Q:What is your pricing strategy and how do you deal with the photocopier competition?
Vikas: We started our operations in India by offering the ‘Low Price Editions’ of our bestselling titles from across the globe. For example, a typical book in the US costs US$150; however, it is made available to the Indian readers at around US$12. Hence we continue to provide the best-in-class products at highly competitively price points.To answer the second part of the question, learning is moving beyond books and is becoming hybrid, hence photocopying the book would have limited benefits to the photocopier.
Q:What about local publishers? Are they competing in your markets or are their markets different?
Vikas: The higher-education landscape in India is overfilled with local publishers but with the advent of digital learning, the competitive landscape has transformed quite substantially.The new push is coming
from technology companies who are working in the digital-learning
262 higher education space. However, Pearson is focused on how to shift the brand to become more experience-led, as increasingly the power is sitting with the learners who are influencing purchasing decisions, and increasingly we go directly to them.The company’s ambition is to become more simplified and efficient and it is driven by the recognition that digital disruption in the education sector is heavily under way, with students now expecting new, predominantly digital, ways of teaching.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your primary customers? What are their key requirements and how do you meet them?
Vikas: Our primary customers are those who seek to upskill or specialize themselves in any given subject area after completing K-12 or class 12.The current generation of learners is keen to adopt learning solutions which are tailor-made to individual requirements, are interactive in nature, convenient to use/access, and which provide continuous feedback/progress-check.As a result of which, we have adopted the strategy of providing personalized content and assessments backed by technology.
Q:What are the priorities for your publishing house, specifically in the next few years?
Vikas: Our mission is to help people make progress in their lives through learning—because we believe that learning opens up opportunities, creating fulfilling careers and better lives.We are building a more digital and sustainable business through our three strategic priorities:
• Investing in our fast-growing market segments, such as Online
Programme Management, virtual and blended schooling and English-language learning. • Growing market share through the digital transformation of our educational content and assessment businesses.
• Working to simplify our processes and operating model to drive efficiency and a better customer experience.Together, these three priorities will help drive the future growth of Pearson.
At Pearson, our commitment to efficacy and research is a true
differentiator: rather than simply delivering on operational support, this
engagement is leading to programmatic enhancements and improved
student outcomes—a win for students and our higher-education
customers.
vikas singh is Managing Director, Pearson India. He is responsible for spearheading the overall growth of the company in the Indian education sector by driving a robust business strategy and guiding excellence to strengthen the diversifying business. He has played a crucial role in making the region emerge as one of the most significant
contributors to Pearson’s global growth strategy. 55
BalanCIng CreatIvIty anD CommerCe
“a thriving market will see both bestseller and midlist working well”
Thomas Abraham Q: How does the economics of trade book publishing work in India, given the low price base, large numbers of books and problems with piracy?
Thomas: Like it works anywhere else…it’s just that the margins here are relatively lower. In the West you’ll have a mark-up of 10 to 12 times the cost, and here you’ll be between 2.5 and 5 times. Hence, within the margins left, we don’t have as much to spend on marketing and promotions as they do in the West.The number of bookstores to people and even towns is very few. Piracy is another issue that is a constant spoiler.
Q: How does the value and volumes game work in trade publishing? Are print runs still large in the era of print-on-demand (POD)? Thomas: POD has merely ensured the survival of the long tail and that very few books need to go out of print. But the fundamental thrust of trade business has to come from bestsellers, which more often than not do mean large print runs.
Q:What proportion of books tends to be bestselling? How do you deal with less successful books?
Thomas: The 80:20 rule applies here too…or perhaps the 90:10 in India. Less successful books are not to be confused with books with smaller print runs.A successful book is that which achieves its sales
forecast. So, a 20,000 forecasted title that sells just 40 per cent of its run is a bigger failure than a 2,000-copy seller that sells out.The marker of a healthy market is bibliodiversity—something we had a decade ago and are slowly losing out on.A market cannot live by bestsellers alone. A thriving market will see both bestseller and midlist working well, and different segments working well.
Q: How do you find the bestselling books/authors? Has the role of literary agents evolved in this context?
Thomas: Yes and no.Whether offered by a literary agent, or picked from the slush pile, or commissioned, a bestseller is first an idea approved in-house, which has the particular editor’s hunch and passion behind it.That is backed by the sales and marketing teams supporting the book and doing what it takes to build the first tailwind. After that it is almost always word of mouth.
Q: How does the resurgence of print impact general-books publishing? Are e-books and online content being developed as well? Thomas: No particular impact because India never saw the e-book boom at all. It was always print and continues to be print. In between, for a couple of years, there was some buzz around e-books but unlike the West (where it peaked to being a 30 per cent contributor), in India the average stayed at being below 7 per cent.
Q: New growth areas like short-format mobile books and audio books are emerging. Could you tell us a bit about this evolving landscape?
