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Learning from the Book Fair
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The organisers of the recently concluded World Book Fair need to turn over a new leaf or two, if the annual exercise is to have any meaning, reflects OM GUPTA.
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Readers at the 16th World Book Fair in New Delhi.
THE FIRST lesson that the recently concluded 16th World Book Fair tossed up is: For whom was this event organised? If it was for the 1,200 publishers who participated, they were not happy because they couldn't recover even the participation fee. English publishers paid Rs.52,000 for a single stall while the language publishers paid half as much. Both went home crying.
If it was for the common book lover, he found the book too costly - a 100-page book costing Rs. 200. Books in India are primarily sold to Government libraries courtesy funds provided by the public exchequer. They are hard-bound and steeply priced, boring treatises written in an unreadable language. Most of the publishers participate hoping to palm off their dusty stocks to these bulk buyers. But this time they didn't come. Thus they learnt a bitter lesson that ultimately the book will survive when the common man is able to afford it.
The second lesson: Why should a Government organisation like the National Book Trust organise it? The job of the NBT is to promote book culture. It does a good job by providing useful and readable books at Rs.40 per 100 pages. Then why does it take up the job of an organiser? To make money, it seems. From 1200 participants it must have collected Rs.45 crores. Even if it shared the booty with the India Trade promotion Organisation, it made a heavy killing. But in the process it made a mess of it. Publishing should be left to the professional organisations like the Federation of Indian Publishers.
Third lesson: Shouldn't a buyer know what is available from where? According to the organisers there were seven lakh visitors moving around 1205 stalls without any cue what to buy and from where. Even the stall owners didn't know what the books displayed by them contained. Savour this conversation. Most of the publishers are binders and sellers. They get a manuscript on the basis of the position the author holds and print (not publish) it. Ask him to pay for the launch and prod him to sell it also. If he obliges he is a great author, otherwise he is no good.
There were 1,200 catalogues published by participants. Even they didn't help locate books. We don't have a single website giving details about the books published in India every year. Can't the NBT do this much? It asks why it should give information about private publishers! Then why does it control their genuine activity?
Fourth lesson: Should the organisers decide which book will be launched? To launch a book in a fair is a justified action of a publisher. But in this festival the NBT became a self-styled censor, allocating time and rejecting requests like Tasleema Nasreen's "Dwikhandita". Many publishers like Gyan didn't bother about the organisers and not only launched but also organised a dozen successful author-reader meets in their modest stall.
Fifth lesson: The genuine book lover is a common man. He spends a fortune reaching to the venue. If he spends a day at the fair he needs drinking water and a frugal bite. That costs him heavily but the organisers charged such a hefty rent from the food stalls that they were compelled to fleece the poor reader. One student was crying because he was charged Rs.30 for a Rs.20 meal and the balance of the Rs.50 note was not returned and later denied when reminded.
Sixth lesson: The two largest segments of the book fair visitors are students or children. With examinations round the corner, is February the ideal month to organise this event? The reason for this timing was that February is the month for institutions to spend from the unused funds to buy books. But these designs were spoiled because of a mind-term poll announcement.
Eighth lesson: Tale of two books. B. Jain had displayed a book, "Hot Sex: How to do it" all over their stall. Heaps on the floor, on the table, shelves, posters on the glass panes. Obviously it caught the fancy of all the visitors. One doesn't know how many bought it and followed the tricks but the book became known. Moti Lal Banrasi Das, the world renowned publishers of the books on Indology, has come out with a brilliant book "Eros, Consciousness and Kundalini: Deepening Sensuality through Tantric Celibacy and Spiritual Intimacy" by Professor Stuart Sovatsky of JFK
University. It is an extraordinary celebration of the erotic but it went unnoticed because of its long winding title. Similar was the story of many publishers of Islamic literature who had shown up in great numbers but couldn't match the smartness of Vision Books who has brought out "A to Z of Islam", a runaway success. Moral: Flaunt the title, forget the content.
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