“We wish to promote the rule of law”

Says Mohan Ramaswamy, managing director, India, LexisNexis Legal & Professional, in conversation with Varsha Verma. LexisNexis India was recently in news for acquiring indigenous legal publishing house -Universal Law Publishing.Publ ishing industry in India is very fragmented, with national as well as regional players. Courts in India have a phenomenal number of pending cases. The Indian judiciary has got a major investment boost in the last five years and it is important to equip the judiciary with the right tools and resources. If we look at the numbers, Indian legal publishing would be a US$ 70-75 million industry, with a growth of 7-8 percent per annum, told Mohan Ramaswamy, managing director, India, LexisNexis Legal & Professional, a leading publisher and online solutions provider in the legal, tax, academic, and test-prep segments.

“We wish to promote the rule of law and expand our sphere and provide authentic and well-researched information to the legal fraternity. LexisNexis was purely a legal publishing house till a few years back, when we added tax and later academic titles to our list. This has been achieved through both organic as well as inorganic growth. While growing organically, we have built up our own strengths, we have also partnered or acquired existing players who were either looking at partnerships or were on the verge of exiting,” added Mohan.

LexisNexis has recently acqui red Univers a l Law Publishing, which has been publishing law books and bare acts for legal professionals, academics and students in the Indian market for five decades. Recognised for their relevance and speed to market, Universal Law Publishing titles are held in high regard by legal professionals across India. Over the years, Universal has published popular works by eminent authors like PM Bakshi, HM Seervai, KD Gaur, justice VR Krishna Iyer, justice PN Bhagwati, justice Michael Kirby, Soli J Sorabjee and Arun Jaitley to name a few.

Mohan added, “It i s a strategic acquisition as Universal Law Publishing perfectly complements our existing range of offerings in the legal market. Their presence in the bare act space expands our reach to a large set of legal practitioners. And soon, we expect to make Universal’s content available on our Indian online legal research solution – Lexis India – providing even more content to our customers.”

“LexisNexis India is one of the leading publishers and online solutions providers with many good authors and titles. This combination gives authors an opportunity to work with superior editorial and product development systems with higher quality benchmarks that provide greater value to customers. Under the aegis of LexisNexis editorial and supported by their strong marketing and sales teams, Universal Law Publishing titles will now be accessible in more markets,” he added.

Mohan Ramaswamy

On asking about whether Universal Law Publishing would continue its brand, Mohan replied, “We will try our best to retain the brand as far as we can as it has its own brand identity. Nevertheless, it would become an imprint of LexisNexis and best practices we have adopted at LexisNexis would be practised here to service our customers better.”

Talking about the competition in the legal publishing segment, Mohan shared that there’s an opportunity for everybody and it is always healthy to have competition. “The USP lies in better and easier platform. LexisNexis has differentiated and created a niche for itself.

We have invested in people and right resources. In India, we had a team of just 30 professionals 7-8 years back, which has now increased to 250+ employees and we are expanding further. The recent acquisition of Universal Law Publishing has added 50 more employees to our team. Besides, we have good online tools and technologies and stateof- the-art platform. And we are making continuous investments in all spheres,” he added.

“LexisNexis is committed to India, and we will continue to make the right investments to help our customers become more effective, efficient, and productive in their professions,” concluded Mohan.

“Books not only entertain, but contain a kernel of food for- thought”

shares Shamim Padamsee in conversation with Varsha Verma. A seasoned writer of children books, she delves into the status of children literature in India.

Shamim Padamsee loves books – to read and to write. Her dream of having a room filled with books is fast becoming reality. Her love for children’s books has been the driving force and led her to set up Young India Books, a website that reviews and promotes Indian books for children. As an author she is constantly concocting new stories to share with her six adorable grand-children. She has had several avatars in her life - globe-trotter, an educationist and a diplomat and has reveled in everyone of them. She is passionately interested in chi ldren’s literature and believes that books are important learning tools. Here, she shares her views on children literature.

Varsha: What have been the changes in the children literature in the last decade?

