Now, buy back for books!

If you do not like this book, return it and you shall get your money back. That’s the promise publisher Hachette India is making with their latest release, Delhi Durbar, a political thriller by Kishan Partap Singh, which is releasing on Wednesday with a launch in the national capital.

This is the first time such a promise is being made by any publisher in India. “In case you want to, you can go back to the retailer and ask for your money back,” says Anurima Roy, Publicity Manager at Hachette India. Just keep the receipt and you can get your money back. The book is modestly priced at Rs 195, and is aimed at the emerging pulp fiction market. “We are building the author as a brand,” says Roy. “We are sure of its success as it is the kind of book that Indians will like. The book will sell if marketed well."

Marketing for publishers looks set to move into a new notch with move by the publisher, which recently declared that in the short span of their existence, they had already become the second largest English publisher in the country after Penguin India.

Delhi Durbar is the second book of a three-part set, called The Raisina Series. Singh had last year released the first book of the series, then called The Road to Raisina, published by HarperCollins India. The rights for which have been bought by Hachette India since then. The third book, The War Ministry is expected by October 2010. The books are set in Lutyens’ Delhi and explore the games India’s political elite play, almost always for personal gain.