Overseas publishers hail Indian book market

Almost every overseas exhibitor including the guest of honour country Poland at the recently held New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) 2014 expressed their delight over India’s resourceful book publishing industry which opens new opportunities to exploit. Shelving a wide array of popular Polish titles, major showcase at Poland’s stand predominantly consisted of books for children and young adults. This guest of honour country was impressed with the way NDWBF 2014 was organised giving a spotlight on children books and activities. “Poetry books at the fair created a unique attraction. Such showcases and interest among people in India are missing ingredients in Europe,” conveyed Joanna Gornik, Poland.

“This is our first participation in the NDWBF through which we got basic exploration of India’s book publishing market. We were persuaded after our anticipation with some Indian publishers whom we met at Seoul Book Fair,” says Kim Kyoung Won, international & project department, Korean Publishers Association. He added, “Indian book market is very open to everyone for the reason that English books are widely accepted here.”

Pakistani publisher Al Hasanat Books applauded National Book Trust (NBT), India, for giving a platform particularly for children and young adult books. “We showcase a wide spectrum of children books on Islamic studies and other religious contents in Urdu,” revealed Faisal Faheem, managing director, Al Hasanat Books, Pakistan. He explained that parents now take interest to let their children learn Urdu language which is gaining popularity among young people. Yet another corner where put on display a collection on Islamic and Persian books was the stand of Khaneh Ketab (Iran Book House) from Iran. “We presented around 25 tittles ranging different subjects on literature, spiritual and others in our maiden participation in the fair this year,” told Mojtaba Tabriznia, manager of information services, Khaneh Ketab (Iran Book House), Iran. He further asserted that they plan a bigger participation next year.

Nepalese literature, tourism, history and other general books on grammar, topographies, floras, faunas, etc form the topics and subjects covered in the catalogue of books displayed at the stand of National Book Sellers and Publishers of Nepal (NBPAN), Kathmandu. Basanta Thapa, president, NBPAN added that the Indian book publishing market opens a room for Napalese books as the country has good population of the community. “In order to expand our presence in India, we have already tied-up with DK Agencies in New Delhi for distributorship,” asserted Basanta.

Persona Edu, one of the leading Indonesian publishers, used NDWBF 2014 as a platform where they promoted their books to international readers. “This fair is really beneficial for us because we find a good opportunity to meet some Indian publishers willing to partner with us for distributorship of our books ranging from children to adults in English in the sub-continent,” shared Hary S Candra, founder and marketing director, Persona Edu, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Being the Guest of Honour Country in the last edition of NDWBF, France continued to present a stunning range of books. “It’s quite a fact that a lot of people, particularly students, in India choose French as foreign language. Profiles of visitors at our stand were predominantly of such people. So, we put all French classics and modern novels which are highly demanded by Indian students and readers,” shared Christine Karavias, responsable de projets, BIEF (Beau International de I’Edition Francaise), Paris, France.

Other overseas exhibitors in the block included Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, National Book Development Council of Singapore, Urim Books (South Korea), Royal Book Company (Pakistan), The Ceylon Booksellers & Export Association (Sri Lanka), Pakistan Publishers & Distributor (Pakistan), Sheikh Mubarak Ali (Pakistan), The Japan Foundation, GBO New Delhi, amongst others. NDWBF ’14 concludes with a happy note

New Delhi World Book Fair 2014 was successfully held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from Feb 15-23, 2014. This Asia’s largest book fair was inaugurated by Pranab Mukherjee, honb’le president of India. Appreciating the fair he said “All for knowledge and knowledge for all” as a manifestation and celebration of a liberal, democratic, multilingual, multicultural and secular society. “I believe the habit of reading books and printed material is inherent in human civilization and therefore they are here to stay,” he added. He also added that with the book industry recording a growth of 25-30 percent every year, it reflects the growing importance of books. Poland was the ‘guest of honour’ country coinciding with the 60 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Poland. The theme of the fair was ‘Kathasagara: Celebrating Children Literature’ and the fair was thronged with children who came along with their parents or on a school trip. The nine days of the fair witnessed good footfalls, confirming yet again – Print is here to stay!