Shamim Padamsee

Shamim: The industry is changing, and definitely for the better. From the earlier didactic and moralistic books, today we have books that entertain, and yet, contain a kernel of foodfor- thought. And of course, the print quality is definitely better. Middle-grade fiction, which had been stagnating has in recent years exploded on the scene with a bang. Humour, wit, adventure, school life and realistic fiction, are all there.

Kids today have an amazing choice thanks also to the newer publishers, like Duckbill, who have carved a niche for themselves, and confidently stand by the publishing giants of children’s literature, Puffin, Scholastic and Hachette. In fact most of the titles that have won recent awards are in this category. And yet, we have miles to go! Close on the heels of middle grade fiction is the YA segment. Here too, we see great offerings. Publishers are taking bold steps in exploring today’s reality, issues of child molestation, female infanticide, drug abuse, homosexuality and such, are no longer taboo. Sensitively written, the books are articulate, entertaining and touching at the same time. Younger authors are now breaking new grounds. To name a few are Ranjit Lal, Revathy Suresh, Sowmya Rajendran and Himanjali Sankar.

Varsha: Do you think the Indian children bookpublishing industry is at par with the foreign counterparts, in terms of authors, illustrators, production quality, etc? Why/Why not?

Shamim: Though, our industry is making progress by leaps and bounds, we are yet to reach the finesse and quality of content of international literature for children. The gaps are many.

Varsha: What changes would you like to see in the industry?

Shamim: Sadly, in India we do not have board books for the very young. Which is sad, as this category, introduces children to the joys of reading at a young age, helping them grasp vital concepts and also provide building blocks for literacy.

Today, there is an abundance of picture books available with a wide range of topics, from fantasy to realistic fiction to creative non-fiction, the arts and more. Recently, some titles are more inclusive and have introduced differently-abled children as protagonists. One example is Catch that Cat by Tulika, featuring a feisty girl on a wheelchair. Books such as these enable mainstream children to be more accepting and empathetic. I would love to see more of these.

Another category that I would like to see more of is one that reflects the diversity of the land, peoples from different parts of the country with different lifestyles thus enabling children to experience perspectives other than their own. These would make for a more tolerant society in the future.

Sadly, however, the quality of our picture books, fluctuate from being excellent to downright bad. Too wordy, didactic, preachy, and even boring! Just the right ingredients to put off a young reader from books forever! This needs to change for, if the book does not capture the imagination of the child, we have lost a future reader.

Varsha: Tell us something about the efforts you are making in this direction?

Shamim: Young India Books is striving to place the best-of-India books in the hands of gen-next, to lay some essential building blocks towards a better India. We have a wide range of books reviewed on the site.

In order to further widen the awareness of these books and to applaud and appreciate schools that promote reading of India-centric books we have initiated an award for schools titled, The Leading Reading Schools of India Awards. The theme for last year was Wild About Wildlife. Children read from a recommended list of books (based on Indian fauna) and wrote an autobiography of the animal.

The theme this year is, You Be the Judge, through which kids will read a book, rate it and review it. Thus we get to delve into the minds and see the books through their eyes.

Varsha: What message would you like to give to parents/ teachers to choose the right books for children?

Shamim: Unfortunately, many parents do not see the value that lies hidden within the pages of a book. Books take you to far away worlds, and also enable you to dive deep within. They teach values, without preaching. They help you empathise, and best of all, they make a sensitive adult, one who cares about the world around him. So, my advise to parents would be, instead of getting your children mechanical toys, video games, get them books and see them grow into articulate, thinking adults.

Varsha: Anything else you would like to add...

Shamim: In general, books showcase characters and events with which children can identify. Hence, books set in our own milieu are vital to the child’s growth. Alas, as imported books are better known and produced they line the bookshelves of schools, bookstores and even in homes with impunity, thus denying our children the opportunity to see their own lives reflected in a book.

India-centric books have lower visibility and hence, it is quite understandable that children are quite ignorant of their land. For example, when I do story telling sessions in schools of my book, Poachers in Paradise, which talks of poaching of the Red Deer or Hangul, I usually start by asking children to name a few deer species. It is heartbreaking to hear most of them come up with - reindeer! Only an odd child here and there, will mention a Chital or a Sambar. If a child has not read books on our own flora and fauna - their heritage, will they want to protect and denounce the mass scale destruction of its habitat?