Thomas: It’s still early days.These are interesting times as publishers try to anticipate the next big thing. Short-format books so far have not worked in general; largely I suspect because those wanting that sort of content also want it free.
Q: English-language publishers are foraying into Indian languages. How do you see this development?
Thomas: There are Indian-language publishers who are very good at
266 balancing creativity and commerce what they do. I’m sceptical about English-language trade publishers trying to publish in Hindi, but am happy to be proved wrong. I’ve seen attempts at this but it is too fragmented a market and in general too low-priced a market to effectively engage with. So, sure, one will see many people trying this out but in the last 10 years, outside a couple of aberrant bestsellers, I’ve not seen any real traction anywhere where a single list has been built to being any sort of significant contributor.
Q. How does India fit in the global market game and is it a market of the future as well?
Thomas: India was and will remain a significant market simply because of that much-abused phrase ‘demographic dividend’.The market is in a state of churn because of a lot of disruptions, but what can’t be denied are the demographics of age, and market size, and gradually growing spending power.What is key, and something the industry is paying no attention to, is the building of readership.
Q:What are the challenges here, and how are trade publishers dealing with them?
Thomas: There are three main challenges, which are not being dealt with at all.
Readership: This has to be built outside just the next buzzy bestseller. This is critical not just for the market but for the intellectual and sociocultural health of the country.The levels of readin
g that we achieve are going to have a far-reaching impact on the skilling levels of a young populace—the country’s biggest challenge.
Piracy: As we compete with China, this is one area we have to get better on.We cannot have the absolute flagrant disdain we have for intellectual property rights (IPRs).The goverment cannot just wash its hands of any sort of enforcement because it thinks it has done enough by making books tax free.We need a separate IPR cell just as we have a separate cybercrime cell.
Low price market: Allied to all this is the fact that prices absolutely need to go up. I am not talking about textbooks or educational reference books which have a socio-economic angle to them and, yes, must be kept low priced. But all other segments need a gradual price increase.
thomas abraham is Managing Director, Hachette India. He was CEO and President of Penguin India during 2003-07, before he started at Hachette. He joined the publishing industry in 1994 as an editor with Oxford University Press India. He thereafter moved to marketing and left OUP to join Dorling Kindersley as Marketing Director in 2000. He joined Penguin Books in the same position following the buyout of DK by Penguin.
56
ComICs anD graPhIC Books
“Comics are the best medium to communicate with children”
Gulshan Rai and Arpit Bhargav Q:What is the need for comics and graphic books?
GR: The idea of Diamond Comics was to introduce comics at reasonable price to reach Indian children as we believe that comics are the best medium for communicating messages to children of any age/ any profile.We brought high-quality entertainment to Indian readers through the creation of original Indian comic characters like Chacha Chaudhary, Billoo, Pinki and Motu Patlu.The company also started publishing foreign comic books such as Phantom, Mandrake, Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, He-man and James Bond in Hindi. Our dedicated and creative team of publishing professionals is committed to producing high-quality multilingual books to both entertain and educate.
Q: How has digitization changed the comics scenario? GR: Besides publishing, we have also ventured into the field of 2D and 3D animation and digitization of comic books. Fun-filled popular television serials and cartoon programmes based on our characters continue to entertain viewers of all age groups.We are also planning to launch an exclusive TV channel for kids in the near future.
Q:What have been the challenges in this industry?
GR: Diamond Comics faced a lot of challenges with more than 100 competitors and fast changes in the environment because of TV, digital and social media. But Diamond Comics maintained the quality of its
publications in spite of all the challenges and performed changes in the stories and artwork in accordance with changing times and also entered electronic media in 1990.We released eight telefilms of 60 minutes each on Doordarshan based on Diamond Comics Super Heroes and after that a series of 500 episodes of Chacha Chaudhary on Sahara TV, followed by 500 episodes of Shaktimaan on Doordarshan and now Motu Paltu on Nick TV and Chacha Bhatija on Hungama TV.
At present we are working on a digital platform for mobile and web, where we are planning to launch all the comics (over 5,000) published by Diamond Comics in Hindi, English, and all the regional languages available on one platform and that too at a reasonable price, affordable for all.Also, digital animated comics (voice comic) of all the characters are available on YouTube.
Q: How has the market for comics changed over time? GR: Diamond Comics was able to generate a very big market from 1978 to 1995 in print and thereafter, from 1995 to 2002, there was a great fall in print due to electronic media. But, after 2002, Diamond Comics was able to re-establish its print, electronic, and the digital markets and maintained number one position in the country.
Q:What future do you foresee for comics?
GR: We hope to maintain the continuity in print, digital, social and electronic media according to the changes in the environment.
Q:What are your views on digital publishing in India? AB: Technology advancements continue all the time. But in the entertainment industry, content is the most important aspect.We, at Diamond Comics, aim to entertain the world with incredible content using new technologies.The growth possibilities are endless, because the digital era has just started in India.We feel the entertainment industry in India has potential for becoming a leading industry player across the globe; all we need is the right team and focus.
