Publishers On Publishing

by Nitasha Devasar

  Q: How are you teaching/learning technology in publishing? Bishan:We teach Design students details of QuarkXPress, InDesign,Adobe Photoshop and related software.This gives them a thorough knowledge of contemporary design software necessary for designing book covers and inside layouts as well as typesetting.We also have a special module dedicated to digital publishing and our Design students graduate with comprehensive knowledge of how to create e-books as well. Even our Editing students learn the basic functions of QuarkXPress, so that they have a more wide-ranging idea of the role of design in book publishing.

  We teach our Design students to create e-books in Mobi and iBook formats.These e-books can be read on devices such as Kindle, iPad, iPhone as well as within the Kindle app on any device, including Android smartphones, laptops and desktop computers.

  Q:What is the role of design in book publishing?

  Bishan:Among things we teach our students is that book design is

  a functional art—design in books must not only attract the reader to

  the book but also make his reading of or engagement with the book a pleasurable experience. It is important to maintain that balance. Q:What are the challenges you face and what would your progress be in the next five years?

  Bishan: We believe that the Seagull School has already made a mark in producing thoroughly trained publishing professionals who have entered the industry and are being cherished by the publishing houses they are working for.We are getting more and more applications from across the country and abroad for each of our courses, which means that more and more young people are looking at publishing as a career and they recognize that the Seagull School courses will give them an advantage when they enter the industry.We expect this trend to continue over the years. Our challenge is funding.We have, for the past five years, been generously supported by a grant from the Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi. However, that funding has come to an end.We spend a lot on our courses—on creating an inspiring environment for the students, on bringing in international publishing experts—and yet we do not want the course to be too expensive for the students. In order to maintain the quality of our courses as well as to keep them affordable, our challenge now is to look for alternative sources of funding. But we are confident that if the world understands and appreciates the need for an institution, it finds ways of supporting and nurturing it somehow. So we are full of hope.

  bishan samaddar is Editor and Book Designer at Seagull Books, and Instructor in Editing at the Seagull School of Publishing. He has worked at Seagull Books for more than seven years, and has edited books by numerous authors including Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. He is a keen traveller and a phone photographer.

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  InDIan PuBlIshIng

  from the gloBal PersPeCtIve

  “India has the greatest potential for a thriving ‘reading’ nation” Emma House

  Q: How does Publishers Association (PA) view the Indian market/ publishing industry in the context of the global publishing industry? Emma: Nielsen estimates the Indian book sector to now be worth US$6.76 billion and to have over 9,000 publishers, and it’s no surprise that we’d say that India has to have the most exciting publishing industry in the world.With the myriad voices and languages, genres, styles and formats, it’s one of the most important countries for publishing.

  With over a billion people and an emerging middle class, as a market, India has to have one of the greatest potentials for a thriving and growing reading nation.The book fairs and festivals are fantastic evidence of the appetite for literature that Indians share and anyone who works in publishing around the world must visit the Jaipur Literature Festival.With e-commerce now becoming widespread and literacy improving, books can now be put into the hands of many more readers and we also have the potential to hear from even more colourful and important voices.

  Q: How do the PA’s activities in India compare to those in other emerging markets like China and Africa?

  Emma: The PA has some activities in India, mainly around supporting our fellow publishing and publishing association colleagues with their activities, but also supporting our UK publishers who want to

  do business in India.We provide useful market information to UK publishers to help them navigate the market.We also support our Indian colleagues with information to help support their own lobbying activities, be it around copyright, piracy, or generally promoting the value of publishing.We work very closely with the UK Embassy and British Council in India, especially the IP (intellectual property) attaché, creative industries and literature teams. Being the UK–India Year of Culture, 2017 was an exciting year and we welcomed an India Spotlight to the London Book Fair. As the market becomes more mature, our role is ever changing. More UK publishers are setting up offices or distribution partners.We have a good partnership with the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) and Association of Publishers in India (API) which evolves over time as well.

  We work very similarly in China, with fellow publishers and also with UK publishers who operate in China.These are our two biggest markets for international activities outside of Europe.

  Q:You work closely with the API in India whose members have their head offices as members of the PA. How does this dual relationship pan out?

  Emma: We work closely with the API and their membership is shared with the PA membership, the multinational companies who have offices in both countries.They don’t have any full time staff as we do in the UK and therefore we aim to help and support as much as we can in providing information and insight. Equally, they provide enormous support to us by giving us valuable information on the market that we can communicate to our members.The relationship gives the API good access to the UK Embassy in India which can assist with

  lobbying activity.

