year if not every year, on average, and it has now entered its 13th edition. Q:What have been the challenges of costs, staff, quality, and of distribution and collections?
Indu: But the flip side is that having spent a lot of time and energy in developing and nurturing new authors, once they become established names, they often abandon indie publishers and opt for the ‘brand’ of bigger publishers. I must, however, say that this is not a problem that has affected Tulika. In fact, most of our authors come back to us with their new books.
The major problem independents face is sales and distribution, which affects liquidity and our ability to publish an optimum number of books every year. Our business model is such that we rely exclusively on returns from sales of our books in order to invest in publishing new books.At Tulika we bring out 10–15 new titles every year plus reprints, which totals to approximately 20–25 titles in any given year. If the sales revenue comes in as it used to, even in the not very distant past, then it would be a viable project. But that is not happening now, with credit periods in the market having extended to 12 months in many instances despite agreements that specify 4 to 6 months.
Another major problem we have been facing at Tulika in recent years is that funds to college/university libraries and research institutions seem to have dried up—which is part of the general crisis in which institutions of higher education find themselves in our country. Similarly, bulk purchases by public agencies like the Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation, which supplies books in turn to public libraries across India, have taken a hit. For academic publishers like us, such institutional sales have been traditionally very important, with sales to individuals from retail outlets being mostly add-ons.
Moreover, older distribution houses of academic books have either become publishers themselves or changed their focus of distribution to trade books—fiction and non-fiction.Also, the multinationals that have entered the Indian market, besides a couple of them, are mostly trade book publishers.
Visibility is also a big challenge in terms of the distribution options
open to independents, as the bigger publishing houses, like Taylor & Francis or Oxford University Press or SAGE, bring out 100–150 titles a year, which means their visibility is obviously higher in the market in terms of sheer numbers.
Q: How was Independent Publishers’ Distribution Alternatives (IPDA) formed? How does it work, and what is its future? Indu: In 2006, 8 independent publishers came together to establish IPDA, which is primarily a distribution house for independents.The 8 partnerpublishers of IPDA are: Leftword Books, Navayana Publishing, Samskriti, Stree-Samya,Three Essays Collective,Tulika Books,Tulika Publishers and Women Unlimited.The bulk of the distribution of the lists of several of these eight publishers is done by IPDA, while it also distributes books of other small and independent publishers of a certain quality.
IPDA has a resourceful and dedicated sales and marketing team, but it must be admitted that while it has managed to survive against odds for more than 10 years now, it has been a struggle for it to grow, especially in the last 3 to 4 years.
Q:Why are independents still going strong?
Indu: Independents seem to be going forward with none of us having had to fold up yet—despite adverse conditions at least for some of us. I think this is because every independent publisher, one way or the other, is motivated to continue for reasons other than just making money.The returns may not be great but most of us are willing to ‘carry on regardless’ if we break even and have enough money to put into future books.
Also, since many of us have our own means and tactics of survival and of subsidizing our individual publishing programmes—some of us are writers/authors besides being publishers and editors, some provide consultancy services, etc., to take care of financial needs—we manage to keep the flag flying. Many of my publishing colleagues and I myself belong to the first generation of independents, and we are confident that younger independents will chart newer paths and carry
this forward. Q:What are the prospects?
Indu: One of the lessons we have learnt as small, independent publishers is that sharing experiences and evolving alternative strategies, which includes coming together in collective solidarity, is one way of achieving visibility and recognition, and carving out a place for ourselves, amid the larger scenario of publishing in India. Especially in an environment of competitiveness and rivalry where trade secrets and poaching rather than sharing and pooling of talents is the order of the day, generally speaking.
Some of us also share and pool resources like editorial and typesetting services, which makes it more affordable than if we had to hire professionals in these areas as individual publishers. Similarly, there have been attempts at co-publishing within the same market, on an equal sharing of costs and revenues principle.This kind of sharing of resources is in the nature of baby steps as yet, but perhaps this direction is really the way forward for independents.
In terms of publishing networks and collectives,Tulika Books is one of two independent publishers from India, the other being Women Unlimited, who are members of the English-language network of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers (IAIP), based out of Paris.This is an alliance of indie publishers from across the world that supports the efforts of member-publishers to both initiate publishing projects and share existing projects with each other in co-publishing arrangements.
Q:What do you think about the survival of Indie publishing, given the global tendency towards mergers and consolidation amongst publishers?
Indu: Of late, independents in India have started to co-publish or collaborate with other players in the industry, but they have managed to keep their own identity alive in most cases—unlike the global trend of acquisitions and mergers which often result in a compromise of content and identity, and a certain uniformity that sets in with the loss of the
spark of independent publishing. Collaborations that do not compromise their editorial autonomy can be beneficial to independents and be welcomed, but not editorial mergers or take-overs. Publishing under joint imprints has been happening on a small but significant scale in recent years: Zubaan with Penguin,Yoda Press with SAGE, Stree-Samya with SAGE, and Social Science Press with Routledge.This is an emerging trend and it might grow.
