Publishers On Publishing

by Nitasha Devasar

  AG: Online selling is quite popular these days. If we wish to buy something, we immediately go online and buy the item of our choice. It is so easy!

  But, the same is not prevalent in case of books, especially for

  textbooks. If a student is prescribed a book by his/her teacher or institute, he/she still depends fully on the local bookstore for purchase. In digital India, when people prefer online shopping for most of the items, from clothes to all households, then why not for textbooks. I repeat, it is so easy and convenient!

  Q:What are your views on the ‘glamourization’ of publishing with a profusion of lit fests, book fairs, reading events, etc.? Do they at all benefit the publishing industry?

  AG: Of course, in today’s world the ‘glamourization’ of any business or industry is must, and so is for publishing, though book fairs are getting less popular now; one of the major reasons of this being online availability of the books. People get to see a book of their choice on publisher’s website and other e-marketing portals in this era of technology.They can even browse content of the book sitting leisurely at home. But still I would say book fairs are a great place to connect with all publishers, and moreover, every company cannot afford to place their books online, especially the small players.Also, if a reader does not have any information about the publication, the author, or the publisher of the book, it will be hard for him/her to browse through to find a book online . . . here comes the role and significance of book fairs.There are many more benefits of such events.

  Like book fairs, literature festivals also bring the authors and the publishing world to the reading public. It helps publishers to acquire new manuscripts, and even the reader get chance to meet and interact with their favourite authors face-to-face; the author-publisher and authorreader interaction is a delight at these fests. New ideas take birth at such fests . . . I am always in favour of literature festivals. I strongly believe, these events will continue receiving people’s support and will certainly continue to exist.

  Q: Another important trend is bigwigs like Amazon coming into publishing. How is it affecting publishers?

  AG: Amazon is like a monopoly.They want to do everything themselves.

  But, we are in a trade where we always propagate freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom to publish . . . where the small and the big–all should exist. Imagine a country where only three or four publishers dominate, then if somebody writes a book, unless the author strongly pursues with the publisher, his/her work will not get to see the light of the day.A publisher plays a role of an educator and one must recall that we are contributing to the growth of education in our country. And do remember, it is a noble profession.

  Q: In recent times because of government policies, funding issues, etc., the industry has been beset with problems. Are there enough platforms where publishers can voice their opinions or issues and get a solution? Are publishing associations and industry bodies able to rally to make an impact/ raise their voices?

  AG: It all depends on the government.As far as the publishers are concerned, we are operating for more than 50 years. In the last 50 years, we have been in regular contact with the government whether in the centre or the state.There are many problems which we are facing and have been discussing with the government from time to time. Sometimes we get a relief but, at times, our suggestions are not accepted.

  In my view, the government should create a body to address policy issues related to book publishing because publishing and selling books is a highly specialized business.We are a capital-intensive industry but with low returns.Whether it is a bookseller or a publisher, one is into publishing business because of his/her personal interest in books; of course, with an expectation of better rate of returns.After all, we give employment to a huge mass of population and to run this industry we expect significant gains.A few bureaucrats in the ministries are aware of our contribution and are helpful too.

  Q:What in your view are the key issues with various bodies coming together?

  AG: All the associations should work together with a common agenda to solve the issues that I have mentioned before. Book writing in itself is

  not a big money making profession, unless you are a bestselling author like Chetan Bhagat or Amish Tripathi. Everybody is not making money, so some kind of encouragement should be given to the authors so that they come forward and translate their ideas and thoughts into writing.This is more than a necessity for academic books. India is a huge country with 700 universities and 35,000 plus colleges, and to cater to these institutions one has to face tough competition, and in turn, the share of copies sold per publisher is so less that one cannot do justice with the authors.

  Another important concern is the availability of funds and the payment issues. Most importantly, the plagiarism issue, which I have mentioned earlier. So, we all should come together to resolve these common issues, and to make the present infrastructure better.

  Q:What is the future of local Indian publishing? Would you agree that in spite of the difficulties of the business, more and more players continue to enter the industry? Why?

  AG: It is a positive sign that people are interested in publishing and more and more new players are entering into the industry.These new entrants should prepare themselves for the challenges and opportunities too.

  The future of publishing is certainly promising. I am optimistic about the future of the industry, and look forward to people and the sector as a whole to do better. If you are into it, shape up your mind to do better, make more money, create more employment, produce worthy books, build a huge audience, maximize your sales and secure positive results.