Q:What are the new areas of expansion in this segment? AB:There are many big surprises coming up soon from the house of Diamond Comics. For example, we are coming up with a special animation series with one of the leading online players. Plus, we are also developing one short, animated film, which we’ll submit in international film festivals. Besides, we have also launched our online reading app.
Q: How did Chacha Chaudhary comics start?
GR: Earlier, Chacha Chaudhary used to be printed in the Lotpot magazine. In our trading shop that time, Lotpot was very popular. Another character, who was very popular amongst children, was Cheeku, who appeared in the Champak magazine. Later, Champak compiled and published Cheeku books and they saw tremendous sales. That was the time, in 1978, when we started Diamond Comics. I called up Pran (the creator of Chacha Chaudhary), and told him that I wanted to make a collection of Chacha Chaudhary. In 1981, the first collection was out and we promoted it on popular radio channel Vividh Bharti. It was an instant hit. At that time, we sold 5–10 lakh copies, which was a big achievement.We published it in three languages—Hindi, English and Bengali and the price was Rs 8 only.
Q: How has the journey been and what were the main highlights? GR: We kept the size of the comic unique, a size nobody else has ever adopted.Then the comic is different—it is not a magazine, nor a comic, nor is it a book. Our objective was to ensure that if a reader spends Rs 10, he must get readable material for 48 pages. Our size allowed us to give more pages at cost equal to a 32-page book.
Q: How did you manage to sustain and grow the brand? GR: We later combined two comics and brought out a digest and named it Diamond Comics Digest.The price was kept at Rs 25.As time went by, we combined four comics to make a double digest. Today, a 48-page comic sells for Rs 30, a 100-page comic sells for Rs 100 and a 400-page
comic sells for Rs 250. The look has changed…we now print on better paper and we get the cover laminated.We also have talking comics on YouTube. Earlier, the readers used to take comics on rent, now people buy and read as the purchasing capacity has increased and parents like to buy books for their kids.
Q: How did you connect with your reader?
GR: The beauty of our comics is the positivity of all our characters.The reason for the popularity of Chacha Chaudhary is that the characters represent a family, just like our own.There are always good values to be learnt and the grandfathers always love their grandchildren. Chacha Chaudhary is just an ordinary old man, who adores his grandchildren.We made Billoo a naughty child, Pinki the darling daughter of the house, who is naughty too and loves to trouble her grandparents. I have developed all these characters and even the stories are so much a part of me. By the grace of God, we are still maintaining the quality of this publication.
Q:What are the different areas you ventured into to keep the brand alive with the reader?
GR: We are now in the digital domain too. In this, we have 5000 comics for children in different languages—Hindi, English, Bangla, Gujarati, and Marathi. Children can access them through the website and mobile app too.The beauty of our comics is that young parents, who have read the comics when they were children, are my promoters.
Our availability is very strong; our comics are available at news stands, railway bookstalls, magazine shops, online shops, etc.
We are also working on options for merchandizing of different characters.We have 40 characters and we wish to build around these only. We might add new characters to the prevailing ones.
Q: How do you continue and what are your plans ahead? GR:A lot of our readers also help in the promotion of our comics... there are some
doctors who order the comics for their clinics. Besides,
we also do customized comics for corporates like ACC Cement and SBI. We are selling 1.5 lakh copies in Hindi and English every month and sales have started in Bangladesh as well.We are also present in a mall in Dubai.We hope to increase our market in future.
gulshan rai is Managing Director of Diamond Comics, the largest comic publishing group in India. In addition to Diamond Comics, he founded Diamond Pocket Books which has published over 2,000 books in Hindi, English, Urdu, Bengali and in other regional languages. Mr Rai has won a number of awards including International Professional of the Year by International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK (2005); Bharatiya Udyog Ratna Award by National Education and Human Resource Development Organisation (2005); and World Business Leader Award by World Confederation of Businesses, Houston, USA (2015).
arpit bhargav is Director, Diamond Comics Digital. He has more than 10 years of experience working on Indian and international TV commercials, entertainment, travel and lifestyle programming, and documentary films.
He has worked for production houses such as Endemol, Bunim/Murray Productions, Sony Pictures,TLC, Sun
Network, Zoom TV, Star India and Zee Network. 57
IllustrateD Books: a ChangIng WorlD “Perils and opportunities of today” Aparna Sharma
For over 40 years, DK (earlier known as Dorling Kindersley) has been publishing illustrated reference books for adults and children that have become staples on bookshelves in homes and libraries the world over— most notably children’s reference and family learning.We carry a legacy of immense dedication to this genre, creating products of the highest quality.
But in the last decade or so, rapid development of new technologies and advent of the online world has changed our reading and learning habits entirely.The extent of this disruption has meant that there is a need to rediscover ourselves, break new grounds, and adapt to this ever- shifting landscape.
Publishers On Publishing Page 27