The changing face of the academic (school) publishing industry!

Do institutions really give enough time to publishers to promote their titles? Is content development really so vital in the wake of so many unethical competition from the trade controlling school books business? Should publishers continue to increase the price of books so that they are in a position to meet the unfair demands prior to prescription? These are just a few issues which Raghu Ramakrishnan Aiyar, executive senior vice president, Amity University Press ponders, in conversation with Varsha Verma.The challenges…

While, the pre-primary and primary segment for the publishing industry is growing continuously, there are a few challenges which the industry is facing. Publishers like Amity University Press, are constantly striving to meet these challenges by not succumbing to unethical trends; but offering value-based content books.

It is a long journey, the birth of a book. From manuscript stage to CRC, the book goes through various stages of evolution including the ultimate one of review at the semi final stage. Costs involved are – cost of book making, royalty to the authors, illustrators, designers, etc. The costing also includes man hours put in by the experts in the field. Every book of every publisher goes through these stages. “But, the point of issue is all these efforts become an exercise in futility when it falls in to the wrong hands at the decision making stage. It is a pity,” points out Aiyar. “Books should be accepted by institutions purely on merit on its content development,” avers Aiyar. For this, the decision makers and the influencing members of the institutions should sit more with the publishers to get to know the titles better. Trade and the commercial aspects should come in only later after the merit is well recognised. “Unfortunately the reverse is happening, not enough time is being given to the publishers,” points out Aiyar.

The trade & the publishers...

Raghu Ramakrishnan Aiyar

The trade unfortunately understands only one language – discount and more discount. Merit in their hands is a useless tool. Monitory aspect gets the preference. Most often the publishers increase the MRP to meet the unjustified demands of providing more discount. But, this is no solution. It cannot work always. Sooner or later justification will have to be given up to higher ups at the government level where, even now the high price factor of private publishers is being scrutinised seriously," he adds.

“Again, academic publishing is the only industry where publishers have to wait for anywhere between 120-150 days to realise the payments from the trade. The excuse for this is that the trade is not able to realise the payment from institutions on time. This is an ongoing task, year-after-year,” protests Aiyar. “The payment comes in bits and pieces and the final dues are settled only after the trade gives the unsold books as, ‘returns’.

This percentage of returns in many cases exceeds the industries norm of 10 percent. And, in most cases when the books reach the warehouse of the publishers, the wear and tear is total,” exclaims Aiyar. The demand of the trade can be frustrating – CD (Cash Discount) for early payment, TOD (Turnover Discount), if the sales increase the certain quantum, high returns etc.

etc. etc. Not withstanding all these travails traditional publishers like AUP survive grandly. Joining the traditional publishers are a new crop of young entrepreneurs who are equally very clear on merit based books over ‘Monitory Induced Practices’. This is good news and a great happening, urges Aiyar. In this list is also included the foreign participation in the Indian Academy Publishing scene.

Young parents...

Another important aspect is that young working parents are now equal players in the formative years of their children. They are spending more time in upliftment of their children. “In this segment, parents are not bothered about price. They are looking for value-based and content-based books. They want well-produced book with high content. This is a good step as they are now keen on complete education at home front as well. This will help schools in the long run,” opines Aiyar.

What’s good about our education system?

The all-round evaluation of a child is a recommendable step in our present education system. “The CCE (Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation) is a good move and schools are encouraging sports in a big way.

Even though children may miss a few classes, they are taken care of by the school. This is making children more confident, assured and forthcoming,” opines Aiyar. “Academic publishing has come of age and it is growing, notwithstanding the fact that epublishing is making foray. The printed and digital form will complement each other as e-publishing will take a long time to sync in as there is no adequate infrastructure for the same,” tells Aiyar.

On AUP…

Amity University Press (AUP) is making a steady progress, for which North being their flagship territory, as their headquarter is based in Delhi. “Last year, we saw good growth in South and we are coming up with marketing bases in this region this year. Brand Amity, undoubtedly, is helping in a big way,” informs Aiyar. “We are adding 66 new titles this year in subjects like English, Science, Maths and General Knowledge.”

