The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Experience of a lifetime

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 27, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Experience of a lifetime

Meera Srinivasan

Publishers yet to get over Frankfurt book fair

BOOKS GALORE: The stall put up by Tara Publishing at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany held recently.

CHENNAI: This year's edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair may be over, but city publishers who took part say the experience will last a while.

About 10 publishing houses from Chennai put up stalls at the fair. The mega event, they say, was an opportunity to observe and learn from global trends in the publishing industry.

Though some Indian publications did manage to find their way into the global market, the country certainly has a long way to go on this front, they admit.

"We get a chance to understand what is the universal and abiding value in books. Most exciting of all is the chance to see the best books from different cultures and understand them. It also gives us an international profile," says Sandhya Rao, Senior Editor, Tulika Publishers.

By the time the children's author, accompanied by Publisher and Managing Editor Radhika Menon, returned to Chennai, a French publisher had already committed to one of their titles.

Talking business

The fair, which was held from October 4 to 8, was a platform for publishers, printers, distributors and persons from libraries to talk business. There is hardly any scope for physical sale of copies, say publishers. It is more about trade of rights, they add.

This year, India was the guest of honour at the fair. National Book Trust coordinated with publishers and ensured a considerable representation at the event.

Publishers feel books published in India are looking better than they used to, with far more attention being given to packaging.

Authors, printers and artists from Tara Publishing also took part in the fair. A book made entirely by hand was the highlight of their stall.

Tara's books have been published in 17 countries, with rights to over 75 per cent of their titles sold in the international market.

T.S. Srinivasan of the Giri Trading Agency got his English publication `Hinduism For All' translated into German just for the fair. "Thanks to the innumerable yoga institutes and ashrams around the world, visitors from other countries showed keen interest in such books," he says.

V.K.S. Subhash of Sura books noted that books on education had a good market. "Several factors such as technology and reading habit determine success in this field," he said.

"Better display needed"

However Managing Director of New Horizon Media Badri Seshadri feels India could have been showcased in a better way. "The emphasis was more on our culture and diversity. At such a fair, highlighting the features of our publishing industry would be more relevant," he says.

"Many publishers may have benefited individually in terms of acquisition, sale or exchange of printing and publishing rights. The fair was a great learning experience. It revealed how much more can be done here," he notes.

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