E-books pose no threat in India

CHENNAI: At a time when e-books are putting publishers out of business, the idea of starting a publishing house may seem like an idea to scoff at. But David Davidar, feted author with decades of experience in the industry, doesn’t quite think so. Davidar dismisses the notion of a downfall in the publication industry as “inaccurate”. He explains, “The traditional print format is under siege outside India and the market is not growing.” Digital downloads in the international publishing arena may constitute 25 per cent of overall sales but in India the publishing sector continues to grow. “The aggregate growth of the industry here is 10 - 12 per cent per year,” he says.Davidar started the Aleph Book Company a year ago, along with co-publisher Ravi Singh and in partnership with Rupa Publications India. “In India, e-books comprise less than one per cent of total sales,” points out Davidar, who has either published or edited the works of celebrity authors Arundhati Roy, Kiran Desai, Vikram Seth and Salman Rushdie. “But in the next two to three years, it (e-publishing) may become more significant and when it does, we (Aleph) will be ready for it as every book will be digitised within six months of publication,” he says.Having started the book company with the clear aim of publishing quality books, Davidar promises that Aleph’s titles will be unique. “We’re very selective about the books we publish,” he says. “We’ll take on a book only if we passionately believe in it. Ravi or I am personally involved in the publication process of Prashanth Ramasamy each book.” The company annually publishes 25 books, with two or three being released each month. “Right now, we are only publishing hard backs, but from next year we’ll have paperbacks as well. So then we’ll have over 40 books each year,” shares Davidar. Aleph’s immediate focus will be books on South Asia and authors from that region. “We believe that we understand books on South Asia and by South Asian authors,” says Davidar, explaining that through this strategy they’ll be able to carve a niche for themselves.