On asking about their plans for regional publishing, Aiyar replies that it is definitely on cards for regions like West Bengal, Assam, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, etc to cater to the syllabi of the state government.

Besides, they are also looking at another product mix – the translation series, which will have stories from various states with folklores attached to it. “We are also planning short stories on Nobel prize winners of the country, to be included in core textbooks,” he says.

With so much still in store, AUP is sure to scale further heights in offering content-rich books to the Indian education industry.

For the love of literature…

Literature is evergreen…meet Laure Leroy, directrice generale, Editions Zulma, France, who only publishes literature – some from French authors and others translations from all over the world.

We started Zulma in 1991 and it was in 2006 when it came into full swing. We only publish high level literature and we bring out 12 books a year, of which one-third are French literature and two-thirds are translations from all over the world in French language. Few literatures have been translated from languages like Farsi, Malayalam, Bengali, Tamil, Islamic, Portuguese, Brazil, Hebrew, Japanese, etc, shared Laure Leroy, directrice generale, Editions Zulma, France. In order to ensure that the quality of the books is high, she edits them herself. Besides, Zulma also publishes paperback collections from the last two years. “We publish eight titles a year, half from the backlist and half from other publishers,” she added.

Laure Leroy

So how does Laure selects a title for publishing? “I first read it myself and if I love it, I go ahead. It has to be well-written and there should be a real good story. We also take recommendations from the translators, as these are the people who have actually gone into the depths of the books. Besides, book fairs give an opportunity to buy rights and publishers recommendations are also considered,” she replied.

Laure particularly mentioned their bestselling title Rosa Candida for which they have sold 1,00,000 hardbound copies and 2,00,000 paperback copies. Other bestselling titles include Palestina by Hubert Habbard with 65,000 copies and Where the Tigers by Blas de Robles with 70,000 copies sold. Generally, they have a print run of 6,000-10,000 copies, which is then reprinted as per the demand. Coming to Indian authors, Zulma has published three titles each from revered authors Rabindranath Tagore and RK Narayanan. “India was always in my imagination and I wanted to see what is published in regional languages as India has a diverse culture and tradition.

And this diversity is important for rich literature. We hope to publish two collections of stories from Bashir and one from Tamil author Ambai,” she added. Adding more, Laure informed that one of their books has been translated in English for India – Opium Poppy by Hubert Habadda, published by Social Science Press. Talking about the cover design of the books, Laure revealed that they have a very specific design for their books, there are no images on the cover, just a design and the title details. The production quality is very good. “It is a literary object…a work of literature is a promotion in itself. We don’t even put our publisher logo on the cover,” she added.

On asking about the marketing efforts, she replied, “We create a buzz around the book a month to one year prior to its release. This is to create a demand. We want each book to be a success and hence we put in a lot of efforts to select the right title. We have links with 1,000 bookstores in France, of which we enjoy personal links with 400 bookstores.” Enquiring about the online vs offline sales of books, Laure replied that online sales are not much in France as the country has a Unique Price Law (1981), under which every book has to be sold at same price across various channels. “This is to preserve bookstores, both independent as well as chain stores,” she added.

With just a team of seven people, Laure shared that they are not competing with big publishers. “We have a niche of our own and are happy in our space,” she added. In totality, they have 140 titles from 20 different languages and more meaningful literatures will keep adding to their list.

–Varsha Verma

“Aim to write a book, readers would want to carry in their memories forever”

says Manjiri Prabhu, founder and director of Pune International Literary Festival and an author of several novels, in conversation with Varsha Verma.

Manjiri Prabhu has always tried to do something different in the literary world. While, she became the first author to pen down astro-detective novels, she also founded the Pune International Literary Festival (PILF) to celebrate the written word. Here, she talks more about her love for the literature.

Varsha: As founder and festival director of PILF, let us know about PILF and how it has been doing till now? What is the role of PILF in the literary world?

