‘We’ll focus on publishing the best literary fiction’

When a sexual harassment case brought a scandalous end to David Davidar’s quarter century-stint with Penguin, many sniggered, yet swore that the man would be back. Well, he is. Davidar has announced the launch of a new literary publishing firm, Aleph Book Company, in partnership with Rupa Publications, India. Tongues are wagging again, and all eyes of the publishing industry are on Davidar’s new venture. Excerpts from an interview:

How will Aleph be different from other publishing houses in India?
Aleph will focus on publishing the best literary fiction and non-fiction it can find. There are other publishing companies in India that have imprints devoted to pretty much the same thing but this will be the only sort of publishing we intend to do — we will be exceedingly selective about the books we publish. We would like to position ourselves as a wholly Indian-owned quality publisher with a deep and unremitting focus on providing great books to Indian readers.

Is there a gap in the current publishing scene in India that Aleph aims to fill?
The Indian market is growing at a pretty good clip, so there’s room for another quality publisher.

Is this literary imprint going to be purely India-based or it is going to have an outing abroad?
For now Aleph’s focus is going to be on the Indian market, although we will of course work to sell our books around the world should we have world rights in them — just as every other major publisher in the country does.

Your re-entry into the Indian publishing scene is being much talked about. Are you conscious of being watched?
I suppose so; but some curiosity was inevitable.

Do you already have a line-up of writers in mind?
I certainly do have a wish list of writers in mind; we will announce those we have signed up in December.

When can we expect the first book from the Aleph Book Company?
April 2012

What are you reading currently?
2666 by Roberto Bolano that I’ve finally found the time to read, The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, a great new fantasy author, The Leopard by Jo Nesbo, a crime writer who gets better with each book he writes, and The Hare With Amber Eyes by the award-winning memoirist, Edmund de Waal.

Rumours have it that Ravi Singh, former editor-in-chief at Penguin India, will be joining you. Is that true?
At the moment, I’m the only employee of Aleph.

As reading copies give way to e-books, do you see the printed book becoming a specialised/specialist thing: handmade books and fine editions?
That’s a rather extreme view of the future because the printed book is holding its own, especially here, but you never know. We’ll just have to wait and see and be prepared for that eventuality should it come about.

When is your new novel, Ithaca, due? Tell us a bit about it.
It’ll come out in India in September. It’s a novel about a mid-sized independent publishing company in London called Litmus that is struggling to survive the various changes that are churning through the world of publishing in the first decade of the 21st century. Making its task even more difficult is the fact that its biggest writer, an Italian Canadian novelist called Massimo Seppi, whose quartet about angels has sold millions of copies worldwide, has just died unexpectedly; without the revenues his books bring in, Litmus is vulnerable to a corporate takeover, among other things. So its publisher Zachariah Thomas has to do everything he can to try and save the company. How he does that is the main plot-line. The novel’s first readers say it reads like a literary thriller which I found very satisfying.

How much does the writer in you guide the publisher in you? Do you go through any crisis of transition?
I tend to compartmentalise a lot, and now that I’ve had years of practice I’m able to do it quite effectively.

Do you have any rules for picking fiction manuscripts — some which make you go for one writer over another?
Ambition, originality, style, pacing, characterisation in no particular order.

What is your favourite literary fantasy?
To be able to have the talent/ability, time and stamina to write a huge work of the imagination like War And Peace or The Lord Of The Rings.