“Delhi Book Fair is a consumer fair, focused on the book lovers”

“Delhi Book Fair is a consumer fair, focused on the book lovers”

–tells Dr Ashok Gupta, president, Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) in a brief conversation with Varsha Verma.

Dr Ashok Gupta

The theme of the book fair this year is ‘Literature in Cinema’ which will focus on the impact of literature in cinema amongst the Indian society, told Dr Ashok Gupta, president, FIP. Housed in hall 08, the theme pavilion will be made attractive for visitors.

On asking about the expanse of the fair, Dr Gupta informed that the fair would be spread across hall number 08-12. “About 50 percent subsidy is being provided to regional language publishers to attract more such players to the show,” told Dr Gupta as a matter of fact. Besides, Indian exhibitors, there would be a host of exhibitors from overseas countries like USA, Pakistan, China, etc.

“In my opinion, the reading habits are improving though the formats are changing. In nuclear families, parents encourage their children to read. The market is growing, there zare more players in the publishing segment; foreign publishers have made the market more competitive. The shelf life of the books has decreased as similar books on the same subject come up very soon. However, in spite of similarity in their approach, some authors come up with better books. Despite all odds, the market is growing.” 

Unlike the New Delhi World Book Fair, where the layout is done genre-wise, Delhi Book Fair will have a mix of exhibitors. “A lot of publishers publish books in various categories, hence it is difficult to segregate them according to genre.

Besides, it is a consumer fair and not majorly a business fair,” told Dr Gupta.

“It is more of a B2C fair, where visitors can browse though books and sit on the sofas lined up for the purpose. We want to give them a homely atmosphere. We have contacted a lot of schools not just in Delhi/NCR but also neighbouring states and are expecting good footfalls,” he said.

A number of conferences and seminars, buyer-seller meets, book releases, book discussions, literary activities for children and meet-the-author get-togethers, etc will also be organised during the fair. “For example, Ranganathan Library will host a session for librarians, while organisations like Authors Guild of India, Bhartiya Lekhika Sangh, Sahitya Akademi will also host independent sessions,” he told.

The much-awaited FIP’s Excellence in Book Production awards function would be organised on August 29. “We have received 1,000 entries for the same and our jury has been finalised consisting of renowned people in the industry,” informed Dr Gupta.

As a message to all book lovers, Dr Gupta shared, “Parents should bring their children to the book fair and let them browse through books and decide to their interest. Parents, in turn, should let them buy those books. This will create responsible future citizens of India.”