Manjiri: PILF has been started with the vision to engage, explore and experiment with all forms and genres of the written word that will inspire you to fall in love with them ...and light the lamp of knowledge. Now in its third year, more than 250 authors and creative personalities have participated in the last two years, making the festival a remarkable success. We have the mission to offer an exciting and interactive platform in Pune for writers, publishers, media, film & TV writers and readers and creating a star position for Pune on the international literary canvas.

From last year, as a social responsibility of PILF, we began highlighting an important social cause. Like in 2014, our social theme was ‘Environment Protection through Animal Welfare’ and our focus was on adoption of street dogs and save the tiger. Maneka Gandhi inaugurated the festival and did a one-hour session which was life-changing for some. This year, the theme is ‘The global image of India’. Every citizen should work towards upholding the core moral values of society, contribute to the social and environmental welfare of the country and be a global ambassador for India. This year’s social cause includes Safety, Security, Cleanliness, Tourism and Empowerment.

Varsha: When is the next PILF scheduled and what new can the visitors expect?

Manjiri: This year (2015) the festival will take place from September 4-6, 2015, at YASHADA. More than a hundred authors and creative personalities will participate and there would be discussions, workshops, and an interesting exhibition on the queen of Crime – Agatha Christie, in celebration of her 125th birth anniversary.

Few of the proposed authors will include Sudha Murthy, Rajdeep Sardesai, Shashi Tharoor, Ashok Chopra, Kathryn Hummel (Australia), Piers Moore Ede (UK), Neil Hollander (France). It will also include workshops on Ad-filmmaking by Ashmith Kunder, making very short films (of 3 to 5 minutes) - Siddhartha Jain, iPop TV, Haiku by Kala Ramesh, Writing for children (for Teens) by Leela Gour Broome, Reading Your Mind by Nakul Shenoy and many more….

Varsha: Astro-detective is a new concept. How did you come up with this new concept?

Manjiri Prabhu

Manjiri: For me the journey with Astrology began at a very early age. In my Mom’s stomach to be precise, like Abhimanyu. My Mom was the first lady Astrologer of Pune, way back when I wasn’t even born. She is a pioneer, a teacher, a consultant and the perfect ‘guide’ for the many frustrated, helpless people who sought some hope through Astrology. To them, she is the anchor, their support, affording them guidance, without losing sight of the Science. I almost took Astrology for granted for all the growing years of my life. But a striking incident changed the gravity of the Science for me. I particularly remember an occasion, which actually formed the base of my novel The Cosmic Clues and triggered a serial. My mother used to regularly look at horoscopes at that point. A film director from Bollywood, approached my mother. He said it was very urgent and he needed to consult my mother privately. My mother, despite being busy, agreed. When he visited her, he asked a single question: “When will I have a child?”

My Mother stared at his horoscope for a long minute. Finally she glanced at him and said, “You want the truth?” The man was a little nonplussed. ‘Of course!” he said. “Well then, you have a son. It’s just that you can’t claim him as your son,” she explained calmly.

It was as if a bomb had been dropped. The man paled, his eyes darted from one end of the room to another. He was afraid, someone may have listened. But then, he nodded and confessed that she was right.

This incident made me realise that Astrology is a tool unlike any other. With a totally untapped potential, it had to be exploited in the right manner – especially in solving a crime.

And that is how I used it as a crime-solving tool in The Cosmic Clues and The Astral Alibi. Sonia Samarth (the main character in the book) is the world’s first Astro-Detective, thanks to my mother, who provided me with the best of authentic horoscopes for the novels.

Varsha: Also tell us about your other books?

Manjiri: I have written eight books including one non-fiction book on the image of Indian woman in Hindi films. That is a conversion of my Ph.D. thesis on the same subject. My first two novels published by Rupa Books, titled A Symphony of Hearts and Silver In The Mist were romantic novelettes in the Rupa romance Series. The book on Hindi film is titled Roles- Reel and Real.

My next books are – Gypsies at Noelle’s Retreat a book for YA (Young Adult) audience, based in France, published by Times Group Books.