Q:What is the roadmap for the future of Tulika?
Indu: I hope Tulika will continue to grow, strengthen and expand our list in the directions we set for ourselves—and for as long we can.Talking about the future, there is a sense of mortality that affects us—just as it does most professionally run independent publishers that are not family businesses—especially among the first generation indies.We can’t really say what will happen after our time—five years on, I will be still be around; ten years on, I hope I will still be around; for the rest I do not know. Personally speaking, it would be great if younger colleagues or a like-minded publisher took over and ran Tulika after my time. But of this I’m sure: I would rather see Tulika shut down than see it go the way of a merger-and-acquisition that would retain its name but erase its identity.
indira (indu) chandrasekhar is Publisher and Managing Editor of Tulika Books, New Delhi and has been associated with the book publishing industry in India since the early 1980s. She is a founding partner of the Independent Publishers’ Distribution Alternatives, a distribution network set up by eight independent publishers to promote alternative/independent publishing in India. Indu is also a member of the Paris-based International Alliance of Independent Publishers, and a
trustee of the Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation.
41 femInIst PuBlIshIng:
the Journey anD Way aheaD
“the perspective is feminist, but the literature is not niche”
Ritu Menon Women Unlimited, a non-profit trust, is an associate of Kali for Women, India’s first and oldest feminist press, established in 1984.We explore new issues, anticipate trends, develop new perspectives and offer the best of feminist scholarship, activist
material and creative writing, in India and South Asia, at affordable prices.
Q: How has feminist publishing evolved over time?
Ritu:Across the world, feminist publishing has declined.There are only about half a dozen independent feminist publishers in the world. In the North and West, the pioneers like Virago have been absorbed into larger corporate publishing, whereas others like The Women’s Press and Pandora have ceased to exist.
In India, feminist publishing is still quite active as there are three presses in India which continue to function and produce a steady number of books in English every year.These are Stree in Kolkata, and Zubaan and Women Unlimited in Delhi; all three are run by women and are independent in terms of financial control and ownership.
How long it will continue is very difficult to say as feminist publishing has been very very successful around the world and that was the reason why it has been taken over by bigger publishers.The entire initial spadework—the risk-taking, the development of this market and readership, finding authors, identifying issues—all this was done when the publishers were independent.When they become economically viable and successful and they are no longer a risk, they become a part of mainstream
publishing.That has been a trend across many parts of the world. Many have just closed down, for example, feminist publishers in Thailand, South Africa, Zimbabwe,Arab, Indonesia, which were very successful in the beginning but later closed down or were taken over due to various reasons.
Q: Do you think feminist publishing is a niche segment? Ritu: No, we are not niche; we are feminist presses dealing with everything, as 50 per cent of the population is women. Our perspective is feminist, but the books we publish are not niche. Because women are marginal does not mean we are niche. Every big publisher now has a list on women’s studies because it is acknowledged in its own right.
Q:What is the USP of independent publishers?
Ritu:The quality control in smaller independent presses is much higher than large publishers because we do a smaller number of books and are able to put much more time and effort in them. Because smaller presses are editorially driven, we are selective about the books we do and then we spend a much larger amount of time in interacting with authors, in developing a project, in suggesting ideas in commissioning work, and so on.Very little work is outsourced.The quality of our books is usually to our advantage.
Q:What is the future of feminist publishing in general and of Women Unlimited in particular?
Ritu:The future is a question mark but I think feminist publishers will continue to provide an alternative with regard to perspective and analysis. They are not just economically independent but have a distinct political project, which is social change. So a feminist press is by definition a part of the women’s movement and will challenge established orthodoxies, whether in society, in the family, in media, in academia, or in publishing itself.
I foresee that the potential of Women Unlimited is very rich…even after 30 years of its existence.
Q:What are the challenges of being independent?
Ritu: For all independent publishers, the biggest challenge in India is
distribution. It is one of the poorest serviced and capitalized sectors in
204 feminist publishing: the journey and way ahead the book trade.The question I often ask large multinationals is why they haven’t gone into distribution.Though they are keen to enter into publishing, they are not at all that invested in developing distribution. It’s a very big gap and it’s much bigger for language independent publishing. If distribution is inadequate, then impact on publishing is obvious. Independent publishers, unless they have their own distribution channel, have to rely on wholesalers, distributors, vendors, retailers, etc.The nature of discounts being as it is and the very long credit periods, ranging from 180 to 360 days, are almost ruinous. So, before you realize sales, you have already paid royalties for the year, which makes it difficult to finance the publishing.
