For a fresh look

For the publishing troubled, the focus on India seems to be an ongoing story. Frankfurt and Paris had the spotlight on India last year, and London follows is following it up with an ambitious line –up of India centric events at London this year.

The London Book Fair, on at the British capital’s Earls Court from April 20-22 this year, is focusing on India as an emerging market and literary hub. This trade fair will look at not only English writing from the south Asian nation but also other vernacular languages, Alistair Burtenshaw, group exhibition director of the event, says during a recent visit to India to promote the fair.

Burtenshaw admits that the global publishing industry is reeling at the moment. But he is confident of the rebound for the sector as well. “Publishing is a very forward looking industry,” he says. “Even in a challenging economic environment, they are going to look ahead. Out industry relies on great writing, and that is not going to stop.”

The London Book Fair, part of Reed Exhibitions, is one of the largest trade fairs in the world for the sector. While leading publishers, distributors, exporters, agents and writers are present, since 2004, each year, the fair has also selected a ‘market focus’ country. A major area where Burtenshaw hopes LBF will see activity is the sale of copyrights, especially for new authors. While Indian literature has already made deep inroads in the western markets, Burtenshaw feels the fair will help the industry look at India through fresh eyes.

The fair sees about 75-100 seminars over three days and usually draws about 25,000 attendees. Last year, there were about 1,800 exhibitors, from 36 countries and 413 companies. This year, publishers, booksellers and industry representatives from 67 countries will be present at the fair. The growth of the LBF in recent years has also meant the fair has a more international flavour, with about half the exhibitors coming from overseas.

About 45 writers, including major names like Vikram Seth, Amit Chaudhuri, Anita Nair, Javed Akhtar, Amartya Sen and Ramchandra Guha are among the writers scheduled to attend the fair. Already 78 Indian exhibitors have signed up, far exceeding expectations, says Burtenshaw. About 40 cultural events, including seminars and workshops, are planned. “It will help Indian publishers to sell rights of works by Indian authors to other markets,” he says.

The fair aims to focus on different aspects of Indian publishing. With India already the world’s third-largest producer of English language titles, and a still growing economy compared to negative growth rates in most of the OECD economies, the country offers considerable marketing opportunities.

“This will see writing not only from Indians writing in English, but also from the other languages spoken in the country,” says Burtenshaw. The British Council is putting together the programmes, and Sujata Sen, Director, East India, British Council, points out, there are 32 languages in India with over a million speakers, and there is great scope for translation. She points to Sahitya Akademi’s programme, and hopes more translation rights will be discussed.
And the events will not be limited to LBF alone but will also form part of the Edinburgh, hay, Norwich and Newcastle literature festivals. As part of the build up, the Kolkata Book Fair this had its spotlight on Scottish writers, and BCL organized about 50 events during the festival, points out Sen. “It is all about long term sustainability and engagement, adds Burtenshaw. “The rationale is to create greater business opportunities.

With a going rate of £254 per square metre to rent place at the fair, participation does not come chap. But Capexil is giving financial assistance to participants. LBF has also been helping out potential Indian exhibitors through workshops and seminars, conducting workshops for agents on how they can make a book successful, on participation guidelines, how to set up appointments, which titles to promote, how to present stands, preparing the right publicity material etc. While many of the subsidiaries of international publishing houses have been participating in their global stands, many have also taken stands in the India pavilion, Among the participants from India at the fair are Roli, Rupa, Macmillan India, Mapin, Niyogi, OUP India, Penguin India, Sterling, UBSPD, Zubaan, Wisdom Tree, Ratna Sagar, Research Press, Pearson Education, Palgrave Macmillan, McGraw Hill, IBH, Cambridge University Press India besides a host of printers.

Whether the fair is able to achieve its goals remains to be seen, but what already seems guaranteed is the greater visibility of the India in one of world’s global financial capitals desperately in need of some succour.