‘Publishing in India has never been more vibrant or exciting’

If your new year resolution is to publish that book you know you have in you, let Penguin India managing editor Diya Kar Hazra guide you on what’s working today.

So what are you reading at the moment? A visit to the nearest bookstore will leave you spoilt for choice: Ramachandra Guha has a new book out; there’s a new Forsyth; a new Le Carre; Rushdie’s latest and Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom; there’s fiction and non-fiction on Delhi and Bombay; there’s a new diet book; a book on the Nano; Samit Basu’s Turbulence and Anuja Chauhan’s Battle for Bittora. But you haven’t even gone through the Booker shortlist yet (or the longlist, for that matter!) and there’s Benyamin and Sunanda Sikdar to discover.

So what’s it with publishers these days? Are people really reading more? Is there even enough window and shelf space for all that’s being published?

Publishing in India has never been more vibrant, more alive, more exciting. There are many more publishers on the scene — big, medium and small — and they’ve brought with them new ways of seeing and doing things.

There’s innovation and experiment in production and we’ve witnessed marketing campaigns that have pushed the envelope.

Older publishers, veterans in the business, who have many authors on their long backlist, have had to pull up their socks. The competition has made them more discerning about what they choose to publish and what they want to let go of.

They’ve had to create new platforms, explore new genres and tap into new markets, going against the grain while continuing to bank on the tried and tested.

They’ve been busy finding new writers, discovering new voices and publishing for a new generation.

This new age in Indian publishing has involved a sea-change in the language of the written word. No longer the need or desire to be grammatically correct. It’s about communication and expression; it’s more local, colloquial, the way we speak.

Books don’t need to be only informative or utilitarian; they are here to entertain.

There’s been more focus on expanding individual lists: works in translation, classics, children’s literature, business books and self-help, for instance.

More focus on genres within the larger areas of fiction and non-fiction: mass-market fiction (thrillers, crime, fantasy, romance); commercial fiction (the adventures of a b-school/IIT graduate or call-centre employee; the adventures of a single twenty-something; Young Adult); comic books, literary fiction; biographies of unusual places and people; travel books that combine food writing; profiles of big industries and brands; lifestyle books and spirituality.

Publishers have introduced imprints that carry their own distinctive qualities: prestigious literary imprints for the finest prose; well-established, big imprints for big ideas. And international focus on digital and e-publishing has forced publishers at home to prepare the ground for an exciting new era.

The possibilities are endless. Whether it’s e-books, publishing for mobile phones, or the other kind of hand-held device, the book, it’s the challenges that keep publishing in India dynamic.

It’s not only about giving readers what they want but also about creating new readerships, taking risks, breaking rules; it’s about having the courage to change and being able to see the big picture.

It’s about the delicate balance between keeping it real and wild imagination. And it’s still about the author.

There’s a lot to celebrate: the slush pile doesn’t get any smaller; there are writers lurking in every cybercorner; there are many more universities offering courses on publishing, and publishing houses receive more resumes and job applications than ever before. Publishing in India today has many rewards. The book on your bedside table is one of them.