In short, keeping the publishing going becomes a huge financial challenge for independent publishers bringing out trade books. Moreover, we do not have the funds for promotion and marketing which the larger publishers can afford.
Q: How do you see the market for book exports?
Ritu: Exports are even more difficult. For example, in South Asia, there is no trade as trade between countries is not easy. So we have to go through distributors but realization of money and sending books across are not easy. So, no matter how valuable or useful your books might be, we are still not able to get them to places where we know there is readership.
Q:What do you think of the survival of independent publishing, given the global tendency towards mergers and consolidation amongst publishers?
Ritu: All independent publishing have their own survival capacity. But, in my opinion, there will always be an independent publisher as it is a counter to corporate publishing. It performs a service and develops a need. But, it requires an independent structure to run. For example, Salim Saboowala in Mumbai had a mobile bookshop for independent publishers, and he serviced the whole of Maharashtra. But after he retired, nobody has taken it further.
Another example is Ram Advani Booksellers in Lucknow who
serviced generations of publishers.After his death, the bookshop closed down after being operational for 71 years. Independent publishers require networks of independent support like these. Most distributors are independent but they generally service larger publishing houses, because of volume and turnover.
Q: How is Women Unlimited tackling the distribution issues? Ritu:Women Unlimited is a founding member of a unique experiment in distribution, the Independent Publishers’ Distribution Alternatives (IPDA) (Delhi); as well as a member of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers (IAIP) (Paris), an international network publishing in five major languages: English, French,Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese.
But it is not easy to compete in the market as independents in distribution; in fact it requires a very different kind of enterprise. New publishing houses like Aleph Publishing have distribution arrangements with Rupa & Co. All the experience independents have in publishing, which is considerable, has not found a response in distribution.
Q:What are the prospects?
Ritu: A lot of younger publishers, who started out as professionals in big publishing houses, have set up their own independent publishing units. They will continue to thrive as they are willing to take risks which bigger publishers do not want to take. So they have come up with new areas in publishing like gender equality, transgenders, third gender, cultural studies and even graphic novels.They encounter a lot of problems but they are willing to do it, as this is the creative path of publishing.They are the pathbreakers.The future for this kind of publishing is enormous as independent publishing is small in size but its impact is enormous. Feminist publishing is a shining example of this phenomenon.
ritu menon is Publisher at Women Unlimited.A writer and publisher who has been active in the South Asian women’s movement for over 20 years, Ritu is the co-founder of Kali for Women, India’s first and oldest feminist press, as well as the founder of Women Unlimited, an associate of Kali for Women.
42
navayana
“Bold, innovative and experimental” S. Anand
Q:What is your opinion of the current publishing ecosystem, and what drives you to innovate and experiment?
Anand:In fact, one finds that in trade and commercial publishing, risktaking has drastically come down. Most mainstream publishers want to do ‘safe’ titles that do not incur financial, political or intellectual risks.The sad part, as the pioneering American publisher of Pantheon and founder of The New Press,Andre Schiffrin, says is that publishing was for the longest time not seen as a ‘business’ as such. People were happy with 4 per cent profits— what you got from a savings bank account. Suddenly with conglomerates entering the market, with holdings companies treating books like any other ‘investment’, books came to be treated like FM
CG products; expectations of profit went up to an unreasonable 20 to 25 per cent.
A friend who returned from the last London Book Fair says the most interesting titles in the UK are being done by small- and mediumsized independents like Saqi, Serpent’s Tail, Comma Press, etc.The same holds true for India where presses like Yoda, Blaft, and Navayana have shown that you can do cutting-edge books. Older players like Seagull and Zubaan have fortified themselves. Seagull has in fact gone seriously international; they have a Nobel laureate like Mo Yan in their list; they have all of Mahasweta Devi. So all this gives me courage to be bold, innovative and experimental at Navayana.
Q: Share your experience of annotating Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste (AoC).
Anand: I had tried my hand at annotating AoC on and off since 2005 since I felt no one seemed keen to pick up the gauntlet. But I felt intimidated by the kind of work it required.Was I even qualified? Was passion enough? When I commissioned the Ambedkar Readers, I spelt out why and how clearly. I had carefully read Anthony Parel’s scholarly annotations of Hind Swaraj written in 1909 when he was on a ship back from England to South Africa.
Irrespective of my problems with Hind Swaraj, I found the annotations excellent. In 1999, along with Ambedkar, I also read the Wendy Doniger/Brian Smith edition of the annotated Manusmriti, a work that was undoubtedly a little more backward than Hind Swaraj. I felt Ambedkar’s pivotal text too needed a similar effort to make it reach a wider and newer audience today.
Publishers On Publishing Page 21