  Let’s join hands to impart quality education to our children!

  asoke ghosh is Chairman and Managing Director of PHI Learning. He has been associated with the International Publishers Association (IPA) since 1974 and is currently a member of IPA’s Executive Committee. He is also a founder-member and twice President of the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP). He is currently a member of FIP’s Executive Committee and Chairman of

  its International Relations Committee. 2

  InDIan PuBlIshIng:

  toDay anD tomorroW

  “the future of publishing lies in going up the value chain of learning”

  Vikas Gupta

  Q:What is the future of publishing in India in the context of the key challenges being faced by the publishing industry and publishers today?

  Vikas: The most widespread challenge is online piracy or photocopy, both from the government or legal as well as the academic or student point of view.They feel that using a downloadable book is not a crime. Even the government and judiciary feel that university-level publishers’ books are very expensive and so photocopying is fine.This scenario is making it increasingly difficult both for publishers as well as authors to make money. It is the aspiration of an author to be paid so that he feels motivated to write more. On the other hand, you have publishers who also need to run their business.

  India has the unique challenge of piracy in print publishing.While, on the digital side, the challenge is even more daunting; people do not want to pay.Thus, publishing is struggling for its very survival; it is not around the future of technology or learning but the future of the entire ecosystem. Piracy and the use of copyright remain the main challenges.

  Q: How is technology changing the publishing landscape? Vikas: Why do you need books? Well, a book or content satisfies unmet needs. But, the book alone does not satisfy the needs of a student. Learning happens when a combination of multiple needs of a student is met with. If, as a publisher I only satisfy one of the ten needs, my

  business model will not work.The world of today is changing with technology, which provides stimulated learning, micro learning, videobased learning—all integrated with class learning.The business model of the book is not around the price of a book, but around a solution that we are providing with the book.

  So the future of publishing lies is going up
the value chain of learning. Publishers need to start offering multiple-level publishing solutions.

  Publishers have the content and they need to leverage it. Soon, it would be a Google-like model, where the content is free but you charge for peripheral services. For example, there are test preps, which can be charged.That’s where publishing is headed.The old book will remain but the solution will take importance.

  Q: How will this work in fiction and what can be done to stop piracy in fiction?

  Vikas: Digital piracy is killing fiction too. But, there’s a solution. Can you create a digital book, which is a combination of different scenarios—for example, after a chapter, ask a question, giving options? Each option has a different story; you have many stories within a story. If you can create that platform—that’s the future of fiction. So in a single novel, you can keep on writing new chapters, adding new scenarios—keeping the readers engaged and engrossed.We all need to embrace technology and stop the problem of piracy and distribution.We have to find models where we can make money.

  In case of reading for pleasure or reference, innumerable new and exciting models are available with technology, such as: personalized and infinite endings; immersive experiences such as communicating with lead characters; multiple plots and perspectives, non-linear storylines as per reader preferences; crowdsourced books; fact checking features and alternative references; and social reading and shared libraries.

  Q:What is the future of higher education (HE) publishing in the next decade, with a special focus on the next three to five years? Vikas: I see print books are disappearing in higher education and will

  continue to disappear. Piracy will not allow the higher education business to flourish. But, school books will continue to grow as new schools are opening every so often. Since the availability of internet is not so strong in India, schools will rely mostly on print books. In future, I see the higher education publishing companies and edutech companies joining hands to create and offer a solution. Publishing companies have content, while technology companies have technology….They need to marry each other to offer a complete solution.

  Q: Are today’s challenges different from those in the past, with a decline in the reading habit in ‘book format’ and competition for attention from increased ‘screen’ time by millennials?

  Vikas: According to Edelman Digital’s 2017 Trends Report, weekly share of time spent watching TV and video on mobile devices has grown by 85 per cent from 2010 to 2016; while on fixed screens, consumption has decreased 14 per cent over the same period. It would not be out of place here to point out the fact that almost all businesses and companies today are in the business of content—be it software or technology or educational companies. Hence the competition is brutal and the path to reaching the end user is complex.

  There has been a major change in how people read. Even in a newspaper, most people generally read the headline and the bullet points under it.They like to quickly scan content.Their attention span is small and they want to learn more in less time.

  Thus, publishing needs to be more visual and to the point. Same applies to academics also. Publishing is shifting to be more visual; it is actually a hybrid of print and digital.

  Q:There has been proliferation of free access (versus priced access) to all kinds of content and formats. How will this affect the economics of publishing in a price-sensitive market like India? Vikas: A lot of content is available free on the net. So, people will pay only for something they need, which is not available with Google and has value. If you can teach something in a better way, then the book is a hit and will

  be bought. If your story is different, again, people will buy your book. A publisher can give flat content free and charge for the unique content. I can also create a model where the author says he wants to give his content free in an open access model. In such a case, a publisher can offer services. So, we need to have a mix of both paid as well as free content.

