sterling Publishers, “The best way to encourage a young author is to publish him.” Roli’s launch last year of The Mystic Temple, written by Asmita Goyanka, a 14-year-old, Delhi-based author, involved a reading and an interaction with kids at a cafe and a children’s book store. “We’ll also try and do as much Web promotion as we can, because a large percentage of youngsters are very engaged with online activities. We’ll use Facebook, Twitter,” says Pradipta Sarkar of HarperCollins.
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New Book Releases and Events
This section reports on new book and journal releases, new imprints and other similar events.
An elegant translation of Sangam poems
Source: The Hindu
Though numerous native scholars and western aficionados have attempted to render in English select poems from Sangam anthologies, G.U. Pope, A.K. Ramanujan and George L. Hart represent three types of translation, each with its own idiosyncratic features that accounted for their merits as well as limitations. On his part, Pope contents himself very often with paraphrases. It is his fondness for rhymes that lets him down and, at times, even forces him to introduce a descriptive phrase or a metaphor not found in the original. As for Ramanujan, he scrupulously avoids Victorian English and chooses today’s English, which remains his forte.
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History of Gujarati Publishing, Now in a Book
Source: Times of India
The first printed book in Gujarati was written by a surgeon 200 years ago. Interestingly, it was written not by a Gujarati but an Englishman Dr Robert Drummond. In 1808, he wrote Illustrations of the grammatical parts of the Guzerattee, Mahratta & English language, which is known as the first printed Gujarati book.
Aspects about Gujarati publishing history such as these are contained in Deepak Mehta’s recently published book, Oganishmi Sadi Gujarati Granth Samrudhhi. The book deals in interesting aspects of Gujarati books and men of letters. This well-researched work has colourful insights and inside stories on Gujarati books.
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Penning Business Ideas
Source: Business Standard
Penguin India’s CEO & president, Mike Bryan, has some clear-cut plans to expand the company’s publishing business.
Penguin India this month will launch its first branded store in Bangalore called “Penguin Pageturners”.The store will have 80 per cent Penguin books and the rest will be a mix from other publishers. Bryan is in talks with franchisee in Kerala for the next branded store there. The roadmap ahead will depend on how these two stores do.
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Amar Ujala gets into book publishing
Source: afaqs.com
Publishers of Hindi daily Amar Ujala are getting into book publishing and are all set to launch the publication’s first book, titled Housewife to Homemaker.
Amar Ujala Book Publishing Division plans to launch one book every month and the titles will be distributed at the newsstands and book stores across Uttar Pradesh. All books launched by the division will be in Hindi. Targeted at the middle class segment, the division will focus on issues related to women and children – particularly teenagers. Read more »
Harlequin romance imprint in Penguin-India kitty
Source: Hindustan Times
Harlequin Enterprises Ltd, one of the world’s leading publishers of books for women, has tied up with Penguin-India to promote its popular imprint MIRA in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. Read more »
New book on UK writer’s friendship with Phoolan Devi
Source: ptinews.com
The unlikely friendship between Roy Moxham, a British writer, and India’s ‘bandit queen’, Phoolan Devi, is the subject of a new book that claims to be the only account of the former MP’s life after her release from jail in 1994. The book is based on extensive correspondence between the two, even though Devi did not know English. She dictated her replies to Moxham’s letters and the two became friends.
Titled ‘India’s Bandit Queen and Me’, the book, writer Moxham says, “above all, this is the story of a friendship”. Read more »
With serious goals for journalism
Source: latimes.com
Revenue plummets right along with dreary circulation. Time slashes its staff. Newsweek hovers near extinction. Survival and stable footing seem assured only for the frothiest and most specialized magazines.
Yet one woman looks into this bleak media sea and sees an opportunity, if not to make money, to fill a void with serious, solutions-oriented journalism.
The result is Miller-McCune, a bimonthly journal that focuses on social issues and public policy. Read more »
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