  Q:You also work closely with the FIP in India.What has been your experience in dealing with key publishing concerns in this context? Emma: The FIP is the Indian member of the International Publishers Association (IPA) and the PA is the UK member of the IPA and so

  we work closely in the international community.This is very much on top-level industry matters such as copyright and freedom to publish, which are really important to both our countries. Both associations have been in existence for a long time and are keen to ensure publishing is a buoyant and thriving industry.We work hard to overcome obstacles and challenges that would threaten the industry and also support our members to help them do what they do best.

  Q: For several years you have been working closely with the API and FIP on piracy- and copyright-related issues.What has been your experience? And what do you see as the future course, especially after the verdict in the Delhi University (DU) case [1]? Emma: Copyright is the bedrock of the publishing industry, and is also so much more. Copyright fuels publishing, which in turn helps with literacy, education, social mobility and well-being.The PA,API, FIP, and publisher associations around the world are often finding themselves needing to explain copyright, to defend it and to challenge those who threaten to destroy it.The three associations work closely together in this area to explain to the multiple stakeholders what copyright actually is, why it matters, and what publishers contribute to the world and to society, thanks to copyright.

  There is a huge amount of work to do in India post the DU case on promoting the value of copyright and why it’s important.There is also work to be done to explain why creators and publishers should be rewarded for their work and that publishing is an industry that employs thousands of people and contributes to a multitude of other industries. Most important is the need to explain why a good copyright regime means a good education system, and that educators play a role in championing published resources.There is a broad expectation that books should be free and we need to change this perception.

  Q:Your role has always been to work closely with publishers. How has this relationship evolved over time and have the issues and discussions changed over time?

  Emma: I joined the PA in the year 2009, so have be
en working with it for nine years. I previously worked for the London Book Fair for six years so have now 15 years’ experience in global publishing which doesn’t feel that long when we are surrounded by publishing gurus who have been in the industry for decades. I started off looking after international affairs and moved to cover other areas such as educational publishing and open access in journal publishing, and I am now Deputy CEO.

  Our members are at the heart of everything we do and we work hard to ensure we provide them with insight, influence and services. A big part of my role is to understand the needs of publishers and how we can provide them with information or services to help their business, be it seminars, workshops and trainings through a new legal service we are launching to help prepare for a new data protection law coming into force.

  It’s equally important we understand what is happening on the policy and legislation landscape so we are able to influence this in favour of publishers and the wider publishing industry.This hasn’t really changed over the years as at the end of the day we rely on member subscriptions and we must provide value for money.The issues we deal with have also stayed relatively similar, revolving around copyright, the supply chain, demonstrating the value of publishers and publishing.

  Q:What are your impressions of the landscape of Indian publishing and publishers now and in the future? How do you see it in comparison to other markets like China and Africa?

  Emma: Indian publishing has a long history and I see it having a very long future, especially internationally.The internet has made the world a much smaller place and people are much more curious about other cultures.The Indian diaspora around the world is now able to enjoy reading Indian authors much more than ever before and so the potential for export of Indian published works is enormous. Digital publishing and e-commerce have also meant that books are very accessible and can be enjoyed all over the country and at a range of different prices.

  Indian publishers are talented, passionate, determined, dedicated, and it comes from the heart. I certainly think there are more familyrun publishers in India than anywhere else in the world. Freedom of expression and freedom to publish are very important to the future success of Indian publishing and the industry must work together to defend the principle.When you think of India, you think of stories and storytelling that has evolved over thousands of years, you think of the politicians, the Bollywood actors, the cricket players who have stories to tell, you think different languages and different religions.

  Q: From an international context, looking at Indian publishing within the frame of the global publishing industry, where do you see the pitfall and opportunities over the next few years? Emma: India’s standing in the global ranking of publishing nations can only improve as publishers become more sophisticated, more reliable statistics become available, and the distribution network continues to improve.

  The only obstacles I see to India’s progress are a weakening rather than strengthening of copyright and its enforcement and a tightening up of freedom to publish regulation.The Indian government’s strong emphasis on education and its importance needs to extend to a strong emphasis on copyright. Publishing is often stifled in other markets through tight government control, censorship, or when the government decides to assume the role of the publisher, especially for education.

  We should also talk about the role of technology in publishing and how this will impact the future of publishing.The fact is, we have seen technological developments all over the world, and whilst this has changed the way content is delivered and consumed, either through e-commerce or the devices for enjoying reading, it fundamentally has not changed the role of the publisher.

  Innovation in publishing means different business models, different modes of reaching the reader, and greater access for those with visual impairments or those who simply don’t have regular access to books.As such, Indian publishers can only benefit from embracing the opportunities

  that technology brings, comfortable in the knowledge that the fundamental

  publishing skills that have been honed over generations will still be essential for the future success of the industry. [1] DU case:Three foreign publishers filed a case against a Delhi University photocopying shop for large scale photocopying of their content.They lost both the case and the appeal in 2017 after which they are working to improve copyright awareness rather than pursue the legal path.

  emma house is Deputy CEO of the Publishers Association, the trade body in the UK for books and journal publishers. Emma has worked at the PA for 9 years, having previously spent 6 years in international roles at the London Book Fair and 6 years in international magazine publishing.

