Although it is true that in India, agents aren’t valued that highly because of the widespread culture of direct commissioning, several published authors, established journalists, and even celebrities, who seemingly don’t need agents, nonetheless sign with them for various reasons.
According to senior journalist and columnist Aditya Sinha,‘Going through an agent saved me the embarrassment of haggling with people I know and leaving this necessary activity to a third party. Plus, the agent knows all the publishers, and where my novel might make a proper fit. Also,I don’t have to worry about follow ups and can just focus on my writing.’Amrita Tripathi signed her first book Broken News directly with a publisher and yet chose to go through an agent for her second book. ‘Having Shruti Debi, then with Aitken Alexander, as my agent not only
offered me some validation, but also (and perhaps more importantly) raised the bar for me. She helped me enormously as an editor during the writing of The Sibius Knot.... I suppose I also thought an agent was a prerequisite to be taken seriously, and to even think about breaking onto the international scene.’
A vastly underrated role of an agent is that of a sounding board and someone who actively develops book ideas with prospective authors. Both senior journalists Chitra Naryanan and Pranjal Sharma developed book ideas with their agent and didn’t use him just to get a deal. For Aditya Mani Jha, a seasoned literary critic with a major newspaper, and thus in direct touch with most top publishers, an agent is a lot more than someone who just connects an author to a publisher.‘I look at the job of a literary agent as a combination of talent manager (in the Western, Colonel Tom Parker sense of the phrase), literary sounding board (on some days, everything you write will be horse manure), chartered accountant (although I’ve always loved math, not all authors do) and soothsayer (never underestimate the value of those). It is a confluence of skills and as a debutante [sic] author, I did not feel like I could do all these jobs (to say nothing of my actual day job) and still give the book the attention that it deserves. So I thought, why not let the specialist take over?’
Many authors go to publishers directly not because they are averse to working with agents but because of complete lack of awareness of their existence. One such author, the bestselling film writer Yasser Usman, was always under the impression that the usual way to reach out to a publisher was to get his/her contact details or email id from a published friend or colleague. Luckily for him, one such connection led to a contract for his first book on Rajesh Khanna. Ironically, he now completely understands the role and importance of an agent, but feels that introducing him/her at this point in his writing career may cause confusion and embarrassment for his publisher, with whom he gets along very well.
Manu Pillai is another well-known author who went directly to a publisher with his first book but is not closed to the idea of working with an agent.‘Not having worked with an agent, I can’t comment on Indian agents in general. But I have been advised more than once about the
advantages of working with someone who knows the publishing industry well, and can negotiate better prospects (and stouter financial terms!) for my work. I didn’t necessarily feel the lack of an agent while working with HarperCollins on my first book, but for my next, whenever the time comes, I will think more seriously about working together with somebody who can, frankly, take care at least of those conversations that authors are not always well-equipped to handle themselves.The author’s relationship is with the editor; for much of the other business that the process of publishing involves, an agent would be a welcome ally.’
In fact, even authors represented by foreign agencies, such as the pioneering investigative journalist Josy Joseph, see some positives to Indian agenting.‘Indian agents are visibly more aggressive in the market, and make an extra effort to find new writing talent.They are playing a crucial role in the booming publishing world because of their willingness to go hunting for new talent, and operate at all levels of the food chain,’ says Joseph. Some award-winning authors, like Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, have reposed faith in Indian agents to handle even the nearly unachievable foreign rights for their books.‘I just received a message from Jayapriya (of Jacaranda Literary Agency) telling me that she had read both my books, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey and The Adivasi Will Not Dance, and she had faith in my books, and would like to represent them in territories excluding the Indian subcontinent. So, it was Jayapriya’s faith in my books and my faith in Jayapriya that made me sign up with her.’
One problem Indian agents face is that of retaining authors they discover since editors may have developed a good rapport with the writer, who might consequently fail to see any value addition by the agent in future deals.According to prolific translator and novelist Bhaskar Chattopadhyay,‘Redundancy is an agent’s biggest enemy.As long as the agent is doing his job and bringing in results, I don’t mind paying him. The day I realize that he is not getting me the best deal that I could have possibly got, including the one I could have clinched on my own, his role becomes redundant.And why just an agent, that’s true about anyone making a living.The only way an agent can survive is by ensuring that he always, always acts in the best interest of the writer, gets him or her the
best possible deals.’ ‘With my agent I can express myself more freely and he can negotiate on my behalf.Also it makes my job easier about following up with the publishers regarding publishing dates, media coverage and money. It’s not just about the initial contract but several other jobs that an agent helps you out with. That’s why I continue to work with an agent,’ says Pakistani anthropologist Haroon Khalid.