It introduces India’s first teen girl detective Riva Parkar. It is the first one in the Riva Parkar mystery series. I am working on the second in the series titled Gypsies on the Eurail. The Cavansite Conspiracy – a romantic suspense novel published again by Rupa. The story taking place in 48 hours simultaneously in four continents, revolves around a precious mineral stone being stolen and a murder connected to that.

In the Shadow of Inheritance has been published by Penguin India. Actually this is the first novel I wrote at the age of 18. The story is very dear to my heart. It is receiving very good response all over India.

Varsha: What has been the response to your books so far?

Manjiri: Pretty good. I get emails from all over India and from all corners of the world. Especially as the two astro-detective novels were published in the US and distributed worldwide, I have readers in many unimaginable and unknown places. They send their candid remarks and appreciations to my stories wi thin the novels. They also like the Indian milieu, descriptions of Indian culture, food, festivals, lifestyle and all.

Along with mystery I think love for Astrology is the common bonding factor for all my readers across the globe. For my other books published in India, I get similar responses and frank opinions as well. I like it when readers get involved in my writing and spare time to respond personally. It boosts my morale to write more, to write better and to give them something they like.

But to admit frankly, most of the popularity today at least in the publishing industry is an outcome of hard-hitting, well-targeted and professionally managed marketing strategy. I fall very short in all this and don’t ever think I can be a part of it.

Varsha: Describe your journey as an author and what are your future plans?

Manjiri: I have always wanted to be a writer since my early childhood. I grew up reading Enid Blyton and later Agatha Christie and many others. At some point, I even imagined myself as Enid Blyton reborn, till I came to know that she was still there when I was born!! I wrote my first story at the age of seven, though I was first published as late as in 1994. I feel that I don’t create my books but every book that I write creates me anew. I learn a lot about myself, life and the world around us through the process of writing and creating imaginary characters.

I am very happy when readers connect with my thoughts, my characters and plots and sail smoothly through them. I enjoy this process of creating memories in others minds and think that’s what a writer and a creative person does. I plan to continue it with writing as many books as I can. Already I have completed two novels and both are very unique in their subject and approach. The first one is titled ‘Snowflakes in Summer’. It is a futuristic fantasy and takes place in a world, centuries from now.

The second one is titled The Trail of four. It is based in Salzburg, Austria and is again an international mystery story.

Varsha: As a writer, what do you aim to achieve when you start writing?

Manjiri: To write a good book…a reader would want to carry in their hearts and memories forever.

Varsha: In your opinion, what is the hardest part of writing a book? Why?

Manjiri: Firstly, to actually begin writing the novel, then to create believable characters and finally to end it in a unique manner for the readers to remember it forever. The second challenge is to devote time to it, without falling prey to other distractions, since writing is a solitary process. And thirdly, the most difficult part, according to me is getting it published. Honestly, writing a book is a lot easier than getting it published. Almost everyone wants to write these days and try their hand at it, but very few get published and fewer get recognition. I feel blessed that I am one of those chosen ones.

Varsha: What writing/ publishing advice do you give to aspiring writers of any age?

Manjiri: Write from your heart, write what you want to read but can’t find in the market, write because your heart tells you to, not your head...just write!

Era of Apps!!

Mobile apps are becoming very popular as people are increasingly using it for finding information, buying products/services or just for entertainment. Here, Varsha Verma finds out how mobile apps work for book and newspaper publishers.The app era is upon us. Growth of smartphones with mobile data has made it easy for users to access information on their mobile phones.

Mobile apps...an obvious
step ahead for publishers

A decade ago, print was the defacto medium for newspapers. Even while ePapers and website readerships were growing, today there is a huge amount of traffic from Smartphones. A study by The Economist Group shows that 62 percent of smartphone users use their device for news. Mobile reading is on the rise. “In such a scenario, it is important for publishers of both newspapers as well as magazines to have their mobile apps,” tells Sanjaya Gupta of 4Cplus (Internet) Company Ltd. In an emerging information and knowledge driven world, 4Cplus aspires to help businesses to use "Information Technology" to enhance productivity, bring about transparency, customer satisfaction and streamline workflows.4Cplus is working for some of the best newspaper publishers in India as well as overseas. In fact, their revenues from foreign and Indian publishers is almost 50:50.