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  InDIan PuBlIshIng In gloBal Book faIrs “a huge equity in diversity!” Prashasti Rastogi

  Q: How does the German Book Office (GBO) view the Indian market/ publishing industry in the context of the global publishing industry?

  Prashasti: The book is dead; long live the book! In 2012 e-books were the rising stars of the book world and a shockwave ran through the industry projecting that digital will take over 80 per cent of the sales volumes. In 2017, print is living and publishers have evolved relatively stable business models. On the other hand, online retailers are making it possible to increase the reach by overcoming traditional distribution challenges. In this renaissance of print, Indian literature, especially Indian writing in English is getting the international publishers very enthusiastic.The Indian book market is the sixth largest in the world and the second largest for Englishlanguage books.The western economies are recording stagnating sales. India presents itself as a high-potential market with rising literacy. In terms of potential customers, the Indian market is twice the size of the UK’s and hence it becomes imperative for international publishers to consider the Indian market in their global strategy. It’s also visible in the trajectory that Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Springer, and other global publishing houses are following in India with a huge concentration on promoting Indian fiction. Hybrid publishing houses like Juggernaut are leveraging the fact that India ranks topmost in terms of mobile data usage.

  This is a unique example of how Indian publishing is agile, tech-savvy, disruptive, and yet traditional and culturally rich. India is a market that

  the West can’t ignore, not only in terms of content, but also in innovation in the publishing services industry.The growth of service providers for digitization and print is making the world consider destination India. On the literary exchange front, publishers in the West want to be more international, and the Western markets seem ready for foreign books that are not by the usual suspects. Diversity is the buzz word of the season and India has a huge equity in the sphere that can be leveraged.

  Q: Do tell us something about the GBO’s activities in other emerging markets like China and Africa.

  Prashasti: China is an aggressive market for rights buying and book printing. Printing with integrated port to door services at competitive prices makes it enjoy the largest share of the book printing pie. In China, our colleagues support the outreach and internationalization activities of Chinese publishers and allied professionals.The Frankfurt Book Fair has also found long-term partners in China with China South Publishing & Media Group (CNS) coming on board as investor in IPR License. Another cooperation running with China is at the new ARTS+ forum of the Frankfurt Book Fair.ARTS+ is the platform that brings together representatives of the culture and creative industries and innovative players from the technology sector.

  Frankfurt is increasing its engagement in the African markets as those markets have started to respond to international stimulus only recently. A new entry at the 2017 FBF were the collective stand Publishers from Africa and Haiti.Also new in 2017 were debut appearances at Frankfurt of Niger, Madagascar and Gabon.

  Q: Please share the specific experiences that the GBO has had with respect to its various initiatives.

  Prashasti: I still remember the reactions of publishers at the rights and
licensing workshop that we organized at GLOBALOCAL 2013.A number of publishers had questions that were very basic such as which rights to specify or what are subsidiary rights actually.Almost all publishers realized that their contracts were not enabling the potential that the rights market

  presents or were silent on most aspects regarding trading copyrights.Also notable was the fact that publishers hadn’t thought about milking the domestic potential by selling translation rights into other Indian languages. We continued conducting the rights workshop at GLOBALOCAL year after year and also included it in our Young Publishers Training Programme every year.The scenario has changed very effectively over these years and many book fairs and literature festivals are trying to set up rights meetings to facilitate this exchange.Also the fluidity of literature from one to the other with Seagull’s Bengali list or Harper Perennial has made English a good outreach point.The power of 1:22, with 22 officially recognized languages, needs to be more aggressively harnessed. I feel that the literature festivals are a great platform to showcase writing in languages other than English and would act as a catalyst in promoting stronger exchange if more and more Indian language authors are integrated in the programme of the major festivals.

  Q:Why is the Frankfurt Book Fair relevant to Indian publishers even now? What do you consider as its USP for Indian publishers? Prashasti: With the growth of multi-platform content, short-form consumption, the licensing business is becoming even more aggressive. The Frankfurt Book Fair provides that ecosystem and hence is important for Indian publishers to reach out to markets in Latin America, South East Asia, the UK,Australia, the Middle East all under one roof.We don’t see ourselves as an exhibition but as a service provider to the publishing value chain that can help people and businesses grow and be future-ready. Keeping informed on the market, competitors, consumption geographies and making connections different from your address book is where the long-term game is.