Although it will take another five years for agenting to become fully mainstream in India, some local agents have already started making giant strides, their turnovers surpassing those of highly reputed, mediumsized publishing houses.According to HarperCollins India CEO Ananth Padmanabhan,‘I think agenting in India came at the right moment when both publishing and the quality and diversity of content from authors began to grow both in depth and breadth.Ten years ago there was no commercial fiction, for example.’Although he feels there is room for better quality he adds,‘Submissions have changed as agents better understand publishers and the kind of books they seek.’
kanishka gupta, a writer and publishing commentator, is Founder of the literary agency Writer’s Side. His second book is forthcoming from Speaking Tiger in 2018.
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the role of lIterary agents “literary agents are here to stay!”
Anuj Bahri Q: How did your journey as a bookseller and then publisher lead you into Literary Agency?
Anuj: I have been a bookseller as per family tradition and it was a natural progression for me to add a publishing division to our core competence business…hence the publishing.Though we still consider ourselves a small publisher of few titles, quality is of importance for the kind of books we work on.
Negotiating rights is something I had been doing since the year 2002, but officially became a literary agent in 2009 and involved myself fully into negotiating rights, placements, and advances on behalf of authors within India and the world market.
Q: Is there a gap in the author–publisher linking that you feel a literary agent fills?
Anuj: It is only the literary agent that can fill this void in the relationship between author and publisher.We work as the bridge between the two.Authors are meant to write well and publishers must only get the best from every table. Here, we act as the bridge that connects the two thoughts and also work as the first line of editorial between good writing and the not-so-good.
Q: Many general books publishers do not entertain proposals sent by individual authors but only work through agents. Do you think this trend will grow further?
Anuj: The need and its processing are different in different markets. Internationally, if a publisher advertises that they do not entertain any unsolicited works, then they mean what they say and do not entertain any proposal sent directly to them. However, in the Indian mark
et I have seen a lot of publishers ‘advertise’ the same, but in practice they all sift through the ‘slush pile’ and certainly entertain the reasonably acceptable writing that can come to them directly as freebies.
Many Indian publishers also try to dissuade the author from engaging an agent for their writing, if they want to entertain the author directly. I have no idea if this will grow further, but the authors have certainly become more aware now.
Q: Does this extend to academic publishing as well? And if so, what does this mean for authors and for agents?
Anuj: Some academic publishers have started looking at rights through agents, that is, they have no problems in accepting works from agencies, but as the offers are still not big enough, they shy away from making an offer or a bid on the work.
Q:Why do you think it is important that a publisher should go with a literary agent? What according to you are the genres of books which require a literary agent?
Anuj: Good writing will always remain good—through the agency or directly to the publisher…and it will always be found one way or another, no matter where it is sourced from. Most publishers have no time to look at the large quantity of submissions that come to their doorstep every day. Hence a lot of them rely on agencies that they work with for the best to be shown to them, leaving out the not-so-good at this first level itself.There is no specific genre for good writing and all good writing deserves to be represented, otherwise the world will not know what it has missed!!
Q:Why do you think it is important for an author to take assistance from a literary agent? Could you give us some examples and
experiences?
anuj bahri 65 Anuj: The author’s job is to write and not worry about offers, contracts and paperwork. Also, the literary agent is an expert on all these issues and can make an author’s life much more comfortable and a great experience as a writer.
Most authors let their agents work freely after the rules of the relationship have been agreed upon, making the experience smooth and enjoyable—however, there will always be writers that keep interfering in the affairs of the agency and like to run their own ship. Relationships with such patterns sometimes work really well but often do not last too long.
A classic example are the agents of Harper Lee and Dan Brown who have stayed with the author since their first writings; however some other authors who like to take charge, change agents frequently.
Q:There are some foreign agencies that have set up shops in India as well. How do you view this development?
Anuj: Foreign agencies being here is a good sign because they have finally realized that the real flavour of the Indian writing is in its local market only. Home agencies will always work because they are clued into the local flavour.The foreign agencies only need the big names and that is all they look for because their interest in local writing is limited, but the fun is in making the local small author’s name BIG!!
Q:We notice you are into selling Indian-language rights for foreign bestsellers. How did that happen? What is the success with it? Anuj: There is more money in languages than anything else—the market is far far bigger in the languages than English. It’s an amazing ride, so let’s enjoy.
Q:What are your views on self-publishing and the road ahead for the literary agent in the next five years?
Anuj: Self-publishing is both good and bad; it all depends on how successful the book becomes. Indian publishers do not regard it well,
but the international publishers have no issues with it. In fact, it is the agents that finally find the gem from among self-published works and make the works great. Agents often have to polish the original work, but can only do that if the book has substance to make it sparkle. Agents are here to stay!
anuj bahri heads the BAHRI Group.A thirdgeneration bookseller and literary agent, he worked at the New Delhi’s Bahrisons bookstore for more than 20 years under the tutorship of Balraj Bahri.Thereafter, he looked at other avenues in the book trade and added a small publishing division called Tara-India Research Press, and a
literary agency called Red Ink, to the BAHRI business. 12
natIonal Book trust
“Promoting reading and a culture of books” Baldeo Bhai Sharma
Q:What is the role NBT India plays in popularizing books and reading habit across India?