  If we dig deep into the core model of traditional publishing, publishers demand premium for the various services they offer to their authors and readers—that of curating, packaging, marketing and distribution of content.These are still relevant today and are more complex problems to solve. Digitization has not only disrupted the methods to curate, package, market or distribute, but has also opened up new models to monetize the services—such as: Subscription models where one can get a select set of loyal customers buying constantly; Freemium model where one can let customers get a taste of the core offering and then charge for various relevant services to improve her outcome; and Value-added curator/reseller model where one can take available good content and build services around it.

  This, no doubt requires new capabilities, but so does any business with changing times. Q:Where is technology taking publishing in the near future; and what are the strategies being employed by publishers to cope with it? From your experiences in the Association of Publishers in India (API) and Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP), is there a difference between ‘India’ and the MNCs in this context?

  Vikas: There is no denying the fact that book and print consumption is on the decline. On the other hand, newer trends in the content market indicate that consumers are hungry for live, real-time and interactive reading and learning experiences and content remains a key consumable commodity.

  I would say that Indian publishers’ route to technology in the first phase was more cosmetic. But, now things are changing.They are realizing that it is not just enough to have an online website; there’s more.

  They now understand that there are a few things where technology plays

  a good role. Besides, publishers are using disruption in the technology of the distribution network as in India distribution is very fragmented. It would be unfair to call digital disruption just a technology play. This is to do with complete transformations in business models and how we engage—in essence, the problem of getting noticed and getting paid. The same applies to various verticals of publishing.

  Let us take the case of the education market.The expectation of a learner today is to learn anytime, anywhere, personalized to his or her learning style. So a one-size-fits-all education content model does not work anymore. Multiple innovative options are available to learners and teachers to choose from, based on their learning preferences and background—such as learning by doing, collaborative or social learning, anytime anywhere learning, learning through gamification and virtual reality, adaptive learning, mentored learning—the list is endless.

  In this context, technology can become an influencer and enabler to reach end users in the format they are looking for, and make learning a personalized experience. However, technology alone cannot be the solution.Think of pure online learning such as massive open online courses (MOOCs)—a trainer teaches and thousands of students just hear. Majority of learners are unable to learn as it may not suit their individual learning style. It is again, in a way, a one-size-fits-all format.

  This is why pure online learning is not always successful, especially in cases of test prep and certifications where the barrier to passing is high.While technology helps in making quality content available without any restrictions on time or geographical locations, the value of a learning (publishing) solution will always depend on: how learning is curated and authenticated for individual learners; how it is imparted and what the ultimate outcome is; what the learner experiences is what we are developing; how empowered a student is after the learning.

  The value of publishers and educators in earlier days remained in making available knowledge into sizable formats and with associated aids such as visuals, exercises and other elements which made the outcome of learning relevant.Technology has given various new, even more

  flexible and interconnected formats now to further improve this learning

  outcome, and made it possible to learn anytime, anyway, anywhere, and as a personal experience. I feel new technologies are increasingly taking market share, I am not sure what will
happen in the next 3 to 5 years but in the next 10 years, absolutely digital will replace print.

  Q: How is Wiley specifically future proofing its business in India? Vikas:As a company, we are getting into solutions strongly. Importantly, we are also a publisher. So, we exist in all formats where content is consumed—print, digital, online….We want to serve the need of each customer at the end of the spectrum.We don’t know what the future will be; so it is best to be a player in all the three and shift from one to another whenever the time comes.

  In this crowded knowledge and content economy, publishing could still remain relevant if our focus moves from creating great content in silos to ensuring that publishing creates and curates quality content which meets the user’s outcomes by leveraging technology; is credible and authentic; is able to create a personalized, adaptive and user-centric experience; and leverages user, product and functional networks and connections.

  Wiley is focused on leveraging its core strengths such as credibility and trust that its customers have; its rich author networks and longestablished distribution channels to innovate on newer models and improve its customers’ outcomes with effective and unique services. It is also trying to globalize as well as localize its offerings, backed with technology, so that users have a more personalized experience across geographies.

  Q: How do you think India fits in the global publishing scene in the next few years given our demographic, etc.?

  Vikas: India will play a very big role in science, technology, academic and medical publishing.This is because for areas like the Middle East,Africa, and South Asia, print content would be required and India will play a leading role. India will also play a major role in providing technological

  solutions to these countries. In the digital world, we will be as good as

  the US, at one-tenth the price.We may also become pioneers in our ability to serve customers around the globe. However, we need to identify a game plan for where each of us want to play and what unique and specialized services we can offer to enhance customer outcomes that can be valued as premium.