Publishers want to increase readership. “What better way to gain reader loyalty than with an app, one of the most personal items… their smartphone,” adds Akal Sujlana of Clavis Technologies. “We’ve created apps for e-commerce, digital publishing, enterprises, education, government and social media. With our affiliates, we’ve made over 900 apps for many verticals. For the book industry, TABiT Books is one such app that gives publishers their personal eStore, eReader, Apps on iOS and Android – creating a personal connect with readers while strengthening their brand value,” tells Akal.

What works?

Sanjaya Gupta

“There are two kinds of mobile apps that are getting popular – news mobile apps and vertical mobile apps. Of these, vertical mobile apps are more popular as they are specific to a particular industry/segment. Youngsters wish to read specific news like sports, fashion, etc on mobile rather than general news. People prefer newspaper for general news items,” tells Sanjaya.

“Innovation is the key...non-news items on the website and apps, which give a different flavour are attracting people,” he adds. When it comes to app development that includes an eStore, eReader and DRM, very few companies are doing white label native apps in India.”Many smaller players have folded up as there is lot of competition at the market front,” adds Sanjaya.

Alternate revenue model

Recently a report in the Hindu showed that 41 percent of all online sales take place via phones. “Apps give a better user experience that let readers buy books and content on their phones. While many Indian publishers are toying with the idea of having their own apps, mature markets already have proven trends with in-app purchase of books on phones and tablets,” tells Akal. Besides, publishers can earn through advertisements on these apps. “Bigger publishing houses have created their own advertising teams and getting ads directly from the advertisers. This is a good revenue model. One just needs to do profiling of readers directly to get ads,” adds Sanjaya.

Managing apps...

Akal Sujlana

Creation of an app is not enough. You have to maintain and update it with the times just like a website. “Some of the newspaper publishers manage the content themselves, while a few prefer to have the service provider do it. For those publishers, we tie up with news agencies like PTI/ANI and upload relevant content periodically,” shares Sanjaya.

Talking about the book publishers, Akal shares, “Once an app is live, that’s when marketing begins. Driving traffic to the app, getting your loyal users to download it and then serving promotions which will entice them to buy and read e-books. Apps need to be dynamic so you submit and display new e-books regularly without having to download a fresh app each time. Regular maintenance, bug fixing, improving user experience is an ongoing activity.”

Technology...

Platforms in the market include Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, Microsoft’s Windows and Blackberry’s RIM. Each vendor has their own coding platform. “So from a development perspective, you need to have a separate iOS developer (who codes in C or SWIFT), Android developer (who codes in Java), and Windows developer (who has many options like C++, C#, VB, JS),” tells Akal.

While, Sanjaya says that at the end of each platform is the XML feeds which works.

Challenges....

Creating mobile apps for different platforms with a solid backend takes time and effort. “One challenge is that customers feel it’s as easy as making a website till they are educated about the details of what all goes into an app. A quick monetisation from apps is another challenge. Book publisher feel that they need to see immediate results. Changing that perspective to make them look at a five year plan takes quite a bit of effort,” tells Akal.

While, Sanjaya adds, “There are a number of devices. Hence, we need to test an app on atleast six android versions and different sizes of screens. Besides, in most cases, the top brass of the company sports the latest mobile and we need to test our app on the same as well, which is an expensive proposition.”

Talking more about challenges, Sanjaya shares, “There is lot of competition in the market and it is difficult to get projects. Smaller players can develop apps at low costs, therefore the project costs are coming down.”

Future of mobile apps...

Today the average person spends more than two hours a day on their smartphones. Just like various devices and entertainment factors have been fighting for your time, apps fight for your time since that is where you will be spending most of your time in the coming years. “Other than the commonly used apps like Facebook, Google Maps, Whatsapps and YouTube, users have apps that grab their interest in terms of personal utility. So there will always a good population that will use reader apps – especially with the growing e-book trend,” tells Akal.

“But, smaller players will die or there will be aggregators who will aggregate the content from various apps and present it to the user. This is because users will not download 100 apps on their mobile; they will just use the ones they like. Hence, the smaller players will vanish,” adds Sanjaya as a matter of fact.