BBS:The responsibilities of the NBT include book-promotional activities, promoting reading habits and promoting a book culture.We are constantly working towards these responsibilities.We do not just publish quality books at affordable rates but also publish in more than 30 different languages.
For book-promotion activities, we organize not just the New Delhi World Book Fair but also several smaller book fairs in different cities across the country.This way books can be promoted in far-off areas as well.We even try to reach out to tribal areas where it is not possible for publishers to reach on their own.
For promoting a book culture, we use buses—Books on Wheels—to reach places where it is impossible for books to reach.This programme covers areas on district level across different states.This way we reach villages where there are no bookstores.There is huge enthusiasm amongst villagers when our buses reach there, which is very heartwarming.This shows that the reading habit has not declined; people are interested in reading but it is required to bring the books to them and they should be affordable.Villagers cannot come to cities to buy books, so we have to take books to them.We have 10 buses which are always on the run.We have one bus each in the East Regional Office, South Regional Office, and West Regional Office, plying across their zone.
In our Grant-in-Aid programme, we work with NGOs, where we give them funds to promote the reading habit.They go and organize
district-level book fairs to promote a book culture.They also organize
seminars and meet-the-author events where authors can meet children or young population. Another important activity is our translations programme, where good literature from one language is translated to another language, so that more people can read it and know about their culture more. For example, we have translated Thiruvalluvar, Gita of Tamil, into Hindi so that the Hindispeaking community can read and learn about this epic. It is getting very popular.All these activities are for promoting reading habits.
Q: How much focus needs to be on regional languages for the above to be fruitful?
BBS: Not just reading, NBT India is also striving to encourage regional languages which have very few books. Recently, we organized a workshop for children’s books in the Kokborok language in Tripura. In this workshop, both authors and illustrators worked together and some of these manuscripts will soon be published by us.As many as 21 books have been published in three languages in Bihar—Magahi, Maithili and Bhojpuri.When children see books in their languages, they are inclined to read them. It is very successful and many areas like Jharkhand have asked us to bring out books in their languages.We have started working in these languages as well.
Q: How much of what the NBT publishes is in English versus regional and does it bring out multilingual works?
BBS: In fact, NBT publishes more books in Indian languages than English.We do not do multilingual books.
Q:You have 80,000 book club members. How has this been achieved and, more importantly, how is it sustained?
BBS: We have a different wing called National Centre for Children’s Literature (NCCL), which organizes book clubs so that book lovers from far-off areas can be joined together.This centre is working to establish readers’ clubs for making reading and teaching more interesting in
schools, non-formal education centres, libraries, and education centres
baldeo bhai sharma 69 run by NGOs. Readers’ Club is an activity centre based on reading books. Children, teachers, book-loving people of the society and parents came forward to set up and run such centres.A simple form has to be filled for membership of the club. Books worth Rs 500 are gifted to each new Readers’ Club so that, apart from textbooks, other books are available for r
eading. Besides, a monthly bulletin is sent free to them. So it is like an extended family of the NBT.We are always trying to increase it further.We also monitor it regularly.
Q:Tell us something about the New Delhi World Book Fair? BBS: The New Delhi World Book Fair is a kumbh of books. It is the largest book fair in the Afro-Asia region. Book lovers from not just Delhi and NCR but all over the country wait for one year and come to this book extravaganza. Books that they cannot find anywhere else, can be found at the book fair. So it has a big role to play in the circulation of books amongst the masses. It also has a big role to play in the promotion of a book culture. It has now expanded a lot. Earlier, it was a biennial show but since 2012 it has been an annual show. Book lovers come to this fair in large numbers and there have been a lot of developments in terms of the services and facilities provided. In the last two years, the number of book lovers to this fair have been more than 12,00,000.
Q:Where do you see NBT India five years from now?
BBS: NBT has recently completed 60 years of its existence. For this, new programmes have been developed and these will be carried forward on a continuous basis.
We have taken a few new initiatives to promote a book culture in faraway places in the country under our ‘Har haath ek kitaab’ (one book for every hand) campaign. For this, NBT India has tied up with Snapdeal Sunshine, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative run by Snapdeal.The campaign is a nationwide online books donation drive especially targeting underprivileged children, and aims at inculcating a reading habit among them.As part of the campaign, Snapdeal will
encourage its customers to buy and donate books published by NBT India. People can choose to donate anywhere between 10 and 2,000 books by simply visiting www.snapdeal.com/offers/har-haath-ek-kitaab and clicking on the donation plan they prefer. NBT will dispatch books to NGOs across India working towards educating India’s underprivileged children including Teach for India, Goonj, Bhumi,Aarti, Idea, Impact, 17,000 ft, Books for All,Turnstone Global, Guzarish, Educate Girls, PYDS (Purkal Youth Development Society), Pratham,Vimukti Sanstha, Deepalaya, and the Indian Dreams Foundation.We have already dispatched books worth Rs 3 lakh under this campaign.
Publishers On Publishing Page 8