On a concluding note...

As an industry, unlike newspaper and magazines, the book publishers in India are yet to get on the bandwagon of having their personal apps. “There is a stronger education required on the potential of mobile e-book reading. But over the next few years, we expect this market to grow. The first mover advantage will always be there in 2015. With rapid changing technology trends, you never know when the strongest of publishers becomes a dinosaur!” tells Akal.

“It is important for publishers to understand that Indian IT is at par with foreign counterparts and companies like 4Cplus have made their mark in foreign territories as well. So, its time they can actually look at solutions from the Indian IT companies,” concludes Sanjaya.

Variety Book Depot marks its presence in Daryaganj

“There is scope for more bookshops in the country,” tells Om Arora of Variety Book Depot, in conversation with ABP editors SK Khurana and Varsha Verma, on the eve of opening their new showroom on main Ansari Road in Daryaganj (New Delhi), the great hub of publishing industry in India.We want to make it a happening place and offer discounts or freebies to our customers, told Om Arora of Variety Book Depot, who has recently opened a swanky new showroom in Daryaganj, New Delhi. Spread over an area of 5,000 sq ft, with more than 11,000 titles on display, the showroom is indeed a book paradise. This is the second showroom of the company, the first being in Connaught Place (CP), New Delhi. This 2,800 sq ft facility in CP also houses all the titles the company represents. The display of books at Daryaganj facility is well organised as books are displayed as per the genre like children, self-help, fiction, general, cookery, coffee table books, interiors, fashion, etc. "Besides, for some publishers like Taschen we have a separate display area. We have 300 different titles from Taschen, which are exclusively displayed in an area of 180 sq ft,” told Om.

“We stock books of almost all publishers in the trade books. We are exclusive distributors for various publishers like Archie Comics, Mills & Boon, etc. We get all kinds of customers, the majority being bookshop owners from all parts of the country. In fact, we provide service to publishers as well as booksellers,” he said, adding, “On an average, we have a target to get around 50 booksellers to visit our new showroom in a day. Our prices shall remain same for both retail as well as wholesale customers.”

The staff at the new showroom is young and well versed with the books on display. They can even help the visitors in recommending books suiting their interest. "As a newer initiative, the showroom will bring in one publisher every month to promote their books, wherein it will get an exclusive space in our showroom for a month. Currently we are promoting HarperCollins titles and next month, we will give special display to Parragon Publishing,” told Om.

On asking about Indian vs foreign publishers in trade books, Om replied that 75 percent of market share is with the foreign publishers as they invest and plan very systematically. He feels that it is a good sign that multinational publishers are opening up their offices in India which is giving a boost to the industry. Though, Indian publishers like Rupa & Co are also making a mark for itself.

“There is a scope for growth in the industry but I am
disappointed that children are not encouraged to read. This is
not a healthy trend and parents should take the responsibility
to inculcate reading habits in their children,” conveys Om
Arora of Variety Book Depot.

Talking on the trends of new generation Indian authors in trade books, Om shared that since half of the Indian population is below 45 years, these authors connect to this segment of readers instantly as they use the same language they talk in day-today life. “Nevertheless, it is a good trend and every book has something to give and there remains some literary value in every book,” he said.

In a time when so many bookshops are shutting down, it is indeed a welcome change to see such bookshops of repute opening newer showrooms. Talking about this trend, Om shared that since the prices of real estate has shot up and younger generation not wanting to continue with the book trade, an alternate activity can get them a better return out of their real estate. Commenting upon the ‘online’ book sales affecting bookshops operations, Om adds that online bookshops cannot be solely blamed for the same because these have been getting affected only in metro cities.

“In fact, bookshops space has increased in the last 20 years with chains of bookstores like Crossword, Landmark, etc opening newer outlets. I feel for sure there is still a scope for more bookshops in our country,” he stressed.

So, are there more Variety Book Depot’s showrooms on the cards? “No, we would like to concentrate on these two outlets. We have distributors in every city and so we do not need separate showrooms. Delhi is the hub for all publishing activities and our presence here is enough,” came a quick concluding reply from Om.